Jaci Burton (26 page)

He pul ed her against him again, kissed her breathless

again, and when she no longer felt the chil in the air, when she

began to sweat under her jacket, she pul ed away, licked her

lips, and swal owed hard.

He swept his knuckles against her cheek. “God, I missed

you. Can we go to your place, because if I can’t get my dick

inside you within the next ten minutes I might push you up

against the tree here and fuck you.”

She laughed, and her body swel ed with arousal at the

tho ug ht of him taking her right here in front of the

administration building. “I might like that.”

His eyes flashed heat. “Don’t tempt me.”

She’d like to tempt him, but her need for him was as great

as his for hers. She grabbed his hand. “Come on.”

Fortunately, she lived right down the street from the campus.

They hopped on his bike and were there a couple minutes

later. Ava fumbled with the keys to the front door, but managed

to open it with shaky hands. Rick pushed her inside, shut the

door, dropped her backpack, and turned her around, his

mouth on hers before she could draw her next breath.

He pushed her against the wal and pul ed her jacket off,

lifted her sweater over her head, then reached for her jeans.

She did the same, her fingers fumbling as they hurried to strip

clothes off. She kicked off her shoes while Rick jerked her

jeans down. It would have been comical, this rush to undress,

if Rick wasn’t looking at her with a heated gaze of lust and

need in his eyes, a look that made her wet, that made her

throb.

In the end, they only ended up half undressed. She stil wore

her bra, and her socks, and he stil had his jeans on, but she

managed to unzip him enough to reach for his cock, wrap her

fingers around his hot, pulsing heat. He grabbed a condom

and sheathed it around his shaft, then dragged her onto the

floor, right there on her pristine, perfect rug.

She couldn’t have thought of a better spot to make love. He

pul ed her legs apart and plunged inside her, and she gasped

at the perfection of it, at the way her body welcomed him.

“I’ve missed you inside me. This is where you belong.” She

swept her hand across his face.

“I love you, Ava.”

She came almost as soon as he started moving against

her, and he lifted his head and smiled at her in such a

devastating, purely male way that it moved her to tears.

“Does coming always make you cry?”

“Only when you fuck me. Do it again.”

He shifted, rol ed his hips over her, sliding against her clit as

he thrust inside her, and then there were no more words as

they had at each other with a primal passion. His fingers dug

into her hips, hurt so good. She raked her nails over his arms,

his back, needing him with a fierce possessiveness, as if she

were marking him as hers forever.

Perhaps she was—in her own way. He reached underneath

her, grabbed her butt to tilt her toward him so he could drive in

deeper, then slid his finger down farther, teasing her anus.

She gasped, raising her gaze to his, uttering a hoarse “yes” to

him as he slid the tip of his finger inside her puckered hole

and continued to fuck her.

“Like that?” he asked, his voice rough with need.

“Yes. God. Yes.”

“You’re mine, Ava. Al of you.”

“Yes. And you’re mine.” She scored her nails down his back

and he rewarded her by thrusting harder.

The sensation was incredible. He powered inside her

again, his shaft rubbing her clit, his cock inside her pussy, and

his finger teasing her anus, and she went off again, this time

with such intense spasms she cried out, holding tight to him.

He thrust hard, then fel on top of her, shuddering as he came.

Ava held on to Rick, unable to believe this had real y

happened. He was here, he’d made love to her—he loved her.

She stroked his sweat-soaked back, his hair, touching him in

wonder.

He pul ed her up and they final y undressed al the way, took

a shower together, and got dressed. Ava fixed them

something to eat and, as Rick sat there at her kitchen table

drinking coffee, she realized her life was in utter disorder.

There were towels on the floor in her bathroom, her

backpack had spil ed al over the living room. God only knows

what had happened to the rug there.

Chaos.

And she had never been more content in her life.

Yet there were so many gaps to fil . She grabbed her coffee

cup and pul ed up a chair next to him at the table.

“Where do you live?” she asked.

“Nowhere, real y. I work out of Dal as and stay at

headquarters there most of the time. But I don’t have a

permanent place because I’m on the road a lot.”

They were silent for a while as they both drank their coffee.

“Do you need to stay in Las Vegas to do your doctorate?”

he asked.

Ava realized then that Rick was wondering about her life,

her future, and the two of them, the same way she was.

“Actual y, I’ve spent the past few days researching doctorate

programs nationwide. There’s a program at one of the

schools in Texas that looks very good.”

He lifted his head. “Real y?”

She smiled at the light in his eyes. “Yes. Would you mind if I

went to school there?”

He leaned forward and kissed her. “I wouldn’t mind that at

al . I figured it was time I moved out of General Lee’s—that’s

my superior officer—house. Time to get a place of my own.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah. Might be nice to have someone to share it with. But

you know, I don’t know much about furniture and decorating

and al that, so I’d need someone who did.”

Ava looked around at al her sparse furnishings. “Wel , I

have to say I don’t know much about that, either. But I think it’s

high time I add some—stuff—into my life. Some color and flair

and excitement. I can’t think of anyone I’d like to share that

with more than you.”

There was a warmth in his gaze—was that love?—that

she’d never seen before. It made her heart melt.

“Could you do that? Could you leave Las Vegas, your family

and friends?”

Without hesitation, she nodded. “I think it’s time I made my

own life.”

“There are some great programs in Dal as that I think you

might like. Programs for social workers. And lots of kids that

need help.”

“Oh, so now you think social workers might have some

value.”

“I told you, babe, I think you have something to offer. Look

what you did for me. I never believed in love until I met you.”

Tears fil ed her eyes. “I think you underestimate yourself.

You’re not the only one who never believed in love, who never

felt loved. For the first time in my life, I want to fil a house with

warmth and love and I have you to thank for that.”

Rick took her hands and pul ed her onto his lap. “I guess we

can teach each other.”

A new life. New opportunities. Scary, but oh so exciting.

She wrapped her arms around him. “I’m looking forward to

that.”

He raised his lips to hers, and at the first brush of his mouth

against hers Ava knew it would al work out. Al she would ever

need was his touch.