Sweet Spot (Summer Rush #1) (19 page)

“Rowan.” She stood, walking toward him before slipping her arms around his waist. “I want to be honest with you. Always. If I told you that I wasn’t scared of this thing between us, I’d be lying, and I won’t do that to you.”

He knew he should appreciate her honestly, especially since so many of his previous girlfriends had lied to and deceived him, but the truth was hard to hear, especially since he wanted nothing more than for her to tell him she had no reservations or fears about them moving forward.

“So tell me what I can do to erase your fears,” Rowan whispered, lowering his head until his lips were grazing her neck. “Just say the word, and I’ll do it.”

“Just keep being you.” She gripped his chin and turned his face toward hers so she could look him in the eye. “I’m pretty sure you’re the best damn man I’ve ever met. I feel more for you today than I did yesterday, and I’m pretty sure I’ll feel even better about us by tomorrow. But it may take me some time to catch up to you. I hope that’s okay.”

He feared that was her way of telling him that while he may be falling in love with her, she wasn’t there yet and didn’t know when she would be. “Sure. It’s all good, baby.”

Pumping the brakes sounded like a lousy idea to him, but what choice did he have?

***

Tenley’s eyes widened when Rowan walked into the room with a whipped cream dispenser after inviting her to get naked and wait for him.

“What do you plan to do with that?” she asked, fisting the sheets as her eyes darkened with lust.

“You promised me dessert,” he said, shaking the can. “I’m collecting on that promise.”

She rolled her lower lip between her teeth while raising her arms above her head, thrusting out her full breasts. “I didn’t realize you intended to feast on me.”

“Most definitely.” Since he was in training, he was all about eating clean. But tonight, he planned to get very dirty.

Rowan set the can on the nightstand before reaching for the button on his jeans and peeling them off slowly. Her tongue circled her kiss-swollen lips, making him even harder. He watched her watching him as he lifted his T-shirt, exposing the six-pack he’d worked so hard for. He was working out so he could be in top shape for the sport he loved, but the look in Tenley’s eyes reminded him of all the other benefits of going hard in the gym.

“What about those?” she asked, her eyes darting to his black boxer briefs while she tipped her legs open. “Aren’t they coming off?”

His erection was already straining to break free, so he hooked his thumbs in the waistband, giving her a cocky smile when the evidence of his arousal became even more obvious. “You like what you see?”

“You have no idea how much,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.

He had some idea. No other woman had ever turned him on the way she did, and he hoped the feeling was mutual. She set him on fire in the sack. But the fact that she could light him up outside of it had him convinced she was
the one
.

“Hold on,” he said, his eyes flicking to the iron posts decorating his headboard. “And don’t let go.”

She sucked in a sharp breath but did as she was told. Rowan knew that wasn’t easy for her. Tenley was used to giving orders, not taking them. But the fact that she trusted him with her body gave him hope that she would one day trust him with her heart too.

He climbed on top of her, supporting his weight with his hands as he looked into the most breathtaking blue eyes he’d ever seen. He could read everything she was thinking and feeling in those eyes: trepidation, excitement, anticipation. He claimed her mouth, even more turned on by the fact she couldn’t touch him the way he knew she wanted to.

He had a pair of handcuffs in his nightstand for occasions such as this, but given Tenley’s history, he couldn’t imagine using them. At least not until he was one hundred percent certain that she trusted not only him, but his feelings for her.

“You’re gorgeous.” He’d told her before, but it had never been truer. With her disheveled dark hair spread over his crisp white sheets and her face flushed with excitement, she looked like the perfect combination of angel and devil. His fantasy come to life.

“So are you,” she said, her eyes hungrily tracing his chest before dipping to his erection, which he swore grew bigger and bolder from her attention.

He grabbed the whipped cream while she raised her hips, trying to make contact with the part of him she’d confessed was her very favorite. He hoped in time she would learn to love his heart even more than his body, but he would take what he could get. For now.

