“I’m so tired, Ayve.”
“I know, Hellcat. And I’m here to help any way I can.”
“You know how to help.”
He pulled away abruptly and studied me with his hardened stare. A thousand “what ifs” swam through those irises, each one questioning if his next move would be the right one. I held his scrutinizing gaze, and my heart gave a painful kick when he nodded once and stated, “Go lie down on the couch, Hallie,” almost under his breath.
I did as he asked and lay frozen on my back when he came to stand over me. With a pained expression on his face, Avery slowly dropped to his knees and ran his knuckles across my cheek.
“I could never hurt you, Hells.”
“I’m not asking you to hurt me,” I whispered.
“I know.” He trailed his nose down mine and gave the end a cute little flick. After one last search into my eyes, his attention lowered to my mouth.
The first contact of his lips was tentative. Nothing but a whispered pass, barely making contact yet causing my heart to skip multiple beats. With tender exploration, Avery’s lips brushed along mine, over and over until my breath hitched and my back arched for more.
His fingertips skimmed down my ribcage, making each nerve ending burn for more and solely for him.
“No expectations. No rush, and no pressure. We take this one moment at a time without thinking of the end goal. I’ve only got one rule: I will not fuckyou under any circumstances. I want to remind you of what it’s like to feel good under a man’s hands. All I need from you is to tell me to stop when or if it gets too much.”
I gave a tiny nod of understanding and willed his touch to keep mapping my body, but he paused.
“You have my word, Hells, with a single one of yours, my hands will be gone.”
“Keep going,” I urged.
Fingertips grazed the swell of my hip, across my kneecap, and barely made contact as they floated up my inner thigh. I couldn’t help but tense when they skimmed close to the apex of my legs. Another delicate pass of Avery’s lips over mine erased those licks of unease.
With slow, purposeful movements, he traced every inch of my clothed body with the softest and most patient of touches. My most intimate places were mercifully—yet frustratingly—avoided. He had me clutching at his bicep and wrist, urging him to places still unexplored during this session of blissful torture. But Avery’s will held stronger than mine, as did his unhurried caress.
I clasped the back of his neck and loosely held him in place while we kissed. While one hand tenderly smoothed through my hair, the other found its way to my back, drawing me closer as he deepened the kiss.
“You’re in control,” he murmured on a fleeting break for air.
I used the pause to gently push him from my space, then knelt on the couch.
Avery sat back on his haunches and panted. “Where do you want me, babe?”
“On the couch.”
He did as I asked, and his hands immediately found my hips when I moved to straddle him. His head tilted back to meet my mouth and he smoothed his warm palms up and down my thighs. With my tongue seeking his, I lost myself. I blocked out the world and focused completely on Avery and the way his body made mine come alive.
I stripped his shirt over his head, then followed suit with mine. I closed my eyes to the heated hands ascending either side of my torso, stopping just short of cupping my breasts.
One smirk was enough encouragement for Avery to slide higher. He took my breasts in his hands and massaged them, rolling each nipple between his thumb and the base of his forefingers as I arched into the pleasure.
“Ayve?” I whispered.
“Yeah, Hellcat?”
“We need to use protection. Just until I get the test results back.” Voicing those words had the heightened pleasure fading.
During the time we’d stayed with Mom, I’d been to the clinic to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. I hated that I was still invisibly bound to Mandla. All I wanted to do was wipe my hands free of him and move on. If only killing him had also severed the aftereffects of his actions.
Avery smoothed one hand up my extended neck and squeezed enough to guide my mouth back to his.
“We don’t even have to—”