Page 17 of The Right Guy
I found his broad back, framed by timber beams and hand-carved kitchen shelves. He was like that, gifted, skillful, and great with his hands. I shivered a little, thinking of his palms stroking my hips with the same care as he took with his designs.
Poseidon, his lanky black Labrador, snorted with contentment as he moved in the armchair. A spoon clinked against tin. “I’ve made you strong coffee. You can go back to sleep if you’d rather,” he stated, facing me with a green mug in his palm.
I just gawked at him, welcoming the delicious heat between my thighs and the thrum of my skipping pulse. The air sizzled when his eyes settled on me. An electric hum crackled, engulfing us in an intriguing tension, or chemistry, or just pure madness.
The shadows darkened his face. Theo preferred to watch the ocean under moonlight rather than the artificial glare of lamps, so the only light in his sitting room was the silvery moonhaze,streaming through the windows. We often sat right here, in the low light, him gazing to the horizon with Poseidon snoozing on his lap, and me reading a book on business tactics for homework by torchlight. But tonight, the moon’s luminescence gave him an edginess, a roguish sex appeal. Dark and mysterious, naughty and rebellious. My Theo looked dangerous, and my insides quivered with a mind of their own.
In that moment, I unexpectedly accepted the truth. I fancied him like crazy, or perhaps I was just drunk and horny? The kiss with Ro was hot and steamy, but I was daring myself to find out how good Theo’s lips tasted too.
“I’ll set it here. If you’re going tobe sick, make sure it’s in the bucket.” He slid thebucket closer with his foot, then walked away.
Theo yanked open large patio doors, strolled out to the deck, and left me alone with my dirty bleary imagination. Poseidon’s ears pricked and his lids sprung open until he realized Theo was only a few steps away. He adjusted his paws and closed his eyes again.
I observed how Theo pressed his palms to the glass partition, separating the sand from his silence. He was acting different, quiet and broody, his distance only making me want to be closer. Gingerly swinging my legs off the couch, I stood. A refreshing light wind cooled the glow of my cheeks, and a rush of alcohol in my blood turned me into Ada, the courageous.
Quietly padding up behind him with a stumble and a wobble, I joined him on the deck. A little less sexy than planned, butnonethelessdetermined. He turned to me, lines furrowing his brow.
“You okay?”he asked quietly.
I was more than okay. My organs were burning up, my libido was on overdrive, and my heart was slamming against my ribs with heady adrenaline. “Fine. Perfectly fine.” When I reached him, I noticed the subtle flare of his nostrils and balled fists at his side. Did he feel the sparks too? I maneuvered into his body, noting his muscles stiffen. As I looked up shyly, I willed him to kiss me.
“What are you doing, Ada?” His voice strained.
“I want—” My pulse thumped violently when I lifted up on tiptoes. “This.” My lips hovered close to his. I inhaled the salty sea air blended with his familiar musky cologne.
Waves lapped on the shore, harmonizing with my crazy paced heartbeat. I held my breath in anticipation. My tongue darted across my dry lips, and I lowered my lids.
“Ada!” he warned. “Stop it.”
My eyelids pinged open to find his handsome face, so close, so perfect, so Theo. Drunken lust was making me needy, driving me to feel the sexy sensation of his lips. “It’s just a kiss,” I whispered.
The tranquil blue I loved so much disappeared from his eyes, leaving a devastating hurricane. “Haven’t you already had one of those today?” A hint of stress growled from his chest. “Let’s not fuck up our friendship.”
That wasn’t the statement I needed to hear. Not right now… not ever.
I tilted closer, drunken bravado spurring me on. “Theo.” My nails scraped over theteehugging his ox-like shoulders. “We’ve been best friends for two years. What’s a kiss between friends? I’ve been thinking about it and—” Keeping close enough to welcome his breath, I lightly teased the soft hair at his nape. “Just a taste. I’m feeling reckless.”
Theo’s forehead dipped to meet mine. “You’re drunk, princess. I won’t take advantage of you. This feels right, but I can’t do it, not tonight. Not when you’re drunk.” His palms cuffed my elbows, halting my straying fingertips. The rough sensation of his callused skin drifting up and down my arm was heaven. It was our heaven, where Theo and I belonged together, side by side. Tingles scurried across my scalp, heightening the sensitivity to his divine touch.
I could see the rapid pulse fluttering in the dip of his neck, note the fast rise and fall of his lungs, and experience the passion of each soft pant escaping his lungs.
“Well, Theo. I’d like to take advantage ofyou.” I bumped into him, shivering when my breasts squeezed into him. Those long fingers of his constricted when my tongue slid into his open mouth. Cinnamon and coffee. Peppermint and Theo. We blended well together. The combination consumed my senses.
My hands dropped listlessly when he let go. Forceful fingers threaded my curls, securing me in a firm hold at the base of my neck. Theo took control. I sensed his urgency, matching it with an untamed desire. The flirtatious sweeps were out of this world insane and thetaste,that alone flipped my sanity. His mouth became the match striking my flame, and I burned wildly for him. Smooth lips with bristly hairs devoured me. It was intense, passionate, firm, then gentle. Hard, then soft. Everything Ro’s kiss wasn’t.
Theo’s mouth responded to mine, scratching my cheeks with musky scented whiskers. It might have been the alcohol, or the familiar assurance of Theo, but either way, Iwas speechless. Shocked. His amazing mouth, his sexy grunt, his growing erection, our scorching fire—all of it was better than the silly awkward kiss with Ro. There was no comparison. Not even close.
This kiss was—fullfilment.
This kiss was right.
He suddenly snapped his head back, staring down at me, his palms cupping my cheeks. Unknown emotions swam in his lucid eyes. “Ada, I want this—more than you do, believe me. I—”
A surge of heat swept from my toes, into my belly, making my palms sweat. The power of his lips had liquefied my insides and delightfully spun my drunken belly, so the alcohol sloshed.
“Are you okay? You’ve turned white.”
I staggered back, clutching my heaving organs. “I’m going to be sick,” I groaned, sinking to my knees and sucking in deep, cool breaths.
