Page 108 of What Comes Around

His jaw clenched. “You haven’t been yourself. I was trying to be careful.”

“I don’t want careful,” I said, the words ripping out of me before I could stop them. “I’m not made of glass.”

His jaw tightened. “I know that. Believe me, I know that.”

“Then stop acting like I’ll break.”

He stepped in, close enough that I felt his breath on my cheek. “If I stop holding back, Ashley, I won’t be careful. Is that what you want?”

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t need to.

The air between us shifted, thick and electric, like the moment before a storm breaks.

He searched my face, eyes dark, intense, hungry.

“Ashley.”

The sound of my name hung between us, heavy and charged.

A beat passed.

Another.

His gaze dropped to my mouth, then back to my eyes, like he was fighting something he was losing badly.

“You think I don’t want you?” he said at last, voice low and rough. “I want you so much it scares me.”

I swallowed hard, my pulse racing. I felt his hand slide to my waist, fingers curling just enough to make my breath catch.

“Tell me to stop,” he said.

I didn’t.

His voice dropped, rough and low. “You have no idea how hard that’s been.”

Heat shot through me, sharp and dizzying.

“Show me.”

He grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled my head back, his mouth crashing into mine. His kiss was rough, demanding, his tongue sliding between my lips like he meant to take everything I would give him.

I gasped into him, and he lifted me effortlessly. My legs wrapped around his hips on instinct, my body fitting against his like it belonged there.

I had never felt so small.

So held.

His hands moved to my ass, gripping firmly. One of them slipped beneath the waistband of my leggings from behind, his fingers sliding over the sensitive skin there.

He teased me for a moment, tracing the slick heat between my thighs, before pushing two fingers deep inside me.

“Knox,” I gasped.

He didn’t stop. He pumped his fingers slowly at first, then harder, his hooded gaze locked onto mine, watching every reaction, every breath, every tremor.

“You’re so fucking wet for me, baby,” he murmured, his voice low and rough.