Chapter 21
Igripped her waist like it was my lifeline—and in this moment, perhaps it was—before sliding the glass door closed with my foot. Malibu stared from her place on the kitchen floor, then yawned and closed her eyes, laying her head on her front paws.
Summer said nothing, not with words, at least. Her eyes were dancing with barely contained desire, something I matched tenfold. From the way she touched me, to the way she moved and breathed, it was all a silent dare or perhaps a test of strength.
A test I’d failed miserably the second I took her offering. All I could focus on was the unquenchable heat pooling low in my belly and the slow, tantalizing way my fingers dug into her skin.
The most fucked-up part of this—of me standing in her father’s kitchen with barely restrained need—was that I didn’t want to stop.
I couldn’t stop this.
But still, some part of me felt I should.
I should have snatched my hands back as if they were burned. Stormed away, with every intention of keeping my distance.
But then her body softly brushed against mine as we faced one another.
Too close.
Always too fucking close.
My movements were rigid as my fingers touched her flesh, every muscle locked tight, as if forced willpower would save me from this fate.
I inched my hand higher beneath her shirt, painfully aware that my fingers trembled against the warm skin of her stomach.
Fuck it all.
My pulse raced relentlessly against my breastbone, and when her hands left her side to trace along my back in wandering, deliberate strokes, it sent heat coursing through my veins, unraveling the last of my tightly strung self-control.
As I heard the sliding glass door snick shut, the part of me that had been resisting her since our encounter in the parking lot knew the truth.
This was our point of no return. There was no stopping and no turning back.
The moment I gripped her waist, I’d set things into motion.
She’d brought me here, but I’d let it happen.
And now, no one would deny me what I’d claimed.
The door was barely closed before she clasped her hands around my shoulders, reaching for me before her lips crashed into mine with a voracious hunger that stole the breath from my lungs.
My hesitation lasted exactly one heartbeat before instinct took over rationale, and I pulled her closer, shattering into oblivion within her kiss.
Her body molded to mine too perfectly, soft curves meeting unyielding need. The temperature between us scorched as her delicate fingers scratched my scalp and tilted my head to deepen our kiss, as if she’d been planning for this moment since before she was a blip on my radar.
Summer touched me without hesitation or doubt, and when she sighed into my mouth, her fingers threaded around my neck. Any lingering doubt to stop this madness vanished as she pressed her hips against mine, sending a violent pulse of need through me.
This was happening.
I was about to take my mother’s neighbor’s daughter to bed.
And I couldn’t fucking wait.
She shifted against me, hands trailing lower, and her lips left mine to brush along my jaw and throat, making my stomach clench and a groan escape my mouth.
My internal voice of reason should have been screaming, ‘What in the ever-loving fuck are you thinking?’ But those words never surfaced, because any second-guessing or regret had long since passed.
No more words were needed as my hands slid to her thighs and I lifted the soft flesh with ease as she wrapped her legs around my waist. I aligned our hips, grinding them hard enough against her to see stars, and seriously considered laying her down on the kitchen floor to fuck her uninhibitedly.
My cock pulsed against her core as I carried her through the darkened hallway and up the stairs toward her room, my strides confident and purposeful.
I paused in the doorway, taking a moment to look at her neatly made bed with its pastel purple comforter and more pillows than any one person needed.
There would be time for careful perusal of the personal touches around the room later, but for now, I swept my arms from her ass to her waist and tossed her onto the bed, chuckling as she bounced twice against the plush mattress.
A breathless, sexy giggle escaped her lips and traveled straight to my cock while filling my chest with something possessive and dark. Fuck. She looked like a goddess. Flushed skin and an open, inviting expression that spoke of trust and longing.
How I got to be the lucky man who caught her gaze was beyond me, and I knew there was no way she belonged anywhere else but by my side.
“Fucking please, Summer. Take your clothes off. All of them,” I demanded with a rough, edgy voice that barely contained my restraint.
“Only if you do the same,” she whispered, pulling her shirt over her head to reveal a cream-colored bra lined with pale pink lace.
