Chapter Ten

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Autumn sucked in a breath and dug her fingers into his muscled shoulders, a thousand emotions colliding inside her as the initial burst of shock cleared. Was this real? Gavin kissing her, his hands in her hair, and his long, powerful body pressed to hers the way she’d fantasized about so many times.

And it wasn’t a gentle, coaxing kiss. Nothing like the ones they’d shared that night so long ago. It wasn’t a seduction or an apology.

It was a claiming, the raw hunger emanating from him leaving her stunned.

He broke the kiss to nip at her lower lip, flicked his tongue across it, and shifted his mouth before she could deepen the contact. “I wish I could go back in time,” he murmured against the edge of her lips, his deep voice barely registering over the pounding of her heart in her ears. “Go back to that night and do it all differently.”

Her head spun, her body on fire.

He sucked on her lower lip, slid his tongue inside to touch hers, then retreated, flooding her with molten heat. “I’ve thought about that night so many times. Wish I could have been what you deserved back then.”

She shook her head to deny the self-loathing she heard buried in his tone. “No, don’t say that.”

He lifted his head just enough to stare down into her eyes, both of them breathing faster, their lips inches apart. He was so hot and hard all over.

She couldn’t think clearly. Could barely breathe with the way he was looking at her, like he wanted to make a meal out of her. And she would let him.

“I’ve owed you for a long damned time, sweet thing. But I’m going to more than make it up to you now.”

A hundred different erotic visions filled her mind. Him naked, all those mouthwatering muscles on full display for her, exposed to her gaze, her touch. Him holding her just like this but on a flat surface, his weight pressing her down into a bed. His strong hands commanding her one moment, then seducing her the next while his mouth took care of her every need and soothed the empty ache he’d left in her life when he’d shipped out.

“Say you want me, Autumn,” he rasped against the edge of her mouth, the rock hard length of his erection pressed between her spread legs.

She whimpered in frustration and pulled his mouth back to hers, coming up on her toes to wrap one knee around the back of his thigh and pull him even closer. He made a deep, guttural sound that shot a thrill through her and rocked his erection against her core, hitting the spot that throbbed the worst.

Oh, God...She was dizzy. Couldn’t catch her breath, her body transformed into a stripped electrical wire. She wanted him and what he was offering. Needed it so bad she—

The front door lock clicking open broke them apart. She immediately ripped away from him, wiped her mouth with her hand and yanked down the hem of her shirt just as the front door opened out of view.

“Anybody home?”

Tristan. Shit.

Her gaze flew to Gavin, who stared at her with a clenched jaw, his cheeks flushed and his eyes still smoldering with unbridled heat.

“In here,” she answered in a bright voice that sounded horribly fake, the terrifying hunger that had engulfed her moments ago suddenly extinguished.

Tristan appeared in the entrance to the kitchen, his easy smile fading when he saw them. He stopped short, eyeing them. “Hey.” He looked at Gavin. “I texted to ask you to pick up a shirt for me, but you never answered, so I came to get it myself.”

“Autumn and I were just talking about something,” he said.

“Ah.” Tristan’s gaze moved back and forth between them, and Autumn wanted to close her eyes and groan. He had to know they’d been doing more than talking.

“Mom? Is Gavvy or Trissy here?” Carly called out from down the hall.

Wonderful. “Yeah, Gavin just came by to grab something,” she called back, hoping her daughter wouldn’t be able to tell what had happened.

A door opened down the hall. Then footsteps.

“Trissy! Gavvy!”

The tension in Gavin’s face melted into a big, warm smile. “Hey, squirt.” He opened his arms in welcome, and Carly rushed straight for him.

A hot rush of tears made Autumn spin away and head for the fridge, blinking fast. She couldn’t handle watching them. Couldn’t bear to think how devastated Carly would be if things went badly after she told him.

She reached into the fridge and grabbed for the first bottle she found. A beer. Fine.

“I’ll just...grab my shirt,” Tristan said somewhere behind her. There was no way he wasn’t picking up on the tension in the room. Zero chance he’d missed her tousled hair and the flush on her cheeks.

Without turning around she twisted off the top and chugged half of it, grimacing at the bitter burn. She hated beer. But it was either this or cry in front of everyone. Pausing only long enough to suck in a breath, she downed the rest of it.

“Wow. Thirsty, Mom?” Sarcasm dripped from Carly’s words.

She put on a smile and looked over her shoulder at her daughter, her heart and body crying out for the man who stood beside her. The man she shared fifty-percent of her DNA with and had no idea. “Not anymore. But you should go back to bed.”

“I’m not tired. And I’m just about finished my report. Can you read it and tell me if anything needs to be fixed?”

Her gaze strayed to Gavin. Locked with his and held, her pulse tripping and that hot throb reigniting between her thighs. Just his presence seemed to take up all the air in the room.

“I should go,” he said when Tristan reappeared with a shirt draped over a forearm.

A flash of disappointment hit, immediately followed by a rush of relief. What had she thought, that Gavin would take her to his bed and fuck her into mindless oblivion while Carly was just across the hall?

She nodded and folded her arms, aware of how defensive and stiff her posture was but unable to do a damned thing about it. “You heading out first thing?” she asked them both.

“On the road at oh-four-hundred,” Gavin answered.

More disappointment. Which was ridiculous. Tristan’s arrival had literally just averted disaster because she didn’t think she would have stopped this on her own. “Drive safe. I hope the weekend is uneventful.”

“Me too.” Gavin smiled down at Carly, kissed the top of her head. “Be good for your mom, and good luck with the report.”

“I’m always good,” Carly protested, leaning into him.

Then he looked over at Autumn, and the intensity in his eyes made her stomach flip. “I’ll see you Monday night, if not before.” It wasn’t a suggestion. “But think about what I said.”

Between that and the forthcoming conversation she was dreading, it was going to be pretty much impossible to think of anything but him all weekend. “Good night.”

“Good night. Sleep tight.” The look in his eyes before he turned away made it clear he would have given anything to be staying the night in bed with her, and that neither of them would be doing much sleeping.

When the front door locked behind them she set the empty bottle on the counter and dropped her head back, praying for strength. Unbelievable as it seemed, things were so much worse than they had been an hour ago.

Gavin claimed to want her, but that might change once he learned the truth. She’d dodged a bullet when Tristan had interrupted them.

And she was very much afraid she wouldn’t be able to dodge the next one when it came.

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