His face darkened. “That wasn’t my fault, and you know that.” Reed then paced back and forth in front of me, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.
“Reed?” I said softly, my training kicking in. I could see he was struggling.
After a few more seconds, he dropped his hand, his eyes clashing with mine. He had managed to get hold of himself, and his response was textbook. When you feel cornered, it’s human nature to attack. “I heard you checked my no-show with ‘the powers that be?’ How’s that for not taking me at my word?” He was right, as soon as I heard he’d canceled, I called his manager.
“It’s my job to check.”
“Why? I’ve never lied to you. Can you say the same?”
That got my back up. “Yes, I can, and it wasn’t like that. I think we can agree that we are both guilty of leaving stuff out when it comes to sharing.” I knew what I was saying was ridiculous under the circumstances, but I was Storm Summers, and I played with words and manipulated people to get me off the hook. Making someone else shoulder the blame was instinctive and in my blood. All members of the Summers family were the same.
Reed shook his head in disbelief. “Leaving stuff out? Are you really trying to compare you not telling me you were fuckingengagedto me not sharing the sordid details of ten months of my childhood? How is that comparable?” Reed said in amazement. Of course, he had a point. They weren’t the same at all.
Wringing my hands, I glanced around him. “I don’t know. It’s not, I suppose. Look, we’re getting nowhere. Let’s go back inside.” I stepped forward, and Reed did the same, bringing our bodies dangerously close. I could feel the heat from his chest permeating through my dress.
He then got in my face, his nose brushing mine. “Back inside? To him? To that fucking prick that tells you what to eat and drink, what to wear?”
I shook my head, placing a hand on his torso to hold him back, but it was like trying to move a mountain. “Jasper doesn’t tell me what to wear, Reed.”
“I told you not to say his fucking name to me!” he roared, grabbing me by my upper arms and pulling me onto my tiptoes. If the music hadn’t been loud in the gym, everyone would have heard our fight.
“You need to let go of me, Reed,” I warned quietly, my breath hissing between my teeth. Every nerve ending was alive with his touch. His grip was firm, but he didn’t hurt me.
I could see from the expression that twisted his features that he was torn. And then, his fingers tightened as he pushed me back against the wall of the gym. “I don’t think so,” he husked, his eyes hooded as his gaze transferred to my lips.
And. I was on fire.
There was nowhere to go, not that I wanted to move. Being held by Reed, even in anger, was better than nothing. I eyed the boy I cared about with every fibre of my body as I fought for control. It was as if Jasper’s name had lit a match to the biggest bonfire.
Reed was breathing heavily, clearly tormented, and after another moment's silence, he released my arms.
The rug was then ripped away beneath my feet as Reed’s hands captured my face and drew me towards him.
He lowered his head and, with a growl deep in his throat, took my mouth with his.
The intensity of the kiss powered through my entire frame.
Could you die from excitement?
I went up like a rocket, my fingers lifting to grasp his biceps as his tongue slid into my mouth. One hand then moved to cup my jaw, and the other threaded into the hair at my nape.
I was dragged back into the past, back to him, Reed, the one I had always wanted.
My past lover drank from my lips, his mouth hungry and insistent, dominating, taking. It was as if the taste of me was what he needed to survive, and I fucking lovedit. This was no lazy exploration; this was a branding, a claiming of his territory. As his tongue stroked mine, the ache between my legs grew, and it throbbed against the lace of my underwear.
Reed pulled back slightly, trailing a few kisses down my jaw before fusing our mouths again, needy for more. I pushed myself up and into the kiss, my braless breasts flattened against the hardness of his chest. Moaning against his mouth, the friction of my nipples against his rock-hard pectoral muscles felt amazing. Tingles shot all the way down to my toes.
Reed’s hand tightened in my hair, angling my head where he wanted it to go, and his other gripped my throat and gently squeezed, marking me as his. Would I have bruises? At that point, I didn’t fucking care.
A shudder made its way down my body as I felt Reed’s stiff cock pressing into my stomach like steel, and memories of how big he was came flooding back, creating red-hot lust to pool between my thighs. I wanted him to lift my dress and take me there, hard against the wall. I had to fight myself to stop from rubbing against him.
Reed tore his mouth away and murmured into my ear. “I need to be inside you, so fucking bad.” The way he said the words was filthy, and everything in me screamed, yes.
He then devoured my mouth again like a starving man, his fingers now digging into the skin of my neck.
Reed forced his tongue back between my lips. It wasn’t a friendly kiss; it was a clear, I want to fuck you, message. He was being a little too rough, but just enough to make me feel giddy without fear.
The hand that held my hair suddenly moved, releasing the strands that had been pulled tight against my scalp. I inhaled my gasp as I felt his fingers against the top of my thigh, sliding in through the slit of my dress.
