I brush my thumb across her lip, pulling it down and I swear I hear her whimper. My face is mere inches from hers. I’m rock hard, and I know she can feel me pressed up against her. My lips barely skate across hers, teasing her into submission. The space between her legs widens, and she tilts herself forward, pushing against me.
Her eyes flutter closed, and I’m fucking starstruck. My free hand comes to the small of her back, pulling her harder against me. She moans at the connection. I watch her, pushing and grinding into her slowly, my body on fire as it moves with hers. I shift my hand to cradle her face, bringing my lips to her ear. My thumb pushes into her mouth, and she nibbles at it.
“Tell me to stop,” I whisper.
She moans as I grind into her harder. She spreads her legs wider. Her hand wraps around my neck and into my hair. She tugs as she draws me closer. I lift her up onto the shelf, grabbing her perfect ass, my lips and tongue tasting her neck as I guide her to her pleasured finish. I’m so fucking close, and I’ve barely even touched her the way I’ve wanted to all this time.
She gasps, and I all but lose my fucking mind. “Fuck, Alana, if this isn’t what you want then tell me to stop.”
Her breaths are pants, my name coming out in a whisper on her lips.
“Jake,” she breathes, and I groan at the sound against her neck, my hand coming up and wrapping around the base of her throat again as I watch her crumble against me. “Jake,” she moans again, her frosted eyes darker than ever.
And then her lips crash against mine. The earth shatters around me, and my heart pounds hard in my chest. I fist her hair, forcing her head to a new angle as I reach to taste more of her. Our tongues lap against each other in between breathy groans and soft whimpers. We kiss with force. With messy needand lustful desire. Her fingers claw at my shirt, pulling me closer until there’s no space left between us—just heat, hunger, and the ache of everything we craved from that very first night.
“Wait,” she whispers, and I freeze, holding her in place, my ears tuning in to the same sound she heard. “Someone’s… Someone’s at the door,” she panics.
I look back over my shoulder, dropping her while I rush to reach for the knob.
It jiggles once, twice, and then once more before the person on the other side gives up and lets go. I stand there, holding the handle a few seconds longer just to be sure, letting out a relieved breath I didn’t realize I was holding when the coast is seemingly clear.
I turn back to her, my pulse still racing, heart still pounding heavily in my chest. Our breaths are heavy and uneven, proof of the line we crossed and the desire we failed to keep at bay. Her eyes are on mine, hunger and need still burning in the yellow that surrounds her frosty blue stare. I wipe my full hand down my mouth, wanting to say everything but forcing the words to suffocate inside of me instead.
Our silent stare is a standoff. She bites her cheek out of what seems like frustration and casts her eyes down, hopping off the shelf and realigning her skirt to its proper place. A tangible wave of shame and regret roll off her, and it burns, but not in the way I’ve come to like.
I want to grab her, hold her. Tell her everything my heart wants to say, but my drunken tongue is mangled, frozen and confused, scared I just made everything worse.
She pauses for a split second to look at me, then steps to the side, grabs the knob, and walks out the door.
I close my eyes in defeat, gritting my teeth. I turn around and punch the solid wood door, catching the light’s string in my swing. The bulb bursts above me, sending down a rain of glass.
“Fuck!” I scream into the nothingness.
And that is all that is left without her—nothing.
Track 16
“To TheEnds of The Earth” Nat King Cole, 1956
ALANA
I PRACTICALLY RUN home, confused and soaked with desire, all while reprimanding myself for being so reckless.
What the hell was I thinking? Flirting with Vince. Getting jealous over Jake. Giving in to that whole moment in the closet.
I release a jagged breath.
Clearly, I’ve lost my damn mind.
I stare at my flushed reflection in my bathroom mirror.
“You need to get your shit together,” I say aloud.
Just as soon as the words leave my lips, the images flood my mind. Jake’s dark infuriated gaze pinning me in place. The sharp, demanding edge to his voice as he called me out. The grip of his strong hand at my waist, in my hair, around my neck. His tongue as it plunged into my mouth. The feel of his fingertips as they traced my lips before I wrapped my mouth around them.
My eyes close as my skin buzzes, remembering the sear of his touch. I can deny it all I want, but the truth is I want more of it. I wantallof it. And if that doorknob didn’t shake, I would’ve had it. The rest of my world be damned.
It did feel good, didn’t it? To let go. To give in…
