I raise an eyebrow.
She gives me a sly smile, like she knows she’s pushing my buttons. “I liked the way you touched me tonight. I liked that kiss.”
Fuck it.
I take her face in my hands and kiss her. It’s not soft or sweet. It’s demanding and maybe a little bit needy. Because she’s turning me inside out and there’s only one way to put things right. I flick my tongue past her lips and she lets me inside. Her little tongue is soft and sensual, turning this kiss into a heated debate about who’s in control. I slide my palm to the back of her neck and rake my fingers into her hair to keep her close. She sucks in a gasp and arches closer to me, parting her knees wider.
It’s an invitation I’m not about to turn down. I close the distance between us and she tightens her thighs around me. The pressure of her breasts against my chest sparks a craving to feel her naked skin on me. Everywhere.
Sliding my hand to her lower back, I urge her closer until our bodies are locked tight. But her heat against my abs is like a tease. In one motion, I scoop her up by the backs of her thighs and lift her out of the truck. With a surprised burst of laughter, she wraps her arms around my neck and hooks her ankles behind me. The way her dress rucks up around her hips has my brain short circuiting—she wants this too. It makes me crazy to touch and kiss every inch of her exposed skin but I can’t until I can lay her down.
I need to get her inside the house, so I can explore. So I can take my time.
With a kick from my heel, the truck door shuts, and I shuffle toward her front porch, pausing in the middle of her driveway to kiss her again. She kisses me back, her tongue flicking with mine. The taste of her on my lips and the soft little groan from the back of her throat give my cravings a sharp twist. I force my feet to continue, feeling my way up her front steps.
“Keys,” I mumble between kisses.
“Hide-a-key,” she pants. “Under the flowers.”
I crouch down, taking her with me, making her shriek with laughter, and grope for the potted plant and its hidden key. “That’s not very original,” I scold.
“I have a trained attack cat, remember?” she replies.
I find the key and rise, cradling her with one arm while I work the key into the lock. Once we’re inside, I shut the door and lock it. In the still darkness of her house, our quick breaths sound extra loud. Her place has the same layout, so I waste no time carrying her to the guest bedroom.
The patter of tiny, furred feet approaching has me bracing for an ambush, but Kody swishes past us and disappears.
“My room’s upstairs,” Meg says, trapping her bottom lip in her teeth.
“We’ll get there eventually,” I say, and toe off my boots.
Her eyes widen. “Eventually?”
The logic part of my brain flashes awake. “Unless you don’t want that.” If I’ve misread this situation, now is the time to reroute this train, before I can’t.
“You’ve got me so turned on I can’t think straight.”
My dick throbs inside my pants. I take in her flushed cheeks and bright eyes. “And to think we have an entire house to ourselves to explore.”
Recognition flashes in her eyes. “Two houses.”
“Jesus, shortcake,” I grit out with a laugh. Resting my knee on the bed, I lower her to the edge, then kneel between her thighs.The hard floor bites my knees but the discomfort grounds me, anchors this moment in time. Because everything between us is about to change. While my dick is certainly rooting for it, my heart is pretending it doesn’t care. That’s a lie, but I let it slide. For now.
I rock back and lift her foot so I can unbuckle her sandal. Then I caress up the back of her calf, savoring the warmth of her skin and the lean curvature of her muscles. I do the same with her left leg, only this time, I run my hand up her shin, then lift it so I can map her wound with kisses. If only they were enough to make the hurt go away.
She reaches for the buttons on my vest, her fingers nimble. I kneel between her parted knees and caress slowly up her thighs, rumpling the hem of her dress. A tremor vibrates up her frame. I take her mouth again, my tongue flicking with hers. She slips my vest from my shoulders and tugs my dress shirt from my pants. The air’s sudden coolness flashes across my stomach, sending a wave of gooseflesh up my chest. She caresses up, beneath my shirt, her delicate fingers soft and warm.
A groan rattles past my lips. I break from her kiss and flip open the top two buttons of my dress shirt then tug it over my head and toss it aside.
Her eyes tense with a hungry yearning as she takes me in. I lift her palms to my chest, her silver bracelet flashing in the low light. “It’s okay.”
She leans closer for a kiss. I savor her touch while our tongues flick and tease.
I’m not the kind of person who spends a lot of energy wishing for things I can’t have, but in this moment, I realize that I’ve made hundreds of them about Meg.
It’s time to make a few of them come true.
Chapter Twenty