Flawed (Triple Canopy Book 2)

by Riley Edwards

  “Ready, baby?”

  Some of the haze of my orgasm started to fade and when Trey came into focus, my heart that was already galloping started to thunder. Pure, unmasked hunger. Trey Durum was looking down at me like he wanted to eat me—well, technically he had eaten me, but he looked like he wanted to do it again.

  Holy, holy crap.

  “Addy?”

  “No, I’m not ready,” I whispered, and his body went taut. “I’m still fuzzy.”

  “Fuzzy?”

  He was holding himself still, fighting his desire, waiting on me. That knowledge did something crazy to my heart. It made it swell in a way it shouldn’t. I couldn’t fall in love with Trey. I’d been teetering on the edge since the day I met him. I had no experience but I didn’t need any to know that sex and love were worlds apart.

  But even knowing that, I still told him, “I want to remember this.”

  His body relaxed, his forehead dropped to mine, and he muttered, “Fuck.”

  Then he resumed rubbing the head of his dick around my opening.

  “Gonna slide in now.”

  I nodded, and boy did he slide in. More like he slammed home, and when he did, he groaned and I lost his eyes because he closed them.

  “Goddamn.”

  Oh, no.

  My body locked, his eyes snapped open, and his hand moved from my jaw to my hair. He gave it a sharp tug and forced me to look at him.

  “I’m gonna tell you straight, so you don’t twist what’s happening here.”

  That didn’t sound good so I closed my eyes.

  “You can try to shut me out, but I won’t let you, Adalynn. You’re gonna give me more. You’re gonna come around my cock the same way you did in my mouth.” He pulled out and drove back in. “And you’re gonna give it to me fast because your pussy’s so fucking tight and hot I don’t have much time. Wrap your legs around me.”

  I did as he asked. His hand glided over my hip and grabbed my ass and grinded down.

  Sweet Jesus, that felt good. So good, I locked my ankles and reached for more.

  “Fuck, yeah. Dig your heels in my ass and do that again.”

  I did as I was told and Trey pulled back only to drive in harder. Then I stopped worrying altogether if I was doing it right because I felt it build again. Only this time it was different. I felt my inner muscles contracting, clutching at his dick, and every time it happened, Trey groaned.

  “Jesus Christ, Adalynn, give it to me.”

  “Trey.”

  He pounded into me harder. The force of his thrusts rocked my body, so I wrapped my arms around him and held on with all four limbs. Trey must’ve liked this because his hard thrusts turned into out-of-control.

  “Fuck,” he snarled and planted himself deep.

  I had just enough cognitive thought left to feel his dick swell and jerk. Then when Trey swiveled his hips, that last thread snapped and I was thrown into a sea of pleasure.

  I was right. Totally right. It was different. So different, I chased it and bucked my hips, not wanting it to end. Never wanting to lose the feeling of being wrapped around Trey. Surrounded. Tethered. Bound.

  “Adalynn,” he moaned long and low.

  I didn’t hear Trey say my name. I felt it. And try as I might I couldn’t stop that feeling from settling in my soul. It was a stupid thing to do. It was dangerous. But I still couldn’t fight against it.

  6

  Christ.

  Adalynn.

  My mind blanked as I emptied myself into her. But I had the presence of mind to savor the feel of Adalynn’s legs locked tight around my hips, the ripple of her pussy as it clutched my cock, the way her body moved with mine.

  I slowly came back to myself and started gliding in and out, not wanting to lose her wet heat. Not wanting to lose any part of her.

  I was an asshole and I knew it.

  I shouldn’t have barged into her house. Hell, I shouldn’t have come, period. I knew I wasn’t good enough for Addy but I was taking my shot anyway. I’d fought my feelings for her long enough. She was the only thing right and true in my life. The only person who didn’t feel sorry for me or put up with my shit. I hadn’t repaid her care with kindness, but that was going to change. I’d do whatever I had to do to make things right. I’d show her I wasn’t the dick she thought I was.

  “Trey.”

