I thought it was a far-fetched dream that would neverhappen, and let those fantasies go as they came to me…but tonight, all night long, thatsomethingI thought I’d imagined between us simmered. It had bubbled over now, completely uncontainable. Hot and searing, like lava itself.
I wanted to dance in the flames of this inferno. Lose myself in his godlike arms.
I moved a little closer, my fingers slipping around the neck of the bottle, and took another deep sip—a longer one—for the courage to keep going. Dare’s eyes dropped to my lips, and he licked his own in response. The bottle clinked when I set it back down on the table, snapping his attention back to my eyes. I wasn’t trembling anymore.
Maybe it was the whiskey making me feel brave; or maybe it was I could sense his desire, and how close he was to letting go of whatever held him back from taking what he wanted from me.
Maybe it was because I wanted him—no,needed him—to want me as much as I wanted him, and that need overruled everything else, even common sense. In that moment, I didn’t care.
I needed the release I instinctively knew I’d find in his capable hands, but first…I had to breech the walls he’d erected between us. I stepped closer, leaving a few measly inches to separate us. Dare drew in a sharp breath, and when he exhaled, I felt his warm breath on my lips.
“Why do you hide from me?” I asked, tilting my head up to look at him.
“I don’t hide.” I cocked a brow at his gravel and grit words, challenging him, and a smile found its way to his lips—one that reached his eyes.
“You do too. I enter a room and you leave it the first chance you get,” I replied, not allowing myself to look away, even if I felt vulnerable for asking. I reached out, splaying my hand over his left pectoral, feeling the soft material of his button-up and the racing beat of his heart beneath my palm. He drew in another breath and tensed, and I pulled back my hand—stung. “And you flinch when I touch you.”
Dare’s fingers wrapped around my wrist, his thumb gentle and calloused on the inside of the skin there. “You really want the truth?”
I nodded, eyes widening and searching his, everything inside me seizing as I awaited his answer. “Give it to me straight, Dare,” I demanded when he hesitated. My demand felt more like a whispered plea.
Instead of answering, he released my wrist, moving his hands to frame my face. He stared into my eyes as if seeing my soul, then his lips crashed against mine, claiming me in a heart-stopping, earth-shattering kiss.
I felt himeverywhere.
I pressed my body as close to his as I could, falling into the kiss, my hands exploring his chest over his shirt. My fingers clutched the fabric of his shirt as I lost myself to his lips.
He tasted of mint and whiskey; and he kissed me like he’d thought of doing just this for years. I returned his kiss with just as much fervor. I held on to him, our tongues tangling and tasting, lips sucking. I couldn’t help but nip at his bottom lip, tugging it just enough to make him moan.
The fire that had always burned dimly in the pit of my belly around him ignited, consuming me whole.
It was Dare who broke the kiss, resting his forehead against mine as he drew in a ragged breath. He took a moment to steady his breathing, eyes searching mine, gauging my reaction.
“So youdowant to kiss me,” I teased, my voice as breathless as I felt. My heart was pounding franticly in my chest.
“Of course, I want to kiss you. Who the hell wouldn’t?” He laughed, his eyes crinkling, his lips—swollen from my teeth—lifted in a half smile.
I wanted to feel those lips on me again—everywhere. “What else do you want to do to me?”
My question made the desire in his eyes smolder. He cupped my chin, his thumb brushing across my rosy lips.
“Unspeakable things. Things I can’t do. It’s bad enough I kissed you. I shouldn’t have done that.” He didn’t sound like he regretted it, and he didn’t make a move to release me.
“I’m a grown, consenting adult. I want you to kiss me. Why is that so wrong?”
“You know why,” he pointed out. But I didn’t want to think about the multitude of reasons why this was a bad idea. I just wanted to fall into the moment, for however long it lasted.
Dare though—he seemed a little hung up on those whys. But I’d had a taste, and I was too selfish to let this chance slide from my fingertips, so I decided to help him out a little.
Stepping away from the warmth of his hands, my fingers went to the zipper of his sweater. I dragged it down, dropping my shoulders so it fell around my feet, onto the concrete. My hands went to the top buttons of my dress, trembling slightly from the chill of the evening, and my nerves. I didn’t want to leave him any more room to change his mind. I wanted to keep him in the moment—a moment I wanted to take for myself.
Men were visual creatures, and once they got a taste of something they wanted…the urge to claim it always overrode everything else. I could see the battle in Dare’s eyes, and I knew if I were anybody else…he’d already have me spread out beneath him without a moment’s hesitation.
It wasbecauseof who I was that he fought it so hard.
“What if I told you I don’t care if it’s a bad idea…I’ve wanted you to do unspeakable things to me forso long,” I told him, hoping like hell I was concealing the vulnerability I felt within my aching heart with this confession. If he said no…I didn’t know how I’d face the mortification of that rejection. But the heady way he looked at me is what drove me.
I’d risk it all for that heat in his eyes, for the taste of his kiss.
