Free Settling Ashes: A New Adult/College Romance (The Ashes Series Book 2) by Diana Gardin Page B

pleasure at the contact.
    “I can’t wait to get you under me,” I whispered as I pulled away. I cleared my throat, and placed her abruptly back in her seat. “So let’s make that happen, now.”
    “Okay,” she said breathlessly.
    I drove the rest of the way to her apartment like a madman, slowing only when a stoplight required it.
    When we pulled up, she opened her door and bolted before I could cut the engine or help her out of her seat.
    I left the car in just as much as a hurry, chasing her down the sidewalk.
    We entered the apartment to find that Gillian was in her room with the door shut. The giggling from behind the door indicated that she wasn’t alone.
    Paige stopped short, looking toward Gillian’s door and then back at me, raising a brow.
    I shrugged. I had been in a fog the entire time Paige was gone, but I hadn’t noticed Gillian starting to date anyone.
    Paige looked at me with smoldering eyes. “Let’s go to bed.”

Eight
    Paige
    Clay’s hand tugged me halfway down the hallway before I was whipped around to face him. His lips were on mine before I could take a breath, and I melted into him, letting him kiss me senseless. His hands were everywhere at once, under my shirt, raking up my back and then back down to cup my bottom all within seconds. I gasped against his lips as he lifted me in his arms. I looked down at him and wrapped my legs tightly around his waist. Our eyes remained locked as he continued up the hallway into my room, kicking the door shut behind him with his foot.
    He lay me gently down on the bed as he kicked off his shoes, and I leaned back on my elbows, watching him. I lost contact with his blue eyes as his shirt lifted over his head, and my eyes drifted down to his bare chest and stomach. I gaped as I laid eyes on what I’d been missing: the skin ripping over the hard muscles of his chest and stomach, the trail of dark hair creeping just below his belly button to hide beneath the waistband of his jeans.
    Which he removed next, revealing the soft cotton of striped boxer-briefs. I couldn’t just lie there anymore; I rose onto my knees and reached out for him. He came willingly, grabbing the hem of my sweater before pulling it over my head and tossing it onto the floor.
    We hadn’t spoken, instead choosing to just absorb the moment of being here with the other again after a month’s separation. A month wasn’t long, but being away from Clay for that amount of time felt like a lifetime.
    I ran my hands over the abdominal muscles, feeling each one jump under the light caress of my fingers, and I smiled with anticipation. As I let my fingers trail lightly over his chest, he grabbed my hands and closed his eyes briefly. Then, with a jerk, he slid my legs out from under me and laid me down, landing over top of me as we both crashed to the mattress.
    I was having trouble forming a coherent thought at the moment. I mean, Clay had been my first sexual experience, because Beau and I hadn’t gone there when we dated. We had been so young at the time. But things with Clay had been different from the beginning; things were just as physical as they were emotional. He’d been the first guy I’d exposed myself to after the fire, and he touched me and loved me as if I were a whole person. It was intangible, the connection I had with him for that very reason.
    Being with him again this way was making my heart rate speed to dangerous levels.
    “No more waiting,” he whispered, allowing one of his hands to trail from cupping the side of my face down my collarbone. My breathing hitched as he continued his journey downward, stopping with a light caress that had me biting my lip to keep the moan building inside me contained.
    “I need you, Paige.”
    I nodded, lifting so he could pull off my jeans, which were creating a heavy barrier between us. He pulled them down slowly along with my underwear, stopping to kiss the sensitive spot just inside each thigh as he removed them.
    He came back