  The sound of Addy moaning my name while my cock was still hard and gliding inside of her sent a trail of heat up my spine. Before I could fully appreciate the lightness that heat brought with it, Addy uncurled her fingers from where she’d found purchase on my shoulders, flattened her palms on my upper back, and I froze.

  Fuck.

  Down her hands went, and knowing what she’d encounter, I held my breath. Not wanting her to feel the puckered burned skin but knowing I wasn’t going to stop her left me cold. Ice-fucking-cold.

  Fuck.

  “Trey?” That time my name wasn’t a soft, sexy moan, it came out in a shaky, tentative question.

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “Why are you shaking?”

  Am I?

  Christ.

  Instead of answering, I lowered my mouth to hers and pressed my lips against the corner of hers, then moved to the hinge of her jaw, and finally to her neck. I inhaled and willed my body still.

  “You okay?”

  “Shit, yeah.”

  “Then why—”

  “What do you feel?” I interrupted her, unable to stomach her hesitant tone.

  “Feel?”

  “Yeah, Addy, what do you feel?”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Her ankles unhooked and she started to move her legs, but before she could disengage, my hand went to her thigh.

  “I need you wrapped around me.”

  “What?” she whispered.

  “To have this conversation, I need you to hold on.” When she didn’t move to lock her legs tight, I pulled my face out of her neck and looked down at her. “Goddamn, you’re beautiful.”

  I hadn’t meant to utter the words out loud, but when her face went soft and her eyes turned hazy like they had right before she told me she wanted to remember the moment I entered her, I was glad I had.

  “Under your hands, tell me what you feel?”

  “Your skin.”

  Jesus fuck.

  “What else?’

  “Um…you’re hot.”

  Fucking shit.

  “What else?”

  “I don’t understand what you’re asking. I sense this is important to you. But I just feel you. Your skin, your heat, I guess you’re kinda sweating, but, Trey, I don’t know what you’re asking, honey.”

  “Fuck,” I muttered, and my eyes closed against her sincerity.

  She didn’t understand.

  Fucking Christ.

  Addy’s legs wrapped tight, her hands on my back roamed, and I was cocooned in her innocence. And at that moment, my life changed. I felt the shift and I didn’t fight it, I let it settle over me.

  Right and good. That was Adalynn.

  I would not fuck this up.

  “My scars.” I stopped to clear my throat of the emotion threatening to choke me.

  “Oh.”

  Oh. Just, oh.

  Christ.

  There was a beat of silence before she said, “Look at me, Trey.”

  I opened my eyes, surprised to see her glaring at me.

  “Your scars?” she prompted. I started to pull away but her thighs pressed tighter. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked.” Her tone was low and soft. “I trusted you with something I’ve never trusted anyone with. Now I’m asking you to do the same. What about your scars?”

  Her gently spoken words felt like a sharp jab to the gut. She had trusted me and the results of that trust had been spectacular. She’d irrevocably proven the other two idiots she’d been with didn’t know shit about women. There was not a damn thing wrong with Addy. It had taken nothing more than a kiss to get her to ignite. And when I
got my mouth between her legs and my tongue in her pussy, she’d gone wild. Everything about her was sexy as hell.

  I owed her the same trust she’d given me and I’d give it. I just didn’t think she’d appreciate it while my cock was buried inside her. And the talking we’d done, had done nothing to alleviate my erection. More proof, the woman was crazy good.

  “I need you wrapped around me a different way,” I told her, and rolled us to the side. She whimpered when my cock slid out of her. I smiled and she frowned.

  I gathered her close and ran my fingers through her hair. I couldn’t get enough of feeling the silky strands. I’d never felt anything so soft.

  “In the beginning, I admit some of my hang-ups were my ego,” I started. “I wasn’t used to looking in the mirror seeing a face full of scars. Over the months, they’ve faded but their existence is a reminder I fucked up. Liberty made a call and I didn’t act fast enough. My inaction almost cost Luke his eyesight, did cost him his career in the Navy. And because of me, Logan and Matt left the teams. I put us all in danger that day. If I would’ve moved when Liberty radioed, Luke and I would’ve been away from the blast. Instead, they had to triage us on the street and carry us to the extraction point. From there it was a clusterfuck.”

