Her dark lashes fanned out against her flushed cheeks, her plush top lip swollen from his kiss, the perfect cupid’s bow making her look even more irresistible.
Even when she was angry with him, she was fucking stunning.
He couldn’t help it. His voice dropped, a dangerous calm in his tone as he looked her straight in the eyes.
“You’re so beautiful, Shannon,” he murmured, his hand jumping to her ass and squeezing.
“The way you watch me...the way you move...it drives me fucking wild.” His voice grew thick with desire, the intensity building. “You turn me on in ways I can’t even put into words.”
He watched her pupils flare, the conflict in her eyes darkening the shade of blue to navy. Though, the way her gaze flickered to his lips told him everything he needed to know.
She wanted him.
“You think this is what I want?” Her voice trembled, and it made the heat in him flare.
“I don’t care what you think you want, love. I see it in your eyes, in how you look at me. You want this. You want me.” He thumbed her jaw, his touch almost a command. “Don’t fightit.”
She swallowed hard, but didn’t pull away. Her muscles softened just enough for him to know she was cracking, that the wall she was trying to build was crumbling.
“God, you’re so fucking pretty,” he said, his tone raw, his gaze drinking her in. “And every damn part of me wants to make you mine.”
She surged forward, her lips crashing against his in a desperate, heated kiss. Every part of her seemed to break as her mouth demanded his, her hands moving to his chest, pulling him closer.
His heart pounded in his chest as his body reacted, pulling her tighter against him. Her kiss was a surrender, a surrender he’d fucking craved.
He groaned into her mouth, the need flooding through him. His hands slid down to her waist, gripping her hips as he deepened the kiss, taking control. And rather than fight against him, she submitted.
Everything else faded. The world, the noise, the chaos, none of it mattered. She belonged to him, and he couldn’t give up fighting it.
For that fleeting moment, he didn’t care about anything else but her.
When she pulled back, her eyes were wide, her lips swollen from the kiss, her breath coming in shallow gasps.
The softness of her body, the warmth of her closeness, lingered in his chest. And just like that, the energy changed, the magic slipping through his fingers.
“I have work to do,” she said, her voice hoarse,almost trembling. “Let yourself out. Don’t make this any harder than it already is.”
The hands on his chest shoved him back, breaking the connection, and she steeled herself, spine rigid, her posture hardening into something cold, distant.
“It doesn’t have to be,” he replied, his voice low, a growl of frustration edging in.
He took a step forward, closing the distance between them, but she took another step back, retreating into herself.
Her refusal was like ice, freezing the air between them. “Don’t show up here again, Jamie.”
“I want more,” he growled, prowling into her personal space again, his body leaning in as if to claim her, to make her hear him.
His chest hurt, and his hands twitched at his sides, ready to pull her close again.
“Admit it, Shannon, you want it too.”
“I can’t.”
She shook her head, her voice firm, but there was a tremor underneath, a flicker of doubt he caught in the way her body tensed.
“I’ve gotta go.” Her words were resolute, but her movements betrayed her.
She shuffled back, her feet dragging on the floor as she created distance between them.
