Ignite (Legacy) by Rebecca Yarros Read Free Book Online Page B

my breath out through a rumble of my lips. “Come on, you know.”
    His smirk caught my panties on fire. Good thing he knows how to put those out. “Say it.”
    “Before you kissed me and I stopped being best-friend Avery and turned into…I don’t even know. Kissable Avery?”
    He stalked forward until he stood just a breath away, close enough to touch, but not. “You have always been kissable Avery, I’ve just never been allowed to kiss you like I wanted. You’re also fuckable Avery—”
    “River!” My cheeks ran hot.
    His grin was wide and so very beautiful. “Oh no, I have nothing to lose. I’m done pulling my punches. Done being careful around you. Done trying my best not to let it show how badly I want you.”
    Oh God, he was good. His words alone had me ready to strip him in the kitchen. Or maybe that’s a year plus without sex.
    “Okay,” I whispered. Lame.
    He stroked my cheek with his thumb. “But you’re still best-friend Avery. That’s never going to change no matter how many times I get to kiss you or how often you’ll let me touch you. If you decide that was the only kiss we’ll ever share, you’ll still be my best friend.”
    The thought soured my stomach. “You’d be okay if I cut you off?”
    “No. I’d just work my ass off to convince you otherwise.”
    “Oh.”
    “Oh,” he repeated, and kissed my forehead lightly before backing away.
    A stab of disappointment hit me right between my thighs.
    “So what made you stop by?” He looked at his phone and put it right down. “I know you have to be to work in twenty mintues.”
    “I just kind of ended up here.”
    “That’s okay. I like seeing you.” He lifted the second bottle of water to his lips and took a sip, never once looking away.
    There was something so ordinary about the motion, the ease there was between us that made me long for a different future—made me wonder if it was possible to change my course in life.
    “I’ll go,” I said suddenly. “For the weekend,” I corrected.
    “Really?” His face lit up like the time I’d given him Mumford & Sons concert tickets for his birthday.
    “Yes,” I answered.
    I was in his arms before I finished the word as he swung me around the kitchen against his very hot, very sweaty chest. “You’re going to love it!” he promised as we spun.
    Laughter bubbled from my chest, and I felt lighter than I had in years, like he’d picked up more than my weight—he’d lifted my soul.
    “Can I kiss you?” he asked, his eyes dropping to my lips.
    “Yes,” I said. “But you’d better make it fast. I have to leave in five minutes.”
    I sighed when his lips brushed over mine, relearning the feel of them. Then our mouths opened, and the sweet kiss turned hot so fast my head spun.
    Good God, the man could kiss.
    He consumed my every thought, until my only concerns were how close I could get and how much deeper I could kiss him.
    Finally he pulled my hands from around his neck. “You’d better go before I keep you here with me.”
    “I’m not sure I would mind.”
    He groaned and set me down, backing away slowly. “Go. Now. Just be ready for the perfect trip to Colorado, because then you’re mine.”
    “I like the way that sounds… mine. ”
    “Me, too,” he said softly.
    This was good. No, this was better than anything I’d ever felt. And when he looked at me like that—like he’d been waiting a lifetime to sample me and now he was planning his attack—I melted.
    How had we done this? Flipped from friends to horny teens in the span of two days?
    “Go, Avery.” He ran his tongue along his lower lip, and I knew if I stayed a moment longer I’d never make it to work. Ever.
    I ran.

5
    River
    D amn , that thing was long. I looked back at the trench we’d dug in to the south side of the fire and examined it for weak spots. We’d chosen the only feasible place to dig in and tried to clear as much of the fuel as possible.
    “You good?” Bishop asked, sliding his