Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“I never doubted it.”
Heat flushed over my body. Well, that was nice. Clearing my throat, I said, “They live in Florida—our mom and dad. They’re great. We all get along well. They moved when they retired a few years back. Has your mom tried to get in touch with you again?”
He shook his head. “Nah, she must not need anything.”
I reached over and grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
But it wasn’t. Carter deserved better.
“Anyway, you really do love books. I mean, you own a bookstore downstairs, and your apartment is full too.”
“I do.” We chatted about our favorite books while we ate. I joked about hiding out in my dorm, reading, and Carter told me it probably would have caused a stir if I didn’t—all the boys would have wanted me. He made me feel good about myself in ways I didn’t realize I needed. He never tore me down or made me feel unworthy the way Julian had.
After dinner he insisted on washing the dishes with me, and of course kept splashing me because this was Carter we were talking about.
“Oh shit.” I bent, hiding my face from him.
“What’s wrong?” He reached for me and wrapped his arm around me.
“I got something in my eye.” I wasn’t wearing my glasses.
“Shit. I’m sorry. Let me see.” I took that as my chance and grabbed the sprayer, quickly turning it on him and shooting Carter with water. This obviously went way beyond splashing, and for a moment I wondered if I’d gone too far, but then Carter was yelling and laughing and trying to tug the sprayer from my hand. He managed to get it, and then he was shooting me, and I was laughing too.
“You’re a cheater and a liar!” he shouted as I fought to get the sprayer back. Instead, I ended up wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him away. Carter let go of the handle as I pulled him toward the bar, then lifted him to sit on it. I stood between his legs. His hair was wet again, and mine was dripping in my eyes too. Both our shirts were plastered to our skin. “Looks like we’re going to have to get naked.”
“Looks like it,” I replied.
“Thank you,” he said suddenly.
“For what?”
“Tonight. It’s been perfect. I’m not used to this.”
“This is me,” I told him. And I wanted more of it with him. “And the night isn’t over.”
“I’m glad. Why do you look nervous, though?”
Ugh. Carter was good at reading me. I wasn’t quite sure how that had happened. I thought about lying, but figured he deserved better than that. “I just hope I’m what you want. Like I said, I don’t usually top. I’m not…” Confident and cocky.
Carter seemed to understand the parts I didn’t have the balls to say. “You remember the night in the car, right? And in the park and on my couch. You’re so fucking hot, and every time we’re together, you make me so fucking crazy. Let that beast out, Saw. I know he’s in there. You’re safe with me.”
Was that what it was? I somehow felt safe with Carter in ways I hadn’t with other men I’d been with? I felt safe and comfortable to turn everything else off and just…let go?
I felt it then, that surge that rushed through me when I was with him. I was a different Sawyer with him, as if Carter had opened up something inside me and set it free. I tugged him closer, buried my face in his neck, growled against his skin as I ran my teeth along it. Carter dropped his head back and whispered softly, “Yesss.”
“I’m gonna own that ass tonight.”
“You make the sweetest promises.”
I laughed and lifted him, and he wrapped his legs around my waist. I carried him over and turned off the water, then went straight for my room. I was going to make him crazy, devour him and pleasure him until he didn’t know a fucking thing existed in the world except me—except us. And I would love every second of it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Carter
I locked my legs around Sawyer’s waist as he pushed me up against the wall adjacent to his bedroom door, his mouth sealing over mine as we clawed at each other’s wet shirts. It was so funny that despite the encounters we’d already shared, I was still taken aback by how aggressive he could be—how he claimed my mouth like a man who’d never known any other way.
It was that confidence I’d detected buried under the surface—the man that asshole Julian had attempted to lock in a cage. Now I wanted him to break free and run wild, show me what he’d stifled behind imaginary bars for too long.
His hand slid under my thigh, cupping my ass as his tongue forced past my lips, sliding along my own. The intensity of the way he was dominating me in that moment stirred a rush of adrenaline that shot threw me, racing to my cheeks, making them burn with heat.