We Fall Like Ashes | Wildfire Series

Thirty-Four: Replay

I sucked in, and Beau took advantage of the little gasp, dipping his tongue into my mouth to stoke embers into flames. His hands molded around my middle before they rose slowly, reaching up to brush my sweater off my shoulders. The cardigan fell to the floor with a soft thud. My romper followed it.

Standing there in just my bra and underwear, Beau skimmed his fingertips back down over my bare skin. And then, with an abrupt stop to our kiss, he groaned against my lips. "Bed."

I fell back onto the mattress and tilted my head to study Beau. His jaw clenched as he returned my careful scan, getting a full view of the lacy set I had on.

"I took you on a pretty decent date, and now here you are trying to kill me. Jesus Christ, Collins," he murmured. "Totally unfair."

Beau raked a hand through his hair. The midnight black strands fell down over his forehead again instantly, but it was a messy look that suited him. I couldn't wait to tangle my fingers in that hair, make it messier.

"I'd say it was better than decent." I bit down on a smile. "Thank you, by the way. For tonight."

He shook his head, heat burning in his gaze as it swept over me again. "Don't thank me yet. On your hands and knees, baby girl."

My breath caught in my throat at his demand, but it didn't stop me from obeying. As soon as my hands sank into his bedspread, Beau began dragging my underwear down over my hips. He didn't pull them off all the way, though. He left them stretched out, right above my knees, and the air tickled my skin in a teasing sort of way.

Beau swore. The harsh word came out velvety, though. A hand came to rest between my shoulder blades, gently pressing my front down into silky bed sheets as my ass rose up further in the air.

"That's it," he said, voice breathy. "I want to see you. I want to see if you're as wet as last night."

Possibly more, Beau.

God, I couldn't remember the last time I had ached for another person this intensely.

Well, actually I could. It was about a year ago, in a hotel room after a first date with a stranger.

Beau continued with such tender praises that when the hand caressing my hips with careful touches suddenly left and returned with a light smack on my ass, I gasped. But that gasp morphed halfway through, becoming a breathy moan when I felt the residual vibrations between my legs.

It was a jolt that went straight to my core. Like a strike of lightning, and I unashamedly whimpered, wanting more of that feeling. Whatever it was.

Beau's husky laugh made my head spin. "Yeah, thought you might like that."

I liked it. I liked it. I liked it.

"Say it aloud, Collins."

"I like it."

"That's my girl," he said before his hand came down again, a bit harder, and I pitched forward slightly with another gasp. Another moan.

"That's for walking away from me last year, Collins," he said with a low grunt.

Another smack and a throaty noise I didn't recognize flew out between my lips.

When Beau spoke again, his voice was gravelly and gorgeous. "That's for the time we lost, for thinking I wouldn't want every little piece of you, the good and the bad."

This time, instead of lifting his hand, it shifted lower, cupping between my legs. Softly. Like I was ceramic, something that easily broke. It made me want to promise him that I wouldn't break, not with him, but none of those words could make their way out.