Chapter 7 Austin #2
“And you’re too gorgeous, Verdusco.” I swallowed and lifted a hand to stroke the side of her face while I talked seriously.
”Just so you know where I stand. I’m being real with you, baby.
You look incredible every damn time I see you.
These aren’t smooth words to charm you but the god’s honest truth.
You take my breath away. Every time I look at you, it feels like the first time.
” Especially when she sleeps. Not that I was ready to say that out loud and give her a reason to push me away or call the cops on me.
“Austin,” she gasped softly, her eyes set on mine as her hand rose and rested lightly on the center of my chest. Elizabeth’s soft heat permeated the material, making my cock throb at the thought of what it felt like to be skin against skin with her.
Not just her hand on my chest but the two of us lined up perfectly.
“When you walked into Marie’s, I was a goner.
” Her eyes flashed, but it happened so quickly I wondered for a moment if I’d imagined it before her face turned to a neutral expression.
One that reminded me of that first night and how easily she’d dismissed me.
“I won’t lie; that night, I tried to fight the urge to head right towards you like everything inside of me demanded I do. It was like my soul recognized yours.
“Honey—“
“But those couple of minutes I held out felt like a goddamn eternity.” My voice sounded hoarse in my own ears.
“And when you told me you weren’t interested, it felt like Cupid himself had shot me straight through the heart,” I admitted.
Talking about my feelings wasn’t something I was used to.
Not with being raised by a bitter, heartbroken drunk of a father, or with my tough-as-nails best friends, or my brothers, who avoided emotions harder than the plague.
Well, they had. Until Merri last year.
She stared at me for a long moment. I swallowed hard, my Adam’s apple bobbing and nerves flowing heavily in my veins. I could see the wheels turning behind her pretty stare and had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what she was about to say.
“Is it the chase you like?” Her gaze never wavered from mine. I shook my head.
“No, it’s you,” I answered honestly. My eyes were locked with hers, afraid to miss something. I watched, fully captivated by the goddess in front of me as she licked her lips, tempting me more than she could have ever known.
She could have easily called bullshit. Part of me expected her to.
But she didn’t. She simply stared at me.
Her breathing changed. Mine did, too. Grew heavier, faster as her chest rose and fell a little quicker, drawing my eyes down to those sinfully, perfectly-made lips and then down lower to her cleavage before returning to her eyes.
The temperature in the living room felt like it had kicked up a couple of degrees. The air around us had thickened, and I knew all the damn plans I’d made for our official first date were about to be tossed out the goddamn window if I didn’t do something, and fast.
I wasn’t sure if I moved first or she did, but suddenly, our bodies collided. My hands captured the sides of her face, one slipping to the back of her head, and our lips crashed against one another.
The kiss was wet and passionate. My girl’s lips were so damn soft and full.
My hands clenched tighter, holding her closer.
Her soft, raspy little moans went straight through me like a really good shot of whiskey.
But with her, I didn’t have a chaser, didn’t need one.
Fuck no. I could live the rest of my life with only tasting her and getting lust-drunk of her kisses.
Liz’ tongue slid against my lips, and a moan vibrated through me as it plunged into my mouth while her fingernails dug into my shoulders so hard it teetered that line between pain and pleasure.
That little move of hers was enough to make me lose my damn head.
Without thinking about it, I picked her up, loving the way her long, toned legs wrapped around my middle.
We both panted as our sexes brushed against one another.
Her lips parted, and her breath hitched as I rolled my hips, needing to feel her just that much closer.
She made the sexiest little sound, and my hands clenched against her ass.
“We should get going before I press you against the closest flat surface I can find.” I was panting hard.
The filthy words slipped out before I could stop them.
But I should have known better than to worry.
She pulled back with bright eyes and kiss-swollen lips that were tipped upward in the sweetest, most mischievous little smile.
“I think that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.” I coughed, and she pressed her forehead against mine. “Aside from stalking me,” she teased, her breath making my lips tingle. I laughed.
Fuck me, I was hard as nails, my balls drawn tight and ready to go off like some kind of one-pump chump, and I was laughing.
Fucking laughing.
I didn’t think I’d ever laughed with a woman while kissing, most definitely never mid-make-out or foreplay or sex. But as I stared at Elizabeth, trying to catch my breath and find some kind of self-control, I could see that.
