Page 46 of A False Start
“I’ve been with more women than the number of years you’ve been alive.”
I snort. “Okay.” Then I press a chaste kiss to his sternum, right over his heart.
A growl erupts from his chest, and he spins us, pressing me up against the wall, his arms above my head, caging me in. I’m certain he’s trying to intimidate me, but I’ve felt nothing short of safe around Griffin, and right now is no exception.
I know how the air changes when a man wants to hurt you, I know how he looks at you—with disgust, with contempt—and for all his grumbling, Griffin hasneverlooked at me that way.
“Jesus Christ, Nadia.” His gaze frantically roams my face. “Don’t you get it? I’m bad news. I’m profoundly unavailable. I’ve got nothing to give you,” he whisper-shouts.
I’ve got nothing to give him, either. “Okay,” I murmur. His entire body vibrates, and his pulse jumps in his neck. I can see it. I lick my lips as I watch it, getting lost in the rhythm.
“Nadia. This can’t happen.”
Even hidden behind the pub, it feels like we’re sneaking around. I want to point out that I’m not the one keeping him here. But I just stare up into his fathomless dark eyes. Everything about him screams raw masculinity. He makes me weak in the knees.
A small smile touches my lips. A smirk. A challenge. “Okay.”
One of his hands slides through his dark hair, tugging at the ends in frustration. “Fuck.” He checks over his shoulder, one arm still plastered to the wall above my head, protecting me. I can tell he’s agitated. He looks mad, but not at me. In an instant, his face snaps back down to mine, and his breath dances across my damp lips when he scolds, “You drive me c—”
I quirk a brow. “What?”
His jaw pops, and he draws imperceptibly closer.
“C-c—”
“Say it. I dare you.” I move my face toward him, the tips of our noses brushing together. He looks like he could kill me, in the best way possible.
A sigh leaves him in a ragged whoosh. Goosebumps dance across my arms under the muggy night air. His voice is like a feather dragging across my skin as we face off. “You drive me crazy.”
And then he kisses me.
His free hand cups the back of my skull, and he crushes his lips against mine. For a second, I freeze. I wanted him to kiss me, goaded him into it, but I’m not sure I thought he would give in.
I catch up fast, kissing him back with every bit of emotion I can dredge up. He won’t believe me if I tell him he’s good for me. Instead, I’ll have toshowhim.
My lips move against his frantically, fingers grappling with the hemline of his shirt. All I know is that I want my hands on his body. I want to feel him. I want more than he’s willing to give me.
I tug at the tails of his shirt in frustration, and then pull until I hear the sharp snapping noise of those pearl clasps pulling apart. I moan against his mouth when my palms slide up over his bare abdomen, tracing the lines of that delicious V that disappears beneath his jeans. The one I’ve fantasized about since I saw him on the couch last week.
A moan slips out between us. I can’t even tell whose it is. His skin pebbles beneath my touch, and his cock swells against my thigh.
“Fuck. Nadia.” He breathes my name against my lips, raspy and full of awe. It’s so clear to me that whatever this connection is, it isn’t one-sided.
His teeth press into my bottom lip with a firm nip, and I arch into him, urging him on. Wanting more. Every nerve ending in my body buzzes as my body bows into his. My head tips back, and Griffin takes that as an invitation to move his mouth onto my neck as my hands slide up to wrap around the back of his.
First a kiss, then another bite. I jump at the pinching sensation, but then his tongue is there, soothing the sting and driving me crazy. I hold his head close, desperate for more. He moves to the other side and bites me again, right where my neck slopes into my shoulder.
“You are fucking delicious. So responsive for me.” His fingers curl into a fist in my hair and he pulls, forcing my head back further, and opening my chest up to him like a platter to feast on.
And he does.
Teeth drag, lips press searing kisses in the wake of his mouth. The tip of his tongue dances over every aching spot, twirling and teasing as he works his way down to the tops of my breasts.
“These...” His nose trails over one peak as he bends over my heaving body, one hand still completely entangled in my hair. “Are fucking perfect.”
Then his free hand darts down and yanks the neckline of my tank top down, taking the cup of my bra with it.
He sucks a breath in right as all the air whooshes out of my lungs. Like he stole the breath right out of my body. We stare down at my exposed breast, the swell of it pushed up by the clothing pulled beneath, my nipple pointing upward, right at him.
