Finding your scent match should be easy and immediate happily ever after…at least that was the dream that lived inside my head. But this right here, it feels as if it’s breakable—tentative and unstable, like she will slip through our fingers with the wrong move.
I swallow dryly before picking up the water and downing the whole thing. Setting the glass down before my clammy hands have it crashing to the counter, I turn toward her. The need to cement whatever this is sinks inside of me like a lead weight, making me feel heavy and sluggish.
Are the guys feeling this too?
“Ready for our seven minutes?” I ask.
“Do we have to go into a closet?” she asks with a laugh. And either she’s as good of an actor as Rafe, or she’snothaving the same sense of impending doom. Only her scent gives her away.
Attempting to play along and push the edging darkness away. I say, “It’s a walk in if that matters.” I add in a shrug for good measure, and she laughs again, a dimple appearing on her cheek.
As I lean against the kitchen island, my fingers lightly tracing the smooth surface, I catch Lilah's gaze. I can feel the warmth of her body next to mine as she toys with the rim of her water glass. Her presence is magnetic, pulling me in, but there's also an undercurrent of anxiety within me. I'm afraid she could slip through my fingers at any moment, but I keep it masked behind a playful smile.
Rafe shifts on the other side of the island. His attention completely on Lilah. "Seven minutes in heaven in the walk-in closet?" he says, his grin mischievous. "You could just do it here."
Lilah's hand brushes against mine as she glances my way, her eyes full of amusement. "Seven minutesalone," she says, her voice teasing.
I laugh, trying to keep the mood light even though her nearness is making my heart race. "Alone," I repeat, trying tosound confident even as my nerves threaten to bubble over. One wrong move and this is over, I can feel it in my gut.
Rafe and Miles laugh, and Miles chimes in, "Didn’t you say all of us get those seven minutes because you let him win?"
Lilah's smile widens, her eyes dancing with playful challenge. "Did I?" she asks, leaning in just a bit closer. The way she looks at me makes me feel like I’m standing on the edge of something I don’t want to fall off.
My voice stays steady as I respond, keeping up the pretense. "You did, but I’m first," I reply, feeling her fingers brush lightly against my arm.
Rafe and Miles share a glance, and I think they can sense my tension even though I’m hiding it. But they don’t say anything, letting the moment play out.
Lilah’s gaze holds mine, her expression full of intrigue. "A deal is a deal" she murmurs, and the way she says it sends a thrill through me.
I lean in slightly, lowering my voice. "Don't keep me waiting too long, then," I say, trying to keep my tone light, even though I’m afraid I might be falling harder than I intended.
I can feel her eyes on me as I slip down the hallway. When I reach my room, I glance back down the hall to find her watching me from the place I left her. Inhaling a deep breath, I step into the room, breaking eye contact. Then I enter the walk-in closet and release the air from my lungs in a slow exhale. The mid-day light shines across the space from the high window, and I watch the dust motes dance in the air as I wait. Before I turn around, I can hear her soft footfalls behind me.
The door clicks shut, and her fingers trail along my arm. My heart hammers inside my chest, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she can hear it.
I turn toward her. “You followed.”
She looks nervous as she smooths her fingers over the front of my shirt. Her tiny pink tongue darts out and moistens her lips. “A deal is a deal,” she repeats her words.
“We don’t have?—”
She goes up on her tippy-toes and presses her lips to mine. The sensation is electric, her touch sending a shiver through me. When she pulls back, I find myself gazing into her eyes, mesmerized by the depth in them.
“We do, because I need to know how you kiss when there are no cameras to catch the moment,” she whispers.
It’s all I need before I’m pulling her into my arms and kissing her like a man drowning. She whimpers into my mouth. The sound automatically has me dropping my hands to her ass and pulling her up, encouraging her legs to wrap around my waist. It’s like second nature.
She releases a sound that’s a mix between a moan and another soft whimper as I press her into the shut closet door. Blood surges between my legs, hardening my cock in my pants. Her perfume infuses my senses in a way that feels like it seeps into my very soul.
“Fuck,” I murmur against her lips. Only pulling back far enough for my eyes to skip between hers, checking in with her on this development. Her cheeks are flushed a pretty pink, and her lips are swollen from my desperate kiss.
If I hadn’t taken my pill this morning, my own musk would be mixing with her pheromones, and I don’t think seven minutes would be long enough.
Her fingers work my shirt up over my abs and chest before she pulls it from me and drops it to the floor. The feel of her palms flattening on my bare skin lights a fire inside of me. With a groan, I claim her mouth again, this time some of my restraint breaking loose. I nip at her soft lips, and she moans into my mouth.
Then I bite and nip my way along her jaw, moving beneath her ear, sucking at the sensitive flesh before trailing down to her scent gland. Her pulse throbs beneath my tongue. And every single fucking urge wants me to sink my teeth into her neck and claim her.
Forget the sex and knotting. I know she’s it for me, and if I can bind her to me, even in the most temporary way, because claiming marks are only permanent after a heat. Just the thought of my mark on her has me pressing her harder into the door, into the softness between her legs.
