Page 44 of Crossing the Line (Whitecap)

He couldn’t keep doing this. He was making this so much harder than it needed to be. “You probably shouldn’t say things like that,” I said in a barely-there voice.

He canted his head to the side as he slid a little closer, closing some of the distance. There was still about a foot of space between us, but it was close enough that his scent, that pine and clean laundry, was all I could smell. God, I could have drowned in that scent. “Why not?”

“We agreed to be just friends. When you’re being sweet like this, it’s really hard to remember that’s all we’re supposed to be. It isn’t fair.”

Something hard flitted across his features, turning his expression to granite. He squeezed his eyes closed and turned his head away, inhaling deeply through his nose as his jaw ticked. When he finally looked back at me, I could have sworn I saw something that looked a whole hell of a lot like sadness and uncertainty swimming in his gaze.

“What if I can’t do it?”

My forehead crinkled in confusion. “Can’t do what?”

“What if I can’t just be your friend? What if I want more?”

“What—” My tongue suddenly felt too thick, my mouth as dry as the sand outside my back gate. “What are you saying?”

He scooted toward me again, closing those last remaining inches. “I thought I could be your friend, but I can’t. Trying not to touch and kiss you when you’re near me is just too goddamn hard.”

* * *

Trent

I’d meantevery word I’d just said to her. I couldn’t fight this pull to her anymore. I didn’t have it in me. I was crossing a line I would never be able to come back from, and I didn’t care.

What I felt for her surpassed all logic. Responsibility be damned. I’d suffer whatever consequences came. I’d deal with any fallout between Dalton and me. I’d face Lincoln’s wrath. It was worth it just to fuckingfinallyhave her.

“Tell me this isn’t what you want and I’ll get up right now and walk away. You say the word and this stops, here and now. But I’m telling you, Sawyer, I want you. I want to touch you and taste you. I want to slide inside you and feel you squeeze around me. I want to see your face when I make you come. If that’s not what you want, I’ll respect that, but I’m done fighting what I feel for you.”

Those sultry eyes of hers lit with fire and passion. Her pink tongue darted out, swiping at that full bottom lip. Then she said the words that put me out of my misery.

“Then don’t fight it.”

That was all I needed to hear. My hand shot out, slipping beneath the thick, silky fall of her hair to grasp the back of her neck, pulling her into me and slamming my lips against hers. And just like that, I was done for.

Chapter Nineteen

Sawyer

Every inhibition I had,every doubt or fear, fell from my mind the instant his tongue parted my lips and dove inside my mouth.

The slightly bitter taste of hops from the beer he’d been drinking invaded my taste buds, making me feel nice and floaty.

His grip on my neck tightened as I met his tongue stroke for stroke, the pads of his fingers pressing into my flesh and giving me a taste of the brute force he was capable of.

But it didn’t scare me. Not one damn bit.

I craved more.

I didn’t want to be treated like fine china. I wanted to be taken. We could do sweet and gentle another time, but what I wanted right then was his desire for me to overcome him so profoundly that we crashed together, creating a brutal storm.

It had been so long since I’d been with a man, and even then, my experiences with Graham over that last year had been anything but enjoyable. He’d either take what he wanted whether I was a willing participant or not, or he’d come before I was anywhere near a release of my own.

All those years of pent-up sexual frustration came to a head right there on the couch in the middle of my living room with Trent.

I wanted passion. I wanted more of that feeling he stirred inside of me. I wanted to know what it felt like to be claimed and craved and adored.

I got all of that just from kissing him, so I couldn’t wait to experience what it would be like to have him moving inside of me.

“Trent,” I breathed into his mouth, my heart hammering so hard that I was sure he could feel it.

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