7. Dusty

I’ve kissed a girl or two over the years.

Usually, a kiss is just a means to an end. My mind is usually elsewhere, wondering how I can get to the next base.

But this.

This is blowing my mind. Her mouth is like a peach, sweet and plump. I’m fascinated by her, by this connection. Completely enthralled. So when she breaks the kiss, I can’t quite keep the growl from rumbling in my throat.

She gives me a wild-eyed look. “Can we go somewhere?”

Judas fuck. I hadn’t even considered I could have more. If kissing her is already lighting me up like this, she might just burn me to the ground.

I would gladly hand her the matches.

“I live about five minutes away.”

She shakes her head, fingers tightening in my t-shirt. “Closer.”

A zing of adrenaline, kind of like I used to get on game days, surges through my body. “Tia’s office?”

She gives me that same sly smile she gave me when I first saw her and nods her head. Taking her by the hand, I push through the swinging doors at the back of the bar.

Tia’s office is just off the kitchen. Maybe I shouldn’t know where this is, but Tia has given me an unwarranted amount of trust over the years. I don’t mind helping her here and there, and she doesn’t mind overlooking my occasional drunken benders.

Pulling this beautiful woman into Tia’s office, I lock the door behind us. I turn back to her, not quite sure where to go from here. Normally, I take the lead with complete confidence. Sex happens to be one of my few strong suits.

But something’s different about this. It feels like all the experiences before were just watered-down versions. Whatever this is between us burns and crackles.

She tilts her head up towards me, looking unsure for the first time. “Is it okay to be in here?”

I grin. “If they ask, we’ll tell them we were guarding the safe.”

She glances over at the safe in the corner and a nervous laugh slips off her lips.

I can’t have her doubting me. Sweeping forward, I take her in my arms and tilt my mouth over hers.

It’s like settling back into a perfect hot spring. Our bodies ease together, fitting, like they know what to do if only our heads could get out of the way.

My hands slip under the back of her shirt, fingers stretching across that soft, smooth skin. My thumb drags along the dip of her spine, feeling the curve of her body. She sucks my lower lip into her mouth, leaning into my hands.

I love how pliant she is, and I want to see what she’s wearing under this soft t-shirt. Hooking my fingers under the hem, I tug it over her head, admiring the way her belly button stretches when her arms are overhead.

Her hair falls back down around her shoulders, cascading over a dark red lace bra. I’m enamored, my rough hands smooth over her soft skin.

She tugs impatiently at my shirt, and I pull back long enough to tear it over my head. Her gaze drags over my chest, lips parting slightly. That reaction, from such a beautiful creature, stokes my ego like none other.

Her eyes darken with something like desire. Her fingers drag across the hills and valleys of my abs and she’s lowering to her knees. I catch her elbow and stop her with a gentle shake of my head. “I’m too sweaty.”

Her lips quirk into a half smile. She rises, dragging her tongue along the center of my abs. When she gets to my chest, she breathes me in, nipping me with her teeth.

It’s a sharp little bite, and it’s like she’s given me an electric shock. My hips automatically thrust against her. She’s waking the beast.

At the end of the day, I’m not a nice guy. I just play one for anyone who’s looking.

Deep down, there’s something darker there, roots that spring from one shady-ass family tree. Impulses I usually have no issue tamping down.

But I’m never that invested. In anything, really.

I learned a long time ago that it’s not good to set your heart on something.

But this woman is unearthing a greed in me. A primal desire.

I should stop now. Get the hell out of here before I show her more than I intended. Before she lights a false hope in me.

But my fate was sealed from the moment I walked into the bar.

No turning back now.