Moments so sweet and simple. Easy. Intimate.
A lifetime of them.
That’s what I wanted. What she deserved.
What we both deserved.
Curse be damned.
“You like me stalking you,” I growled, and her eyes flared.
“I don’t know about that—“
“Yeah, you do,” I called her bluff. “You like knowing I’m so damn obsessed with you I can’t function without starting my day seeing you. Even if it means it’s from across the street.” She swallowed, and for some damn reason, I kept talking.
The air around us snapped and crackled with an undeniable energy. Something lusty. Heady.
“You write to me in your little diary.”
“It’s not a diary,” she argued quietly.” It’s a journal.”
“You write to me. Tell me all about your day. About watching me. How much you want me.”
“That’s not…” she started to deny, but I watched that attitude melt away for a moment. Those sweet little lines formed between her brows. “How would you know that?”
“You dream about me at night.” I swallowed. “You’ve wanted me to kiss you since that first time we danced the night away, and you wanted me to kiss you when I carried you home.”
“Austin—“
“You call me your stalker because that’s what I am, but I’m more than that.”
“Aus—“
“I’m yours,” I laid out. It was probably the stupidest, biggest risk I’d ever taken.
Hell, we still hadn’t gone on a date, and there I was, staking a claim on the woman who had twisted my life inside out.
“I’m yours. Completely.” I was probably digging my own grave deeper as I let my heart speak for me.
“There is no way I could ever deny that. I couldn’t pretend I’m anything but that, so I didn’t even try. ”
“Baby—“
“You might not know about my fam—“ Her fingers touched my lips to get me to shut up, but I simply kissed the tips.
“I know. I’ve heard. I mean…” Her shoulder rose and fell.
“I was born and raised in Moonlit, Austin. I don’t think there is a resident who hasn’t heard some kind of hushed whisper about the cursed Hart men.
” A muscle on my jaw twitched. Her hands took my face in their hold, and I swallowed. “Curses aren’t real.”
“Angel—”
“They’re not,” she cut me off. Her tone matched the fierceness in her gaze. “Curses aren’t real. We make our own fate. Sure, sometimes shit happens, but that’s life.” She licked her lips. “Last year…” she started the stopped, and something in the way her fingers trembled made me frown.
“Last year, I was at my sister Alejandra’s place.
Jackie and I were getting ready, and I told her…
” Her voice cracked, and her eyes turned slightly glassy.
“I told her she should move in with me because there was no way her apartment building was safe. I’d noticed some loose wiring and told her it could burn down. And that same night, it did.”
“Lizzy baby, that wasn’t—”
“My sister’s apartment burnt down after I said that out loud,” she hissed. I carried her closer to the couch, not because I was tired of carrying her but because I had a feeling she needed me to be closer. I sat us down on her couch, keeping her against me, straddling my thighs.
“Listen to me, Elizabeth. You didn’t manifest that shit.”
“I know,” she whispered, but her lips trembled. “Logically, I know I didn’t manifest it. I didn’t do anything. Not any more than someone cursed the men in your family.”
“It’s not that easy—“
“I get that. But I can understand believing that maybe you might have somehow put something out into the universe to tip things in the wrong direction. But… sometimes… sometimes, shit just happens, Austin.” I coughed away a chuckle because I didn’t want my woman to think I was laughing at her.
“It does.” She pouted adorably. I ran my fingers through her hair, tucking a couple of silky strands behind her ear.
“Sometimes, shit just happens,” I repeated in a deep tone.
Elizabeth nodded, her eyes wide and set on me.
“And sometimes, life smiles down on you and puts a woman in your path who shows you what feeling alive actually means.” Her eyes widened with surprise.
“Sometimes, life reminds you with said woman that love is possible.”
“Love?” she whispered, her hands freezing in place as she held my face.
“Love,” I repeated because it was suddenly really fucking important for me that she knew exactly where I stood.
“Love,” she repeated. I nodded then pressed my forehead against hers, probably crowding her but unable to help myself.
She was already on my lap. The weight of her body on mine felt sweet, comforting even, but nowhere enough of what I needed.
“Love’s pretty big stuff seeing as we only just kissed for the first time. ”
“Elizabeth, I knew you were the one when I followed you that first night to make sure you got home safe.”