Page 23 of Wild Irish

When I don’t, she starts to walk away.

I place my palm on the wall, stopping her. “Ye’re looking for a stranger to kiss, is that it? Or maybe it’s number twenty-two ye’re looking to cross off.”

Red creeps into her cheeks, but she holds my gaze. “And if it is?”

Her tongue darts out over her lips, drawing my gaze down to her perfect mouth.

My body and brain war with each other. Hell, I can feel my balls drawing tight against the base of my shaft, my cock begging for freedom. I need to touch her. Kiss her. Be inside of her.

Seconds go by. Long, intense, promise-filled seconds, until she lets out a small, frustrated noise.

Her hands rise to my chest to push me away, but I don’t budge.

“If you’re not…” She shakes her head, glancing away, and I swear she’s fighting back tears. Her voice is shaky when she says, “I need to do this.”

“Ye need to kiss a stranger?” I place my palms on the side of her face, fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of her neck, and force her to look at me, trying to understand her motivation.

“Yes.” The way she says it, like it’s paramount to her survival, stirs something possessive and primal inside me.

Fuck. I can’t hold back any longer.

I crush my lips against hers, groaning into her mouth when her lips part for me on a little whimper. Her body melts against me, hands going to my chest, fingers fisting in my shirt. She kisses me back with the same frantic need that drives me.

It’s just a kiss, but the heat of it is consuming, melting the world around us, until there’s nothing but me and her.

When I pull away, she’s breathless, her cheeks pink, and her eyes wide.

Emotions I haven’t let myself feel in a long time stir in my chest, and I quickly suppress them. Whatever this thing is between us, it can only be physical, and I haven’t decided if that is even a good idea.

As much as she’s trying to put on a show to prove otherwise, Delaney isn’t the one-night-stand type. No matter what her fucking list says.

I drop my hands and breathe out roughly. “There. Satisfied? Can we go now?”

She stares up at me, blinking. Stunned. It’s how I feel, too. Stunned by the things she stirs inside of me. I’ve just learned over the years how to hide my emotions behind a mask of irritation.

Straightening her shoulders, she tilts her chin. “It doesn’t count.”

I open my mouth, then shut it. When I open it again, I bark out, “Why the fuck not?”

“You’re not a stranger. I know you.” She pushes past me. “It doesn’t count.”

“Ye don’t know me, love,” I growl as I follow her, causing a few heads to turn in our direction.

She stops quickly and turns back to me. “I know your name.AndI know you’re arrogant and broody. You drive too fast, and if last night is any indication, you drink too much.”

I grunt, dragging my hands through my hair. “Ye’ve got me all figured out, do ye?”

Her lips twitch up slightly, but the sadness is back in her eyes. “I also know you’re hurting. I don’t know why, but I see it. It’s why you’ve got this whole shield around you, like you think the whole world is against you.”

I catch Aiden watching us with a look of amused curiosity.

Fuck.

“Ye don’t know what ye’re talking about.”

I hold her gaze, and I can see she wants to say more. Her eyes are so goddamn expressive, and I swear I can see every shredded piece of her heart as I look into those hazel depths.

“Look.” She places her hand on my arm, her gaze now sober. “I like you. And I appreciate you letting me stay at your place until I figure my shit out. But I’ve had people telling me what to do my entire life. I don’t need one more. I’m going to have fun tonight. It’s something I haven’t let myself do in a really long time.”

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