When we first ran into each other at the hotel beach club, Bailey was pissed, blaming him for following her and trying toruin her summer vacation the way only overbearing big brothers know how. However, I quickly realized that wasn’t the reason.
Jase kissed me when I ventured solo toward the beachside bar. At first I was taken aback by the shock, but the way his lips tangled with mine, gentle at first before consuming me with a desperate need, was intoxicating. It was as if he’d been surprised by how much he enjoyed the soft caress of our lips.
He didn’t know it was me. Nothing but an odd coincidence, as I was the unlucky girl he ambushed as he tried to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. I vaguely remembered him whispering the words,Please don’t scream, I promise I will explain, before the only thing I heard was the rapid beating of my heart as his lips crashed down on mine.
Thankfully, the moment was cut short before either of us was caught by his sister, who was a mere twenty feet away.
However, I was left speechless, something that didn’t happen often. When the truth of his motive became blatantly obvious, courtesy of the raging blonde who glared daggers in my direction, despite the man hanging on her hip, it was like an icy downpour of rain extinguishing any lingering flames ignited by his touch. By then, it was too late. The feel of his lips had all but burned itself into my delicate skin.
“Moonshine,” he said, his warm hand caressing my cheek as he spoke, forcing me to look up into his eyes. “You’re scaring me with the silence. You’re anything but silent, which is only leading me to believe you’re hurt, or worse, more intoxicated than I first realized. That’s going to be a problem if it’s true.”
Unable to ignore the odd choice of endearment that escaped his lips, I watched him curiously, bewildered by the taunting expression that teased his lips.
“Moonshine?” I asked, startled out of my riveting daydream.
“Moonshine, the opposite of sunshine. Which is exactly what you are, Monroe Bishop. The darkness that lingers around you,forcing you to always fall victim to your overthinking and all-consuming thoughts, is a true testament of who you are and the life you’ve lived. A double entendre fitting, since just like moonshine, you are turning out to be highly addictive and forbidden, yet for some unimaginable reason, I’m obsessed with your rebellious spirit.”
I was at a loss for words, which again didn’t happen often. It seemed, where Jase was concerned, there was no telling who I would become. It wasn’t only the way he watched me as he spoke, as if he was looking past the walls I set up for everyone else, and directly into my true soul. The depth of what he said, though he meant it to be teasing and playful, hit me so hard because it rang so incredibly true.
My past and the ghosts that kept me up at night made me overthink every single thing about my life. My mind ran a hundred miles per hour, twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year, and in one second, Jase saw right through me.
My eyes trailed down to his mouth, fixating on the slow parting of his lips as he let out a soft breath. The scent of mint and bourbon made me ache to kiss him. I wanted to take his lips between mine and taste the spiced liquor on his tongue, but I couldn’t. Kissing Jase was dangerous for one simple reason. I liked it too damn much.
“Jase, we agreed,” I murmured, lowering my voice as I looked around to make sure no one would hear us, not like anyone cared what we were up to. “One night. That’s all this will be. An itch to scratch, an urge we both need to get out of our system, nothing more. There’s no need for sweet talkin’. I’m not that kind of girl.”
It was true. I wasn’t like my best friends, especially not like any other girl from Crossroads we’d grown up with.
Carefree?More so a rampant carelessness that flowed through me.Free spirited?Nope, I was a wild child through and through.Ambitious and extroverted?Around here, they called it reckless and shameless. Everything I did was frowned upon, but that came with the territory of my last name. I’d gotten used to it by now and knew that what I was about to do was some way of acting out against those who deemed I couldn’t snag a man like Jameson King.
Not that I wanted him, but what was I supposed to do if he wanted me?
With an arm still wrapped around my waist, Jase tightened his hold on me and brought me closer to him while his fingertips played with the hem of my skirt. Snaking underneath the fabric, warm smooth fingers, those of a man who’s done no hard labor his entire life, glided over my thighs, teasing the edge of my lace panties with their tantalizing touch.
Blonde strands of hair tickled my cheek as he lowered his mouth to my ear, his other hand still cupping my face. His thumb slid over my bottom lip, tenderly prying my lips open and forcing me to let out a soft moan. “We’ll see if you’re still saying that when I get you on your knees and run my fingers through your hair as you take my cock into this pretty little mouth like a good girl.”
Instinctively, my thighs pressed together to ease the urgent need I felt coursing through me. I bit my lip, suppressing the desperate moan that threatened to leave my lips and give him the satisfaction of knowing how aroused I was. How true his words rang and how much I wanted him to do just that.
Instead, I met him with the same fervor, playing the game he thought he could outplay me in. “Mmm,” I moaned, further pressing my hips against the erection I felt growing against me. “One night, Jase King. It’s all you get to make an impression. If Iwere you, I’d focus more on making me scream from these pretty little lips.”
Rather than forcing him to back down, my comment seemed only to ignite him, an amused smirk plastered over his smug face as he inched in so close, the tips of our noses touched.
“Oh sweetheart, they’re going to scream. Scream my name, scream for mercy. Better yet, they’ll beg me not to stop.”
The nerve of the asshole and his better than thou persona thinking every woman should worship the ground he walks on because of his looks and status. His ego pissed me off and made me want to keep this little game going. To give him a taste of the sass he thought he could throw my way. The way he’d mercilessly taunted me all night as we texted back and forth.
Curling my fingers underneath his shirt, I tugged it upward, my knuckles grazing the taut muscles of his abdomen. Jase wasn’t large, broad-shouldered and built like a linebacker as were most of my brothers, but he was muscular and toned, more from his disciplined workouts at the gym. Regardless, his physique was impressive.
I heard him suck in a sharp breath as my fingers touched him, but his smile didn’t falter. The man was confident as hell, and it only irritated me further when I was trying my best to act like this wasn’t affecting me the way it was.
With a sly smile of my own, I licked my lips, grazing his bottom lip just enough to elicit a low growl from his chest.
“You must have me fooled for another one of your many conquests, Jase,” I said coyly. My voice dripped with sultry seduction as my fingers slid higher. “Because let’s get one thing straight. I might scream your name as you make me come, but I’ll never beg you for anything.”
His sly smirk widened as his lips crashed down on mine, swallowing my protest. Warm and wet lips devoured mine like they’d been aching for hours on end. His tongue forced its wayinto my mouth, teeth clattering against each other in an urgent need to move faster, go deeper.
I wasn’t supposed to be kissing Jase King. Certainly not after two extra shots of tequila, which fueled my already conflicted feelings towards him. If this was so wrong, it sure as fuck shouldn’t feel this right.
Chapter One
