Page 23 of Embraced at Seaside
His fingers dug harder into her hips as she straightened to her full height.
“Jana.” He loved the way her name felt as it burst from his lips, full of want and need and so much more. Could she hear it, too?
“What do you want?” she whispered.
“I don’t know, Jana. What do you want?” He spun her in his arms. His lips hovered over hers. He could feel her heart beating frantically against his. Did she feel it? Did she know how much of him she already owned?
“I…” She licked her lips, and he pulled her tighter against him, wanting to follow that swipe of her tongue with one of his own. “You came to see me, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.” He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “The trouble is, I can’t remember why I was so angry when I came to see you, because right now there’s not a speck of anything close to anger inside me.”
“No anger,” she whispered.
“Not anymore.” He nipped at her lower lip. “You’re killing me, pretty girl. The way you moved out there. Last night on the phone. Your voice tears at my insides. When you deny me, it cuts like a knife.” He wanted to kiss her so badly he couldn’t take his eyes off of her mouth. “You’ve gotten so far under my skin, you’re a part of me I can’t escape.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she trapped her lower lip between her teeth. Her fingers dug into his waist. He leaned forward and tugged her lip free with his teeth.
“Do you want me, too?” He felt his lips curve up, realizing what he’d asked and how naturally the question had come.
Her eyes flared with heat. She was trying to be strong. He could feel it in her body as she tensed against him, and he knew she wasn’t going to give him the answer he wanted. Her stubbornness was definitely one of the things he liked most about her.
But he wanted—needed—to hear the words from her.
“I’ll give you sunsets. If you tell me the truth. Tell me you want me, Jana.”
“We don’t”—she licked her lips again—“do sunsets.” Her eyes fluttered closed, then opened again.
“Maybe we should.” He could hardly believe what he was suggesting, but he was thinking that everything would bebetterwith Jana by his side. The prolonged anticipation of kissing her, tasting her, was unbearable. “Tell me what I want to hear, pretty girl, and I’ll give you what you want.”
He couldn’t wait another second. Not even long enough to hear her response. He traced her soft lips with his tongue, earning a sexy whimper from her. It was killing him not to strip her bare and make love to her, but he no longer wanted to be her hookup. He didn’t want to share her with anyone, and he had no desire to kiss another woman. He wanted more. With Jana. Only Jana.
Her fingers climbed the muscles on his back, digging into his skin as she sealed her lips over his in a demanding kiss. He lifted her onto the desk, never breaking their connection. He couldn’t resist touching her hip, squeezing her thigh.
“Admit it, pretty girl. Youdowant me.” He was never going to get her to say it, not if every time they were together he gave her what she wanted, and for some reason, hearing her say it suddenly mattered a heck of a lot.
It took all of his willpower, but he pulled away. The pit of his stomach clenched tight with desireanda sense of loss.
“Hunter—” She reached for him, but he gently grabbed her wrist and shook his head.
“When you’re ready to tell me you want me, you know how to find me.” He lowered her leg from around his hip, and it seemed neither one of them moved for a full minute before he turned to leave.
“Seriously?” she called after him. “You’releaving?”
He strolled toward the front door feeling like a jerk for leaving her hot and bothered, but he was just as ready, and for the first time in his life, he wanted more than a good roll in the hay, and he wanted that with her. “Yup.”
“Hunter, what on earth…?” She grabbed his arm, and he turned to face her.
He willed himself to act casual, which was torturous when there was nothing casual about what he wanted to have with her.
“We’re not even dating, Hunter. Why do you need to hear anything at all?”
She crossed her arms, and the hurt in her eyes nearly took him to his knees, but he dug deep and remained strong, somehow knowing he needed to, for both their sakes.
“I have no idea,” he said honestly, “but with you, I do.”
As he walked out the door her voice trailed after him. “Then maybe you should figure out this romance stuff first!”
Maybe I just did.
