Chapter 16 #3
Her pulse quickened and she squeezed her thighs together.
“Yes,” she replied honestly. And then she continued speaking, even though she shouldn’t have, saying words not meant for his ears, but which she couldn’t stop.
“But there was no one I wanted to sleep with before…” She trailed off. What was she doing?
“Before?” Austin whispered, his shoulders tensing.
“Before I saw you again.”
Silence followed her words. Heated, tingling, and almost unbearable silence as Austin’s chest rose and fell heavily.
“What about you?” Attack. Attack was the best form of defense. “Don’t you miss it?”
“I haven’t been able to think about anything else for weeks,” he said hoarsely. “Since I saw you again.”
Her breathing grew shallow, and her thighs trembled from the way she pressed them together. “That’s bad, isn’t it?”
He didn’t answer. He was still looking at her, his gaze burning her lips, her cheeks, her chest, and deep in her stomach.
“Austin?”
“I…” he murmured, but didn’t finish.
“What?”
“Nothing. I’ve just been thinking about kissing you for a very long time,” he whispered.
Her breath caught in her throat. “You’re not supposed to say things like that out loud.”
“Oh, really? You always do,” he said.
“Well, I do make some stupid decisions,” she replied, reaching over the center console and kissing him.
Anything else would have been pointless. Anything else wouldn’t have been what she wanted. So, she leaned forward, ran her fingers through his hair, and slid her lips over his.
A kiss between them might always be a stupid decision — but never one she’d regret. And she definitely wasn’t making this decision alone.
Austin’s rough chin brushed hers as he tilted his head, returned the kiss, and placed a large hand on the back of her head to hold her close as he moved closer to her.
Her whole body began to tingle as adrenaline and anticipation burned through her veins.
She wanted this. With every fiber of her being. She wanted to ignore her problems, forget her worries, and kiss Austin until she was dizzy with desire.
And it wouldn’t take long because each kiss was better than the last.
Their tongues touched and flashes of heat and electricity surged through her core until she was sure her skin must have been steaming.
But she didn’t have the patience to look because this wasn’t enough.
And she was afraid it never would be. She was practically kneeling on her seat, her arms wrapped around Austin’s shoulders as they lengthened and deepened the kiss, yet she felt too far away from him.
So, she gathered her dress around her waist, crawled over the center console, and spread her legs over his lap.
She didn’t lower herself onto him. Instead, she knelt over him, her head towering over him, and tugged at his t-shirt.
As she pushed the hem up his toned abs, she dragged her fingernails over them.
His stomach and chest tightening, Austin shuddered against her lips, and the knowledge of having this power over him and his body intoxicated her senses.
She slid her hand from his belt down to his thighs, feeling his pants stretch over his hard, impressive erection, and moaned at the mere thought of it.
For a long time, she had felt not only like a mom but also a woman, but whenever she was with Austin, she forgot all the responsibility, all the stress, all the difficult times with Delfina…
She flinched and jerked her head back.
Delfina. She forgot about Delfina.
“Shit,” she breathed. Her face burned, her breath came in uncontrolled gasps, and her lips trembled with desire to pick up where they had left off a second ago, but…but…
“It’s okay,” Austin replied haltingly. His pupils were so dilated that she could only vaguely make out the green of his eyes in the dim interior of the car.
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yes, it is,” he countered, sliding one hand to the back of her neck while placing the other on her hip. “I wanted to fight it too, but…shit, I knew this was going to happen. That it had to.”
She swallowed. “You’re acting like we have no choice.”
He gave a dry laugh and closed his eyes. “It doesn’t feel like I have one. Shit, Lilly, you’re driving me crazy. You know what I think? I think we’d probably get along better if we slept together.”
Her diaphragm contracted sharply and she blinked at him, confused. “What?”
“Well, since I kissed you, I’m definitely less angry with you, and right now, I’m not angry at all. There’s definitely a pattern.”
She stared at him, her mouth gaping, before laughing. “Are you out of your mind?”
“No, obviously not around you, that’s my point!
” He straightened up and gently traced the contours of her face with his index finger.
“Lilly…I want you. All the time. Everywhere. When I see you, when I’m alone, when another woman is flirting with me, I want you.
I wish it weren’t true, but God, I’m tired of pretending it isn’t. ”
Her lower body contracted. Sweet, heavy, and longing. “Austin…”