Rowan leaned back, resting his weight on his calves as he took her in. She was humming with eagerness. He held the pointed tip above her taut nipples, licking his lips as he imagined how good she would taste combined with the sweet, creamy treat.

“We’re going to get your sheets all sticky.”

“It’s okay,” he said with a half-smile. “We would have anyway.”

After drawing a perfect circle around each of her rosy nipples, he leaned down and lashed the swirl with his tongue until she moaned, arching into his mouth. He licked her clean before drawing a line down her tight stomach while air seeped through her teeth.

“Jesus, Row…”

He knew he was driving her crazy, but not half as crazy as she made him. This girl had been teasing and tantalizing him since the day he laid eyes on her, and he wouldn’t relax until he had some assurance that she wasn’t going anywhere.

He took his time licking her flushed skin, drawing circles and figure eights with his tongue until she was spotless… and breathless. He glanced at her hands, wrapped around the brushed iron. Her knuckles were turning white, giving him some hint as to how much she wanted to touch him.

“Hmm,” he murmured, pretending to consider his options as his eyes mapped her beautiful body. “Where should I use this next?”

“Oh God, please…” she cried, gyrating her hips. “Don’t torture me. I can’t wait to feel your mouth on me.”

She wasn’t the only one who was anxious. He was already salivating.

He tilted the star-shaped point so it was mere inches from where she wanted it most, and she whimpered before biting her lip to control the sound. But she couldn’t hide anything from him. He could see how much she wanted him. He could smell it in the air, clinging to her skin, and he couldn’t wait to taste it.

The sound of the dispenser filled the silence while the cream gathered, covering all of the delicate skin he couldn’t wait to kiss and lick.

“It’s cold,” she whispered, her eyes locking with his.

“And you’re melting it.”

This woman turned him inside out, making it hard to remember his own goddamn name sometimes, and he knew they’d only scratched the surface. He would soon be so lost to her there’d be no way out. But he wasn’t looking for an out. He was looking for a way in. Her heart. Her life. Forever.

“Please…”

Her quiet plea did him in because he knew how hard it was for her to acknowledge she needed anyone or anything. The fact that he made her feel weak and needy and desperate, just as she made him feel, pointed to progress. But not enough. Maybe by the end of the night after he’d worshipped every inch of her body, erasing every bad memory the worthless bastard who’d touched her before had imprinted, maybe then she’d admit she
needed
him in her life.

He lashed at her with his tongue, revelling in her taste and the sound of her cries as he nipped gently before devouring her. Within seconds, her entire body was trembling as she thrashed, trying to hold on while letting go.

Kissing the inside of her thigh, he made his way up her stomach, pressing open-mouthed kisses on her warm, sticky skin. “Sweetheart,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her ear. “Are you on the pill?”

Her eyes widened in stunned silence while he reached for her hands, then kissed the insides of her wrists. “Yeah. Why?”

Rowan knew this would be a huge step in their relationship if she’d let him forgo the condom tonight. It would convey a level of trust he craved, but he didn’t want to pressure her. It had to be her decision.

“Tenley,” he said, framing her face with his hands as he looked into her eyes, “I’m clean. I swear to you. We get tested every year. I’ve never had sex without a condom, but with you…” He dropped his head to her shoulder, suddenly feeling vulnerable. “I want to feel as close to you as I can get. I want you to feel me. I want to fill you…” He nipped her shoulder. “I want to be a part of you.”

Her palms pressed into his shoulders, and at first he thought she was pushing him away.

She sighed. “I want that too.”

“Are you sure?”

He’d never do anything that made her uncomfortable, but this was as big a deal for him as it was for her. He’d dated more than a few women who’d hinted at getting pregnant with his baby. The fact that he was willing to take Tenley at her word about the pill sent the message that she didn’t have to prove anything to him. He believed in her and what they had.

“Positive.” She kissed him passionately, tangling her tongue with his while their bodies found each other.

“Last chance to change your mind,” he said as he probed her, waiting for her to seal the deal.

