And I worried about that all night.
Maybe he wouldn’t bother showing up tomorrow.
18
EREDINE
I’d woken up an hour before my alarm, worrying that Arran might not show. Ignoring my feelings about that potential outcome, I spent the extra hour getting ready, so I had time for a protein shake and an attempt to read some chapters of my latest book.
My gaze kept flicking to my phone, however, and now and then, I’d wake the screen to check the clock. That tick became more frequent the closer to six thirty it got.
Then my pulse leapt at the sound of a car engine in the distance. I wanted to jump up and peer out my window. Instead, I opened the house security app on my phone and tapped the front porch camera.
Arran’s SUV appeared out of the trees a few seconds later and stopped behind my car.
Relief, excitement, trepidation, worry … a gamut of emotions coursed through me at the sight of Arran Adair jumping out of his vehicle. Closing the app, I got up off the couch just as he approached the front door and rang the bell.
Taking a deep breath, I moved to the door calmly and cursed the slight tremble of thrill in my belly as I pulled it open.
He stood before me in his regular workout uniform of fitted T-shirt, sweatpants, and running shoes. And my senses immediately overwhelmed me as I recalled the feel of his hard pecs brushing against my breasts, the taste of his damp, hot skin on my lips, the smell of his cologne mingled with the scent of sex.
I remembered the way he’d held my gaze as he moved inside me and how it had felt more right to be connected to him than any boyfriend from my past.
It was terrifying.
A giant red flag.
Yet whatever Arran saw on my expression, it made him charge into the house, slam the door closed behind him, and lift me like I weighed nothing onto my dining table.
In shock, I moved to push against his chest, and he wrapped his hands around my wrists and held them to him instead. His azure eyes blazed.
“You want a workout this morning, Ery?” he asked gruffly. “We don’t need to leave the house for that.”
“Arran—” I cut off as he released me, but only to whip off his T-shirt.
His chest rose and fell a little faster as he gripped my thighs and spread me as he pulled me into him.
I gasped, resting my hands on his yummy pecs for balance. “Arran?”
He searched my face. “Tell me you don’t want this. Tell me you haven’t been thinking about this every second of every hour since the wee hours of Friday morning.”
At the feel of his arousal pressed to my core, all rational thinking fled me. I wanted to feel. I wanted more. Because the truth was, my night with Arran was the first time in eight years that I’d felt fully awake. Alive.
In answer, I reached for the short hem of my sports tank and pulled it off, throwing it over Arran’s shoulder. His gaze dipped to my bare breasts for a few hot seconds and then returned to my eyes.
Then his mouth crashed down on my mine in a hungry, sexy-as-hell kiss. I slid my arms around his back, my fingers digging into his warm muscles as he devoured me. His fingertips trailed over the tops of my thighs as he moved between my legs.
Soon the kiss was out of control, wild and hurried, as he dug into the waistband of my yoga pants. Following his lead, I lifted my ass up off the table to aid him in yanking them down. Arran pulled off my sneakers and then the yoga pants were gone and I was in nothing but my teeny-tiny undies. Arran caressed my legs all the way back up, pushing between them again as he studied every inch of me with that smoldering expression that made my belly clench deep with want.
“Arran,” I whispered.
His eyes traveled up my naked breasts to my face, and he confessed hoarsely, “Every time I see you, you’re more beautiful than the last time. How is that possible?”
An aching flare of emotion resonated inside me. I didn’t want to deal with it. Instead, I reached for him, caressing every ripple and hard muscle of his torso. Arran’s hands settled on my waist, his eyes low-lidded as he let me touch him. Then, just as I dipped to cup him, he wrapped his hand around my nape and kissed me again.
Then his lips were gone.
“Arran,” I protested, but he gave a slight shake of his head before he tugged me gently, my ass almost hanging off the table. Then he lowered his face between my legs, and my head fell back in a groan as he pressed soft, teasing kisses along my inner right thigh. I jerked at the touch of his mouth against my sex. He blew the cotton of my underwear against me, and I shuddered.