Her cheek brushed my chest, then tilted upward. I bent before I could resist, pressing my lips to her temple, then her cheek, then lower still until she tipped up and our mouths collided.
The kiss was nothing like the others we’d stolen. This one was raw. It was her pouring everything she couldn’t say into my mouth, and me answering with every part of myself I’d always kept locked down tight.
She made a soft sound that shot straight through me. My hand slid to cradle the back of her neck, keeping her tilted just right as I deepened the kiss. She tasted like frosting and espresso. Sweet and bitter and perfect.
Her back pressed against the counter, and I crowded closer, bracketing her in. My thigh nudged between hers,and the heat I found there made my control slip a little more.
“This isn’t smart,” she whispered against my lips.
“No,” I growled, trailing kisses down her jaw to her throat. “But it seems like that doesn’t stop us. I want to bend you over and fuck you right here.” Rubbing a thumb over her lips, I watched fascinated as her tongue flicked out to wrap around it. “I don’t have a condom,” I admitted.
“Bossy and greedy.” She bit her lip. “I have an IUD. I’m okay with you going without. I’ve been tested.”
“I’ve never gone bare.” The thought of being inside of her like that. Skin to skin made goose bumps prickle along my spine. I couldn’t wait. I dragged my teeth lightly along her neck, felt the intake of her breath, and smiled against her skin. God, I loved her like this. The taste of her and the sugar on her skin.
Her hands fisted in my shirt, pulling me closer, as if daring me to prove just how greedy I could be. That was all the permission I needed. Turning her around, I bent her over the counter. “Hmm, I like this, sugar. You locked the door, yeah?”
“Uhh. I’m not sure now. God, I hope so.” She shifted nervously against me as I lifted her pretty little skirt that had been flitting around her ankles all night.
“I’ll have to kill someone if they come in and see you like this.” My hands traced over the edges of her spine to the band of her thong. Pressing her forward, I let my fingers push the fabric down to her ankles. “We don’t need this anymore, do we?” I raised it to my nose. “These are mine now.”
“East,” she gasped, “You can’t be serious. That’s the fourth pair.”
“I’ll buy you more. Spread those legs for me, sugar.” She was already quivering and shaking, her thighs damp. I loved how she wanted this as much as I did. It made me crazy. “I can’t wait another second to see how you feel.” Sliding the crown of my cock against her folds, I heaved a breath as I pushed the tip into her. The feeling was almost indescribable.
“That feels so good,” she moaned, trying to buck back and take more of me than she was ready for. I wasn’t small, and she wasn’t as prepped as she thought she was. Easing my fingers to her clit I teased the bundle of nerves pressing into her gently in shallow strokes.
“Such a good girl. Look at how well you take my cock. Are you going to come for me?” I eased further into her, shallow at first until I could seat fully into her, pausing at the sensation. As always, I was ready to blow. Lila had shortened my fuse to almost zero, but she came first. Always. “Let go, sugar,” I begged, my breath coming in pants as I fucked into her.
“Holy shit. Harder.” I complied, picking up my pace while counting backward. I could feel when she came, her walls clutching me like a vise as she spasmed around it.
“Hell, you feel good like this. It’s like heaven.” Letting myself go, I emptied into her for the first time in my life, putting the thought into the world of what it might mean if her birth control failed. Relaxing against her for a moment, I pressed a kiss against her shoulder, caressing her stomach, imagining.
“Let’s get you cleaned up, sweetheart.” Hefting her up into my arms, I carried her to the back office, where there was a bathroom.
She tilted her face up, and her eyes met mine in the soft glow of the fairy lights Mia had strung up. They looked almost unreal, those lights twinkling against scorched desire and the tenderness that had crept in when we weren’t looking.
Her lips curved, faint, vulnerable. “I’ll never look at that counter the same way again.”
A laugh broke out of me, low and unexpected, pulling some of the tension out of the air. “That’s good, right?.”
She laughed too, breathless, but then buried her face against my chest again, arms wrapped tight around me. For a moment, she just held on. “Well, that was … four stars.”
“Four?” I said in mock outrage. “I’ll need to work up to five. Maybe I need to level up.” I tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, my knuckles brushing her cheek. She leaned into it for half a second before ducking her head. “Don’t regret this,” I said softly.
Her throat worked. “I don’t regret any of it.” A pause, barely audible. “That’s what scares me.”
My chest tightened, but I only nodded, pulling her closer once more, resting my forehead against hers. “I understand. You don’t need to be worried. I’m scared enough for both of us.”
I was terrified. Terrified that she might not be sure that she would want to be with me, but I wanted every part of her and all the edges that came with it.
36
Lila
It had been three weeks since the fire, and I still smelled like smoke. (Or I thought I did.) And it had been nearly two weeks since that bombshell had hit my life, that my father might have an actual claim to the parts of my life that I’d been building so carefully.
Now I’d been carrying on in fits and starts. My Grams had taught me that the world didn’t just stop revolving because everything was a steaming pile of manure. Everyone else’s life went on, even if yours was a dumpster fire. Gossip had died down, and business was good.