She did with a thrust of her hips and a wicked gleam in her eye. He held her hips as he inched into her, fighting the urge to thrust into her hard and fast the way he wanted to.

“Don’t hold back.”

The last thing he wanted was to hurt her in any way, but his body took over while his brain short-circuited at her quiet command. When he was fully seated inside her, he had the good sense to stop for half a second to make sure she was okay. Her nod of assurance answered the question he hadn’t asked.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she said, sensing his hesitation. “I’m good.”

Though a part of him wanted to unleash all of the pent-up hunger that had built while watching her all night, imagining all of the things he wanted to do to her, he forced himself to ease into it for fear of hurting her.

Seemingly frustrated with the slow build, she lifted and pivoted her hips, drawing him deeper. She got that naughty little sparkle in her eye that said
, game on,
as she clenched him so hard he swore from the intensity. He finally pinned her hands above her head and gave her exactly what she wanted.
Hard and fast.

He filled her completely, but nothing could compare to the way she filled him. She made him feel whole, complete, in a way he never had before. Not even winning a championship could make him feel the way making love to her did. Because that’s exactly what this was. Even though she made him lose control, he was still making love to her, saying with his body everything she wasn’t ready to hear him say with words. He loved this girl, and he wanted to tell her and show her the only way she would let him.

“Oh…” Her breath was coming in short bursts, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

He could tell she was close when he commanded, “Open your eyes. Look at me.”

She did as he asked, and as she came apart with his name on her lips, he saw everything she was too afraid to say. She was falling in love with him too. He knew it. He could sense it in the way she let go with him, feel it every time she touched him or looked at him. Her smile told him he made her happy, and making this girl happy was suddenly the most important thing in the world to him. For every time she’d been sad and scared and frustrated, he wanted to make her smile.

She was still pulsating, unintentionally clenching him in her tight heat, and he couldn’t take any more. Rowan groaned as he flooded her while kissing her, pouring everything he had into her, wanting her to take all of him while giving all of herself to him.

I love you.
The words were burning the tip of his tongue, but he bit them back, breaking the kiss while their hearts seemed to beat as one, letting him know they were in sync, whether she was ready to admit it or not.

“Wow,” she said with a half laugh when they finally broke apart. “That was incredible.”

He curled his hand around her face, his eyes lingering on hers long enough to convey his adoration before he whispered, “You’re incredible, baby.”

Spending the night at Rowan’s, in his arms, waking up to breakfast in bed, made Tenley feel safe, secure, loved. And it had been a long time since she felt those things. Hell, if she were being honest with herself, she’d have to admit she’d never felt those things.

Safety and security were never words she could associate with her home life when she was growing up. As much as her brothers loved her and tried to take care of her, they were just kids themselves, trying to figure out how to deal with the unfair hand life had dealt them.

And her brief engagement made her feel more insecure and uncertain than she’d ever been.

But with Rowan, everything was different. He was different. He made
her
feel different. She wasn’t the same woman she’d been before she met him. He made Tenley feel free to be herself, and she pushed fear to the back of her mind as she embraced this newfound feeling of happiness and possibility instead.

When she walked into their apartment the next morning, Tenley was greeted by a huge bouquet of flowers that instantly made her smile. Ace must have given them to Stacey.

While she tried not to get caught up in her friend’s love life, Tenley was glad Stacey had finally met a man who appreciated her for the incredible person she was. Even if it meant Walker had to go on punishing himself for not realizing it sooner.

“Hey,” Stacey said, looking up from her eReader. “I don’t have to ask how your night was. Those came for you about an hour ago.” She smiled. “Beautiful, aren’t they?”

Tenley couldn’t deny she was surprised. Rowan didn’t strike her as the kind of guy who would buy flowers for no reason. But then, neither did Ace.

“Wow,” she said, walking slowly toward the massive bouquet of assorted blooms. “He must have called these in before I woke up, or when I was in the shower.” She picked up the pink card and read the message—
You’re Beautiful—
before setting it back down with a smile. “This is a first.”