Phase (Phoebe Reede: The Untold Story #1) (21 page)

I squeezed my eyes shut and wrapped my arms around him. The moment felt surreal as if it were nothing more than a dream. Only, the ache between my legs and the bliss racing through my veins proved that it wasn’t.

“Dang it, woman,” Beau murmured after a moment. “What’ve I been missin’?”

A peal of laughter burst from me.

BEAU WALKED HIS fingers up my spine and pressed his lips against my shoulder.

Without opening my eyes, I smiled and gave a little noise of approval to let him know his soft touches weren’t unwanted. After our first time, we’d had a shower together. It was my first chance to actually drink in all the finer details of his body. The way his
V
ended right at the base of his cock. How each tiny muscle along his spine was as defined as the next. The way his cock hung long when it was flaccid, not lengthening but hardening and widening as he’d grown excited again.

We’d settled in for round two without waiting to dry off completely—dragging a few extra condoms with us . . . just in case.

Now, I was satiated but still couldn’t get enough of his gentle touches. Lying on my stomach, with one of his legs wrapped around mine as his body half covered me, I was in heaven.

Even though it was getting late, I had no desire to sleep. Sleeping meant missing out on precious moments with Beau.

When his trailing fingers reached my arse, he caressed the cheek with his palm and groaned. His cock, pressed against my thigh by our position, started to harden. His lips moved from my shoulder to my nape. As his kisses moved along my back, he shifted so that his body completely covered mine.

Pressed against the bed, with his cock resting between my thighs, made my nerve endings sing. My body was on fire with need.

“Fuck, how do you do that?” I asked, as my breath was stolen away.

“Do what?” he asked, pushing my hair up to access more of my skin.

“Touch me and turn me on so much. It’s like your fingers, your lips, everything, have a direct line to my pussy.”

He chuckled. Because his weight still pinned me in place, I felt the motion of his body echoing through me. I pushed my arse back against him.

“I ain’t never been turned on by crass words and dirty talk.”

I cringed, wondering if my frank mouth was pushing him away.

His breath tickled across my shoulders. “But on you, it’s so gosh darn sexy.”

He pulled away from me and reached for the bedside table. I didn’t need to ask what he was after because it was obvious. A second later, he confirmed my thoughts with the ripping of foil and the now familiar sound of him rolling a condom over himself.

“Really,” I asked, half rolling to laugh at him.

He looked up from his cock and gave me one of his slow, blinding smiles. My breath caught in my throat at the sight.

“It’s what you do to me, darlin’. You’ve turned me into some sort of fiend.”

“A sex fiend?” My laughter was easy and carefree.

He settled back over me. I spread my legs to allow him access, and he lined himself up and pushed into me. Then he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around mine, holding my hands in place above my head. Although the position wasn’t as deep as some of the others we’d explored, it reached new places inside me. Between that, the feeling of being pinned in place and unable to move, and the pressure of my clit against the bed, I was panting and ready for release in almost no time.

“You feel so good,” he murmured against my neck as he rocked us both with each thrust of his hips.

Needing something more to tip me over the edge, I shifted my legs closer to each other. When it resulted in a fuck-hot groan from Beau, I did it again, squeezing my legs together. The sensation was enough and sent me flying over the edge, glad for his hold on my hands and the weight of his body to keep me grounded in the moment as wave after wave of release coursed through me.

“Holy—”

He stilled and stiffened behind me as his teeth sank into a fleshy part of my neck, biting just hard enough to send a fresh wave of my orgasm rolling over me. A second later, a spasm rushed over his body and his cock twitched with release inside me.

When his teeth released my skin, he chuckled. “Sorry, darlin’, I was hoping to go a bit longer than that.” He pushed himself off me, giving me enough room to spin around so that we were face-to-face.

“It’s okay,” I said.
More than okay.
“It’s not like I didn’t come first.” I reached out for the back of his head, guiding his lips to mine.

After he’d left me breathless again with his gentle kisses and soft touches over my body, he stood to clean himself up.

“So, I was thinkin’,” he began when he returned from the bathroom.

“Sounds dangerous,” I replied with a laugh.

“You know how I suggested we spend tomorrow—”

“Today,” I interrupted, pointing at the clock to show it was now after midnight.

“Today,” he confirmed. “I know I said we should go to Ormond Beach, but I’m wonderin’ whether you’d be up for a change of plans?”

“I’m up for anything. I do need to start heading to New York soon though. My flight from there to LA leaves in three days.” Even as I said the words, my heart sank. How much more time did I have with Beau? I’d need to start counting down the minutes soon.

He was back at my side in an instant, his hand caressing my face.

“Hey, now, none of those,” he said, swiping his thumb over my cheek to wipe away a tear that had fallen. Despite telling me not to cry, his voice broke as he said the words. “Remember, just us. No thoughts of goodbye. Not until we have to.”

I rolled over against him and buried my face against his chest so he wouldn’t see the tears that grew fatter and fell faster at his words. Instead of comforting me again, he wrapped his arms around me and held me in place.

The sound of his heartbeat echoed in my ear, and I focused on that to calm me and stop my tears. Maybe I would have to say goodbye soon enough, but it wasn’t now. We still had a little while longer.

“I was thinkin’ I might take ya home with me,” Beau said after a moment.

“Huh?”

“For the fourth of July. I was thinkin’ of taking ya home. Show ya how it’s done proper.”

