Page 22 of Sweet Love at Bayside
“What doyouwant it to be?” A sea of emotions swam in her eyes—hope, trepidation,lust.
He wanted to take her in his arms and experience every one of those emotions firsthand. To give her reasons to smile, to discover what was going on with her mother and what made her the careful woman she was. He didn’t know what was going on inside him, but whatever this surge of desire and protectiveness was, he didn’t want to fight it. But he sensed that she’d been hurt, and though he couldn’t pinpoint where or how, he’d do everything within his power to keep her from getting hurt again. And that meant starting with not being too aggressive or scaring her off.
“I’d like it to be a daily occurrence.” He probably should have said he’d like to see her again tomorrow, and they’d take it one day at a time, but he was only capable of so much restraint. And at that very second, as music played and couples danced, the air between Rick and Desiree beat with a rhythm all their own, and his resolve to go slow frayed even more.
“I’d like that,” she said. “Very much.”
Their eyes remained locked for so long, he felt himself leaning in at the same moment she waved her hand nervously and said, “Close your eyes and open your mouth.”
It took him a second to remember they’d been playing a game. He did as she asked, and a sweet, chocolaty treat touched his tongue. When he closed his mouth, he felt her fingers slip out.Forget the chocolate. I want those fingers back.
He opened his eyes and caught her watching him intently, sucking the chocolate off her index finger. Her eyes widened, and her finger fell from her lips with apop. For a beat, everything stilled. Her eyes bored into him with the same storm of emotions as earlier, and his resolve shattered. Their mouths collided, and he threaded his fingers into her silky hair, taking the kiss deeper. She grabbed his shirt, keeping him close, and man, how he loved that. She tasted so sweet, kissed him so hungrily, he didn’t want to stop, and when she made the sexiest sounds he’d ever heard, he knew he wasn’t going to. Not yet. Not when kissing her was so much better than his fantasies.
His arm circled her waist, holding her as close as they could be in that position. He wanted to lift her onto his lap, to feel her legs around his waist, her sweet curves pressed against him, but they were out in public, and no matter how much she’d opened up, he knew she was pushing her boundaries. And he wanted to push them, over and over again.
They kissed through the remainder of the song, and into the next, and by the time they came up for air, they were both breathless and she was flushed. He wasn’t typically a passionate kisser. He liked to rush things along and get to the good stuff. But as he waited for the disclaimer Desiree seemed compelled to state every time she tiptoed out of her comfort zone, he realized hewasa passionate kisser. He’d just been kissing the wrong women.
He was surprised when her disclaimer didn’t come.
She touched her lips, as if they were still tingling, as his were, and he couldn’t resist kissing her again, softer this time, longer, deeper. Oh yeah, he’d been kissing the wrong women, all right. He did not want to rush through Desiree’s kisses. He wanted to pile them on, to batten down beneath them for the winter and ride them into spring.
“I wanted to dance with you,” he said as they came up for air. He needed her to know he hadn’t planned on ravishing her, but he was unable to stop.
“Kiss me now,” she said breathlessly. “Dance another time.”
She didn’t need to ask twice.
Rick’s senses surged and skidded as they made out like they needed each other to breathe. Everything blurred together, the sensual sounds slipping from her lungs, the feel of her knees pressing against his inner thighs, her hot little hands on his arms. None of it was enough, and he fought against his own desire to take her back to the truck, pull off on the first dark street they came to, and make love to her. But that wasn’tslow.Thiswasn’t slow, and it wasn’t enough, either. He needed to feel her against him.
He tore his mouth away. “Dance with me.”
Rising to his feet, he practically lifted her to hers and swept her into his arms. Their eyes met for only a split second before their mouths came together in a kiss hot enough to join metals. Their bodies took over, swaying to their own sensual beat. Her hands claimed his back, her hips pressed against him, making his body throb with desire. His hands moved down her back, to the dip at the base of her spine, holding her tight. She moaned into the kiss, and her nails dug into his back through his shirt. They kissed and danced, lost in a world all their own, their emotions pouring out when they broke away for a few short seconds at a time.
“Love kissing you.” His hands slid south, holding her butt, and earning another heady moan.
“Don’t stop. Kissingortouching,” she pleaded.
As if he could.
Rick didn’t know how much time had passed as they devoured each other, dancing beneath the stars, but eventually he realized that they were the only ones dancing; there was no music. The sparkling lights had gone out, leaving only the light of the candle. He smiled against her lips, and her eyes opened, sucking him right into another lustful kiss. She melted against him with the force of an ocean, constant and demanding.
“I don’t want to stop,” she said breathlessly.
He brushed his lips over hers. “We don’t ever have to.”
Sometime later—half an hour, an hour, he wasn’t sure—they made their way to the truck, stopping every few steps to devour each other. She snuggled up to him on the way back to her place, kissing at the stoplights, the sexual tension in the truck an inescapable entity all its own. When he parked in front of her house, he didn’t want the night to end, and at the same time, he didn’t want to take it so far that she had a chance to regret a minute they’d spent together.
He took her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes, intending to tell her as much, but no words came. Their mouths joined like metal to magnet, in an urgent, exploratory kiss. She quivered against him, sending a surge of heat through his veins. Her hands moved over his chest, his arms, histhighs. She was right there with him. He leaned into her, and she went willingly onto her back, never breaking their connection. His mouth moved over hers with reckless abandon, and when her hips rocked up, he nearly lost it. He shifted her up toward the passenger door, wishing they were anyplace other than the cramped cab of his truck. He pushed his hands beneath her, lifting her hips so he could grind against them, and sealed his mouth over her neck, earning more sinful, breathy noises.
“You feel so good,” she said. “Don’t stop.”
He wanted to strip her bare and make her lose her mind, but they were in histruck.
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded.
He had a cottage, she had a house, and they were making out like horny teenagers in her driveway. This was not how he’d imagined they’d end up, but he was powerless to resist her.
“Let me touch you and take you over the edge, baby,” rushed out before he thought to stop it.