I did the same before I flicked open the button of my jeans, taking them and my boots off, as my depraved desire almost got the better of me before I could feel her naked body against mine.
As I tugged the zipper down, I never took my eyes off hers, watching as her delicate fingers trailed over her stomach and to her leggings.
She lay on her back, stretching her legs high enough to tug off the black, flimsy material and leaving her in nothing but her bra and panties.
The more soft skin and delectable curves she revealed, the more desperate I became to touch and taste.
She was breathtaking.
Stunning.
Mine.
Her dark blue panties accentuated the sleek lines of her thighs, showing off her shapely legs.
I committed the sight to memory—of her sprawled on the bed with flushed cheeks and a teasing grin.
Seeing her this way was so much better than when she was terrified in the shower or red with embarrassment in the dark parking lot.
This was observing a precious creature in her natural habitat. Something sacred and pure, only to be shared with those she deemed worthy—and fuck if I didn’t want to be worthy of her.
She watched me with hooded eyes and raised herself up, resting on her forearms before one hand reached behind her back to unclasp her bra.
“Wait,” I begged, pulling my socks off and crawling onto the bed with her. “Don’t.”
“Maverick Draconis Hansen. If you walk away from me right now, I’ll never forgive you.”
Her voice echoed around the quiet space, bouncing off the pastel walls and causing a shiver to travel down my spine. The words were teasing, but her eyes had lost their playfulness as she dragged her lower lip between her teeth.
“Did you just middle name me?” I asked, rising to my knees and grasping one of her ankles before tugging her toward me.
She giggled as I rested between her spread legs, with no intention of leaving.
My pause came from needing to be the one to undress her the rest of the way.
To take my time and worship her body. To know every dip and curve like it was my own, and to categorize each sound until I’d committed every one to memory.
“Hell yes, I did. With a middle name like Draconis, it’s not something easily forgotten. Your mom told me the stories of how she named you and your brothers. It’s quite funny. And sweet. But mostly funny.”
“Yes, well. At least my other brothers were stuck with names just as awkward.”
“They are not awkward,” she said, nudging me in the chest with her pink painted toes. “Your names are all unique, and Maverick suits you.”
“Thank you.” I smiled as her eyes danced, rubbing my chest and feeling the need to say something else before we went any further. I pressed my palm against my throbbing cock, which was straining against my black briefs, willing it to calm down.
“And I swear, pretty girl, I’m not going anywhere this time. But if you ask me to take you to the Danger Zone, I’ll drag you to the beach and toss your sexy ass into the ocean.”
“That’s quite a specific threat. And just so you know, I would never,” she exclaimed, dramatically putting the back of her hand on her forehead and shaking her head as her smile turned into something teasing and wild.
“Oh, it’s not a threat, it’s a promise,” I all but growled, not able to take my eyes away from her exposed skin and how her hands had traveled back to her breasts.
“Leave it on,” I murmured, knowing I needed to take my time with her and thoroughly ruin her, piece by piece, until she was debauched and pleading. Summer had held me under her spell for weeks, and it ended here—tonight. She was here. And she was mine.
“I’ll be the one to strip you bare, right before I imprint myself on every inch of this beautiful body.”
With more control than I felt, I grasped both her ankles and pulled her legs farther apart, falling between them and giving her no time to react before my lips were on hers with a claiming possession that boarded on obsessive.
She kissed me back, thrusting her tongue into my mouth and stealing my breath.
But I didn’t need oxygen when I was close enough to share hers.
We were long past teasing touches and gentle glances, and there was no room for temptation and lust—to be pulled to the brink of sanity just to be denied after one sultry glance.
Summer hadn’t asked to be the focal point of my need, but that’s what she had become.
A shining beacon of snarky words, soft gazes, and unyielding strength.
How could I not fall between her legs and take what I’d long denied myself?
One tiny sliver of happiness carved out in this world just for me, free from obligations and reckless stumbling through each day. She needed to feel everything as intensely as I did, so she’d understand the depth of devotion I felt when our lips touched.
“Oh yes,” she moaned, breaking away from my mouth long enough to groan those words before threading her hands through my hair and pulling me back to her lips.