Page 6 of Edge
I set the mangled bicycle gently against the wall and stepped closer.
Her breath hitched, and she tilted her chin up. I traced the curve of her upper lip with my eyes, feeling the warmth coming off her like a caught sunbeam.
“I meant what I said,” I told her, voice low, the rasp turning every word into a promise. “Coffee paid the debt. But the walk?—”
“—was for you?” she teased, soft and a little breathless.
I nodded, the truth simple and heavy between us. “Because I wasn’t ready to stop looking at you.”
Her fingers tightened around her keys. The metal clinked softly, a tiny bell giving us a beat to decide. She wet her lips, and I felt it like a pull under the ribs, wired into bone and heat.
I reached up, braced my palm against the doorjamb beside her head, crowding her space with my body and the slow certainty that had rolled through me the second she looked up at me.
Tomorrow wasn’t fast enough.
Her tongue carted out to wet her lips, and I knew—walking away wasn’t an option anymore.
3
EDGE
Iplanted my palm on the doorjamb above her head, leaning in until the space between us all but disappeared. My body cut her off from the hall, a wall of heat and leather shielding her like I’d already claimed the ground she stood on. Her back hit the door, chest rising fast enough that her nipples strained against her shirt, brushing air that suddenly felt hotter than the street outside.
Her scent slid straight into my lungs—citrus and sunshine, threaded with something darker that I wanted to sink my teeth into. My eyes tracked everything: the pulse hammering in her throat, the tremble in her stomach, the pink bow of her mouth that looked like sin just waiting to be tasted.
“Tell me no.” My voice was rough as my lips brushed close enough that she felt the scrape of my breath.
She didn’t. Her eyes widened, pupils gone wide, lips parting on a stuttered inhale. That was all the answer I needed.
I closed the inch between us, mouth taking hers like it had always been mine. Hard at first, deliberate, then easing to test how deep Callie would let me in.
She gasped against me, the sound hot and shocked, before softening and giving way. My hand cupped her jaw, thumb stroking once, a hint of tenderness under the iron of my grip. The other anchored her hip, dragging her closer until her chest pressed tightly to mine.
“Open for me,” I growled against her mouth.
When she did, heat and surrender tangled with the crash in my blood.
Her hands fumbled with the doorknob, trembling so bad she couldn’t twist it. Her breath brushed hot against my cheek, quick and panicked, and I felt every shiver of it.
“Easy,”I muttered, though I didn’t mean it. I wanted her strung tight. Off balance.
I leaned in and covered her hand with mine, swallowing her small fingers in my palm. One twist and click, then the door gave.
We stumbled inside together, her back bumping the frame as I shoved past, my mouth crushing hers again, tongues tangling, her breath hot and uneven against mine. The dim hallway spilled one last stripe of light across her hair before I kicked the door shut, heel slamming wood into the frame with a heavy crack. The deadbolt rattled into place from the force, final and absolute.
Darkness swallowed the room until her hand scraped along the wall, finding a switch. A lamp blinked on across the space, throwing warm gold over her skin. Her hair was mussed from my grip, lips swollen from my kiss, chest rising hard like she couldn’t catch her breath.
My eyes swept the place fast, cataloging like I always did. Small. Lived in. The air smelled faint of books, citrus, and her. Soft in a way my world never was. And now that she’d let me in, I was going to mark it—mark her—with every inch of me.
I caught Callie’s waist, spun, and pressed her into the nearest wall. Drywall thudded under her shoulders as my body sealed her in. My mouth found hers again, harder this time—less kiss, more claim. My tongue dragged hers into submission while my hands locked her in place, feeling the quiver run through her as she arched against me.
“Yeah.” My breath was hot against her lips. “That’s it, baby. Give it to me.”
One hand spread across her spine, keeping her pinned, while the other slid low, hooking her shirt hem. I peeled it up slowly, knuckles grazing her ribs, and her skin pebbled under the drag. Her breath hitched sharp when the fabric cleared her head. I tossed it aside without a glance, greedy for the sight of her.
Damn. She was fucking gorgeous.
“Look at you.” A crooked grin cut across my face as my mouth closed over the swell of her breast through the thin bra. I licked once, slow and deliberate, then bit just enough to make her gasp. The sound ripped through me like nitrous, leaving a burning need in its wake.
