Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
Collision of Lips
Jack
“Elle, move!” I yelled at her.
Little Elle didn’t budge. Instead, the damn woman panicked. Her cinnamon eyes were enormous as she stared straight up at her impending doom.
Jesus Christ, Elle never knew how to listen.
Her stubborn attitude got in the way, along with her fucking delicious lips shimmering with lip gloss.
She distracted me, and I took my frustration out on hacking the motherfucking tree down.
The stupid tree was my only outlet to get her out of my head, but she got in the way.
She was frozen like a gorgeous ice queen trapped in the snow and in need of saving, but I didn’t hesitate. I ran toward Elle until I heard her scream and found my body colliding with hers to save her before her beautiful mouth could no longer speak.
As much as I wanted Elle to shut up because her damn lips were so fucking tempting, I didn’t want her life to be in jeopardy. I wanted to keep little Elle safe. I always needed to protect her and shield her from harm, but I had screwed up.
“Get down!” I exclaimed as I pushed her out of the way, and my full body weight fell on top of her.
I shielded Elle under me in the snow. The tree crashed to the ground with a loud thud, and snowflakes flurried around us. Some were stuck in my hair, but I didn’t give a shit as I pulled back and stared down at the most precious woman to exist.
The evergreen had missed us by a few inches.
Pine needles tickled against the side of my cheek, and I pushed a branch aside. Her sweet copper eyes fluttered as she peered up at me, and I fucking swear my heart skipped two beats. I had thought my enemy was deceased below me, but she wasn’t.
Little Elle was alive, but she had scared the hell out of me.
“Jack?” Elle whispered. “I... Am I—”
“You’re okay.” I briefly scanned her body and brushed strands of hair off her face.
My fucking hand wouldn’t quit trembling.
I glanced up to find Elle’s hat discarded in the snow and half buried under the tree that had fallen on top of it. That could’ve been Elle. I had almost lost her.
A lump formed in my throat. I stared back down at Elle, and she reached a hand out to graze my cheek.
Christ. I couldn’t help leaning into her tender touch as she melted my heart and made me want to live only for her.
She felt so damn good underneath me, shivering with shock after the adrenaline had passed, and I wanted to claim her.
I needed to kiss little Elle badly. Everything ached inside of me for her, but I held myself back and wouldn’t break the rules.
I couldn’t pass the limit put in place a long time ago to never cross the line with my best friend’s little girl, but fuck.
.. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. Elle was a red-hot woman full of fiery spirit no one could contain, and she had tempted me one too many times.
“You saved me, Jack,” Elle whispered.
“Goddamn, Elle. You terrify me,” I admitted while my heart raced, and I placed her hand over my chest. “See what the hell you do to me?”
Elle shrugged. “At least I didn’t give you a heart attack.”
Laughter escaped me, a deep chuckle from within that I couldn’t hold back, and my forehead fell down to touch hers.
She giggled along with me, and the sound was contagious.
It was damn music to my ears, and I never wanted it to end.
I could listen to it for the rest of my life until I was a wrinkly fuck dead in my bed, a senior who wanted to hear the last tune of his life.
The sweet melody of my neighbor. Gabriel had forbidden her, and she became the human being I most wanted to be close to.
To entertain her sympathy while I took my last breath and brought her with me wherever I went.
Noelle Evergreen was my Christmas song.
Our laughter stopped. Elle’s eyes shimmered intensely, like the brightest star on Christmas Eve, shooting through the constellation only wishes were made of as dreams come true.
Only my desire shouldn’t come true, and I couldn’t cave, but her damn gaze swirled with heat and tempted me to break all our boundaries.
“What the fuck are you doing to me, little Elle?” I asked her hoarsely, with the tip of my nose rubbing against hers. “We need to stop accidentally being this close.”
“Why?” Elle grazed the tip of her soft nose against mine.
“Jesus Christ, Elle. You’re my best friend’s little girl.” I pulled back. “We’re enemies. You don’t want me, and I fucking want nothing to do with you.”
Elle pulled me back in by the collar of my shirt. She desperately searched my eyes, and I couldn’t understand where this newfound change within her came from, but I dug her spunk. The fire flaring in her hot brown eyes dared me to be with her.
Why?
We had denied the attraction between us for too long. Elle had also experienced the sizzle whenever we were together, but we used hatred to stay away. We contradicted what we knew to be true. Little Elle and I wanted each other. We desired to be this close, even nearer than ever before.
“What happens if we become lovers?” Her beautiful eyes flicked down to my lips. “My daddy would have a fit.”
Fuck. My cock jerked at her tease. Elle would feel me growing beneath my zipper, fucking restricting me. She’d experience me hard for her, and I couldn’t hide how much I wanted her if I tried.
“Gabe would kill me,” I whispered huskily.
Noelle trailed her manicured fingers down to my chin, where she grazed her index finger seductively across my lower lip. Shit. I was rock hard.
Elle locked her wide doe eyes on me again. She felt how big I was, and I knew in an instant how turned on she was. She’d be wetter than the snow melting below us.
“Let him try.” Elle aggressively brought her lips up to mine.
Panicked, I turned my head to the side, and her mouth caressed my cheek.
Her warm puffs of air tickled my skin, and I could sense her mortification from my response to her sudden urge to kiss me.
I had ruined the moment, caught up in the idea of the regret she’d deal with after the passion between us faded.
I turned to face Elle, and her eyes glistened with disappointment. “We shouldn’t, Elle.”
“Fine.” Elle pushed against my chest. “I get it.”
Tears of embarrassment fell down her cheeks. Fuck. I made Noelle cry.
“Elle, stop.” I tried to grab her wrists, but she fought me, and I couldn’t blame her. “Please.”
I was a fucking douchebag dick.
“All you’ll ever see me as is a little girl.” Elle pounded her fists against me. “Daddy’s fucking princess.”
“No, that’s not true. I—” Elle pressed a hand into my throat.
Christ! Goddamn feisty Evergreen choked me! I dug her bravery, but I had to get control of my girl. I had to show her what she had truly done to me.
I didn’t fucking think and didn’t dare hesitate. There was no containing what I had wanted to do since the damn holidays had brought us closer. I grabbed her wrists and pinned her hands above her head.
“Fuck it.” My lips crashed down onto hers, sparking a kiss we’d never forget.