Sutton scoots closer to the center console. Leans forward, propping her elbow up on it. I watch her. How slow she swallows. How her eyes are heavy, loaded with desire and impatience.
I exchange the hand under her chin for my pointer finger. Push it up so we are level, and drag her closer. I start to close the gap, tugging on the final threads of my sanity.
There’s no going back for me after this.
Our mouths are the closest they’ve ever been. I can see the specks of emerald green in her hazel eyes. There are new freckles on her left cheek.
Dangerously slow, I rub the thumb of my free hand over the patch of them. I cup her cheek, but my hand is too large against her face. My fingertips graze and sink into the roots of auburn hair.
Sutton lets out a warm exhale.
Stop delaying. Kiss her.My mind screams at me, but I want to relish in this moment for a second longer. Make sure my brain is clear. I don’t want to miss a thing. I want to be present.
“Cooper,” she pleads, “please.”
I plant my lips on hers, take her bottom lip between mine, in a singular kiss. A test to see how badly she wants this, too.
Intrusive thoughts slice through me. Seconding guessing that this is nothing more than a joke to her. That I’m a joke to her now that she knows what I’ve hidden away.
But it isn’t. She wants this, maybe even me. Sutton doesn’t let me pull back, instead kisses me.
What have I been missing out on?
Her mouth is pliable, moving with mine. Flexing and conforming to each push and pull. It’s as if we’re puzzle pieces that fit. I swallow the throaty moan that comes out of her when my tongue dips into her mouth. My own feral one chasing after it.
I need her closer. Sutton must need the same, she climbs over the console, lips never leaving mine.
I can’t lie. This isn’t my first car make out session—or hook up. No other girl has ever gracefully maneuvered herself into my lap as Sutton has. I usually end up with an elbow to the face or gut, and a knee to the balls. One time, I even landed myself a black eye.
Not tonight.
I undo her ponytail holder with one hand, slip it onto my wrist. Use the other to pull the lever to recline my seat back. Herhair becomes blackout curtains, cascading around us in a sea of red and curls and cherries.
When have I not been blacked out by her? Senses overwhelmed by her?
My left hand, free, finds her waist. I hold onto her. Let my fingertips graze the bare skin between her waistband and the bottom of her shirt.
When I pull her against me, she lets out a breathy whine.
Sutton moves her kisses from my mouth to my jawline. Onto my neck. She bites down on the curve, and I hiss.
“Sorry,” she says, slightly frantic and embarrassed.
“Don’t be. I liked it.” I move her mouth back to my neck. “Do it again.”
She does. Sucks on the skin after, before kissing it and finding her way back to my mouth. I capture her swollen lips, dragging the bottom one with my teeth.
“Vampire fetish?”
A husky and needy chuckle comes out of me. I pull her against me again.
“I believe it was you who made us stop our family road trip because shehad to havethe newest book.”
“And wasn’t it you whom I found in the middle of the night with a flashlight under the blanket readingmybook?” Sutton’s question broken and between kisses.
“Whatever you say, Team Jacob.”
Her mouth falls open, and I imagine everything I want to do with it.
