19. AVERY #3
“Potentially that I could be really busy. Touch tanks are one of the hardest exhibitions. There are so many factors to take into account. It’s ridiculously time-consuming, and after the project with DC, I wasn’t exactly inclined to go into something so big again.”
“Then don’t.” Combing my hair behind my ear, he adds, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“I know.” I look down between us, and my hands tug at the hem of my dress. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. Hoping that he doesn’t think I’m reading too much into things with us and…
“Avery…”
“Iris loves the school, and we’re happy. I don’t want to give this up, Doc.” Brushing the lock of hair that falls in front of his eyes back into place, I hold his gaze. “This is where I want to be, and if it means that I have to take on this big project…I’ll do it.”
“For a moment I thought you were going to say something different.”
“No, no way.”
We fall silent as he fills a cup with some grape juice. When he hands it to me, I take a sip and put it back down beside us.
“No one has ever done anything for me the way you have. And while it’s not the dates I want to stay for entirely, I can’t part with your cheese.”
“Funny you should mention my fromage…” He pulls the lid off another Tupperware to showcase the different cheeses in it.
“I think you might be rubbing off on me,” I laugh, stopping when his jaw clenches.
“You’re killing me, sweetheart. First the fucking and now the rubbing…”
“Oh my God, you’re worse than Rowan.” I hide behind my hands so that my heated face doesn’t give away the mixture of abashment and need that hums through my veins, making my heart pound and my pulse hammer in my ears.
“Never.” Rhett pokes my side once. “Ever.” He pokes it once more. “Say that again.” Both of his hands grab my thighs, squeezing in a way that makes me squirm.
“Okay! Okay…”
“Good.”
When I glance back up, my eyes catch on the peek of golden skin between buttons as his shirt pulls taut over his abdomen. The faint trail of hair has my eyes following down to the top of his shorts, focusing on the worn, supple brown leather of his belt and the bulge below it.
Jesus, I’m so hot, and my belly is knotting so tight at the sight that I fluster my attempt at swallowing down the spit pooling in my mouth.
There’s so much yearning to reach forward and touch. I can’t help but wonder if he thinks about it like I do. All the time lately. It’s the only thing I can think about. His kiss and how his body feels pressed to mine. I wish I were braver and took more chances. With him.
“Avery.” Rhett’s low growl draws my sight back up to him as he tips my chin up and then clenches his hands into fists over his raised knees.
“Fuck, sunshine…” He bites down his lip hard enough that it blanches, and not only am I thinking of his kiss now, but I’m imagining what it would look like if I bit down on that lip.
All of a sudden, the wide-open ocean isn’t so big. The open air is thick, or thicker than it has ever been. Kneeling between his legs, I’m cocooned by him, and the soft breeze burns with his scent.
Hands grasping at his knees, he leans forward. Not much, but enough that my entire body flutters and hums with anticipation.
“Do you think about me?” The words burst from my mouth, my hand twisting in my skirt, while the other splays over the hollow of my throat. “I think about you all the time, Doc. I can’t stop thinking about you, even when I’m scared or overwhelmed. You’re always there. I can’t stop, Rhett.”
“You’re all I can think about since the moment I first saw you. All the fucking time. Every second. You are everything, sweetheart.”
My hand trails up my neck, pressing to my flaming cheek.
There’s so much happening right now, inside me.
I’m giddy and drunk on the look he’s giving me.
Hunger roars deep in my core for him, and it’s there, reflecting back at me in his eyes.
And I believe it. I believe that I am everything, and that he’ll never let me go.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he murmurs, low and gravelly. The gritty timbre of his voice makes my skin prickle again, in a most electrifying way. “I can’t get enough of all that you make me feel.”
An arm wraps around my waist, bringing me to him. With a deep sigh, his head falls back, and in the last dredges of the sunset, his skin glows warmly. The scruff on his jaw looks a deep golden color.
Rhett’s so fucking beautiful…hypnotizing, actually. And without a second thought, I tuck my face in the crook of his neck.
My heart forgets itself for a moment, skipping a few beats while I breathe him in, deep and greedily, until my lungs threaten to burst because they are so full of him and my blood pounds hot, driving him through my veins.
I nuzzle deeper until I can feel his thrumming heartbeat on my cheek. His scent lingers on my sense of smell, tinging my taste.
A trembling suspire pushes from him as he envelops me in his arms and just holds me. I know he wants more. I can feel it, his need and mine culminating into something that I’m certain could destroy me.