“It’s a bit of a hike from here though isn’t it?”

He chuckled, the sound surrounding me and making me feel like I was at home. “Only eight hours or so.”

I laughed. “Only.”

“I’d love to show ya this piece of me if ya’d like?” He pulled away from me and brushed my hair off my face. He looked so young, so innocent and earnest. Saying no would break his heart, so I couldn’t—not that I wanted to.

“Mmm, yeah, I think I’d like.” I curled back against him.

For a moment we lay like that, slowly drifting off to the sleep I’d been willing to fight an hour or more earlier. Then I shocked awake. “Will your family be there?”

“What’s that, darlin’?” Beau mumbled, clearly closer to sleep than I had been.

“When we go to Georgia . . . will your family be there?”

“Anyone’d think ya were a’scared a meetin’ ’em,” he murmured against my hair, his voice a sleepy garble.

Instead of continuing the conversation, I moved closer to him—unwilling to admit how close he was to the truth. I closed my eyes and tried to find some sleep.

WHEN I woke the next morning, the bed was cold. Empty.

A gasp escaped me when I saw I was alone. Beau had been in my arms when I’d fallen asleep. Where was he now?

“Beau?” I called out, thinking maybe he’d headed into the shower. Only there was no water running, and the door stood open. I thought about our night and wondered whether something had changed for him. Although a tiny part of me considered the fact that maybe he’d done a runner in the middle of the night, it just didn’t seem fitting with what I knew about him. True, that wasn’t much, but it was enough.

Silence was the only reply.

His phone was gone. The items of clothing that had been scattered around the room—both mine and his—were tidied away. My clothes were on the armchair where our night had started.

Maybe he had left.

His boots were gone. Every trace of him was absent. Every single one except the bin in the bathroom filled with torn condom packets and tissues that I knew to contain used condoms.

I glanced over at the clock and saw I had less than an hour to get ready, pack, and check out of the hotel room.
Shit!

It left me no time to fuck around worrying about Beau. I’d have to work that puzzle out when I could.

Running around, I threw everything back into my backpack and grabbed out a new outfit. I left my clean clothes on the bed as I raced into the shower, quickly washing my hair and rinsing off my body. As I trailed my soaped-up hands over my body, I couldn’t help but think of Beau’s hands and lips tracing the same path.

There was still a slight ache between my legs. It wasn’t pain as much as an awareness that things were different. Like I could still feel the fullness and stretching sensation of Beau’s cock rocking within me.

Where could he have gone? Why did he go without saying goodbye?

I flicked the water off and grabbed one of the towels we’d used the night before. I patted myself dry and then flicked my hair forward, wrapping it in the towel. After I’d deodorised and moisturised, I ducked my head down again to pull the towel off my hair. As I walked back into the bedroom, I scrunched my hair in the towel to get rid of the last of the moisture.

“Well, there’s a sight I could certainly get used to.”

I screamed before I realised it was Beau who’d spoken. He was sitting on the bed next to my clean clothes, watching me with a hungry gaze and a smile on his lips.

“Shit, Beau, you scared me.” I held the towel in front of my body. Somehow being naked in front of him, in the cold light of morning and while he was fully dressed, felt completely different than it had the night before.

“Sorry, I didn’t intend to do anythin’ of the sort.”

“You were gone when I woke up,” I said, trying to fight the accusing tone in my voice. I took a step closer to him but didn’t drop my hold on the towel.

“Both regrettable and unavoidable, I’m afraid.” He stood and was in front of me in two steps. His hand reached out and clutched the towel. With a gentle tug, he coaxed it from my hold. “Very regrettable, in fact,” he murmured as he traced his knuckle along the now familiar path over the corner of my smile.

His gaze trailed down my body, slow and steady as if committing every inch to memory.

“Where’d you go?”

“I was stayin’ in Daytona Beach too, remember?”

“Yeah, so?” A second after I’d said it, I realised. “Oh! You had your own hotel room.”

“Bingo.”

“I’m sorry that you didn’t get to use it.”

His eyes met mine and he grinned. “I ain’t.”

My smile widened and I chuckled. “Well, truthfully, I’m not either. Last night was—” I couldn’t think of a word that was adequate. I dropped my eyes, staring at his boots, and swallowed. “It was everything.”

“Heh. Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I got coffee. But I didn’t know how ya liked yours.”

“I don’t usually drink it,” I admitted. “But thank you.”

“I got a hot chocolate too. And tea.”

“I’ll have the hot chocolate,” I said before I scrunched my brows. “Wait, tea?”

“Don’t ya drink tea down under?”

I glanced over to the container with four cups and chuckled. “Some people do, but I think you’re thinking of the Brits.”

“I just wanted to make sure ya had what ya needed.”

“Thank you, Beau. But really, I’ve got everything I wanted right here.” I pressed my hand against his chest, pushing him back down onto the bed.

He reached out for me, but I stepped away from his hold.

“Wait up, cowboy, I’ve gotta get dressed or I’ll be heading to check out of the room in nothing but my birthday suit.”

“Seems a dang shame to have to cover all that up.” His lips lifted as he teased me.

Knowing that we were running on limited time, I resisted the temptation of his lips, his arms, every part of him, and started to get dressed. Still, I couldn’t resist teasing him just a little. I picked up my sensible cotton undies and slipped them on. As I did, I danced in a little circle, rotating my hips and sashaying as if I were performing a strip tease in reverse.