“Anyone ever told you you’re forthright to a fault?” he wheezed, his heart trying its best to beat its way out of his chest. Undoubtedly in a bid to get closer to her.
“Sure.” She shrugged unconcernedly. “All the time. But I take issue with it because how can forthrightness ever be considered a fault?”
He pinned his hardest scowl on her and pushed up from the desk chair. He’d found it! Option three! “Gotta go.”
Unfortunately, his injury slowed him down and Alex beat him to the door. She stood with her back against it, her arms and legs spread wide, barring his exit.
He glanced longingly out the window, wondering how badly he’d hurt himself if he jumped.
Broken ankle or leg at the worst. It might be worth it.
“You’re hopeless.” He ran an agitated hand through his hair.
“Nope.” She shook her head. “Shameless, maybe. But never hopeless. Now, choose. Option one or option two?”
“You got no idea the position you’re putting me in,” he mumbled.
“Sure I do. If I can’t put you in the missionary position, then I’ll settle for this one. Option one or option two?”
Something broke inside him. His restraint? Certainly. His ability to think? Most definitely.
With a growl of…what? Impatience? Defeat? Who the fuck knew?…he stomped toward her. As he closed the distance, she became his entire world. Or maybe she’d been that since the moment she landed on Wayfarer Island.
Then he was on her.
She squealed slightly when, with a hand at her waist, he pushed her hard against the door. Stepping close, he eliminated any space between their bodies.
Her eyes rounded when she felt him hard and throbbing against her belly. Her mouth fell open, and he took advantage of her unwitting invitation.
When his lips landed on hers, he wasn’t gentle. He wasn’t rough either. It was more like he was a starving man. Devouring her. Consuming her.
He thought perhaps his abruptness, his lack of finesse, would frightened her. Quite the contrary. Her hands speared into his hair. Her tongue darted into his mouth. And the most erotic-sounding little moan he’d ever heard issued from the back of her throat.
She tasted like something he’d been missing his whole life but hadn’t known it until right that very second. She smelled like sincerity itself, so clean and fresh.
Never dreamed it could be like this, he thought a little desperately.
But that was a lie. He’d dreamed. He’d dreamed every damn night. Except not one of those dreams had come close to this. The reality of her. The reality ofthem.
She kissed stardust into his mouth. It sparkled. It burned. He wasn’t sure if she flew him to heaven or tossed him into hell.
Hewassure that as the moment stretched out, as her unrestrained fingers and tongue and hips moved against him, desire stole away what little control he had.
He’d come to her room to put an end to the idea of them sharing anything more than friendship. But what was he doing instead?
He was kissing her.
And just as he’d feared, now that he’d started, he couldn’t make himself stop.
In the end, he thought,maybe it was inevitable.
Chapter 14
11:15 p.m.
Mason’s lips were like the rest of him. A dichotomy. Both soft and strong. Tender and tough. And he used them so expertly, Alex ached in a way she never had before.
This wasn’t like when she was reading a romance novel or watching a rom-com and felt a squeezing sensation low in her belly. Heck, it wasn’t even like when she was studying up using adult websites and felt beads of sweat form on her brow.
