I crawled over as quickly as I could and plopped down just to left. He surprised me by swinging his lower body around so that I sat between his legs. Warm hands snuck underneath my shirt to squeeze my waist, before he grabbed the bottom hem of the shirt I had on and pulled it up and over my head completely. "Umm..." I managed to stutter out, bringing my hands up to cover my exposed boobs.

"The shirt was in the way," he said in a hoarse breath like it was a logical explanation.

Two hands swept over my shoulders and arms. They brushed the back of my neck gently, and then made another pass over me again. It was when his tongue lapped at my earlobe and the skin right underneath it that I tensed up like a virgin would if they'd encountered Calum's abnormality in the flesh.

"Did you know," he breathed on my neck before kissing it with a wet, open mouth. "That I want you more," he bit me gently on the throat, "Than I've ever wanted anyone before?" He nipped at my neck one more time, holding each side of my ribs in his hands. "So much more, Kat. So fucking much more."

I arched and then curved my spine the opposite way, feeling like I was going to explode inside my skin from his lips and hands. Fuck. How would it feel when it wasn't just his hands on me? "Oh."

His big hands went around me, cupping my own, which were holding my breasts together. "Why do you feel so good?" His voice was thick against my skin. I leaned back to feel his cotton clad chest against my back.

I dropped my hands and pulled them down so his palms could cup my chest. His rough hands squeezed and kneaded my flesh lightly. "Tristan, please," I begged, for what I didn't know.

He groaned and brushed his thumbs over each of my nipples once. I saw him grab for the shirt he'd just peeled off and tugged it down over my head, leading my arms through the sleeve openings. "Not tonight, you have that burn and we both need to wake up early," he said, but I could sense a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

I grunted and snapped my head around to look at his face. "Seriously?"

He just grinned and pulled the covers over to slide underneath them. "Dead. Come on." He held up the covers right next to him so that I could slip underneath them too. “It’s only because I care about you that I don’t have you pinned underneath me.”

I scowled at him and slid deeper into the sheets. I knew I probably wouldn't enjoy getting down and dirty with him since my shoulders ached, but I thought that was beyond the point. The fucking tease. "You suck."

He flicked the lights off before settling in close enough to brush his fingertips against mine. I had just started dozing off when I felt his fingers tighten in mine. "Thank you," he whispered.

I wondered what exactly he was thankful for.

Chapter 52

One night turned into three, then five, and ended with seven.

My sunburn went from a seven on the pain scale down to a two during that time period. My quick recovery was mostly in thanks to Tristan and Zoey dousing me in aloe vera gel each chance they got. By the end of the week, I'd started peeling and had to whack Tristan's hands away from my shoulders when he tried to peel off the dry skin.

I stayed over at his house one other time during week at his insistence. I woke up after he went to exercise and before he made it back into the shower. It wasn't a coincidence that I woke up in time to see him peeling off his sweaty workout clothes before getting into the shower. I learned after my first morning that he made it back home right at six-thirty in the morning. My alarm was set to five minutes before that time, which allowed me a chance to hit the snooze button once, before I got to witness the best strip show on Earth. I had to fight the urge to throw dollar bills at his smoking hot body the first morning I saw him all wet, sweaty, and perfect.