Ignite (Legacy) Read Online Free PDF Page B

everyone else first. “She’d come with.”
    Avery’s jaw went slack in my hands. “What?”
    “Legacy has a great high school. Brand-new facilities. It’s a small town, but there’s a kindness there I haven’t seen anywhere else. Addy would be welcome there, with us, and so would you. Stop looking at me like I’m dreaming. This is possible.”
    “You’d bring her with you? With us?”
    “Of course. She’s a part of you, and she needs to get out just as much as you do.”
    “And my father?”
    My jaw flexed. This had been the one point that had been hard to swallow, but I knew I had to if I wanted to keep Avery in my life. And she was worth any hurdle I had to jump, or any length of broken glass I had to walk across barefoot. I had no doubt the girl standing in front of me was the key to the rest of my life.
    “He can come, too,” I said softly.
    “Now I know you’re joking.” She tried to pull her face from my hands, but I wouldn’t let her. “You hate him.”
    “I hate how he treats you,” I corrected her. “I’ve never understood why you take it.”
    “He’s Addy’s guardian,” I explained. “I could never abandon her.” No matter what I’d promised my mom—to keep quiet, to keep family business private—Addy came first, and if that meant I had to live at home and commute to college so I could provide some kind of future for her, then fine. It was a small price to pay.
    “Then if he’s what I have to put up with to keep you in my life, to keep you near, then fine, I’ll do it. There are treatment facilities in Colorado, and maybe if we can just get him clean—”
    She sobbed—one long whimper, which was the one reaction I wasn’t expecting.
    “Avery,” I whispered. “Don’t cry.”
    “Why? Why would you do that? Drag the worst part of my life into yours?”
    A smile tugged up the corners of my lips as I wiped away her single tear that escaped. “Because I get you. I can’t leave you. It’s never been Bishop keeping me here. It’s always been you.”
    “But why?” she squeaked.
    “God, don’t you know by now?”
    “No,” she whispered as something that looked like hope passed through those blue eyes.
    “Yes, you do. You’ve always known, just the same as me.” I sent up a quick prayer that she wouldn’t smack the hell out of me, and then I kissed her.
    She gasped in surprise, and I kept the caress light, taking my time with her lips as I waited for her response. She was so soft. I ran my tongue along her lower lip, savoring the delicate curve. I sipped at her lips with soft kisses for so long that I was about out of hope. While she was letting me kiss her, she wasn’t responding.
    I pulled back slowly, scared to see what lingered in her eyes, and prayed it wasn’t disgust. What the hell had I been thinking to kiss her like that? We’d never shown any signs of crossing the line, and I’d just jumped across it. Her eyes were closed, giving me no hint of what she was feeling. “Avery?” I asked softly.
    Her pulse raced under my hand.
    Her eyes fluttered open and there was no anger, just surprise. “You want me?”
    “I have always wanted you.”
    With a soft cry, she met my mouth, opening hers in a hungry kiss. My tongue swept inside the mouth I’d dreamed of for years, and holy shit , she tasted even better than I’d ever fantasized. She tasted faintly of the peppermint tea she loved and pure, sweet Avery.
    I explored her mouth with sweeping strokes of my tongue, and she rubbed back against me with every one, creating a friction that sent heat streaking through me, pooling in my dick.
    My hands shifted, tilting her head so I could kiss her deeper. If this was the only time I’d get to kiss her, then I was sure-as-fuck going to leave her with a memory that haunted her at night the same way she already did for me. She melted against me, our bodies molding effortlessly into each other.
    At some point I was hit with the stunning realization— Holy shit. I’m