Free This Is True Love (Exclusive! #1) by Jamie Wesley Page B

turned into a physical ache. An ache only he could ease. She crowded closer, wanting, needing to feel his hard body against hers. The kiss turned wilder. Harder. Stronger. He took everything he wanted, but so did she. How could she not? He tasted like sin she wanted to indulge in in the worst way.
    Eventually, he gentled the embrace and eased away. “I can’t get enough of you.” The confession sounded ripped from his gut.
    She gasped as he slipped one hand underneath her shirt hem and met her eager flesh. He flexed his fingers against her stomach, then held them there as though he needed to prove to himself that she was real. He stared at her, desire written all over his face. Then his hands went to work, quickly unbuttoning her shirt. “I want to see you.”
    Fliss moaned when his large hands covered her breasts. Whimpered when he pinched her nipples, sending a dark dart of pleasure through her system. An arm wrapped around her waist and bent her back. At the first touch of his mouth on her flesh through her bra, she cried out.
    Her bones liquefied in pure lust under his touch. Thank God he was there to hold her up. To drive her closer to the edge. His mouth skimmed up her chest to her neck, nipping her skin, driving her crazy. She wanted to return the favor. She swept her hands up his shirt, delighting in the rippling of his torso’s muscles. “You feel so good.”
    Alex froze. His hands, his mouth, everything stiffened. “I can’t do this.”
    The statement, though muttered, stabbed into her heart like a blade sharpened to the finest edge.
    Her eyes flew to his. Resignation, confusion, but most of all, determination greeted her.
    “What are you talking about? You were with me the whole time. You’re still holding me.” She winced at the unmistakable wobble in her voice.
    He stepped back. Away from her. “I’m sorry. I let things go too far, but it’s not fair to you. You’re feeling vulnerable.”
    Was he serious? Fury surged through her. She bridged the space between them in one quick stride and poked him hard in the chest. “Don’t you dare speak for me. I know what I want. Can you say the same?”
    He scrubbed his right hand across his face. “It…doesn’t matter. Crescendo. Me and Keith. Stuff from the past. It’s too complicated. I shouldn’t have gone there with you.”
    The little she knew about Alex’s childhood came to her in a rush. How Keith had befriended him when they were kids and asked his parents if Alex could come live with them because of Alex’s unstable home life. A childhood Alex hated talking about. She’d respected his wishes earlier and not pushed him to discuss it because she knew his upbringing hadn’t been easy, but Alex had risen above his past a million times over. It made no sense for him to keep using Keith’s act of goodwill as an excuse, especially knowing the type of person Keith had become. Apparently, the bond the two men shared was too strong to break.
    She pulled the edges of her shirt together, needing to do something to protect herself from the cold that had seeped into her bones.
    What a fool she was. He said it was complicated. Not that complicated. “Bros before hos, is that it?”
    Alex flinched. Well, too damn bad if her blunt language was too much for him. Latching on to anger felt better than allowing the hurt hurtling through her body to consume her. She swung her gaze away from him and stared at the wall, concentrating fiercely on a spot where the cream paint had chipped.
    “Fliss…look at me.”
    She didn’t move. She didn’t dare. Not if she wanted to survive this humiliating experience without breaking into a million pieces.
    “Please.”
    She wanted to ignore the pleading note in his voice but couldn’t. She met his eyes and forcibly steeled herself against the swirling intensity she saw there.
    “We’ve both admitted we misjudged each other,” he said. “We have to work together. I’d like for us to be friends.”
    “Friends?”