A noise behind her caused her to spin around. Jack had risen to stand with one hand against the wall while he surveyed her. Charlie gulped as she scanned his lean build. His black shirt was loose on him, but his jeans hugged his thighs and ass in a way that made her mouth water.
Stop it!She tore her gaze away from him and dragged a hand through her hair. He was dangerous, and not just because he looked good, but also because he made her feel things for a man that she’d never felt before. The patience he’d shown while sitting with Dylan, and the fact he’d risked himself to save her from the cave-in, made her tempted to lower her guard around him.
Charlie couldn’t do this; she had to get out of here and away from him before doing something she regretted. She couldn’t take being hurt by someone again, and instinctively she knew that, if she let Jack in, he would have the power to devastate her.
However, she so badly wanted to let him in. She barely knew him, but he made her feel alive and safe in a way she never had before.
When Charlie turned away from him again, he felt an unexpected sense of loss tug at his heart. He didn’t know what happened in her past to make her so defensive, but he suspected it was more than Dylan’s father abandoning her when she needed him most.
She paced the entrance of the cave with her shoulders set as if she were braced for a blow. He despised the posture and wished he could ease her. When he moved toward her, she turned, and her eyes darted away from him. She looked like a cornered animal as she took a startled step away from him.
He’d far prefer to quench the needs of her body. Jack knew touching her right now would send her over the edge, but he had to do something to calm her. “We’ll be out of here soon,” he assured her.
She didn’t look at all appeased by his words as she took another step away from him. The rapid beat of her heart thundered in his ears.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” she muttered.
A strand of loose hair dangled against her cheek, and he brushed it back to tuck it behind her ear. Her eyes widened when his fingers lingered on her cheek. She reminded him of a deer trapped in the headlights as she didn’t move.
Chapter Twenty
His gaze fellto her mouth, and his thumb dipped down to rub over her bottom lip. He pulled it down a little while he memorized the plumpness of it against his skin. The look in her eyes became wilder, but she didn’t run from him.
She should run. She should bolt out of this cave, scale the cliff, and screw the possible consequences of it. Instead, she was frozen. Unable to move as she became lost in the warmth of his hazel eyes.Go!
She didn’t move as his mouth lowered toward hers once more. She tensed as the distance closed between them and his lips found hers again. His touch sent her heart rate skyrocketing, but something was calming and right about his mouth moving against hers.
She didn’t know how something could make her feel electrified while also making her feel as if she’d found her place in the world, but Jack’s kiss could do it. Her knees went weak, and her legs shook as their tongues entwined.
Jack slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. The enticement of her breasts rubbing against his chest had him struggling to control his growing erection. He tried to get himself under control; rushing this would scare her, but she made him feel more out of control than he had as a teen about to have sex for the first time.
He was far from a teen now, but his heart hammered as nervousness skittered through his veins like mice running through walls. The sweetness of her mouth reminded him of the peppermint candies he stopped eating years ago, but there was a time when he always kept one in his pocket.
Kissing her reminded him of being human and the excitement that came with new experiences. He hadn’t felt that excitement in years as there was rarely anything new in the life of a vampire, or at least not inhislife. But then, he didn’t exactly go looking for excitement anymore.
A part of him stopped living when his mortal heart’s existence ended. He never would have chosen this life for himself. He’d never been entirely comfortable in the skin of a predator, until now.
If he hadn’t become a vampire, he wouldn’t have met Charlie, and she was worth all the unhappiness he’d experienced since having the change forced on him. He embraced the predator part of him as it would help him destroy anyone who tried to harm her.
Charlie kept telling herself to move away, but she clutched Jack’s shirt and drew him closer. She’d traversed this path with a man before, and it ended in heartbreak, but she wasn’t some silly, naïve, teen girl desperate to be loved anymore. She was a woman who was aware of the dangers lurking within the world and a better judge of character.
Jack wasn’t professing his undying love to her. This was about sex only, and she craved experiencing it with Jack. They were trapped here with nothing else to do, so why not give in? Shemightcome to regret doing this, but shewouldregret it if she didn’t.
Releasing his shirt, her fingers curled into his shoulders as she flattened herself against him. The evidence of his arousal pressed enticingly against her belly, and her head spun as she became dizzy with need. She’d never been so turned on by someone that she was ready to shred the clothes from them.
Her hands slid down his chest, and she undid the buttons. When she tugged it open, her fingers skimmed the contours of his chiseled stomach. Trying not to drool, she traced the enticing V formation his hips created and played with the trail of hair leading from his belly button to his jeans. It wasn’t fair that he was a walking temptation, but he was a temptation she couldn’t refuse.
It had been years since she touched a man or had one touch her, and her deprived body soaked it up now. Breaking the kiss, she pushed the shirt off his shoulders; it fell to the ground in a whisper of fabric.
Tilting her head back, she froze when she saw the possessiveness in his gaze. She’d never had a man look at her like that before, and while it flared her desire, it also caused uncertainty to flicker through her.
There would be no turning back from this. She had no idea why she was so certain of that, but she was. Perfect strangers hooked up every day and walked away from each other; why couldn’t it be the same for them? She’d never had a one-time fling, but if there was ever a man to have it with, it was Jack.
She was still trying to figure out what to do when Jack clasped her cheeks in his palms and kissed her again. Doubts continued to swirl through her mind, but she found herself not caring when his tongue traced her lips before slipping into her mouth to leisurely kiss her.
She undid the button of his jeans and tugged down his zipper. When her hand slid inside his jeans and boxers, she bit back a groan as she caressed the long, thick length of him.
