In Too Deep by Kira Sinclair

her that much more for the glimpse of vulnerability. “Every girl’s dream. To be cursed at then kissed,” she said on a tiny laugh.
    It took him a second to figure out what she meant.
    “I wasn’t cursing at you, Avery. I was cursing myself for not having the strength to say no to you.
    Shifting, Knox reached for the shirt he’d left on the sand and rolled it into a tube. Lifting her head, he replaced his thigh with the shirt and then stretched out beside her.
    Smoothing his hands down her body, Knox stared into her eyes, looking for any sign that she wasn’t as certain as she seemed.
    “You’re sure this is what you want?”
    She swallowed, the elegant line of her throat working even as she nodded. All he could see was crystal-clear need, the same thing that was pulsing through his own body.
    At least one of them should find some relief.
    With deft fingers, Knox pulled the hem of her shirt up over her head and tossed it somewhere on the sand behind him. Underneath she was wearing a pale blue bra covered in beige lace. It was sweet yet sexy, not unlike, he was coming to realize, the woman who owned it.
    “Please tell me your panties match this,” he murmured against her mouth, trailing a single finger over the strap at her shoulder.
    She shivered at the gentle caress, arching into his touch in a way that told him she wanted more.
    “Maybe you should find out,” she whispered, grasping his hand and drawing it down to the zipper on her shorts.
    Tugging at the tab, he slowly pulled it down, but kept his gaze focused squarely on Avery’s eyes. He couldn’t look away, not even to see what he was revealing.
    Because her expression exposed more.
    The way her pupils dilated, pushing against the pale blue in the same way he wanted to push deep into her body. The heat and hesitation—not because she wasn’t sure about what they were doing, but because she was as overwhelmed as he was.
    He was afraid that once this line was crossed, they’d never be able to go back. But he was doing it anyway. Couldn’t stop himself, not when Avery’s lips were parted slightly, air rushing in and out of her moist mouth.
    She swayed into his touch and that was all the reassurance he needed.
    She didn’t wait for him to push the shorts off, but lifted her hips and did the job herself, revealing panties that absolutely matched, although they were more lace than anything else. And the glimpses of skin through the tiny holes only made him want to see more.
    He hadn’t expected anything less. The rest of her wardrobe was too precise for what went under it to be haphazard.
    Not that he minded. And knowing what she hid beneath those damn business clothes was going to drive him insane the next time she put them on.
    Arching her spine off the sand, she reached behind her back and popped the catch of her bra.
    “Am I not moving fast enough for you?”
    “No.” She shook her head. “These clothes are too tight. It feels like I’m suffocating. My skin is on fire.”
    Was that him or the moonshine? Or the heat from the flames beside them?
    Not that it mattered.
    A part of him wanted to undress her, but he couldn’t deny himself the privilege of watching her uncover her body. For him.
    Hooking fingers into her panties, Avery pushed until they slid to her ankles before kicking them off.
    Completely naked, with the firelight flickering across her skin, she was absolutely breathtaking. The most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen.
    And she’d revealed something intriguing.
    Dropping to the sand between her thighs, Knox placed his palms on her bent knees and pressed outward. Even as her thighs fell open, he leaned down to study her left hip.
    The last thing he’d expected to find was a tattoo. Avery didn’t strike him as the kind of woman to want to permanently mark her skin.
    But the ink was as intricately beautiful as it was unanticipated. An eye in perfectly shaded black and white, dripping tears of brilliant orange, red and gold koi