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I was usually on the receiving end of an exasperated sigh, or an irritated curse, so the fierce look of approval and admiration in those blue depths made my stomach flip-flop as though it were the first time I was climbing into the cockpit of a jet.
“What?” I said, when the silence shifted from comfortable to something much more intense—nothing bad, but nothing quite as simple as companionship.
“Hmm?”
“You’re looking at me funny.”
“Am I? And here I thought I was just looking at you.”
I swallowed, a sudden case of nerves making me feel as anxious as I had on my first date ever, and all because Panther was looking at me as though he were seeing me for the first time.
Trying to muster up some of that bravado I was so well known for, I scoffed and settled back in my seat. “Oh yeah? And what do you see?”
Panther grazed his thumb over the top of my knuckles, and holy shit, he might as well have stroked his palm between my legs. Heat infused my body, flames licking along my veins as his eyes roamed over my face and down my neck, then he licked his lips, making me shift in my seat.
“I see a man I wasn’t looking for. A man I didn’t even know was there, until right now. And Solo?”
“Yeah?”
“I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be than sitting with him in this car right now, holding his hand.”
11 Panther
I WASN’T USUALLY one to pour my heart out, so no one was more shocked than I was at what had just fallen off my tongue. Though Solo also looked pretty fucking shocked, staring at me from across the car as though I’d morphed into a complete stranger.
Hell, maybe I had. But something about this place, the sun shimmering over the water, the food, and Solo sitting there holding my hand had lowered my defenses until I’d been unable to hold back how I was feeling.
For so long I’d had to squash my impulse to be who I really was at the core of my being. From my career to my private life, everything revolved around what others would think, what others would say if they found out I was hiding integral parts of myself away. But after almost dying, and my father looking me in the eye and telling me for the first time that he’d never been ashamed of who I was, my emotions seemed exposed, and for once in my life, I didn’t want to hide them away.
“I’ve shocked you into silence. That’s got to be a first.”
Solo blinked those gorgeous eyes of his and then licked at his lower lip, and if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought he was nervous. But no, this was Solo—fly by the seat of your pants at a million miles an hour Solo—and nothing made him nervous.
“I think it might be,” he finally said, and looked down to our joined hands again.
“Did I make you uncomfortable?”
Solo shook his head. “No. I just… It’s…”
I smiled as Solo tried to form a sentence. But when nothing came out and his cheeks flushed—actually fucking flushed—I full-on grinned.
Nothing made Solo nervous, except, apparently, me. “You don’t want that?”
“Want what?”
“Me thinking about how good your hand feels in mine?”
“Jesus.” Solo rubbed his face. “You’ve done, like, a total one-eighty on me. I guess my, um, brain is trying to catch-up.”
With my hand firmly wrapped around his, I tugged him across the console and leaned in until my lips ghosted over the top of his. “You don’t mind if I kiss you until it does, do you?”
“What the hell happened to you up there in that plane?”
I nipped at his lower lip, and when Solo moaned and opened for me, I whispered, “I realized what’s important.”
Right there, in an open convertible where anyone could see, I kissed Solo, softly at first, giving him a moment to get his bearings, since I seemed to have blown his mind. Then, as his lips melted into mine, I reached for the back of his neck, holding him right where I wanted him, and when I felt him grasp at the sides of my shirt, I knew he wasn’t going anywhere.
As I deepened the kiss, I felt the moan escape his throat, and I swallowed it down greedily, wanting to devour every taste and sound he gave me. God, I wanted him. I knew that now, and finally, after a lifetime of denying myself what I truly wanted, I was taking it.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had the thought that this was dangerous, that he was fire, and getting too close would get me burned. But when Solo angled his head for more, I pushed those thoughts away. He wasn’t the type to choose to be with someone, but then again, neither was I, or at least I’d never allowed myself that pleasure. So what if we both chose each other? What then?
