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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

This morning isn’t going exactly how I planned. Avery sputters around her bite of breakfast as I shove a glass of water in her hand. “Here, drink.”

After gulping the water I handed her down, she tries to flatten me with a glare. Her voice is raspy. “You can’t do that when I’m eating.”

“Sorry. Bad timing.”

She narrows her lashes. “You think?”

I reach for her, use my thumb to lift a tiny bit of icing off her lip. She watches with wary eyes as I lick it off my thumb.

“Bad timing, but it is the truth,” I say.

That gets her because she fists her hair like she might pull it out. “You and this obsessive need to tell the truth!”

I chuckle and shrug a shoulder. “Sweetheart. Take a breath. Just because I said it doesn’t mean it has to happen.”

She sags against the counter and drops her forehead to the marble. “I need a brain transplant.”

“Guess you can’t eat, then.”

She grabs her plate and hunches over it like she’s in the dining hall with a bunch of hungry Marines. “Stay back. You will get hurt if you try to take these from me.”

“So, you do like cinnamon rolls.”

She flips her hair and eyes me as she takes another bite. After she chews, she says, “A little. Okay, maybe more than a little.” Her eyes soften, her color grows hotter. Her breath is a little catchy when she says, “They actually are my favorite breakfast.”

My heart lurches and starts again. “Good to know.”

“But don’t think you can use this as a manipulation tactic against me. That would be unfair use of personal information.”

I chuckle and pick up a gooey roll for myself. “Never. I’d never do such a thing.”

“Why do I have a feeling this could be a problem?”

I wink, “I’d never bribe you with your favorite breakfast, so don’t worry.”

The quirk of her eyebrow shows her opinion as she scoops up the icing on the edge of her plate. She sucks her finger, lingering on the tip as she eyes me. “Careful. I have some of my own weapons.”

I catch her hand and lean in to kiss her. She tastes like my favorite kind of morning .

Slowly, we kiss, and in less than a minute, I find her in my arms, with her sitting on the marble countertop.

"How did you do that?”

“What?” I murmur against her collarbone.

“This. You between my legs?”

I shrug. “I told you if you didn’t stop prancing around in my shirt, I would end up having you for breakfast.”

“But I did stop.”

“Oh? You did? Sorry, I seem to have forgotten.”

She groans.

“Do you want me to stop?”

Her head falls back. In a husky whisper, she says, “God, no. Did I say stop?”

Laughing, I push up the hem of my shirt until her perfect tits are exposed. “No. I heard those breathy little moans you make.”

“You’re making me blush.”

Brushing her nipples with my thumbs, I watch her body respond. “I’m about to do a whole lot more than make your blush.”

It’s not long before those breathy moans have turned into throaty variations of my name.

With my shirt shoved up around her neck, her panties hanging off her ankle, and eyes wild with need, she’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.

I’m gonna need to find some kind of addiction therapy. Because I’ve just injected something more potent than any street drug into my veins.

No wonder I was spouting off about moving in and getting her pregnant. She’s put a spell on me.

A wicked voodoo curse.

Why the hell would I have been dreaming about her for a year if that wasn’t the case ?

It’s too late now, though. I’m bitten. Sunk. Drugged. There’s no going back.

Growling, I suck her clit and swipe my tongue and fingers deep in her sweet core. As she digs her fingers into my hair, I do my best to get her off so hard she loses what little grip on sanity she has so she’ll want to come back for more.

I’m greedy too, of course.

Eating Avery for breakfast is fucking delicious. Right up there with the hottest moments of my life. All of which have been thanks to her.

Suddenly, her body tenses. “Coming… com—” Gasping, she claws at my wrists. “Brock. God.” Panting, she twists against me. She comes, and comes, and comes. I lap up her sweet wetness. Then I crawl on top of her on the island and fuck her hard.

In everything I do, I go all in. And when it comes to Avery, I’m going for broke.

We’re sitting on the floor of the kitchen, polishing off the last of the cinnamon rolls, feeding bites to one another, when my phone rings.

“I knew that would happen sooner than I wanted.” Pushing up, I pad across the floor to the office nook on the far side of the kitchen. “It’s Mick’s dad.”

He quickly reports an uneventful night and that the boys are up, but are playing a game and eating cereal. Crazy how something so simple can make me happy as hell.

“Thanks for letting me know. I can come grab Linc in a while, if you want. ”

“No, not necessary, I’ve got to go to town in a bit, I’ll bring him to you. I know you have a lot going on.”

He has no fucking idea. As he’s talking, I watch Avery. She’s sitting with her mind-blowing legs curled under her, my white T-shirt hanging off one shoulder, looking like a wicked angel as she stares at me, licking her fingers.

I can barely speak. “I’m at the house still, can you swing by here?”

The man replies something and hangs up.

I walk back to Avery and stand in front of her. She looks up at me curiously and smiles. My fucking heart can’t take this.

“As much as I hate to say this, I’ve got to take you back to the station. Linc is going to be dropped off in a bit. I just decided that I’m going to take the day off after your suggestion. We need some time to hang out and talk. But… I don’t think we should have a conversation about you right now.”

She uncurls her legs, stretches and stands up. Popping up on her tiptoes, she brushes her lips across mine. “Of course. It’s okay, Chief.” She hugs me tighter. “You do you. Take care of him. You know where to find me.”

“Speaking of, I’m going to make some calls about an apartment for you today. I have some rental properties, I just need to contact the company that manages the leases to see which one is open.”

Her breath hitches and her hand flies to her mouth.

Pulling her hand away and kissing her fingers, I ask, “Why is that so baffling?”

She gives her head a little shake. “Not baffling. Impressive. I’m not sure how you do so much. The more I find out about you, the more I respect you.”

The warmth that’s been simmering in my chest grows. Avery looking at me with her eyes full of respect and understanding is such a relief. Hell, most women would be running screaming from the tangled web that’s my life. Rubbing my hand up and down her slender back, I say, “I have a lot on my plate. Adding this thing between us to the mix is going to make things even more interesting. But I’ll make it work.”

She drops another small kiss on my jaw, then pulls away and trots her sexy little body toward the bedroom. When she glances over her shoulder, she has a worried look that I bet she’s trying to conceal. “I hope so, but I’ll admit, I have an ominous feeling. If I lose this job, my life is going to be upside down.”

When I catch up to her, I give her perfect little butt cheek a quick smack. “Let me do all the worrying. Okay?”

She gives me a little frown, as she sheds my shirt and heads for the shower. “You know I like to overthink things.”

I follow after her and tug her to me, letting my hands wander over her curves. “Here, let me kiss the sense out of you one more time. Maybe I’ll slowly turn that brain of yours into romantic blubber.”

She bursts out laughing, pushes me away and steps into the hot water. “Blubber. Is that the best word you could think of?”

My smile is triumphant. Mission accomplished. Distraction achieved. “Let’s hear it, little genius. What are your big-girl words?”

The whole time she dresses, and the entire drive to the station she fills my ear with every word she can pair with ‘romantic.’

Her eyes are dancing as bright as diamonds. Her smile is heart-stealing. I’m one thousand percent bowled over by everything about Avery. Smart. Beautiful. Strong. Compassionate. Sexy…. Did I mention really fucking sexy ?

I can’t help it. My body’s on fire for the woman. But I have to give her credit, she’s gonna win every verbal sparring match if the measure of the winner is vocabulary. And I’m just fine with that. Whatever it takes to keep her smiling, I’ll happily endure.