Page 68 of Give & Take

“It’s one thing to flirt. It’s another thing to….to…”

“Do what we want to? Like grown adults? If it helps,Iwant you to. Kiss me, that is.”

She lets out a breath. “You have to stop saying that word.”

I smirk. “What,kiss?” I say it loud enough something flaps in a tree on the street.

“Oh my God.” Lana looks out into the empty street, then covers her face with a cushion.

I reach over and slide two fingers between the cushion and her forehead, gently pulling it down. “Did you forget how to do it?” I whisper.

“Raphael! I swear to God.”

She’s trying hard not to laugh. I can see it. I love it. I could sit on the edge of her trying not to laugh for the rest of my life.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” I say. “It’s easy.” I bring my other hand up to her neck. My fingers wrap around her nape. I glide my thumb in front, grazing its rough pad against her pulse.

Suddenly, her almost-laughter catches. Her pulse flutters like a little motor under my thumb.

“The way it works is…” I slide my hand into her hair, cupping her head. “We get very close.” My thumb scrapes against the soft edge of her jaw and she melts under my touch, like hot wax.

It’s fucking delicious.

“This is a bad idea,” she whispers, her eyes on mine.

I don’t move, just hold her there, trembling. “Should I stop?”

She bites her lip, releasing it with a little delicious pop. If I wasn’t hard before, I am now.

She shakes her head. She’s so different like this, so coy. So needy for me to take charge.

I make another sweep with my thumb, this time over the fullness of her lower lip. Then I bring my face close to hers; close enough I feel the soft blush of her breath on my lips. My cock is so fucking hard now it’s straining painfully against my zipper.

“MaybeIshould kiss you,” I say.

She sucks in a breath.

“That way it’s not…what do you call it? Workplace harassment?”

“I can’t believe you just said that.”

“And I can’t believe how much you want me.”

Her mouth falls open. “You cocky son of a?—”

I lean in and trap her mouth in mine, pulling her into a kiss so intense that even though I initiated it, I feel knocked off guard. Like a freight train’s just crashed through my chest.

We started with her lips parted, so there’s no hope of a chaste brushing of lips. It’s lips and tongues and the click of teeth. The press of my hand against the base of her skull.

It’s fuckingperfect. Like scratching a terrible itch I’ve been resisting. Drinking after being parched for days. No, years. I shift again to take her head in both hands, her soft hair silky through my fingers. I’m so absorbed with how sweet she tastes, how perfect and soft and hot; at the little whimpering sounds she’s making as I pull her toward me; onto me—I don’t notice the creak until it’s too late.

With a rip and a groan, the hook above us lets go, and we fall, Lana shrieking into my mouth as we drop, landing with a thunderous boom on the porch.

Chapter 19

Lana

“You sure you don’t want me to fix that swing?” Mike asks. It’s not the first time.

---