She doesn’t see that I’m right here, even while I’m shouting it at her.
Before I can stop myself, and before I can think it through, I close the distance completely and press my lips to hers.
The contact isn’t controlled or measured, and isn’t anything like how I usually handle things. It’s frustrated and demanding, and driven by everything neither of us has been able to say, but I can’t bring myself to stop.
For a split second, she goes completely still. Then, she responds in kind, just as fiercely and just as recklessly.
Naia’s hands grip my shirt, pulling me closer instead of pushing me away, and whatever line we’ve been dancing around disappears entirely as I thread my fingers through her hair and grip the nape of her neck.
The kiss is burning with anger and raw, repressed need, all the while, everything collides at once.
Every argument, every look, and every moment of tension all funnel into this, pulling us both under faster than we can even consider the potential consequences.
For the first time since she walked back into my life, we aren’t holding back.
Chapter 12 - Naia
In all the time I’ve known Zane, I’ve never seen him like this before.
I’ve never seen him so hungry or demanding, and I never thought the feeling of his lips against mine would ever make my defenses drop so easily.
But even while I kiss him back, my frustration encourages me more, pushing me to take as much as I can.
He has been nothing short of infuriating, and after being forced to stay in the same space with him for too long, it’s all breaking through the surface of my restraint.
Zane groans under his breath as I arch into his touch while he deepens the kiss, and he takes it as his chance to pull me closer.
Our scents mingle, but I focus on his and how it surrounds me, both familiar and somewhat new, given the time that has passed. It sends a thrill down my spine, and even if I should, I can’t bring myself to pull away.
“You piss me off so much when you don’t listen,” Zane mutters as he breaks the kiss to press his lips against my jaw, then down my neck. “We shouldn’t be doing this…But I don’t care.”
A soft, involuntary sound slips from me when his teeth graze my pulse, making me aware of every point of contact.
The heat moving between us, and the intensity behind the open-mouthed kisses he leaves behind, fan the flames rising inside me, and while I know this is the last thing I should be entertaining, I can’t help it.
His touch is more addicting than I care to admit, and if I don’t release this pent-up anger and energy, I might go insane.
“I don’t care either,” I mutter, allowing the resolve to settle in.
I can still hate him and want this…at least, that’s what I tell myself.
My fingers slide through his hair, eliciting a shiver from him, and without needing to be told, he tightens his arms around me and stands.
Instinctively, I wrap myself around him, finding his mouth with a kind of greed I don’t bother to hide. There’s no point now.
“Christ,” Zane mutters under his breath, carrying me through the space with sure steps until he nudges the bedroom door open and continues inside. “This is insane.”
But even as he says it, he places me down on the mattress and hovers over me with a glazed look.
“Maybe it is,” I mumble, taking his face in my hands and pulling him closer until our lips crash together again. We both try to suppress our satisfaction, but it’s no use as we growl into each other’s mouths. “But it doesn’t matter.”
He doesn’t argue as his mouth melds with mine and his hands grip me, bellying how much he’s straining. The moment I nip at his bottom lip, a full-body shudder moves through him.
“Damn, Naia,” he rasps, eyes dark with need.
Before I can be too pleased with myself, he’s kissing me harder and hotter as the years disappear, and his palms are sliding up my thighs while he presses closer.
Everything else fades the moment I feel him against me, hard and just as eager as me.
