Allie placed her hand on Hudson’s cheek, urging him to look at her. “What happened to Nick wasn’t your fault. It’s obvious how much you love your brother, Hudson, but there wasn’t a lot you could do back then. You’re trying to do right by him now; that’s all that matters.”
“You saw for yourself, he’s a train wreck. I’ve done nothing but fail him in every way.”
“You’ll get him the help he needs. Even if we have to camp out at his apartment, he’s going to rehab.”
He gave her a halfhearted smile and pressed a soft, quick kiss to her lips. “I appreciate that, but Nick’s my responsibility, not yours.”
In that moment Allie realized Hudson had always seen Nick not just as his responsibility, but also his failure. As she listened to his story, she couldn’t help but feel as though she shared part of the blame. If she hadn’t disappeared from Hudson’s life without so much as a good-bye, would she have been someone he could’ve turned to? A friend when he needed one the most? He’d had to face his battles alone then, but it didn’t have to be that way now.
“Hudson, you’ve taken on so much already. Let me help if I can. I just . . . ,” she choked back a sob. “I wish I could go back. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m sorry I hurt you.”
His fingers touched her cheek. “No need to apologize, Allie. I’ve never regretted any of the time we spent together. Those days with you were the best of my life.” He cocked a slight grin. “You were the first woman I cared about and didn’t just want to take for a ride.”
Allie smiled and shook her head. Ever the bad boy. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about that last night on the boat a time or two over the past ten years. Or the night we rode that Ferris wheel about a dozen times.” She snuggled against the warmth of his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I was that summer.”
“And this?” His hand stroked up and down her back. “This feels good, doesn’t it?”
Allie tensed, knowing he was asking so much more than a simple question, and Hudson stilled.
“Don’t answer that,” he said, sliding out from behind her. He stood and jogged up the stairs. When he returned he had something in his hand and that shy smile on his lips.
“I believe this is yours.” He held out his hand and a delicate string of shells dangled from his fingertip.
Allie’s mouth fell open on a gasp. It was a shell anklet, her shell anklet. She recognized it immediately. To her, that anklet represented all they had once shared. She’d been devastated when she lost it on their last night together, leaving her with nothing to remember him by.
“I never thought I’d see that again.” Her eyes filled with tears. “You kept it all this time?”
“I did.” Hudson sat down beside her on the rug and gently pulled her foot into his lap. The shells slid along the clear string, filling the spaces of ones lost over time as he wrapped them around her leg. When it was clasped, his hand lingered and his fingers caressed her skin. Allie wondered if, like her, he was remembering the night he first put it there.
Gently, he lifted her leg and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her ankle. “You made me feel hopeful,” he whispered.
Allie slipped her leg out of Hudson’s grasp and moved into his lap, her thighs straddling his hips as she held his face between her hands.
“Hudson . . .” Her voice trailed off. There was so much they needed to discuss, so much she wanted to say. But in that moment, the words escaped her.
He reached up and brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “What’s wrong, Allie?”
Her eyes drifted shut and she leaned into his touch. When she opened them, his fierce blue eyes searched hers as if her were trying to see not only into her thoughts, but her very soul. Her heart lurched and she was lost. The only thing that mattered was this man, this moment. She needed to show him with her body all her heart could never say.
She drew a stuttering breath. “Nothing’s wrong. Make love to me, Hudson.”
His hand curled around her nape and he pulled her to his mouth, kissing her long and slow and deep. Allie’s fingers slid into his hair and she held him to her as his tongue slid greedily over hers in lush, dragging sweeps. With a soft moan, she kissed him back, matching his strokes with her own. Exploring, tasting, consuming.
This kiss went on and on like a seductive dance until Allie thought she might come from the sheer pleasure of his lips moving with hers.
Running his hands down her back, Hudson cupped her ass and squeezed. Allie gasped as he yanked her forward, bringing her in intimate contact with the impressive erection straining the front of his jeans.
“What you make me feel . . . ,” he whispered in a low, ragged voice. He held her gaze as he flexed his hips. The thin fabric of her yoga pants offered little barrier, allowing the thick ridge of his arousal to hit that sweet spot between her thighs. His mouth slanted over hers once more, and with a roll of his hips, he pushed into her again and again, mimicking the motion of him inside her until she writhed restlessly in his lap.
Hudson reached down, lifted the hem of Allie’s sweater, and pulled it over her head. Her breath hitched as his fingers traced the lace cups of her bra before curling around the straps and sliding them down her arms. He leaned forward, nuzzling her hair as his hands followed the band to her back. With a flick of his wrist he released the clasp, letting the bra fall wherever it landed.
Lowering his head, he pressed his warm, wet mouth to her shoulder, then dragged his tongue along her collarbone. Anticipation thrummed hot and heavy through Allie’s veins, and she arched her back in silent entreaty. Hudson palmed her breast in one hand, brushing the pad of his thumb over her erect nipple, and flattened his other hand on the middle of her spine. With his fingers splayed wide, he pressed against her, urging her to bend further back.
“So beautiful,” he murmured. His tongue flickered across one nipple, then he kissed his way to the other, leaving a trail of damp heat on her sensitive skin. He laved her slowly, drawing lazy circles around the hardened peak before suckling it deep into his mouth. Her body shuddered and a helpless moan escaped her lips as he tugged the tender tip between his teeth.
Wanting to feel his skin against hers, Allie slipped her fingers under the edge of Hudson’s T-shirt. The palms of her hands glided across his taut stomach and chest, leisurely exploring his muscular contours as she worked the fabric higher.
Gathering the cotton fabric in her fingers, she lifted it over his head and tossed it to the side. Her hands moved over his broad shoulders before drifting lower. He sucked in a sharp breath as her thumbnails scraped across his nipples, and then suddenly his arms were around her, holding her close as his mouth claimed hers in a passionate kiss. This time when he pulled her into his arms, there were no barriers, no walls. Just skin against skin. Her breathing was ragged and aroused, her nipples brushing against his chest with every rise and fall of her breasts.
In a swift move he lowered her to the floor, sweeping her black yoga pants down her legs and tossing them to the side before stretching out next to her in front of the fire. His heated gaze raked over her from head to toe.
“No panties?” He licked his lips and she practically convulsed.
Dropping her hands, Allie caressed his erection through the soft denim of his jeans. “I prefer wearing yours.” She tugged on his fly, popping the small buttons open one by one, and then slipped her fingers under the waistband of his boxer briefs. He twitched as she took him in her hand, gently squeezing and stroking him from root to tip until a deep groan vibrated in his throat. “In fact, I think I’ll take them now if you don’t mind.”