“Oh!” She clutches her chest, her gaze homing in on me. “Why are you lurking about?”
I clench my teeth. My misplaced anger consumes me like a wildfire, impossible to extinguish.
“I told you I’m on a date with Travis.”
“Was, sweetheart. Whatever that was is over.”
She freezes for a long heartbeat then shrugs if deciding she misheard me. “I don’t know what’s up with you,” she says, brushing past me as if all is right in my world.
I snort, not trusting myself to speak, because she’s right. Ignoring my draw to Naomi should be second nature by now.
“You were rude to him.” She opens her door before turning back to me from the threshold.
My gaze takes an uninterrupted sweep from her head to toe. Her blouse is delicate against her soft, dark skin, that under the moonlight beckons to be touched … caressed. My pulse quickens. When I inhale, I don't detect the tainted scent of her date or the buttery aroma of concession-stand popcorn in her perfume.
It’s floral.
With hints of Jasmine.
Sensual.
Any hold I have on my restraint snaps. Taking her arm, I drag her into the house until she’s pinned against the wall. Naomi’s eyes widen and her breathing hitches as I lean forward, trapping her between the wall and my chest. Our only light is the dim glow from the moon casting us in shadows. “You let him slobber all over your face.”My face.
Her hand reaches up to wipe her cheek, as if to appease me by removing any remnants of him.
“You let him taste you.” I practically growl in her ear.
She shudders. Her eyes flutter close as if to block me out. “People kiss on dates.”
“You call that sloppy thing a kiss?” With a tender gesture, I raise her chin, silently coaxing her to meet my gaze. I want her to see my unrestrained desire and my seething anger that another man claimed what is rightfully mine. I want her to witness the raw intensity of my craving, my lust, and be as frightened by it as I am. But when her eyes finally gaze up at me, all I see in their glossy depths is longing. Perhaps that’s what I want to see…
“Nathan this —”
My name is a whisper that fuels my forbidden fire. “Say my name again.” There is no mistaking the rise and fall of her chest. The quiver in her slightly parted lips as she holds my stare. There is a craving deep in the pools of her gray eyes, hidden, that I mean to uncover. “Say my name,” I growl as I stare at her trembling lips.
“Natha —”
Before my name leaves her mouth, I lower my head. My mouth slams against hers, swallowing her gasp into my lungs. Our kiss is like nothing I’ve experienced before.
I’m lightheaded, dizzy. Drugged by the nectar of her kiss, I feel a rush of euphoria.What have I done?
The sensation of Naomi's lips against mine is tender, and I taste the subtle sweetness of her strawberry lip gloss. Her chest molds against mine perfectly, only to set off a possessive rumble that rattles my throat.
Hard against soft. My whole being trembles with a profound sense of rightness at our perfect fit.
God help me, I’ll pay for this. But not tonight.
Not now.
Inhaling, I let go. I drew her lower lip between my teeth in a gentle, teasing nibble even as my body rages to devour her mouth. Take.
I pepper kisses at the corners of her mouth, giving her every opportunity to reject me … this.
Instead of running, Naomi clutches my waist, the press of her nails gentled by my shirt. “Kiss me again, Nathan.”
I growl at the invitation. My mouth molds against hers.
And I take her innocent offer.
