“Chloe…”
“Say that you’re here,” I continued before he could say more. “Say that you found me, and you’re not leaving here without me. Say that this time, it’s real.”
“It was real the last time,” he whispered. “I was just stupid enough to walk away from you.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t walk away this time.”
The elevator rattled and jerked, and once more, it was moving.
I released him and cleared my throat. My face was beet red and burning. I inhaled a sharp breath, intent on ignoring what I’d just said and readjusting myself to be presentable for the elevator door to open, but—
Gavin grabbed my arm and whirled me into him, his body engulfing mine, and before I knew what was happening, he kissed me.
Oh,fuckyes.
God, his lips. This unhinged kiss. His squeezing hands. His absoluteneedfor me…
I opened up to him without hesitation, trying to claw my way into his body as he raked his way into mine. I craved it. I cravedhim. He was an addiction and obsession that I didn’t want to recover from. With every hungry stroke of his tongue against mine, he claimed my body, heart, and soul.
We were a mess of chaos and desire, and we had fought this far too long to stop.
He couldn’t decide where to grip me first: my jaw, my neck, my waist, my ass. Those hands moved all over me as though he could consume me all at once. His hat fell to the ground as my fingers writhed into his hair and tugged at the thickness of those ginger strands.
This was… fucking hell, this waseverything.
I knew the kiss was wrong, and I didn’t give a fuck. Not right then. Not at that moment. I’d driven myself crazy trying to deny what I felt. But dammit, he was here, and the way he was kissing me…
I was so fucking in love with him.
And for a few brief moments, I was okay with that.
The elevator door opened, and we staggered out of it, still in that embrace, too afraid to pull apart for fear that it might be a dream. Thank fuck, no one else was there. He hurriedly guided us, my back slamming into the opposite wall. His hands were all over me—my face, my waist, squeezing my ass and pulling my thigh around his hip. It was as if five years of desperation flooded us both in that kiss. Like we could devour the other’s soul if we tried hard enough. I scraped and stammered and begged with my body for him to never stop. I didn’t know what to do with reality if he did.
I could feel his erection against my abdomen, and dammit, I wanted him.
I wanted himso fucking desperately.
But Gavin staggered back, and I almost sank forward as we separated. Both of us heaved with those stolen breaths. I grabbed to the wall, my thighs squeezing at the throbbing between them.
He pressed his hands to his hips. “Tell me not to follow you to your apartment,” he managed.
“Why?” I breathed.
“Because once I’m there, I won’t stop,” he admitted. “Chloe, I don’t even think I would concede to your safe word. This is as far as my willpower goes when it comes to holding back from you, and I’m not entirely sure how I’m doing this.” His tongue darted out over his lips as he gazed over my body—from my disheveled hair to my hiked-up shorts that bared my thick thighs to the V-neck hockey jersey half tucked in and falling over the lacy bra I’d worn.
He bit his knuckle, almost growling under his breath. “Fuck, and you’re wearing that, too?” he said as he noticed the lace. “Tell me to get in the elevator and go home,” he almost begged.
“What if I don’t want you to go home?” I blurted.
His hands ran over his face, and he dropped into a squat. An agonized noise left him. And when he stood again, he braced his hands on his hips again like they were the only thing holding him back from touching me.
“I’m not fucking you out of pure lust anymore. You’re going to beminewhen I take you again,” he said darkly. “You won’t remember that another man ever touched you because the only thing you’ll ever feel on your skin, on your soul, or inside your body for the remainder of your days isme. My lips, my hands, my dick. You will be wholly and unequivocally mine, Chloe. And I don’t think you’re ready for that.”
I didn’t know what to say, and he knew it.
