I swallowed hard, pulse thrumming rapidly, heat sparking in my veins. That’s what Owen was: an inferno, scorching everything in his path. Sucking all the oxygen from my lungs and burning my resolve to the ground. Any protestations I may have had went up in smoke in an instant.
He wanted me. He’d said as much more than once, and continued to show me he wasn’t going anywhere. That he was willing to wait for me to figure my shit out. And somehow, I knew, even without him saying, that if the thing I wanted turned outnotto be him, our working relationship would be okay. Would it be painful to move on from this attraction without ever giving in? Of course. But we’d be alright, because Owen wouldn’t accept anything else.
If that’s what it came down to, he’d faced enough hard truths in his life to take my rejection in stride.
Lucky for him—for both of us, really—I did want him. More than just physically, though that pull was stronger than any I’d ever felt before. I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything or anyone in my life.
And god, I was sick to death of this holding pattern I’d put us in.
Decision made, in answer to Owen’s question, I simply shifted impossibly closer and pressed my mouth to his.
Delia was kissing me.
Ho-ly fucking shit,Delia Delatouwas kissing me.
I was so shocked I’d barely pursed my lips to meet hers, readying to fuckingconsumeher, when she pulled away, hand flying to her mouth.
“Oh my god,” she said through her fingers, cheeks going pink. “I’m so sorry. Forget I did that.”
She pressed her palm against my chest, pushing away, but I caught her by the wrist before she could get too far, dragging her back into an embrace. My fingers dove into her hair, grabbing a fistful at the nape of her neck, the other hand sliding down her side and around her back to grip a handful of her ass.
That glorious ass that continued to haunt my dreams, ever since the day she’d fallen off that ladder.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I—” she started, voice low. “You didn’t kiss me back.”
“You surprised me,” I said. “It won’t happen again.”
The promise in my tone had her eyes turning molten in a second, and as soon as a smile began to tip the corners of that plush mouth up, I captured it with my own.
God, she was sweeter than I ever could’ve dreamed, and the chaste press of my lips against hers turned explicit and insistent in a second. Delia’s fingers curled into the front of my dress shirt, dragging me closer still, until not even a grain of sand could fit between us. Her tongue slid along the seam of my mouth, teasing, and I opened for her, our tongues tangling in a sloppy, desperate dance. In that way you kissed when you couldn’t get enough of someone and all finesse went out the window. Maintaining sense gave way to chasing sensation. My world narrowed to those points: the sharp sting of her nails digging into my pecs; the bite of her teeth against my bottom lip; the heavy curtain of her hair like silk against my forearm; her perfect backside in my palm.
This kiss was the culmination of our mutual longing. It was the dam finally breaking, the chains unlocked, the vault door on our desire opened wide at last.
My cock thickened between us, and Delia shifted her hips slightly, tilting toward me, as though desperately seeking the friction I couldn’t give her with so many layers between us.
Regrettably, I removed a hand from her glorious body to dive into my pants’ pocket and withdraw my room key. I reached around her, blindly holding the card out toward the door. A moment later, the faint beep and click of the lock permeated my senses, and I pressed down on the handle, walking us backward into the room. Finally claiming Delia had me wanting to shout from rooftops and mountain peaks that this woman wasmine. I couldn’t be bothered to tear my mouth from hers for even a second, but I needed to get us out of that hallway. To get her alone where I could strip her down and worship her.
Once inside my room, I spun us so her back was against the door. When she reached for my belt, I gripped her wrists in my hand and pinned them above her head. Delia whimpered into my mouth, and the sound was nearly my undoing. I needed her skin under my lips, couldn’t resist dipping to her neck. I sucked on the skin at her pulse, soothing the sting of my teasing bite with my tongue. Licking a path up the slender column of her throat and nipping at her jaw, her earlobe.
I buried my face in the crook of her neck and inhaled, branding every minute detail and sensation of this moment onto my memory. The surreality that I finally had this woman in my arms wasn’t lost on me.
“Fuck, Whiskey,” I breathed. “You’ve been driving me crazy for months. Do you have any idea how badly I want you?”
“Probably about as badly as I want you,” she said, her statement punctuated by a gasp when I palmed her chest, cupping those gorgeous tits in my hands and thumbing her nipples, peaked against the fabric.
My fingertips trailed lower, dancing down her sides. Gripping a handful of her dress, I yanked it up, intent on exploring all the uncharted territory beneath. God, I couldn’t wait to delve into her pu—
“Wait,” Delia gasped, hands coming to rest on my pecs. She didn’t push me away, but I stalled like a deer caught in headlights.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Am I groping you? Shit, I’m sorry.”
“No, nothing like that,” she said, laughing lightly. I haddifficulty focusing on her words, too distracted by her lips, bee stung by my kisses. “I just…don’t get mad at me, but I don’t want to do this here.”
“Do what? Kiss me?”
“I love kissing you,” she whispered. “I mean…what comes next.” She gritted her teeth, and I yielded a step, using the distance to study her expression. “I don’t want to, for lack of a better term,consummatethis thing between us here.”
