Solo broke our kiss, his lips swollen and looking more delicious than I’d ever seen them. I leaned forward again, not wanting to sever our connection, but he held his finger up to my mouth.
“Where are you going?”
Solo strolled over to the nightstand and took his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled for a moment and then looked up at me.“I wanted to do this all night.” He set the phone down, and as the sultry sound of “Stormy Weather” by Etta James filled the room, Solo said, “Dance with me?”
The sensual light in his eyes and husky cadence to his voice had my knees just about giving out from under me, and when he held his hand out to me, there was no way in hell I was about to deny him. I slipped my hand into his, and when his fingers enveloped mine and he drew me into his embrace, I placed my palm on his chest to steady myself.
Damn, who knew Solo was such a romantic?
As we began to sway back and forth around my living quarters, Solo brushed a kiss across my temple and whispered by my ear, “This song is exactly how I felt when you drove away from me tonight. Like I couldn’t breathe…couldn’t go on knowing you were going to be so close but I couldn’t actually touch you.”
My heart thumped as he continued to slowly lead me in this seductive dance that made me feel as though I were floating.
“But then,” he continued, kissing his way up the shell of my ear. “Then I got to the ball and there you were, waiting for me like some kind of dream…”
My eyes fluttered shut as he tightened his fingers around mine.
“But you’re not a dream.”
I took a deep inhale of his delicious scent, then raised my head and opened my eyes. The raw emotion swirling in those beautiful brown eyes was breathtaking. It was full of trust, honesty, and absolute devotion. Solo had barreled into my life like a hurricane and made me fall head over heels for him, and with every minute we spent together, I got more caught up in his pull.
I touched the strong line of Solo’s jaw, then brushed my thumb over his lower lip and shook my head. “Not a dream. I’m standing right here.”
Solo’s body vibrated against mine. I drew my hand away and whispered, “Kiss me again.”
As Solo took a nice, long taste of me, I groaned. Tonight might have gotten off to a stormy start, but now that we were together, I knew we could navigate anything that came our way.
4Solo
PANTHER’S LIPS WERE intoxicating. All night I’d been careful not to overdo it with the alcohol, knowing that Panther would likely need the liquid courage more than me. But as we continued to move to the sound of Etta, I felt as though my head were starting to spin.
Tonight had completely taken me by surprise, from Panther waiting for me outside that ballroom, to the ballsy way he’d told his father how much I meant to him, and I couldn’t help but believe that every single one of those moments had led us right here.
I could feel his nose nuzzling against my ear, his warm breath as he sighed in pleasure every now and then. When his hips brushed up against mine, it was easy to tell that Panther was enjoying this dance just as much as I was.
We’d waited for it all night, watching as other couples casually made their way to the dance floor, but each knowing on some subliminal level that we wanted our first dance to be one we could enjoy—not one where we’d be under scrutiny from everyone around us. I tightened my arm around his waist and drew him flush against me. Panther groaned and raised his head.
His eyes were dilated now, his cheeks a little flushed, and when I drew his arm up over my shoulder, he got the picture and looped his other hand there to move in even closer. I slid both hands down to his tailored pants and pulled him in nice and tight. When he thrust up against me, I smirked.
“You know, you surprised me tonight. You took a really big risk doing what you did.” Panther licked along his bottom lip as I grabbed a handful of his tight ass.
“Some things are worth the risk.”
“Yeah?”
Panther nodded and ran his fingers up the back of my neck. “You’reworth the risk.”
I grinned against his mouth. “That you or the tequila talking?”
He bit down harder on my lip before pressing a kiss there to soothe it. “Me. I’ve never met anyone worthier.”
I chuckled. “Okay, that is definitely the tequila talking.”
“Shh.” Panther softened the order with a kiss so sweet it made my stomach flip. When the song shuffled and The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes for You” filled the room, he raised his head and gave a heart-stopping smile.
“What?”
“I was just thinking how perfect this song is.”
