Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
WADE
I kicked the gentleman inside of me to the curb.
I might be trying to be the bigger one here by insisting we talk, but it was getting us nowhere.
Dani wouldn’t look at me. I lifted my hand, letting my fingers trail through the ends of her hair.
A curly lock bounced free, and I let my thumb trace along the hard line of her jaw.
Dani’s eyes finally flicked to mine. I sensed she wanted to look away, but like me, she was too fucking stubborn. There was a tiny kernel of anger still held tight inside me from never quite understanding why she walked away from us.
In that moment, the kernel cracked open, and I wanted to let her have it. But when I saw the vulnerability flickering in her gaze, my heart felt sliced wide open.
That was the thing with us—we had that long, wild tumble into love you can only really experience when you’re too young and too stupid to realize just how much love can hurt you.
As young and inexperienced as we were, we had a potent chemistry, one that had never really faded.
I’d mostly been able to forget about it—or, rather, pretend I had forgotten about it—in the years I lived away from her.
But ever since I’d returned to Stolen Hearts Valley, it was a constant battle to ignore it.
All of my other experiences with women paled in comparison to the crazy hot fire that flickered between Dani and me whenever we got too close.
My fingertips tingled where I touched her.
When I heard the sharp intake of her breath, I took another step closer and completely forgot my stupid goal of insisting we talk before this went any further.
“Dani,” I said, my voice husky.
My heart was kicking inside my chest and that familiar, thrumming need raced through every cell, putting my body on high alert.
I swear to God, she meant to argue with me. Probably just for existing.
But when her eyes flashed and she opened her mouth, my name slipped out instead. That was all I needed.
She arched up toward me just as I dipped down toward her. Our lips met, and it was as if lightning struck us from above, its electric force sizzling through my body.
This kiss didn’t start slow. There was no teasing, no soft, easy exploration. It was a fucking explosion. Our mouths met in a clash of lips, teeth, and tongue. It was hot, wet, and messy.
My brain fuzzed. The pulse of need that beat between Dani and me took over everything. She was all soft, lush curves with her mouth warm, sweet, and welcoming.
She kissed wildly, her tongue tangling with mine as little frustrated sounds came from the back of her throat. The sound of footsteps coming down the hallway punctured the haze in my mind, and I broke away.
The second I opened my eyes and saw her green eyes dark with need, her lips puffy from our kiss, and her nipples straining against the thin silk of her blouse, it was all I could do not to dive right back in. But this time, I wasn’t getting interrupted.
Turning, I strode quickly to the door. I caught myself just as I was about to slam it shut and carefully closed it, the click barely audible. The snick of the lock was a light lash of the whip of lust driving me.
When I turned back to face her, Dani hadn’t moved.
I held still for several beats. I could hear the rush of blood in my ears with every restless beat of my heart.
The sound of Dani’s breath coming in soft little pants nearly undid me.
With barely a grasp on the reins of my control, I crossed the room.
She was still standing immediately in front of her desk.
Precisely where I wanted her for what I had in mind.
Dani juggled many roles as the chef and manager of the restaurant.
Some nights, she covered as receptionist. I knew tonight was one of those nights because she wore a stretchy skirt.
It was cotton and hugged her hips, falling just above her ankles with a little twirl below her knees.
She wore a pair of practical leather boots and a loose silk blouse atop her skirt.
It was a soft, jade green and matched her eyes.
I leaned my hands on the desk, caging her between my arms. She bit her lip, her breath drawing in slightly.
I let my eyes soak in the sight of her, traveling over the delicate arch of her dark brows, tracing along the sculpted lines of her cheekbones, and idly counting a few of the freckles sprinkled over her nose, almost as a playful afterthought.
Her pink tongue darted out to the corner of her mouth, swiping across her lip just before her teeth dented her plump bottom lip. The need thrumming in my veins tightened, revving like an engine inside of me. If my body was a car, Dani’s presence was a heavy foot on the gas pedal.
We’d had each other once before. It might have been years ago. We might have both tried to forget it, to wipe it clean from the shared memory of our bodies. It was all for naught. Getting close to Dani was like a match to dry kindling.
“I’ve reconsidered,” I said with slow deliberation. Despite my effort to gain some control over the fierce lust whipping through my body like a storm, I was barely clinging to my control. My voice was gruff and ragged.
Dani swallowed, her eyes never breaking from mine. I could smell the scent of her arousal and feel my own tighten in my balls, my cock swelling and pressing against my fly.
She cleared her throat before asking, “Reconsidered what?”
“I told you we had to talk first. I’ve changed my mind.”
When my eyes dropped down, I saw her pulse leap at the side of her throat, her skin stained a slight pink over her chest. Her breath came out in a sharp little hiss.
“What do you mean?” she rasped.
