Read Take Me (Fifth Avenue) for Free Online

her eyes.
    Just for a moment.

Chapter Five
    Travis never slept. All he did was watch Sydney sleep. All he did was spend every hour of the night acutely aware of her curves pressed against every inch of him.
    She was softer than he’d ever imagined she might be. He’d barely dared imagine it. Not while he was awake. When he dreamed, it was another matter entirely.
    He couldn’t always control himself there. In his dreams, it was always Sydney. Always had been.
    He loved that woman so much it hurt. And now he could truly acknowledge that’s what it was. That he loved her. That it wasn’t just a bad case of lust gone unsatisfied for too many years.
    Because it had been easy to play it off that way.
    She was, after all, the first woman he’d ever wanted to kiss. He could remember that moment well. They’d been maybe twelve or thirteen, heads together, talking about something in the back garden at his parents’ house and he had suddenly lost his breath.
    Everything had been reduced to her. Her face. Her lips.
    Right then, he’d wanted more than anything to lean in and kiss her.
    But he hadn’t. Because she was the truest friend he’d ever had, now and always. And he’d always been too afraid of losing that.
    But last night, when she’d kissed his cheek, told him to do whatever he wanted, he had. Because kissing, sex...he’d always wanted that. But love? Yeah, now that he’d actually been inside of her, he couldn’t lie to himself anymore.
    And this was the worst fucking time in history to have this realization. It was wrong on so many levels, but he couldn’t exactly un-know it now that he knew it.
    He traced the line of her jaw, wrapped a tendril of dark hair around his finger and swept it off her face. She shifted and his heart stopped.
    She might freak out when she woke up and remembered that they’d had sex. And she would probably have the right to. Chances were, he was a complete jerk for taking her up on her offer.
    Just do what you want.
    There had been only one path to take from there. At least for him. He’d known what he wanted. Had known what would help him lose himself, lose the horrible events from last night.
    Sydney.
    Because being with Sydney would fix everything. He’d always known that. Always believed it.
    She moaned and rubbed her arm across her eyes. It was so endearing, it made his chest clench. He was so far gone.
    “Morning, Syd,” he said, figuring it was best to prime her with the idea of waking up next to him so that when she opened her eyes he wouldn’t be met with confusion. Or worse, anger.
    Her eyes fluttered open. She didn’t look angry. She didn’t look confused or afraid.
    “Travis,” she said.
    “Hey.”
    “It’s morning,” she said.
    His eyes felt like they’d been scrubbed with sandpaper. “Yeah.”
    “The sun came up.”
    “It did.”
    She turned her face and buried it in the blankets, her next words muffled. “I guess that means it’s time to go home.”
    “I guess so,” he said. Home, to his roommates and school and all the grief that was waiting, was the last place he wanted to go.
    He didn’t want any of it. He wanted Sydney, and this world, forever.
    But it wasn’t possible.
    “I guess I’ll call down and check out.” That seemed so weird and normal. They’d been living in a fantasy, and now the facade was falling away again.
    They were just in a normal hotel in the middle of the city. And they were still Sydney and Travis. They weren’t any different than the people they were when they’d walked into the room last night.
    Which didn’t make much sense because he felt completely changed.
    Sydney sat up, the covers clutched to her chest. “I...can you...I need to get dressed.”
    “Sure,” he said, ignoring the pain in his chest, and his own nudity. She might want to play the game. Cover up and pretend he hadn’t seen it all, tasted it all, but he wasn’t going to do that.
    He’d give himself that much. Last night had happened.
    He had