Page 83 of Dead Pretty

Reaching for my bedside lamp, I turn it on, wanting to see him.

The light glows off the golden skin of his chest. His eyes look so incredibly blue right now.

“You’re stunning,” I tell him.

He cups my cheek with his hand. “You’re stunning,” he says, voice raspy.

I feel shy all of a sudden, my face heating.

Jack rests back on his haunches and takes hold of one of my legs. Lifting it, he pulls my boot off and then my sock. He does the same with the other foot.

His eyes meet back with mine.

Then, his fingers begin unfastening my jeans.

Pressing my hands to the bed, I raise my hips to allow him to remove them.

He peels the jeans down my legs, leaving me in my panties.

They’re black and lacy.

I might have put a pair of my sexy, old-life-Audrey undies on—you know, just in case this moment with Jack did arise. I might have shaved every square inch of my body too.

“Jesus,” he breathes. His eyes fixed on the spot between my legs.

His hand runs up my smooth leg, reaching the top of my thigh. His fingers trace an invisible line to where I need him most. The tips of his fingers only just touching the edge of my panties.

My body starts to shiver with need.

Jack looks at me, and the expression in his eyes is … undiluted lust.

No one has ever looked at me in such a way before. I feel like, right now, the only thing he sees is me.

“I know … this stays …” His fingers give a light tug on the hem on my tank.

Immediately, embarrassment and shame start to cover me.

“Don’t.”

I give him a confused look. “Don’t what?” I whisper.

“Be self-conscious or whatever the fuck it is you’re feeling right now. It’s me, Audrey. You never have to feel either of those things with me. I just need to know the boundaries. Where I can and can’t touch you.”

I lick my dry lips, swallowing. “You can … touch me everywhere … just not here.” I press my hand to the marred section of skin that sits beneath my breasts and above my belly button.

“Okay.” He nods. “So, the boobs are mine.”

The glint in his eyes has my own lips tugging upward.

“All yours.” And to prove the point, I unsnap my bra through my tank. Pull the straps down my arms and tug it free from its confines.

Jack leans forward and presses a kiss to my mouth. Then, he moves down, planting a kiss in the center of my chest.

His hand comes up, cupping my breast through my tank. The contact is amazing. But I wish I could feel his skin on me.

He rubs his thumb over my nipple, and I shudder.

His mouth finds mine. With a sweep of his tongue, his teeth graze over my bottom lip.