“I mean I’m going to make you come so hard, you’ll see stars. Make you forget any other man. But don’t go thinking you’ll get it all.”
Her gorgeous green eyes flashed. “How do you know anything is going to happen?” she retorted.
I could sense she was trying to inject her usual bossy tone in her voice. I might not know much, but I knew she was as needy as me in this moment. Her voice came out frayed and husky with need.
Lifting one hand, I gave in to the need to touch her. I cupped a breast, reveling in the feel of her nipple puckering under my thumb. A little sound came from her throat.
“Tell me you don’t want to me. Tell me you don’t want this. I’ll turn around and walk away,” I said, lifting my eyes to hers.
The air felt heavy, like the burgeoning before a storm, just before lightning let loose and thunder rumbled through the sky. I waited and when she didn’t reply, I added, “I’ll walk away, and we’ll go back to pretending like there’s nothing between us.”
She shook her head. Just barely.
“I need words, Dani. Talk to me, and maybe then I’ll understand.”
Her lips curled with a smile, tugging at my heart. “Don’t walk away,” she said.
At that, she leaned up and pressed a kiss right at the divot at the base of my throat. That tiny spot, nothing more than her lips touching my skin, was like a brand, the searing heat of it racing through me.
Straightening, I slid my hands down over the curve of her hips, gathering the soft fabric of her skirt in my hands as I inched it up her thighs. When my fingers met the silky soft skin on her thighs, I didn’t even bother to hold back my groan.
“Wade,” she began, a hint of a question in her tone.
“Just let me do this,” I murmured in reply as I lifted her up onto the desk, sliding her hips back and pressing her knees just far enough apart to stand between them.
“Okay,” she breathed.
And then, we tumbled back into the fire of another kiss—this one wetter and messier. I fit my mouth over hers and simply gave in. When she wasn’t busy thinking, Dani was so fucking responsive, she slayed me.
I needed to taste more of her. That pressing desire was the only thing that could get me to break free of the unholy temptation of her mouth.
I dragged my tongue down the soft skin of her neck, satisfaction rolling through me when she whimpered and arched into me.
I could feel her tight little nipples pressing against my chest. Her hands got busy, one sliding up my chest and the other gripping my back as I tasted her, tracing along her collarbone and then dipping down into the valley between her breasts.
I tugged on her blouse, shoving it down below her breasts, the loose scoop neck giving me easy access. When I drew back slightly and saw her full breasts pushed together in this ridiculous excuse of a bra, just thin, silky lace, I bit back a groan. Her tight pink nipples teased me through the lace.
“So fucking gorgeous,” I murmured, lifting my eyes to Dani’s. Her cheeks flushed pinker, and she looked slightly surprised.
I put that in the parking lot of my brain, wondering how the hell Dani hadn’t been worshipped by every man who was graced with the luck of touching her.
Leaning down, I closed my mouth over a nipple, straight through the silk, reveling in the sound of her ragged cry as I grazed my teeth over it before giving it a hard suck.
Meanwhile, I pressed her knees further apart and tugged her hips closer to the edge of the desk before cupping my palm over the silk between her thighs. It was soaking wet, the moisture slick on my fingers even through the silk.
Dani murmured something.
I lifted my head. “Yes?” My voice was taut, held in and constrained by the effort it was taking me not to fuck her right here and right now. I might have reconsidered, but I wasn’t going to rush this.
Dani shook her head when I met her eyes. Dragging my fingertips over her, I gave myself a little glance down to see her panties matched her cream silk and lace bra. Apparently, Dani had developed a taste for nice lingerie. I honestly couldn’t recall what kind of underwear she wore in high school.
I could forgive myself that lapse. I remembered everything important, such as her scent, the feel of her, and the thrumming passion between us.
I could forgive my seventeen-year-old, horny self the oversight of not remembering what kind of underwear Dani had been wearing when we lost our virginity to each other.
When I looked up again, Dani shrugged. “I think I said please,” she finally mumbled.
Somehow, it was endearing for her to answer honestly.
I slipped a finger over that soaking wet silk, pushed it to the side, and trailed my fingers through her slick, swollen folds.
“Damn, Dani, I might think you want me as much as I want you,” I murmured as I leaned down to suck her other nipple in my mouth right as I let a finger sink inside her core.
She gasped, her hips bucking into my hand. “Oh God, Wade,” she cried out when I nipped lightly on her nipple and added another finger to the first, driving them in knuckle deep and savoring the way her channel clenched and rippled around my touch.
I sensed she was already on the edge. As much as I remembered how it felt to be with Dani, it had been years ago, and we’d been young.
I didn’t have the map of her body and her responses memorized the way I wished I did.
But, I’d had enough experience since then to sense the quickening, to feel the rock of her hips into my fingers.
I needed to taste her before this was over and bent low to drop hot, damp kisses along her collarbone.