Chapter 16 #2
She steps closer, and suddenly the night air feels electric. “Is that why you wear all black?” she teases, but there’s something serious in her eyes. “To balance out my rainbow explosion?”
“Obviously.” My voice comes out rougher than intended. “The universe needs both stars and the darkness between them. Basic astronomy, Tink.”
Her lips curve into that smile that drives me crazy. “Want to come up? For... coffee?”
We both know she doesn’t mean coffee.
“Tara.” Her name feels like a warning - to her or myself, I’m not sure. “This isn’t...”
“Isn’t what?” She steps even closer, tilting her face up to mine. “Part of the plan?”
I shouldn’t be here.
Shouldn’t be standing this close.
Her hand brushes my jaw, knuckles grazing my skin like a question.
And for a second—just one—I forget every reason why this is a bad idea.
I should say no. Should keep this friendly, fake-relationship only.
“I can’t give you what you deserve, Tink.”
“I don’t want what I deserve.” Her eyes are dark, challenging. “I want you.”
My control fractures. Years of careful distance, of keeping everyone at arm's length, shatter like glass. I cup her face in my hands, my thumbs tracing her cheekbones, giving her one last chance to pull away. To save herself from this - from me. “You have no idea what you're asking for.”
Her fingers curl into my shirt, pulling me closer. “Then show me.”
I kiss her again like I've wanted to since the night the sprinklers went off - not rushed or desperate like before, but deliberate.
Hungry. Claiming. She tastes like expensive wine and bad decisions, like everything I've denied myself wrapped in strawberry lip gloss and dangerous promises.
Her mouth opens under mine, soft and sweet and addictive.
My hands slide into her hair, angling her head to deepen the kiss as she makes this little sound in the back of her throat that nearly breaks me.
This is everything I've tried to resist - the way she melts against me, how perfectly she fits in my arms, the soft sounds she makes as my teeth graze her lower lip. I'm already addicted to the taste of her, to the way she kisses me back with equal fervor, like she's been starving for this too.
“Alfie.” She breathes my name.
“Upstairs.” I manage, already addicted to the taste of her. “Now.”
She pulls back just enough to meet my eyes, lips swollen, cheeks flushed. Something vulnerable flickers across her face. “You sure?”
No. I’m not sure of anything except how much I want her. How dangerous this is. How this is going to change everything. But watching her in that white dress that’s been driving me crazy all night, I can’t remember why I ever tried to resist this.
“Yes.” I capture her mouth again, harder this time, pouring weeks of wanting into the kiss. “Unless you’ve changed your mind?”
Her answer is to bite my lower lip. “Race you to the elevator.”
The ride up feels endless. Tara’s pressed against the back wall, and I’m keeping deliberate distance between us. Because if I touch her now, in this enclosed space, we’re not making it to her apartment. The tension crackles like electricity, making every second feel like torture.
Her eyes meet mine in the mirrored wall, dark with desire. “You’re doing that brooding thing again.”
“I’m not brooding.” I am absolutely brooding. “I’m thinking.”
“About what?” She pushes off the wall, and Christ, the way she moves should be illegal.
I catch her wrist before she can touch me, using her momentum to pin her against the opposite wall. “About how much I want to mess up that perfect dress.”
Her breath catches. The elevator dings.
She fumbles with her keys while I press against her back, moving her hair aside to taste the skin of her neck. The keys clatter to the floor and when she bends to retrieve them, the dress rides up and—fuck.
“You’re killing me, Tink.”
The moment we’re inside, I kick the door shut and pin her against it, lifting her until her legs wrap around my waist. The soft gasp she makes sets my blood on fire.
“I’ve been wanting to do this all night,” I murmur against her throat, hands sliding under her dress, “watching you take on my entire family without flinching.”
She laughs breathlessly, fingers working at my shirt buttons. “What, arguing with your brother did it for you?”
“Everything about you does it for me.” The admission slips out before I can stop it.
She unwraps her legs slowly, sliding down my body until her feet touch the floor. Her eyes are dark with intent. “Sit down.”
I drop onto her bed, watching as she steps back. The playfulness from earlier is gone, replaced by something more intense.
“Stay there,” she orders, reaching for her zipper. “I want to try something.”
My mouth goes dry as the dress falls, revealing black lace that makes my hands itch to touch her. “Christ, Tara.”
“You’ve been so tense all night.” She moves closer, settling between my legs. “Let me help with that.”
When she drops to her knees, my hands fist in her sheets. “You don’t have to—”
“I know.” Her fingers work at my belt, looking up at me through her lashes. “I want to. Unless you don’t want—”
“Trust me.” My voice is rough with need. “That’s not the issue.”
Her smile is downright sinful. “Then stop thinking so much and let me take care of you.”
And really, what can I say to that?
“Tara.” I warn and suck in a breath.
She looks up at me, her eyes wide and innocent while what she’s doing with her mouth is anything but. My dick twitches as even more blood rushes there when she looks back up at me.
“What?” she asks.
“If you keep doing that, I won’t be able to control myself.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to control yourself.”
I suck in a breath. This woman.
“Tara.”
“Yes?”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
She nods.
“Okay. I need you to suck my cock right now. Like a good girl, like you can’t live without it.”