  “And your back?”

  “Burns and shrapnel.”

  Addy nodded against my chest and pressed herself closer.

  “There’s no such thing as perfect, Trey. We’re all flawed. Some of those imperfections we wear, some are hidden inside of us, and some are buried so deep they’re dormant until something triggers them awake. And sometimes, the things we bury are the very things that should be brought to light.”

  Instead of lashing out, I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes.

  “Guilt and blame will eat you alive unless you talk about it,” she continued.

  “Addy—”

  “Shh, Trey.” Her hand slid from my chest to my ribs, then farther until her palm rested on the small of my back. I screwed my eyes closed and stiffened. “I’m not saying I’m the right person to talk to about it. I’m not even saying you’re ready. But when you are, I know some pretty great guys who are waiting for you.”

  Fuck.

  “I want you to know I was being sincere when I apologized for being an ass. I said some stupid shit about you living a perfect life. I knew it was stupid when I was saying it. I knew I was lashing out at you because my head was twisted. And as fucked-up as this is, maybe I was trying to push you into hating me. Every day it was getting harder and harder to keep my distance. I wanted to see you as much as I wanted to avoid you. I have a lot of shit to work out but I promise you, I will never take that out on you again.”

  There was a beat of silence before she asked, “What changed?”

  So much. Everything. Too much.

  Instead of answering, I told her, “You know, I’ve never laid in bed with a woman naked and talked.” Unsurprisingly, Addy’s hand stilled and her body went taut. “Never, Adalynn. And since I’ve never done that, you can take from that I’ve never laid naked with a woman and been open about my feelings. So what changed? Everything and it started the day I met you.”

  “You thought I was Hadley.”

  There was accusation in her tone and she was right.

  “I did, for about a nanosecond. I’m getting the sense that bothers you, but, Addy, you two are identical twins, and until someone knows you, the mix-up is easy. But as I said, it took me barely a second to see you were not your sister, and when I did, the change in me started. I went from a cocksure prick to a man who felt unworthy.”

  “Unworthy?”

  “Before the explosion, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I would’ve turned on the charm and worked you.”

  “And I would’ve turned you down,” she vowed.

  “I know you would’ve.” I smiled. “And knowing made me feel unworthy.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “It does to me. Simply knowing that you’re the type of woman who sees past all the superficial bullshit made me fall for you. It went beyond attraction, it was a feeling that settled over me, warm and comforting. Something I’d never felt. I told myself I was insane, no one fell for a woman they didn’t know anything about. Then I reminded myself I wasn’t good enough for you. Not anymore. And that pissed me off. It made me resent my new life. It made me feel less of a man. And from there, the change in me went south until I hit a new low. A place I didn’t want to be. I became a person I didn’t like. I was ungrateful, and as you pointed out, a quitter. And, Addy, I have never in my life quit.

  “But you were right, I quit being a man I was proud of. Everything I was doing was counterproductive—I wanted you to see me but the man I was showing you was a fucking dick. I spent a lot of time this last week thinking about how it was possible I fell so hard and fast for you. But it comes down to this. What we’re doing right now—I’ve never held a woman in my arms and been open and honest about anything because I never trusted or felt comfortable enough to do it. And beyond that, I’ve never wanted to share any part of my personal life with a woman. I never wanted a woman to hold me close. I’ve never asked another living soul to wrap themselves around me and beg them not to let go.”

  “Trey—”

  “Got more to say, baby. As you pointed out, you trusted me with something precious and I want you to know I cherish what you gave me. You also talked about burying perceived imperfections. I hope after what we shared, you know what you had buried in you wasn’t yours to hide. I’ve given enough headspace to the two twats who you’ve been with, so this is the last I’m giving them, but hear this, Adalynn. God’s honest truth, you are phenomenal in bed.”

  “Trey,” she whispered, and tucked her chin.

