Her heart skipped a beat as tiny bolts of lightning flashed down her bare back, even though Connor wasn’t touching her. It sounded like a threat. Or a promise.
“Attraction is important,” he murmured. “Without attraction, you have a good friend. But the excitement and the passion…”
“They’re nice, but not as necessary as the rest,” she finished.
He lifted one corner of his mouth and slowly leaned toward her. “Are you telling yourself that because the chemistry between us scares you?”
Her mouth went dry. “What?”
“I don’t like it either,” he whispered, his gaze sliding to her lips. “But I’ve made it a rule not to lie to myself.”
Everything in her abdomen tensed. “We don’t have…”
“Rachel,” he interrupted harshly, “stop it. You may lie to yourself, but not to me.” His toes brushed against hers. “I look at you and think about sex. Your hand brushes mine, and I imagine you wrapping it around my cock.”
Her pulse quickened as thick heat pooled between her legs.
“Every time you say something truly infuriating, I think about the best way to shut you up. And, fuck, I’ve already thought of so many good ways.”
She squeezed her legs together…and when his gaze flicked to the hem of her dress, she knew he could tell. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want to know if that’s your problem with me. That you hate me but want me. That I wouldn’t be a responsible choice…and right now, you’re thinking that you don’t care. For tonight. Because you look at me and think about sex even though you judge me.”
“No.”
“Rachel, it’s okay if…”
“No.” She shook her head.
Connor gritted his teeth. “You have to stop saying no.”
“Why?”
He leaned closer until she felt his breath on her cheek. “Because all I can think about is getting you to say yes.”
She knew she was playing with fire. They had to stop. But she didn’t want to. She couldn’t. Her body was tingling all over, and she couldn’t and wouldn’t ignore the burning desire in her veins any longer. She hadn’t had fun in a long time. She hadn’t felt happy in a long time.
So she stepped forward and tilted her head back so that her nose brushed his chin and his rough stubble scraped her soft skin.
“Try it,” she whispered. “I bet you’ll back out. I bet…”
He lowered his mouth hard to hers. His lips offered no compromise and, for the first time in her life, she didn’t want one. She just wanted what she craved. She didn’t want time to think or doubt, and Connor wasn’t allowing her to. Instead, he put a hand on the back of her neck and lifted her chin so he could reach her mouth better. Not gently, but not roughly either. Just demanding. Determined. He was provoking her, as if he was waiting for her to say stop because he wasn’t going to back down and she had to be the one to end this madness.
But she wasn’t going to. It felt too damn good to be a little insane and not perfect at all. So she clutched his shirt and moved toward him. She enjoyed the sound of him hissing as she ran her nails over his skin beneath the fabric. When he understood that tonight, she wouldn’t hold back either.
“You really should stop making bets you can’t win,” he whispered threateningly before swiftly wrapping his large hands around her waist and pushing her into the narrow alley behind them. He pushed her deeper until they were hidden from view.
They wouldn’t have fit through the narrow alleyway shoulder to shoulder. But Connor apparently had no intention of standing next to her. Instead, he pressed her against the wall with his hard, heavy body and opened his lips over hers again.
Before, his touches had been controlled – a test, a waiting game. But now he seemed to have run out of patience — and God, she loved it. The way he dipped his tongue between her lips and took her in.
“I don’t feel like I’m losing right now,” she replied breathlessly. She took his lower lip between her teeth and pulled his shirt out of his pants, slipping her hands underneath. Theyslid over hot, taut skin. He had sinewy muscles that tensed beneath her touch, fueling the desire between her thighs.
She loved touching him. But she loved Connor touchinghereven more. Running his hands down her sides, pushing up the fabric of her dress to find bare skin. The way he pulled her hips against his, making her gasp at how hard he already was. The way his large erection pressed against her as she wrapped a leg around him and rubbed against him until a throaty gasp escaped Connor’s lips. Until tiny electrical flashes shot through her abdomen.
Lately, she’d felt like she had no control over her life at all…but right now, she had power. Right now, as she rubbed against him in the same rhythm as her tongue flicked against his, everything was in her hands.
“More,” she breathed as Connor kissed her jaw, tracing her ribcage with rough fingertips. They glided over the underside of her breasts, causing goosebumps to break out all over her body.
