Leo
Her question and the silence that followed hung heavy between us, our minds likely going back to that moment three years ago.
I knew mine had.
I’d replayed our near-kiss more times than I could count. And the amount of times I’d reread her text and typed out a response only to delete it was embarrassing. I was taking that number with me to the grave.
What if I’d kissed her three years ago? Would anything have changed? Would I have just been her rebound from my brother?
Or would everything have changed?
Those questions had always been there, but tonight—right now—they were especially present.
Eliza had always been so close and yet just out of reach.
It was how it should stay. Her flirting with someone tonight shouldn’t have bothered me.
Right?
Except it did, because I wanted her to flirt with me that way.
While for the last three weeks Eliza and I had been pushing a line that we shouldn’t cross, things still felt safe.
Now? It felt like the thread was unraveling faster than I could control.
And I liked to have control. It felt safe.
But when had safe gotten me anywhere?
“Eliza,” I warned, my voice deep and low. Maybe she’d heed the warning.
Her chest continued to rise and fall with each short breath, rain drops sliding down her skin. She scraped her teeth along her full bottom lip.
“I asked you a question.” Her voice was a mix of confident and breathy. “You asked me something, and I answered.”
I watched, entranced, as the thin column of her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
“Don’t you think you should be polite and answer my question in return?” she asked.
Polite? There was nothing polite about the things I wanted to do to this woman. What I wanted to say to her. Where I wanted my mouth on her. My hands.
Everywhere if she would let me.
“What was your question, again?”
She rolled her eyes, a huff of air leaving her nose. She looked up at me with those deep-brown eyes hooded with lust and desire.
“You’re unbelievable,” she murmured, but she didn’t back down. “My question was”—she licked her lips, leaning up from the door and crowding my space—“three years ago, would you have taken control and made me feel good?”
My eyes flicked to Eliza’s lips, watching as they curved around each word. Goddamn, her confidence was sexy.
And she wasn’t done yet.
She set her hand on my chest, just below my shoulder, and wrapped her fingers around the wet fabric of my shirt. When she tugged, I stumbled forward a step, crowding her space and bracing my palm on her door.
I towered over this woman, yet she made me weak in my goddamn knees.
“Or are you all talk?” Eliza asked, her lips curling in a challenging smirk.
I inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring. This woman was going to be the death of me.
Eliza let go of my shirt, smoothing out the fabric and then pretending like she was inspecting her nails. “Because if that’s the case—”
I acted before she could finish that sentence, because she couldn’t have been more wrong.
I tipped her chin up, my hand sliding to the back of her head and pulling her toward me. I crashed my mouth against hers without another thought.
Fuck it.
I was tired of waiting and wondering what she tasted like. Of sitting back while someone else had her attention. Someone who didn’t deserve it.
When I was around Eliza, it was easy to forget about anything else. Maybe this was reckless, but I knew without a doubt I wanted her.
My hand slid up her neck to the back of her head, fingers tangling in her dark, silky strands.
When she moaned, parting her lips for me, I slipped my tongue into her mouth. Fuck. She tasted better than I could have imagined.
“Trouble. I’m in so much fucking trouble,” I muttered against her lips.
I used my other hand to wrap around her lower back, lifting her up and bracing her against the door. She dug her nails into my shoulders, lifting herself higher and wrapping her legs around my waist.
Electricity coursed between us as our lips moved and the kiss deepened.
Neither of us pulled away or said what maybe we were both thinking—that we shouldn’t do this.
“Inside,” Eliza breathed, fumbling with her keys. They jangled against the door as she tried to unlock it without looking. She muttered a string of curse words, voice growing more impatient as the door stayed locked.
I chuckled against her lips and reached for her hand, finding the keys and getting the door open.
It slammed behind us, and I didn’t bother turning on a light. With Eliza still in my arms, I quickly toed off my boots and brought her to the nearest surface—the kitchen counter.
I set her down and rested my forehead against hers, breathing heavily. I cupped the sides of her head, my thumb wiping along her cheek, down to her bottom lip.
My gaze shifted from her mouth to her eyes.
We had to see this through. We just had to. I couldn’t walk away now—not when I knew how sweet her mouth tasted.
There was something here, but I knew Eliza didn’t do relationships, and I did. Except I shouldn’t have been looking for something long-term in Golden Falls when my time in town was temporary.
“You’re thinking too much.” She wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me closer.
“I’m thinking about how much I want you.” The bridge of my nose ran along her jaw and the side of her neck as I inhaled the smell of rain, jasmine, and amber.
I’d always enjoyed the smell of rain in the spring, but it smelled the best on Eliza’s skin.
“But?”
I chuckled, nipping at her neck enough to get a moan out of her but not enough to leave a mark. “But isn’t it more complicated than that?” I continued kissing along her skin.
“It doesn’t have to be.” Eliza’s fingers tangled in my hair, tugging as I continued to place hot kisses along her body.
“It can be a one-time thing,” she breathed.
Eliza reached for my shirt, tugging on it but not fully committing to pushing it off my shoulders, likely waiting for my reaction.
“Just once to get it out of our systems.”
My cock strained against my jeans, and I pushed my hips against hers, a soft gasp leaving her.
“One-time thing,” I agreed. The words didn’t taste good leaving my mouth. I didn’t think a one-time thing would be enough, but it made sense. “But I’m taking my goddamn time with you.”
“Deal,” she breathed.
I pressed my hips harder into her, seeking friction through our clothes, and braced one of my palms on the cool marble counter.
Eliza yanked my short-sleeved shirt and undershirt over my head, her hands running along my chest and shoulders, nails digging into my skin as she explored every ridge and muscle.
A low groan escaped my throat as I ran my hand along her thigh to her hip, gripping tightly.
This time, she was the one to lean up, capturing my mouth in a heated kiss and swiping at the seam of my lips for access. She broke away, only for me to pull her shirt off her head. Her shoes dropped to the floor as she pushed them off with her feet, and I pulled her wet jeans off her toned legs.
In nothing but a black bra and thong, Eliza moved to the edge of the counter, grinding her center against my erection. “More,” she moaned, reaching to undo my jeans.
I tsked. “Not yet, Trouble. Gotta make sure you’re nice and ready for me first.” My hand snaked between her legs, underneath the scrap of fabric, to find exactly what I’d been hoping for—that she was already soaked.
“So fucking wet,” I groaned. I easily slid two fingers inside her, pumping slowly before picking up speed.
“Fuck!”
“You need this, don’t you, baby?”
Eliza’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as I continued to pump my fingers, her hips bucking against my hand.
“What did you say to me earlier? Don’t you think you should be polite and answer my question?” I plunged my fingers deeper, causing a gasp to leave her as she gripped my shoulder with one hand and braced herself with another.
“Y-yes,” she gasped. “Yes, I need this. I’m—I’m so close already. I need—”
“Atta girl. Come on my fingers. Sooner you come, the sooner I can fuck your pretty pussy. You don’t think I’m only going to make you come once, do you?”
“I’m. Right. There,” Eliza panted. Those were the words I could make out, at least. The rest was a string of curses and moans.
Within seconds, Eliza finished on my fingers, a breathless, beautiful mess.
But I wasn’t done with her yet.