“You owe me the truth,” I repeat. “That’s all.”
“I’m not sure I can give you that right now,” he mumbles, looking away.
I inhale deeply, garnering all the courage I have left. “Sure you can. Kiss me.”
“What?” He recoils.
“You said it wasn’t unpleasant when we kissed before, but it was purely physical, nothing meaningful, because you couldn’t allow it to be anything more than that. So kiss me now, while no one’s watching, and think about what it makes you feel.”
His throat bobs as he swallows hard, and I think he’s actually considering my offer. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”
“Because you’re afraid you’ll feel something?”
He shakes his head. “I know I will.”
My stomach dips. “But … I thought you said?—”
“I had to protect you,” he cuts me off.
“You’re not a monster,” I say incredulously. “It’s okay for you to admit you’re attracted to me.”
He inhales. “Impulse control has never been my strong suit, Blondie.”
“So you’ve said,” I taunt him. “But I haven’t seen much of that guy yet. I’m starting to think he doesn’t exist.”
He turns and stares at me in a way that makes me think I’d be sweating, even without the fire blazing in front of us. “You really want me to kiss you, Daisy? You want me to show you what I’m like when I’m not holding back?” he asks, his tone different than before. His eyes are darker than I’ve ever seen them.
“I dare you,” I whisper.
He growls as he reaches out to pull me in and captures my mouth with his, and I gasp against his lips. I instinctively reach up to clutch at his arms as he tilts his head to the side and presses his mouth against mine more forcefully, guiding me to open up for him. In one smooth motion, his tongue slips in through my parted lips, and I’m hyperaware of the heat already building inside me, my body’s involuntary reactions to his, and the powerful urge to draw him in closer.
Fisting his shirt in my hands, I drag him toward me while I rise to my knees, eliciting what sounds like a low groan from deep within his chest, and he grips the back of my neck. A part of me is waiting, fearing the second he pulls away. The other half is savoring every second of this and reveling in the fact that he seems to be enjoying it, too.
Landry continues, his kisses growing hungrier as his hands become entangled in my hair, and I match his intensity. My fingertips dig themselves into his muscles while he dips his tongue into my mouth and swallows each of my desperate whines.
“I knew it. You taste so damned good,” he mumbles against my lips. “It only makes it that much harder not to imagine what the rest of you might taste like.”
A shiver runs through me when I realize I’ve unlocked a new level of Landry’s personality. He’s not just sweet—he’s spicy.
He’ssmushy.
“Why don’t you see for yourself?” I spit out after a while.
He whimpers and shifts our positions so that I’m lying on my back as he hovers over me. “Is that another dare?” he rasps.
“Yes,” I say, gulping, and he immediately moves his lips down to my neck.
“Hmm,” he hums and drags his tongue over my skin before his teeth scrape the same sensitive spot. “This checks out. But there are other places I’m still curious about.”
I smile and tilt my head back. “Other places?”
His hand slips beneath my shirt then, and I know I shouldn’t let this go on. I’m leading us both into a very, very near occasion of sin. But at this point, I can’t imagine Landry isn’t the man I’ve been saving myself for all these years. Maybe I haven’t ventured this far into physical intimacy before, but I’ve never even felt the desire to do this with anyone else. And that has to mean something.
“Gah, you’re so soft … so perfect,” he murmurs. “So sexy it hurts.” He barely gets that last bit out before devouring my mouth again, and I’m slightly disappointed he’s not continuing his taste test. Besides the time when Landry was drunk, I’ve never been called sexy before, and he’s definitely making me feel sexy right now.
I work up the nerve to drag my hands over him, and he groans when I grasp his backside and pull him down. He pushes himself against me when my back arches up to meet him. Then I slide my hands up his shirt, and he flinches, making us both stop and giggle.
“Shit, that’s cold,” he says, staring down at me and smiling.
