Break Me (The Summer Series) by Harper James

dive in, consuming her or overwhelming her, but was clearly building
to something. The hand that she had deflected before now made its way to her
middle with no interference. “Gem,” he whispered as he continued to kiss her
but now with urgency, “please tell me if I go too far.”
    “I will.” She panted with desire. “Please don’t
stop yet.” She shocked herself, not with the words but with the ferocity with
which she said them.
    “Noted,” he whispered before he let his lips
trail down her neck. “Off,” he commanded gruffly before sitting up and helping
her out of her tank top.
    “Same,” she replied as she ran her fingers over
his abs, helping him remove the annoying piece of cloth. As they found their
way back together, he rolled so he was on top of her. The hammock, not being
designed as a bed for activity, couldn’t handle the aggressive motion, and they
flipped to the left, falling with a thud to the sand. Gemma happened to end up
on top and she looked down, searching Abe’s face for signs of injury. “Are you
okay?”
    “Yeah.” He grunted. “It’s easier this way, anyway.”
    She smiled down at him as she sat up. “Yes, it
is.”
    Gemma had the thought that it was time to take
the next step. Her hands, almost of their own accord, began to rise to the
strings that held her bikini in place. Abe, knowing her as he did, reached up
and stopped her. “What?” She worried her lip as she looked down at him, scared
she had done too much or worse, that he realized he didn’t like what he saw.
Nerves she had been able to disregard or fight started to creep to the surface.
Images of him walking away without a backward glance began to creep into her
mind. She prepared to get up and hurry away, mentally reminding herself it was
dark enough that she didn’t even need to find her shirt first. Just as she
started to stand, he rolled them over so he was on top of her. Staring into her
eyes, there was a softness she hadn’t expected in the moment. The gentle shake
of his head was all the reassurance she needed.
    He smiled down at her as he lowered his lips to
her collar bone and sucked her skin, goose bumps erupting all over as electric
shots were going off and her brain grasped what he was explaining with his
actions. “You are so gorgeous.” He lifted his lips and then looked into her
eyes. “So perfect,” he whispered.
    She looked down and ached with want for more
but knew that, for tonight, she needed to be done. It was clear by her
insecurities, by her fears, and by her desperate need to run only moments
before that the trust she needed to further a relationship with this man still
eluded her. She wanted it. She craved it. And yet, she knew that it still
wasn’t the right time. Too much too soon would ruin a good thing. As she let
out an exhausted breath, slightly pushing against Abe, knowing he would get the
hint, he release d a long and tortured sigh of his own.
Collapsing next to her in the sand.
    Minutes later, after they had regained their
breaths, he rolled to face her. “Well, that was an insanely crazy idea.” He
laughed as they both stared down at the sand sticking to their bodies. “Care to
take a dip, my lady?”
    “I’m pretty sure, based on what we just did in
the middle of a public beach that I’m not much of a lady.”
    Laughing, he leaned over and gently kissed her
lips. “Whatever you are it’s exactly what I want.” He reached over and pulled
her up. She followed a step behind him as they headed into the sea, replacing
sand with salt but indifferent to anything besides each other. Minutes and more
than one kissing break later, they were dressed and on the hammock again,
falling asleep in each other’s arms. Gemma was well aware that she had gone
from like to trust to something close to love in an infinitesimal amount of
time.
    ~~~
    “Walk of shame, walk of shame,” Kate
yelled as Gemma crawled through the window around five in the morning.
    “Shhh,” she whispered