Read Online Off Base by Sophie Jordan, Tessa Bailey - Free Book Online Page B

thudding double time in her chest, she covered his mouth with one hand. “Nothing we do or say together is wrong.” When his furrowed brow began to ease in degrees, she removed her hand. “You were amazing, True Blue. That’s kind of an epic understatement, actually, but my brain has left the building.”
    When color flared in his cheekbones, something shifted inside Kenna. Something sharp and boulder-sized. It alarmed her so much, she jolted beneath Beck’s huge frame. Before she could scramble away, he scooped her up in his arms and stood. Without instructing him where her bedroom was located, he found it on the first try, nudging the door open with his foot. He didn’t bother turning on the light, but laid her down with exaggerated gentleness in the center of her queen-sized bed, which was laughable since he’d just full-on screwed her brains out. But she couldn’t manage a laugh around the panic when he climbed into bed with her.
    “Y-you’re staying?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” She couldn’t see his face in the darkness, but his breath feathered over her lips. “And I wouldn’t advise asking me to leave when I’m feeling this way.”
    Her heart rioted. Thud thud thud . “Which way is that?”
    “Like I’ve laid claim to what’s mine. And I need to—to guard her now.” A beat of silence vanished into the darkness. “I can’t put it any more plainly, Kenna.”
    As her mind reeled, Beck drew her up against his chest, brawny arms wrapping around her body, one hand cradling her head. Oh God. Her first sleepover…and it felt permanent.
    But nothing was permanent. This, especially, couldn’t be permanent. Just as soon as she caught a few minutes of sleep, she’d figure out how to shake the guy.
    Drowsiness coupled with Beck’s warmth dragged her down, making resistance futile.
    Just a few minutes.
    She was asleep ten seconds later.

Chapter Six
    Beck woke to the smell of incense and buried his face closer to the source. No. They were sheets, not Kenna. It smelled better on her skin, and he wanted to get a fix. Where was she? Beck cracked an eye open in the early morning light and searched for her across the bed. Not there. He sat up too quickly, causing his head to swim, but it gave him the second he needed to calm himself. They were in her apartment, after all. She couldn’t have gone too far. Even if the apartment was so silent and still he could hear his own sprinting heartbeat.
    He untangled himself from the flannel sheets and stood, marveling how rested he felt. Lord, he’d slept like the dead after what they’d done. Had she been expecting him to wake up last night for round two? He wrapped a hand around his heavy cock and groaned. Round two was a definite possibility right now, but a nagging intuition told him Kenna would still be in bed if that’s what she wanted. Would he ever face another day without wanting what she’d given him last night? He doubted it. Doubted he’d want it with anyone else, either.
    He’d always figured his first time would be a necessary evil, a jumping off point after which he’d get better. Learn how to please a woman. But Kenna, she’d been pleased. More than that, she’d given him a glimpse at her vulnerability. He hadn’t expected that, and the woman beneath had addicted him more than sex ever could. If she was still lying in bed, Beck worried he might have crawled on top of her and demanded to know every single thought in her head. So maybe it was a good thing he’d been given this time alone to think before going to find her.
    Beck pulled a throw blanket off the end of Kenna’s bed and wrapped it around his waist. Unable to resist a quick look at her possessions, in the hopes it might give him some insight, he stopped in front of a framed picture on her dresser. A teenage Kenna in an oversized orange jumpsuit picking up garbage on the side of the road. She looked directly into the camera, her expression defiant. Daring the person snapping the photograph