Chapter 19
19
A voice says Do it .
It’s not a little voice. It’s not Truly’s voice.
It’s in my head, and it’s all mine.
And, honestly, it’s probably connected straight to my libido, since that voice has the tendency to override everything else in moments like this.
Like, for instance, good judgment.
Like warnings from business partners too.
I dip my face to hers, savoring every sliver of a second. Her glossy pink lips part the slightest bit, an invitation.
I take my time, because I want to experience every moment of kissing her again. I dust my thumb over the corner of her lips and seal my mouth to hers, capturing her kiss.
Seven long years unfurl. The moment on the street the other week was a mere snapshot. A five-second trailer to tease the audience, to leave them wanting more. This is the opening credits. The start of the whole story, unfolding on screen.
Her lips part, welcoming me. Roping her arms around my neck, she brings herself closer as I sweep my lips over hers.
Our mouths explore. Touching. Discovering. Tasting.
My brain goes hazy, and as I deepen the kiss, I’m nothing but sensations that overwhelm all else.
It’s sparklers waving, lighting up the darkened sky on a hot summer night.
It’s the exhilarating first dip of a sixty-mile-per-hour roller coaster.
It’s the first sip of a vintage Scotch. A taste that makes you moan. That makes your mouth water and crave so much more.
Kissing Sloane is everything good in the world. She tastes like champagne, and it goes to my head. Her hair smells like vanilla, and it floods my senses. I want to kiss her breathless. Yanking her closer, I grind against her, needing her to feel how much I want her. She groans as she clearly gets my message.
Then she sends her own message, wrapping her hands tighter around my neck. She’s fierce, kissing me harder, rougher.
It’s like past times and it’s like present times, because there’s a brand-new urgency between us.
My pulse spikes and my blood heats. It’s as if a clock is ticking. Hell, time’s speeding up, spinning faster.
I’m vaguely aware we’re in public.
But I don’t care because the woman I’ve wanted for years is rubbing against the outline of my cock. Her fingers dart to my hair, tugging. “Harder, more,” she pants.
Damn, those are two of my favorite words.
I give her a rough, demanding kiss, but soon she breaks it, taking a moment to breathe, to smooth her hair.
“So how are we doing as friends?” she asks, a naughty glint in her lovely brown eyes.
I need a second to recalibrate, since we just went from racing around the track to a leisurely drive.
“I’d say we’re great friends in our alternate universe.” I lower my face and kiss her neck, whispering, “If friends do this . . .”
Adjusting the pace, I leave a trail of kisses along the column of her throat, her murmurs the soundtrack to my path up to her ear. I nibble on the shell, since she seems to need a respite from the intensity.
“Your alternate universe has funny rules.” She slides a hand around the back of my head and tugs me back.
Claiming my lips.
Saying You’re mine .
Oh, hell yeah. She can have me.
The brief respite is over.
She kisses with fire. With determination. With a hot, hungry need. She’s vibrating with desire, thrumming with sexual energy. This kiss is a collision, hands sliding into hair, bodies crashing together, teeth and tongue and nothing left behind. We’re storming the night, marching into town, taking no prisoners.
The clatter of glasses and the murmur of voices reminds me where we are. I snap my eyes open to find Truly behind the bar, filling a glass, shaking her head. She mouths, Get a room .
That voice?
That’s the voice I should listen to.
I meet Sloane’s gaze then go for it. Because this night has only one destination. “We should go to Tahiti.”
“Tonight?”
“Too long a flight?”
She lets go of my hand and holds up her thumb and forefinger. “Maybe a little. Not that I’m turning down a trip to Tahiti. Wait? Are you saying you want to take me to Tahiti? Because I can pack like that .”
Smiling, I slide my hand to her ass, squeezing. I whisper roughly in her ear, “I’m saying I’d like to escape with you. Like we’re getting away for the night. Let’s fuck away all this hot, wild desire.”
She exhales then goes quiet, perhaps lost in thought. “But I thought we were going to resist kissing.”
I brush the backs of my fingers along her jaw. “We already failed that test.”
She pouts. “I was supposed to be an un-vixen.”
“Didn’t work. You’re the opposite, and I want you so fucking much.” I press against her. “You have me so wound up. I’m pretty sure you’re wound up too.”
She pushes back. “You know I am. You know I want you too. That was never the issue.”
I have to get closer to her. I need to have her. “Let’s give in. Just once.” I slide my fingers into her hair, she leans her head against my palm, and I continue making my case. “I can take you places. I can make you feel extraordinary, like I’ve always wanted to.”
She hums. “You’re making it hard to say no.”
“True. I’m very hard to resist.”
A smile spreads across her face. “You are, Malone. You’re terribly, impossibly hard to resist.” She nibbles on her bottom lip. “One night. Our secret. What happens in Tahiti stays in Tahiti.”
“Absolutely,” I say as my dick high-fives me.
“And where is this alternate universe?”
I curl my fingers around her hip bone. “My place isn’t far. There’s also a hotel down the block. Either way, I intend to strip you naked, get my lips all over you, and make you feel as fucking good as you looked when you were watching me sing.”
She shudders. “I looked good when I was watching you? How so?”
I run my thumb over her hip, rubbing in slow, sensual circles. “You’re so seductive. You looked so incredibly alluring. You looked exactly as you are—the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.” My fingers stray to her belly, gliding down the fabric of her dress toward my final destination. “And you and I have unfinished business.”
She leans her head back, and the most delicious moan ever recorded escapes her lips. When she raises her face, she tap-dances her fingers down my chest then runs them over the silk of my tie. “Are you saying we’re going to finish the business tonight?”
“Yes, and then tomorrow . . . we can be friends again.” The thought pains me, but I know this is the only way to deal with our reality.
“Exactly,” she says, nodding her agreement. “We take a trip tonight. We get away to a remote island. And tomorrow we go back to the real world?” She’s seriously considering this. Hell, I’ve already considered it six ways to Sunday in the span of ten seconds, and I say it’s a brilliant plan.
“Let me take care of you tonight. Let me spend the night worshipping your body and driving you wild with pleasure.”
“You say these things . . .”
I grin. “And?”
“And you make it impossible to walk away.” She grabs my tie and tugs my face inches from hers. “But what do you think my voice says?”
I want her to say it. The permission must come from her, and I’m dying for it. “You tell me.”
She brings her mouth to my ear and whispers, hot and sexy, “It says take me to Tahiti. Fuck me hard. Fuck me good. Fuck me senseless.”
That’s the only voice I’m listening to tonight.