Page 21

“No.” He shook his head. “And for the record, this isn’t a one-eighty. Whether I’ve behaved like it or not, I’ve been attracted to you since we met. You’re all I can think about.”
She smiled. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but a part of me wishes I hadn’t fantasized about you during the last year.”
He groaned.
“I like that noise.” She laced her fingers through his and before he could respond, they were at the top of the stairs, stumbling toward her bedroom, with their hands and lips all over each other as if they were about to experience sex for the very last time.
They practically tripped into her bedroom, a blur of lips and hands. Her room was decorated in the same theme as the rest of the house. The nautical blues gave way to soft pastels, walls adorned with seashells and paintings of mermaids. A large bed was nestled in the corner.
He tried to memorize the details, but she consumed every thought. She was intoxicating, a storm he had yearned for throughout the past year. Their clotheswere discarded at the foot of the bed, their kisses growing more passionate and urgent. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest, and it echoed his own racing pulse.
He looked at her then—really looked at her.
Her tousled hair fell about her face, and her lips were slightly swollen from their previous bout of passionate kissing. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured against her neck.
“You’re not so bad yourself, sailor.”
He chuckled, staring at her for a long moment with his pulse caught in his throat, suddenly, painfully aware of his tattoo. He covered it. He’d never done that before. It had always been a part of him. Of who he was.
She reached out, pushing his hand away and kissing his chest. “Don’t ever do that again,” she said sternly.
“Do what?”
“Try to erase your past.” She glanced up. Her eyes glistened under the glow from the skylight.
Tears? But why? Petra wasn’t her pain, but his.
“I wasn’t…wasn’t…it’s just that… I don’t know.” He scratched the center of his chest. “It’s never been an issue for me before. If anyone asked me about the tattoo, I shrugged and told them she was the…the…”
“Love of your life?”
“Something like that,” he admitted.
Trinity stood before him naked and smiled.
God, she was amazingly gorgeous—a goddess.
“She’s a part of what makes you…you. I would never take that from you, not even if this goes beyond tonight.”
“I’m kind of hoping there’s more.”
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that, too, but let’s see if we can go a week without fighting…about something.” She tugged at him, and they tumbled onto the bed with her wrapped in his arms.
She was like nothing he’d ever experienced.
She was wild and gentle, ferocious and tender. A storm wrapped in tranquility. He ran his hands down the smooth column of her spine, soaking in the heat that radiated off her bare skin.
She lifted herself onto him, straddling with a grace that belonged to dancers and forest nymphs alike. Illuminated by moonlight coming through the skylight, it was a mesmerizing sight. A sense of surrealism enveloped him as he watched her move against him, their silhouettes painting an amorous tableau on her bedroom walls.
He cupped her waist, pulling her closer to intensify the connection—physical and emotional. Everything he had been averse to was now welcoming her in. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the soft scent of pears that clung to her skin.
“Am I too much?” she whispered, her breath puffing against his spent nerves.
“Not nearly enough…” he replied through clenched teeth as sensations shot through him like wildfire. He looked at her, desperately willing his heart to communicate what words failed to express.
Her laughter echoed like a melodious hymn that breathed life into still air. She arched back, giving him access to an expanse of unblemished skin that beggedfor his touch. Every sigh that escaped her lips became a verse in the symphony they were composing together, each gasp a chorus in itself.
She tumbled into the sea of satin sheets beside him post-climax, gasping for breath with a contented smile dancing on her lips. She turned to face him, and her finger danced across a few of his scars. “Your body is covered in these.”