They’d gone from zero to sixty in two seconds flat. From standing there staring at each other to her trying to climb him like a cat climbs a tree while he attempted to trace every inch of her body with his hungry, roving hands.
She had curves enough to make a man lose his damn mind. Her waist was narrow. Her hips were flared. And her ass? Oh, her ass was the eighth wonder of the world. Plump and plentiful enough to overflow his hands when he bent to fill them.
“God, yes,” she breathed into his mouth as he lifted her onto her tiptoes to better align their bodies.
He’d never known anything like it.
Sure, he’d known desire. He’d known craving and longing and even red-hotlust. But this thing with Julia was different. It was cellular. Molecular.Atomic.
He wanted toconsumeher. Absorb her. Enmesh every particle of his body with every particle of hers until there was no way to separate them or tell one from the other.
It was terrifying. And yet…he couldn’t stop.
Couldn’t stop himself from tilting his head so he could have better access to her busy,busylips. Couldn’t stop his tongue from taking long, languid forays into her open, eager mouth. Couldn’t stop himself from shoving her against the pantry door so he could press himself fully against her, feeling all her lovely, firm curves mold into his muscled, hard planes.
Her fingers moved from his hair to his face. From his chin to his chest. Her palms were a little rough—probably from target practice. But the rest of her? Sweet baby Jesus, the rest of her was ungodly soft.
She moaned, and the sound reverberated down to his throbbing balls. When she lifted a leg to hook a heel behind his knee, the highly sensitive flesh covering his cock ached so badly he wondered if it would continue to hold the turgid length of his erection or if it would split right down the middle.
In the furthest reaches of his mind, in the part thatwasn’tconsumed by all that was Julia, he recalled a conversation he’d had with Boss over beers on the back patio. He’d been talking about life and love and Boss's incredible luck in approaching Becky about using her custom motorcycle shop as a cover for his newly formed covert defense firm.
“What are the odds y’all’s business partnership would grow into a romantic one?”he’d mused.
“If you’d asked me ten years ago, I would’ve said the odds were pretty slim,”Boss had replied. The fire burning in the pit had made flames dance in the older man’s eyes.“But I’ve grown more philosophical with time. Now, I believe in all that string theory stuff.”
“String theory?”Britt had frowned as he took a sip of beer. The tangy scent of hops had mixed with the smokey zest of the burning wood.“As in particle physics?”
“I leave that to Ozzie.”Boss had chuckled.“No. I’m talking ’bout the string theory of love. The idea that people are connected by unbreakable strings that transcend time, distance, and geography. The idea that what brings us together isn’t choice but fate.”
Britt had laughed.“Never would have pegged you for a Swiftie, Boss.”
“Huh?”
“A Taylor Swift fan.”
Boss had blinked.“Did I jump into a different timeline? How the hell did we go from talking ’bout string theory to Taylor Swift?”
“Because she has that song. ‘Invisible String.’ The lyrics describe everything you’re saying.”
When Boss had only stared at him, he’d hummed a few bars.
“Right.”Boss had nodded.“I think I’ve heard Fish play that on his harmonica.”Then he’d shaken his head.“The string theory has been around longer than Miss Swift’s song. I can promise you that. I can also promise you that from the very beginning, it felt different with Becky. It was like I saw her, and a hidden part of me I never knew existed recognized itself in her.”
Isthatwhy Britt had continued to stalk Julia despite his every intention to stop? Why he’d been uninterested in any other woman since the moment he’d clapped eyes on her? And whyhe’d been so quick and so sure in his decision to turn down her invitation for a drink? Because a hidden part of him recognized itself in her?
The answer to that question dissolved in his head when she speared her hands into his hair, her nails biting softly into his scalp. She moved her body against his in a rhythm as old as time, and yet somehow…because it washer…it still felt thrillingly new.
He was acutely aware of every point they touched. The warmth of her womanhood breached the layers of fabric separating them and bathed his erection in humid heat. The hard pebbles of her nipples brushed against his chest, a delicious addition to the friction she created with her hips. And the soft, searching,hungryfeel of her lips against his had him sliding a hand to the back of her neck to pull her closer. Closer. Closer still.
It was magical. It was maddening. It was…
Too risky!
It took herculean strength to break free from the kiss when every cell in his body cried out in protest. But he managed it with only a low, gruff grunt.
After he put a few feet between them, he could do nothing but stand there with his hands on his hips. His head bowed in surrender. His chest rose and fell with his harsh breaths.
Oh-eleven-hundred, said the hands on his watch.Get her the hell out of here before you do or say something you’ll regret, said his overheated brain.Kiss her again, screamed his excited body.
