Page 31 of Savage Lust

I held a hand up and flinched. “Stop.”

“I answered your question; you answer mine.”

I swallowed the spiny ball of misplaced jealousy and closed my eyes. “No.” My voice wavered far more than I wanted it to.

When I opened them, he was right there. I had a brief second to register the heat of his breath against my face before he kissed me.

His lips on mine were like having all the air sucked out of a room. There was a tickle in my stomach, and I couldn’t get enough.

He tasted of tobacco and menthol, of coffee and something sexier, darker. His tongue was wicked as it pushed past my lips and plundered. His facial hair was short enough to tickle, brushing across my lips as he sucked my tongue into his mouth, raked his teeth over it.

I gripped the sides of his vest, the well-worn leather softer than I expected. His calloused, long-fingered hand slipped across my jaw and against my neck, before cupping the back of my head to gently guide me.

The movement tilted my chin up, gave him more access, and all at once I was scalding hot but trembling like it was freezing. I pressed my body to his, practically climbing him, and rubbed my tongue against his, losing myself in the pure pleasure of the kiss.

He left me dizzy when he pulled away, dropping his hand so that he absently brushed both my arms.

“That better, princess?” he asked, his voice airy and breathless in a way that stoked a fire at my core.

No, it wasn’t better. Absolutely nothing made sense. Two weeks ago, I was sleeping in my car, fending off greasy truckers,and wondering if I’d be able to eat the next day. Now I stood, shaking, having just had my mind blown by possibly the sexiest man I’d ever seen.

Who the hell was I?

“I hate you.” I dropped my forehead to his shoulder and, still holding his vest, made a fist and nudged him gently in the side.

He oofed and hugged me to him. “No, you don’t.”

I didn’t, but I wanted to. What little I knew about him, the good outweighed the bad. Every new thing made him more attractive. I wasn’t angry that he’d brought two girls home the night before. He was right there, too; I’d wished it was me.

He let me go and grabbed the helmet. “We need to go. I’m beat.”

I stopped thinking about myself and really looked at him. His eyes were bloodshot and while his lips were still swollen from our kiss, there were dark circles forming under his eyes and lines around his mouth.

“Can you ride back?”

He dropped a kiss on my forehead before putting the helmet on. “Awe, isn’t she cute?”

I snatched the straps from him and hooked them myself. “Sunrise first kisses are supposed to be more romantic.”

He threw a long leg over the bike and cranked it before shouting at me. “It was hot, though.”

Yeah, it totally was.

The evening news had called for a warmup from the unseasonably cool desert weather. And even on the bike, with the wind whipping around me, I felt the temperature rise on the way home. Could have been Cam, too. Pressing against him after that kiss definitely hadn’t cooled me off.

This time the ride felt more precarious as Cam wove in and out of morning traffic. It wasn’t the fast roar of the engine, empty highway ride that exploded through me like a bolt of lightning.I didn’t flinch, but I was keenly aware of how close every car or truck got.

Worse, the rush of air from passing eighteen wheelers felt like it might push us off the road.

Cam didn’t seem to notice.

I didn’t relax until he took the exit into town and slowed. There was less traffic here. What trickled out did so in the opposite lane—morning commuters heading to Vegas for work or to gamble, you never could tell in this desert.

By the time we turned onto Archer’s street, I was comfortable enough to rest my hands on my knees. Until Cam shot up the angled driveway, jarring me in my seat enough that I grabbed his waist again and clung tight.

He grinned at me in the side mirror, making it obvious he’d done it on purpose.

Under the carport, with the roar of the motor reverberating all around us, I hopped off the bike. Touching him was a reminder of the kiss, which warmed me in places I’d never considered. My physical reaction to Cam Savage was shiny, new, and bothersome.

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