I grab my novel off the kitchen table and head back to my side of the house, taking the monitor with me. I grab a stress ball off a shelf and begin crushing it in my palm. This is the point when I usually start to feel sorry for myself. The point when I let the guilt ease and let myself actually feel mad about my predicament, my lack of life because of the responsibilities I bear.
A rock hits my window instead. Glancing at the gauzy curtain, I look back at my book. Another tiny rock hits. Then another three in quick succession. Padding over, I pull aside the curtains and see Leif leaning against a palm tree in my front yard, a bicycle next to him. Shaking my head, I deactivate the alarms using my cell phone and open the window as high as it will go. “You scared me,” I hiss out. “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”
“I wanted to see you,” Leif replies, the tension in his shoulders and neck evident from my perch several yards away. His white shirt has a sweat stain. “I couldn’t wait until our nextdate,” he explains when I don’t reply. “Can I come in?” The air is thick, the humidity clinging to anything that will hold it.
I’m acutely aware of my tousled hair, crappy old t-shirt hitting mid-thigh, and what it means when a man comes over in the middle of the night unannounced. “Is this a booty call, Leif?” He approaches and my heart thumps a little more wildly with each of his thunderous steps in my direction.
He smirks. “No way.” Under his breath he says, “I wish.” But I know without a doubt I wasn’t meant to hear it, so I take the goose bumps and the panty buzz and step back so a burly man can remove my screen and crawl through my window.
“I can’t believe you rode all the way here.” I pull my fingers through my hair, glancing in the large mirror above my dresser, trying to calm the tangle. I let my gaze flick to Leif in the mirror—he’s staring at me, a fierce smolder about to set my skin on fire. In favor of seeing that in person, I meet his eyes, smiling. “It’s late for a workout, isn’t it? Didn’t know bike rides were your thing either.”
“I wasn’t working out. I just…couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he says. “You’re so beautiful.” His eyes dip down to my shirt and bare thighs. “I’m out of my league here, and while I’m sure me showing up in the middle of the night to talk to you isn’t the best idea, you should know I almost didn’t wake you up. I was standing out there just thinking. Looking like a burglar or something worse. Figured I better just do what I came to do.”
What did you come to do?
“If it makes you feel better, I wasn’t sleeping. You didn’t wake me up.” For once, I keep a lid on the details. Ruining this mood would be criminal.
“Good,” he replies, breathing heavy. “I need to try something.”
“Try something?”
He steps toward me, putting one hand on my hip, raising my shirt on one side by gliding his hand up to my waist. When my black lace panties show, he lets the shirt fall back down. “Like I thought,” he growls, swallowing hard. Leif leans his forehead down on mine. “Malena, I can’t stop thinking about kissing you. I can’t stop,” he repeats. “If I kiss you, maybe I can get my head on straight. I’m not a man that makes excuses, but I need to try. You’re driving me fucking crazy. Talking to you. Getting to know you. Giving a shit. It’s all messing with me. A kiss. All I need is a kiss.”
Running my hands under his t-shirt, he shudders as my fingers make contact with his bare skin. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not,” I reply after he hisses out a pleased breath.
Nodding emphatically, he says, “It is.”
“Sounds like we have an experiment on our hands,” I reply, removing my hands from his rippling abs to glide my palms on top of his biceps and forearms, watching as my touch prickles his skin. “Just a kiss? Nothing more?”
Biting his lip, he nods, leans down, and pushes my lips apart with his tongue. His hands circle my lower back as the kiss deepens—my lips on his, and our bodies pressed together, no space for the Lord in this embrace. It’s gritty with need and electrified with pent-up desire. His teeth bump against mine as he tilts his head the opposite direction to possess my mouth from a different angle. Backing up, he follows me until my legs hit the back of my bed.
Leif breaks from the kiss only long enough to remove his shirt as I scoot back toward the pillows. “Consider the experiment a failure,” he breathes, eyes wild, gaze flicking from my mouth to my eyes. “I’ll never get enough of your lips.”
I grin in reply, and he’s on me in the next second. His kiss truly is an out-of-body experience. My skin is on fire from feeling his large hands on my hips, tingles of need flush every part ofmy skin that touches his. This isn’t because I haven’t been with a man in a long time, it’s because it’s him.
Wrapping my legs around his waist, I clasp my hands around his neck, lacing my fingers in his hair. Our height difference isn’t as obvious when we’re lying down, limbs entwined, heart to heart. Leif drags his lips across my neck, leaving a trail of fire as he goes. His kiss finds my ear, and I whisper his name. A tiny plea for everything he’s not giving me. Everything he can’t give. His lips find mine again, and I let my eyes close to feel every sensation crawling through my body.
His muscles are tightly coiled, strong. Leif’s body is saying everything his words never have. He wants me. Us. This. Just as much as I do. When he pulls away from the kiss, I meet his eyes. The light blue is exquisite this close—a liquid ocean full of torment and satisfaction. He pushes breaths through his full lips as he pants, the only exertion being him holding himself back. A flood of wetness soaks my panties, a mere look turning me to culpable putty in his hands. I’d give up anything to have him. This look. I feel it everywhere.
“Malena,” he says, licking his lips. “I can’t stop. I don’t want to stop.”
“Then don’t. Kiss me.”
Wetting his lips, he looks at me reverently lying beneath his strong frame. “I want to do a fuck ton more than kiss you,” he says, leaning back, his legs on either side of my own. My shirt rode up, and there’s an ample amount of underboob exposed. “A kiss didn’t fix anything.” Leif shakes his head. “A kiss sealed my fucking fate.” Sighing, he bends his head and drags his lips up my stomach to my breasts, teasing my shirt up with his tongue until his mouth seals over my nipple.
He slides his mouth over to the other side and repeats the gesture, his lips and tongue worshipping my skin—slowly, methodically. I’m lost in the moment, his touch, the way he’slooking at me, testing my reactions like he’s trying to play an instrument. My breaths come quicker, and my stomach flips when he finally brings his kiss back to my mouth. A soft rain begins falling outside my window, the wind blowing it around, signaling a night storm.
“You kiss like you’ve had a lot of practice,” I say, my words brushing across his wet lips.
He shakes his head slowly, dragging his tongue along my bottom lip as he does. “You make me feel like this is my first time.”
His words hit me everywhere this time, including my heart. “You’re so smooth.” I guide his head back to mine and steal the knowing smirk off his face with another kiss. He groans into my mouth as he presses his erection between my legs. The hard bulge is exactly where I want it, minus our pesky clothing. His face tells me he’s thinking the same thing, as he glances between our bodies, his bottom lip clutched between his teeth.
The moment turns to dust as the first roll of thunder breaks around us. We both jump, and Leif puts a hand on his chest. “I’m not used to that yet. This shit comes out of the middle of nowhere.”
“I know. It’s not something you get used to either. Sort of comes out of the middle of nowhere most of the time,” I say, my heart rate hammering more from his touch than from the scare.
Kneeling, I hug him around his neck. His hands hold me, but his attention is focused at my open window. That thunder must have really shocked him. “Did you hear that?”
