She bites her lip and places her palm on my chest, resting it over my thundering heart.
“I don’t… I don’t want to go anywhere.”
My jaw clenches, but I say nothing.
“Sterling? Will you… will you kiss me again?” she breathes.
The air leaves my lungs.
“No.”
Her eyes widen like I’ve slapped her before her expression closes off.
She tries to step away. But I wrap one arm around her waist and yank her to me, pinning her against my body.
I’ve waited. And I’ve hoped. And now she’s on the verge of finally succumbing, admitting what I’ve known since I met her… I have to know she means it.
I dip my mouth to her ear, my lips tucking inside the silky blonde strands.
“Baby girl,” I rasp.
My blood heats at her responding shiver.
“You want it? This time, you need to take it.”
She snaps her eyes to mine.
“It’s your choice,” I say, remaining close, towering over her, but not quite sealing the gap between us.
“My choice?”
Seconds stretch between us as we stare at one another, both fighting our internal battles.
Her eyes drop to my mouth and back up again, and her chest rises between us, her pebbled nipples screaming at me in invitation.
But I wait.
This is her choice.
“Sterling,” she murmurs.
“Hall—”
She rises on her toes and crashes her lips against mine, cutting her name from my tongue, and sending heat ravaging through my veins like a fireball.
I lift her into my arms, turning and slamming us back against the closed front door.
“Oh god,” she moans, sinking her fingers into my hair and tugging at the roots as she kisses me hard, inviting my tongue inside her mouth to meet hers.
I might explode at any moment. She’s everywhere. Her breathy moans against my lips, her hands grabbing at me, her body, hot and needy in my arms.
My mouth slides all over her like it’s got a mind of its own.
Nipping, kissing, tasting.
I plant my forearms against the wall on either side of her head and she crosses her ankles behind my back, clinging to me. She’s suspended between me and the wall, pinned in place by my hips. I’m pressed so tightly against her that her writhing makes me choke out her name like a strained plea.
“Hallie.”
