It.
Made.
Me.
Wild.
“You say you don’t want it, but your body tells me otherwise.”
“Please,” she huffed out, “Don’t talk about my body like you can read it. You have no idea what I’m feeling.”
I smirked. “That’s where you’re wrong.” My hands slid down her arms, around her hips, and moved to cup her butt. I lifted her slightly, so that she stood on the tips of her toes, and aligned our hips as best as the position would allow. Judging by her startled inhalation, and the death grip she had on my arms, I got it right.
Lowering my head, I ran my nose up her neck, and to the shell of her ear, inhaling the smell of her skin. “For starters,” I continued, my mouth against her ear, “your breathing is shallower, and you’re starting to pant, and your mouth is open, waiting to allow a moan to escape. Your nails are piercing my skin because you’re gripping me so tight, and I can feel your nipples hardening through your dress. And if I do this,” – I pressed my hands down, and pushed our hips together with a grunt – “your pussy clenches, and your clit starts to throb. I’m willing to bet you’re wet, and that’s for me, no one else.”
She swallowed. Hard.
I lifted my head to look at her, and gave her a smug smile. “How’d I do?”
“Not bad, but you forgot one crucial thing,” she replied breathlessly.
“What’s that?”
Her hands let go of my arms, and I felt one slip between us. Kennedy grabbed my cock through my jeans, and rubbed a little too hard. The air from my lungs blew out, and I swayed into her palm. I was already hard, but the feel of her hand made it worse.
“My body reacts to yours,” she whispered into my ear, “but it doesn’t mean I want you, Dane. I think we both know that how you feel about me is reason enough to end this before it begins.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, my mind swimming as a result of her touch. The haze cleared just enough for me to hear what she’d said.
Her face was resolute, but her eyes held a different truth. She was fighting this thing between us as much as I was; yet I was the one caving. Hearing her say ‘how you feel about me’ made me see things in a different light, and I hated to admit that she could never know how I really felt. She thought I resented her, and most of the time she’d been intolerable, but the physical need pulling on my insides drove me to shove everything else aside.
I had to know she didn’t want this before I showed her how intensely her body called to mine. “Tell me you don’t want this, and I’ll walk way. Tell me to leave you alone, and I will never lay another hand on you, I swear.”
Something in my voice made her hesitate, as if she’d been surprised by my honesty. Or maybe it was the candidness of my statement that she hadn’t been expecting. Either way, when she didn’t respond, I had my answer.
I let my arms fall from around her body, and took a step back to give us both some breathing room. I missed her heat instantly, and berated my body for that foolish and misplaced sentiment.
“For the record, I haven’t been with anyone since you.”
I wasn’t sure why I’d admitted that to her, but I didn’t want her to think any of the rumors doing the rounds had any truth to them. I was tempted to tell her that anyone else after her would fall short, but thought better of it. It would only confuse her, and make our predicament murkier than it already was.
She nodded once, and turned on her bare heel. This time I watched her walk away, clenching my fists to stop them from stopping her again. This game – was it really a game? – was fucking with my head, and it bothered me how easily I lost any form of rational thinking when it came to Kennedy. She was going to become a drug, and when that happened I would be totally screwed.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Dane
I’D CRAWLED INTO bed an hour ago, and tossed and turned under the sheets trying to fall asleep. When that failed, I fell onto my back, and started staring at my ceiling. I was restless, and knowing Kennedy was on the other side of this wall wasn’t helping my sleeplessness in the slightest.
I lifted my head when I heard the front door open, and waited for the sound of heavy footsteps. Reid hadn’t come home yet, but it had only just gone midnight, and that was too early for him to be home. I had a feeling Jade was keeping him busy anyway.
No other sounds came, and I grew nervous. I slipped a pair of boxer briefs on, and grabbed my baseball bat from under my bed. If there was an intruder, however unlikely, I’d be able to scare the fucker off or at least beat him unconscious and call the cops. My doorknob twisted in the palm of my hand, and I stepped into the short hallway that lead into our open-plan living room, and kitchen. There was a shadow, moving across the floor, and when the figure appeared in the living room I lifted the bat.
“Whoever you are, you have five minutes to leave before I start swinging.”
The figure jumped, and I heard a squeak before Kennedy’s raspy voice interrupted the blood pounding in my ears. “Dane, it’s just me.”
I made a face, even though I doubted she could see me in the dark. “What are you doing in here? I could’ve hurt you.”
“I’m sorry, I just…” she stopped, and I heard her sigh.
I didn’t have time for this. She’d made it clear where we stood earlier, or rather where she stood. I couldn’t imagine what reason she possibly had for being here in the middle of the night, and I was too tired to ask.
“You can show yourself out,” I bit out. “I’m going back to bed.”
I turned around, and walked back into my room. Footsteps sounded behind me, albeit light ones. I threw my baseball bat onto the floor with a thud, and kept my back to the door. Her presence was like a lightning bolt that bounced around the room until it hit me. My muscles tensed when I felt her at my back.
“Dane.”
The way she said my name…Fuck.
“What do you want, Kennedy?” The words were clipped, my tone severe.
“I don’t know,” she replied quietly. She sounded unsure, and it pissed me off. I turned, not realizing how close she was, and instinctively reached for her when she stumbled backwards. There was enough light coming through my bedroom window for me to see that she was wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt – the one I’d left her in after our first night together. The sight of her in my shirt made my inner cave man want to pound on his chest, but it also stirred up the storm that had been brewing from the moment I left her room a week ago.
I held her wrists between us, aware of how her chest moved with every breath, of how her tongue snuck out to lick her lips.
“Tell me why you’re here,” I ground out.
“I wanted to see you.” Her reply came without thought, like she’d been preparing for this moment.
“So you sneak in here in the middle of the night?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
It was strange, to think that she’d been just as restless as I was after our conversation in the parking lot.
“You are testing me,” I growled. “I asked you if you wanted this, and your silence was answer enough. So I’ll as you again. What.Are.You.Doing.Here?”
Her eyes darted back and forth, but for once they gave nothing away. The atmosphere had shifted, filled with a charge. I could feel her pulse beneath my thumb, and the unsteady thump-thump matched the erratic beat of mine.