Read Online Inspire by Cora Carmack - Free Book Online Page B

and I say, “Don’t you dare ask me if I’m drunk again.”
    “It’s just … I could have sworn there were scrapes on your feet, but they look fine now.”
    I stiffen. Well, that at least tells me what time it is. We must have passed midnight sometime between the shower and now. Whatever might have happened to my feet was undone with the start of a new day.
    I lie, “Just sore is all.”
    “And I still don’t get to know how you lost your shoes?”
    “Nope.”
    “Did something bad happen? Was there—”
    “I’m fine.” It takes all over my willpower to block out thoughts of the bad thing that happened tonight. He thinks of me as a victim when really, I’m the villain here. “A little cold though.” I scramble back and tug his comforter down enough that I can slide between the sheets. They’re cold too, and I shiver. “Take off those wet jeans and come warm me up.”
    He grins. “Yes, ma’am.”
    He undoes the button at the top of his pants, and I’m so eager to have him that I feel giddy.
    “Wait,” I say. Then I scoot back down the bed, still holding the blankets tight against me. “I want to.”
    He makes a sound low in his throat, but drops his hand away. I reach for the front of his jeans and seek out the zipper. I suck my bottom lip between my teeth as I drag it down. Since the denim is wet, it takes both of my hands to inch the jeans down his hips. Then I let him kick them off the rest of the way, along with his shoes. Underneath he wears black boxer briefs.
    Boxer briefs are hands down the best invention of the last century.
    I lift my eyes to his, and his gaze pierces through me as I drag that last item of clothing down his hips, too.
    And suddenly, I'm nervous.
    I've never slept with someone like this. Without knowing exactly where we stand, and how things will end with the other person. Every other time, I've been in control. But now, the balance of power is completely off because I want this with a desperation that puts too much out of my control.
    I lift my hand and wrap my fingers around his erection, thinking maybe it will shift that balance, give me the upper hand. He utters my name with a low growl and smoothes a hand over my cheek, resting one callused thumb on my bottom lip. I tighten my grip and give a slow tug.
    “Jesus, Kalli. You feel so good.”
    I kiss his thumb when it passes over my lips again, and he bends, taking my mouth in a bruising kiss. He pulls back the covers and grips my hips to slide me further up the bed. Back in the open air, I should be cold, but I'm not. In fact, I'm burning up.
    Wilder crawls up my body, his limbs sleek and strong. He dips and places a kiss on my sternum, just between the swell of my breasts. He closes his eyes, humming under his breath and drags his stubbled cheek over the sensitive swell of skin until his hot breath skates over the tip.
    I cry out, arching under him, and he's barely even touched me.
    “I think,” he says, murmuring just above my skin, “that this part of you will have to wait.”
    “Wait?” I ask, breathless.
    “Mmhmm. I told you that I'm going to know all of you, but you're so fucking responsive. And so damn sweet. I know if I taste you here …” His teeth graze my nipple for just a second, and my back nearly bows off the bed. “I’ll get impatient if I take your perfect breast into my mouth, and I won't be able to resist being inside you.”
    “So don't. You're not the only one who lacks patience.”
    He chuckles, moving over to kiss my shoulder. “I made a promise, sweet. And I keep my promises.”                                                            
    He hovers above me and presses his lips to my temple, then my forehead, followed by the tip of my nose.
    “We'll start small,” he says, moving over my cheek and down the line of my jaw. “You know, when I saw you in that grocery store, I almost thought I was dreaming. You looked … God, you