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Knox caught my hands in his. They were callused but gentle. It was almost enough to forget how he’d edged me in that damn hotel room. He guided my arms around his neck, then took my waist with one arm, slowly pulling me flush against him. With his free hand, he tipped my face up to his—and kissed me so tenderly that tears sprang to my eyes.
Knox broke the kiss slowly, carefully. “You look good like that. Unguarded.”
My heart lurched. He had said that before—at the trailer, when I was treating him like gutter trash while all he tried to do was make me not feel like shit.
A tear slipped free from the corner of my eye, streaking down my cheek.
Knox wiped it away with a thumbpad. “Do you still think I’m a stupid, egotistic, savior-complex cockroach?”
I couldn’t stifle my laugh, dropping my forehead on his downy-haired chest to hide my embarrassment. “I guess I did call you that, didn’t I?”
“I forgive you.”
“I hear a ‘but.’”
“But you have to spread those legs for my own goddamn feast once those stupid sheets are done.”
“Okay.” The word came out as barely a breath. Hell, I sounded like some wide-eyed virgin who didn’t know what to do with herself.
Knox laughed again, his hands going to my ass, his mouth nipping my earlobe. “I can take you against the wall first, if you want.”
Holy fucking shit.
I had never been so desperate to get my clothes off. I clawed at my shirt and pants, and suddenly Knox was helping, and I didn’t give a shit about the sound of seams ripping. When I was in my bra and panties, Knox’s eyes flashed with hunger.
“Fuck, woman,” he rasped. “You deserve more than twenty-dollar sheets from Amazon.”
Knox made me feel powerful—gave me room to be myself. And his unguardedness flipped the script.
I took charge. But not like before.
I slipped my bra straps down, teasing the cup but not freeing a tit just yet. Knox watched every move. “It’s a good thing, then,” I crooned, stepping away, making him want to chase me, “that I know for a fact my father left me every penny of his fortune. I can buy you sheets made of solid gold if you want. Or an actual couch.”
Knox followed like a man possessed. “Thing’s an heirloom.”
“Just the sight of it makes me want to burn it.”
“Have mercy, baby.”
I unclipped my bra and let it fall at our feet, then let him touch me. His thumbs flicked my tits, making me gasp, but I kept my voice a controlled purr. “Make me.”
Knox snarled like a beast unleashed, hauling me off my feet and stripping my panties with one rough yank that burned across my thighs. I yelped, clutching his shoulders as he slammed me back into the wall, caging me with his muscled body.
He didn’t give me time to adjust. His mouth crashed into mine, hot, claiming. His teeth grazed my lower lip, then sucked it between his like he owned it.
Every nerve in my body lit up like fireworks. I moaned into the kiss. My nails dug into his shoulders as his hand gripped my ass—the other moving straight between my legs, a finger sliding inside me all too effortlessly.
“Already wet for me, spitfire?” Knox chuckled darkly against my throat. “That mouth says one thing, but your pussy’s been begging since I walked in.”
I ground against him, knocking our hipbones together, wordlessly begging, desperate. His cock nudged my thigh through those goddamn sweatpants and I needed it—needed him.
“Fuck me, Nate,” I gasped, already trembling. “Knox, just?—”
“Not yet, baby girl.” A second finger slipped inside, and I threw my head back in pleasure. “I want you to soak my hand before I give it to you.”
Being finger-fucked against a wall was never on my bingo card, but fuck, Knox made it feel so good with every crook of his fingers against my walls. I clawed at his shoulders, writhing as much as I was able in the cage of his muscled body, barely more than a horny mess of putty for him to play with.
I wasn’t trying to take control now. I didn’t want to dominate or wrestle power from Knox. I let go completely. I let him tell me what to do. I let myself just be for once. I let myself trust the man who burned through every lie I told myself and built a new me from the ashes.