  “Look at me.” I took my hand out of her hair and lifted her chin until her gaze met mine. “Trust me, I got off on every moan, every move, every touch. All of that was sexy. No other way to say it other than to state it plain, you’re crazy beautiful, you’re unbelievably tight, so tight I was worried I wasn’t gonna get you off before I went. But, baby, how wet you got just from my mouth and fingers—off-the-charts hot. You kiss great, you smell good, you taste good, you feel good. What I’m saying is, you can let go of whatever you’ve been twisting around in your head.”

  Addy’s face had turned a pretty shade of pink and I thought she should know how fucking cute that was.

  “And one last thing, the fact that you’re blushing is crazy fucking sexy.”

  The pink in her cheeks turned red, her lips tipped up, and her beautiful green eyes danced with humor.

  Good God, she was gorgeous.

  “We done talking?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, are we?”

  “We’re done talking.” My hand moved back into her hair. I gathered it in my fist and I watched her eyes flare. I gave it a tug and the eye flare turned hungry. Perfect. “Gonna kiss you. Then you’re gonna get on top and ride me.”

  “Again?”

  “Fuck, yeah.”

  She didn’t respond—at least not verbally.

  The kiss was great.

  Her sweet, wet pussy sinking down on my cock—better. Her going wild riding me—fucking magnificent.

  7

  My eyes popped open and I didn’t need a moment to get my bearings. I knew exactly whose hard chest was under my cheek, whose leg my thigh was draped over, whose hand was on my hip, and lastly, I knew why I’d dozed off.

  Surprisingly, I didn’t feel embarrassment. I felt great. Sex with Trey had been eye-opening. No, it had been wondrous, astonishing, marvelous.

  “How are you feeling?” Trey’s rough voice wrapped around me like a warm blanket and I smiled.

  “Great,” I chirped, uncaring my voice sounded squeaky and excited.

  I didn’t even care when his body started to shake and his next statement came out full of humor.

  “You sore?”

  “Sore?”

  “Yeah, Addy, sore. I to
ok you pretty rough that last time.”

  Pretty rough?

  Holy Hannah, if he called that ‘pretty rough’ I was scared to experience what he called out-of-control.

  Scared, but not unwilling.

  After round two—which was incredible once Trey coaxed me out of my head and I got over being on full display, I found that I thoroughly enjoyed being on top. Part of that was seeing that Trey thoroughly enjoying me being on top. He wasn’t shy communicating this to me. I never in my life pictured myself as someone who would enjoy dirty talk, but sweet baby Jesus, the dirtier his words, the more turned on I got. But it wasn’t just his words—his eyes, his hands, the sounds he made, the way his body bowed—spawned my excitement. So, needless to say, round two was a pleasurable success…which led us to round three.

  If round one was all about me, round two was about him getting me to loosen up and have fun, then round three was all about him. When Trey told me to get on my hands and knees I didn’t hesitate, I trusted him to take care of me, and holy crap did he. It was rough, it was a shade dirtier, there was no coaxing. Trey took from me what he wanted and he did it while pulling my hair and whispering filthy things in my ear. I didn’t think he could top the first three orgasms he’d given me. I was wrong. The fourth one was by far the best. Hence, why I passed out after round three.

  “A little,” I admitted.

  “Want me to run you a bath?”

  What the what? Did big, macho Trey just ask me if I wanted him to run me a bath? I didn’t want to think his offer was sweet, I was in unchartered territory and trying to keep my wayward emotions from creeping in. Which was seriously hard after some of the stuff Trey had said to me. Especially the part about him falling for me at first sight. I wasn’t sure what exactly he meant by that. Did he mean he fell in lust with me? Did he fall in love? Did he love the idea of spending time with a woman like me? There’d been no time for me analyze then obsessively over-analyze what a man like Trey meant when he said he’d never lain in bed with a woman naked and talked. What I thought he meant was when he was in bed with a woman he didn’t waste time with heart-to-hearts and dove straight to orgasms. But again, I didn’t have the experience to know for sure so I wasn’t allowing myself to think about it. I had to keep my wits about me and not start thinking Trey was sweet.