Ignite (Legacy) by Rebecca Yarros Page B

leaving my best friend behind, it’s about what we have between us—what we can be if we just give this a chance.”
    My chest tightened as I waited for her to respond, her eyes moving between mine and the landscape. I’d been so careful with her these last seven years, cautious with my feelings and how much I let her know. But laying it all out on the line was both freeing and terrifying.
    I’d rather be at a fire. At least those were the flames I knew how to battle—Avery I’d just let burn me if she wanted.
    “It’s a beautiful dream,” she said softly.
    “It can be reality.” Don’t give up, Avery.
    She sighed. “And Addy?”
    “You are under no obligation to live with me. You know that. But there’s plenty of room here. I want nothing more than to wake up next to you every day, and the bedroom down the hall on the left has a great view that I think she’d like.”
    Her eyes swam with tears. “You’d do that? Live with Adeline?”
    “Adeline is pretty much my little sister, too. I have no problem helping you raise her. You’ve done a damn good job already, and I’d love to ease some of that. Besides, the room at the end is a three-story drop, so it’s the hardest for a boy to sneak in.”
    She laughed, two tears racing down her face. “I don’t know what to say.”
    I brushed the tears away with my thumbs. “Say yes. Say you’ll make the crazy choice to come with me. Say you’ll jump with me. For once, let’s do something reckless.”
    “How can you be so sure we’d work out?”
    The fear in her eyes might have given me pause if not for that tiny glimmer of hope I saw there, and that was what I latched onto. “Because you’re already my longest relationship. You’ve always been the woman I’ve put before everyone else. I would never hurt you, never betray you, never stray from your body if I knew you felt the same.”
    “How do you feel?” she whispered, opening the door I’d done my damndest to keep shut all these years.
    “Avery, don’t you realize that I’m completely, madly, whole-heartedly in love with you?” I didn’t wait for her answer, simply sealed my mouth over hers and showed her that I meant every single word.

8
    Avery
    H is tongue consumed my mouth the way his words invaded my soul—completely and without apology.
    His confession had done what I thought was impossible and brought down every last one of my defenses against him. This wasn’t some fling—this was River. My River.
    God, could the man kiss. It was a blatant, carnal exploration that had me arching against him, reaching for his head to hold him closer. He grasped me under my ass, lifting me easily, and my legs wrapped around his waist.
    He brought us into the bedroom and headed for the massive four-poster bed that took up the center of the room, never once breaking the kiss or pausing. He lowered us to the mattress, and my senses ignited. The feel of the fur coverlet beneath me combined with River’s taste, his scent, the weight of him as he rested between my thighs all merged together to awaken every nerve ending. The need that had pulsed in me that morning came back tenfold, demanding appeasement.
    He kissed me deeper, with care and carefully checked passion. I felt his restraint in the tension of his arms, the flex of his fingers. He wanted me, but he wasn’t going to do anything I wasn’t fully ready for. The knowledge was heady, relaxing and inflaming all in the same moment because I knew he would give me whatever I wanted.
    And he loved me.
    Sweetness filled my chest and expanded outward, lingering in my limbs until his hands stroked up my rib cage, and then desire overpowered it.
    I stretched my arms above my head, silently urging him to take off my shirt.
    “Are you sure?” he asked.
    “I want your hands on me,” I whispered against his mouth, gently tugging on his lower lip with my teeth. “Here. Now.”
    This would be his home. I had zero doubt. For this moment, it was mine, too,