Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
She pulled me closer and pushed up into the kiss, slanting her head in that little way she had of telling me to deepen it, so I did. She tasted like lemonade and the beach, hot summer days with hotter nights, and I groaned at the feeling of finally being home. I wanted her bare skin under my hands, her soft thighs locked around my hips—
I ripped my mouth away from hers and backed across the deck to put some much-needed space between us, noting that Sadie had given up on us entirely and was now happily curled up near the door.
“Why did you stop?” Allie pushed off the wall.
“Nope.” I held out my hand. “You stay there until you tell me why you’re here.”
“Right.” She slid her hands into the back pockets of her curve-hugging jeans, and my resolve unraveled to a single thread. “I’m here because I want you.”
I gripped the deck railing and begged my body to obey the order to stay. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that, because it seems like a really long trip for a few orgasms.” I refused to get my hopes up, not when losing her destroyed me every time she walked away. If this was just a visit, I needed to know.
“How much more detail do you need when my car is packed to the brim with everything I own, Hudson?”
Yes. And boom, my mouth was on hers again. Need barreled down my spine like a freight train as I kissed her over and over, nipping her bottom lip, then sucking on it before licking back into her mouth to retrace every curve. God, I’d missed her. I needed her. I loved her. She wasn’t the wave or the pylon; she was the entire ocean, as beautiful as she was impossible to fathom. But damn if I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life figuring her out.
Fuck. I broke the kiss and backed off again, but there wasn’t enough room on this deck—hell, in this whole world—to keep me away from her when she said things like that. “You’re supposed to be in New York, rehearsing for a ballet created for you, that’s supposed to open tomorrow night.”
“Correct.” She nodded, dropping her gaze to my mouth. “But I’m not, because I want to be here with you.”
“Yeah, no.” I shook my head. “That doesn’t check out. You don’t walk away from ballets created for you. I have a plane ticket for tomorrow and everything.”
Her smile stopped my heart. “You were coming to see me?”
“Of course I was coming to see you. I wasn’t going to miss your opening night. The opening night you’re missing. And stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” She stepped closer. “Like I want you and finally did something about it? Like I picked up my life and moved it to Alaska?”
“Yep. All of that.” I could have her in bed in under twenty seconds if I had my keys ready.
“Have to say, it’s pretty sexy that you finally went for it.” She looked out over the backyard. “I mean, Sitka.” That damned smile was going to be the death of me. “You got your dream, Hudson.” She took a step my direction.
“Yes and no. You’re my dream, and I put an entire continent between us in order to give you space and time.” I pointed toward Sadie. “So you stand over there and explain why you just walked away from everything you worked your ass off for.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “Fine, we’ll do it your way. I went back to New York and tried like hell to not think about you, which I failed at, miserably. I went into the Company and . . .” Silence reigned as she looked out over the forest and fought for words. “And felt like I had to be a million different things to a million different people, none of which were actually me. I sat there in the locker room as the other dancers buzzed around me, and all I could think was that I only feel like I’m truly myself, no pretenses or armor, when I’m with you. I hated being there.” Her entire body moved with the breath she took. “So, I left without signing my contract. I don’t care who dances in Equinox, because what does any of it matter if I’m miserable?”
“You are too good to hide out here with me.” It killed me to say it. “The nearest professional company is something like six hundred miles away, Allie.”
“I’m not hiding, Hudson, I’m living. Hopefully with you, though I’m starting to wonder if I overestimated your take-you-however-I-can-get-you mantra.” She folded her arms.
“You can’t quit. Not over me. I refuse to let that happen. Balance, yes. Quit? No.”