Page 41 of Crossed Wires: The Complete Series

“I thoughtIwas the early riser.”

She glanced to her left to find Hunter awake and looking at her.

“Trouble sleeping?”

She nodded. “I leave soon.” For days, she’d fought against announcing the obvious. Their days had fallen into an easy routine that Annie was too willing to cling to. She’d been pretending her time here was reality. She couldn’t live that lie anymore.

Hunter sighed. “I know. It’s been on my mind pretty much twenty-four-seven since you got here.”

“Really?” He’d never mentioned it, never let on he was bothered by her imminent departure. Maybe she wasn’t the only one trying to stop time by living in fantasyland.

He reached over, pulling her to her side, facing him. It was a position she was becoming addicted to. He kissed her softly. “Of course I have.”

He would have said more. She knew he was willing to talk it out with her, but once again, her fear kicked in, overwhelming her common sense. She lifted her leg around his waist, grinding her pelvis against his erection. Hunter had teased her last night, claimed she was insatiable. She’d taken it as a compliment, pushing him to his back and riding him in true jillaroo fashion.

She tried to kiss him, but Hunter held her back, his hand on her cheek. “Annie, don’t you think we should?—”

“No,” she interrupted. “Not now. Not yet. I can’t…I want…”

Hunter had become adept at reading her face, her emotions. She couldn’t remember there ever being another living soul who was so in tune with what she was feeling.

He let her kill the conversation with kisses, touches. They slept naked, neither of them wanting even the thin cotton of a t-shirt between them at night. Hunter pushed her to her back and entered her in one smooth, well-practiced thrust. They’d dispensed with condoms that day by the billabong when Hunter had taken her in the water.

His kisses grew harder and she sensed the desperation behind them. She felt it. Shared the same fear. She gripped his hair, fisted it tightly. Hunter hissed but didn’t break away. Reaching up, he took her hair as well, mimicking her actions, pulling on her tresses in the way he knew drove her wild.

It was always like this with Hunter. This all-consuming need to hold on to each other so tightly, they’d never fall apart. Annie wrapped her legs around his waist and forced him deeper.

Hunter bent his head, bit her neck, leaving his mark. She cried out with pleasure, scratching his arms, drawing on his body as well. She’d make sure he never forgot her. Never forgot…

Panic consumed her once more, throwing her into action. She shoved at his chest, indicating she wanted him on his back. She followed him over, pounded herself up and down, up and down on his turgid flesh. Hunter’s fingers gripped her hips, guiding her, pulling her toward him harder. Using his strength to drive her.

“Fuck,” Hunter muttered. “More.”

He sat up, pulling her off his cock. With strong, sure hands, he pushed her facedown over his mattress as he knelt behind her. Then he was there, inside her again, thrusting so deeply she feared they’d break the bed.

Annie took his pummeling blows, increasing the impact by meeting him halfway. Still it wasn’t enough. She crawled forward slightly, flipping to her back once more. Hunter upped the ante, standing then dragging her body until her ass hovered at the edge of the mattress. She wrapped her ankles around his neck and Hunter accepted the invitation. He drove into her hard and she bit her lip to keep from screaming.

If anyone else was already awake, there was no way they wouldn’t know what was going on in Hunter’s bedroom. Typically, they kept their lovemaking in the house quieter, calmer, only indulging in the loud, kinky stuff while way out of earshot of other people.

So much for discretion.

Hunter grabbed one of her breasts and squeezed the ultra-sensitive flesh. She groaned, her fingers fisting in the sheets.

“More!” she demanded.

Hunter’s gaze darkened as he quickened his pace. Twice he pinched her nipple, causing her to buck beneath him, her back arching on the bed. Then he rubbed her clit and her control was utterly destroyed. The white-hot lights of her orgasm blinded her. It was only here in this moment that the real world disappeared and her anxieties subsided.

Oh how she wished she could call this perfect place home.

Hunter slowly lowered her legs until her feet hit the floor. It was only then she realized he hadn’t come.

She opened her eyes, her gaze eating up his handsome face, his muscular chest, the light sprinkling of hair that adorned it. “Hunter?”

He looked away from her, toward the nightstand. Opening the drawer, he pulled out a tube of lubrication. Though he’d promised to take her ass, he hadn’t breached her with anything more than his finger.

“Say no, Annie, and this goes away. I won’t do anything you don’t want.”

“I want it.” The words fell from her lips without a second thought. She wanted every part of Hunter she could get. Wanted to create a thousand memories of him so she could take them out later, on the lonely nights, and remember.