Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
EDEN
There was something different about the way he kissed me that time. There was something almost desperate in the way he forced my tongue to battle with his, how he nipped and licked like he couldn’t taste enough.
I fed on it like a junkie, quickly becoming addicted to him in every possible way.
I could hear the sound of a phone ringing in the distance, like it was coming from deep within a tunnel. It wasn’t mine, that much I could tell.
“Lincoln,” I moaned as his lips slid down my jaw to my neck. I hummed as the tip of his tongue flicked against the cord of my neck. “Honey,” I managed through the fog of lust surrounding me. “Do you need to get that?”
His head came up and his heated eyes hit mine. “Hell no,” he snarled, diving back for my mouth. “Whoever it is can fuck off.” Reaching into the pocket of his jeans, he pulled the phone out and tossed it onto the counter.
“Thank god,” I groaned, fisting his hair and deepening the kiss.
His hands traveled down my sides, grabbing the material of my flimsy dress and bunching it up.
A second later, I felt the rough pads of his fingers against the skin of my ass as he grabbed hold and lifted me like I was light as air.
As soon as my legs came up to wrap around his waist, we were on the move, heading out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into my bedroom.
I kept my limbs locked tight around him as he bent, lowering us onto the bed. “Christ,” he grunted as the erection behind his fly rubbed hard against me, causing my back to arch on a gasp. “So goddamn beautiful.”
It was finally happening. I’d been dying for this, to feel him all over me. “Don’t stop,” I panted, clinging to him like my life depended on it as he lifted up.
“Relax, baby.” That dimple made another appearance, and the sight of it made me hot and wet. “No way in hell I’m stoppin’. I just need to see you.”
I laid there, my whole body trembling as he slowly lifted my dress, revealing an inch of skin at a time like he was unwrapping a present and wanted the anticipation to last as long as possible.
Usually this was the time self-consciousness would kick in, clawing at me and tainting the moment with thoughts of Do I look too fat?
or Is he going to be turned off by my belly roll?
But none of those thoughts were present now.
I couldn’t concentrate on worrying about how I looked when Lincoln’s eyes were flashing with fire the higher my dress rose.
I felt the heat of his gaze as it trailed up up up, leaving a delicious sting across my skin.
I lay perfectly still, happy to revel in the adoration shining from those deep green depths until I was finally forced to lift my arms so he could pull the dress completely off, leaving me in nothing but my bra and panties.
“Fuck me,” Lincoln growled as his eyes darted all over. It was as if he couldn’t decide where to look and was trying to take everything in all at once. I silently crowed in excitement, glad I’d picked the right undies for the occasion.
I cried out when his lips came down on my belly. My entire body felt like a live wire as he trailed wet kisses along my ribs. The heat of his mouth caused a rush of arousal to flood my panties just before he sucked my nipple through the lace of my bra.
“Oh god.” My body bowed up, eager to get closer as my nails dug into his scalp. “Yes! Lincoln, baby.”
A ragged rumble drifted up from his chest as he moved to my other breast to pay it the same attention. I writhed beneath him, linking my legs tighter around his waist and lifting my hips to rub against him, desperate for more.
He pulled away, just long enough to unhook the clasp and whip my bra off.
“Jesus, baby,” he grunted, palming one of my breasts in his massive hand.
“Most beautiful tits I’ve ever seen.” Then he dove back in, sucking and biting at my nipples as his other hand skated down my body.
I sucked in a sharp gasp as his fingertips brushed along the damp fabric between my legs.
“And so fucking wet. You want me, Edie?”
“Yes,” I breathed, my lungs so tight they felt like they were about to burst. “God, Linc. I’ve wanted you for so long.”
Something in his gaze shifted just then. I couldn’t place the emotion I saw shining down at me, but whatever it was left me unsettled.
“Linc?” I started, but before I could get another word out, he shoved the lace of my panties out of the way and buried two fingers deep inside me.
And just like that, I was lost.
Lincoln
Fuck. I was such a fucking idiot.
How I could have let months pass and not realize the beauty who was living just two doors down was beyond me.
She’d wanted me since practically moving to town, and I’d been too fucking stupid to see the perfection standing right in front of me this whole time.
She was so much more than beautiful. She was smart and kind and funny. Jesus, so goddamn funny.
I’d left the Marines jaded and world-weary, having seen firsthand the ugliness people were capable of. But when I was with her, all of that drifted away. She made me laugh when I hadn’t had much to laugh at the past several years, and she did it easily.
“Linc?”
Her low, husky voice pulled me back to the present, and as I looked down at all those sweet, sinful curves wrapped in that pale green lace, my cock grew even harder.
My need to see her face as I brought her to the brink pushed every other thought from my mind, and I drove two fingers inside her tight, wet heat.
“Yes!” Her arms went up to brace against the headboard while her hips began circling, and fuck me, it was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. No reservations or inhibitions. Those light brown eyes grew darker and her creamy skin flushed pink as I drove in and out, fucking her with my fingers.
“You like that?”
“Yeah,” she moaned, using the leverage on the headboard to drive herself down on my hand even harder. “Please, baby. I’m so close.”
I could hear my phone ringing again from the kitchen, but I didn’t give a shit. I had the most beautiful woman in the world beneath me, only seconds away from coming, and as far as I was concerned, that was all that mattered.
Slamming my mouth down on hers, I drove my tongue inside, tangling with hers in tune with each thrust of my fingers.
That was all it took for her to snap. Her pussy clamped down as Eden flooded my hand, and she let out a long, low mewl as she came, tightening her legs around my waist. It was the most intoxicating sound I’d ever heard.
Lifting my head, I watched her face as it washed over her. I touched and stroked her through every tremor as her release slowly left her, and by the time she finished, it was a goddamn wonder I hadn’t blown in my pants.
“Shit,” she gasped, sucking in a breath as her arms lowered to wrap around my neck. “That was….” A dreamy, lust-drunk smile stretched across her lips.
A chuckle rumbled up my throat as I pressed my lips against hers. “Having trouble there, darlin’?”
“I think you fried my brain,” she replied. “I can’t think of words.”
“Then I did my job.”
Her tiny fingers pulled at the hem of my shirt and pressed into my skin at my back as her eyelids lowered to half-mast. “So does that mean it’s my turn?”
Jesus. Fucking amazing.
“We’ve got all night, baby. And I’m nowhere near done with you.”
Just as I went in for another kiss, my phone started ringing again.
“Goddamn it,” I snarled, lifting my head and glaring in the direction of the kitchen.
“Honey,” At the sound of her voice, I looked back down at her. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of hearing those endearments come from her sexy, plump lips. “I think you need to get that. Whoever it is is pretty insistent. We can pick this up after.”
Pushing off the mattress, I gave her a hard look and pointed at her. “Don’t you move from this bed. I’ll be right back.”
“Sir, yes, sir,” she said with a mock salute.
With another laugh, I started down the hall. The moment I saw the seven missed calls from Hayes, the smile on my face fell away.
Hitting a button, I held the phone up to my ear and waited for half a ring before Hayes answered.
“Fuck, brother, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for half an hour.”
“Been a little busy,” I grumbled into the line as I adjusted my erection to a more comfortable position. “What’s so goddamn important that you—”
“Hate to say this, but we’re on the way to your girl’s place right now to pick her up. You might want to get to her fast as you can.”
My back went straight, and every muscle in my body locked tight. “What happened?”
“Don’t have time to give you all the details, but there was another break-in about an hour ago. Problem is this time the owner was home.”
Ice filled my veins as dread clamped hold of my chest like a vise. “What’re you sayin’?”
“I’m sayin’ that this just turned into a murder investigation, and your girl’s front and center of the whole goddamn thing. We’re five minutes out, comin’ in heavy on Cap’s orders. You need to brace her for what’s to come. I suggest you do it now.”
With that, he hung up, and the world fell out from beneath my feet.