Pushing her against the wall with his body, he slid a hand around the side of her neck and kissed her, for real. Thank the fucking gods and goddesses. All of them.
Choirs of angels sang, the stars aligned, and every other fucking romantic stereotype from throughout the ages happened all at once. A chain reaction of joy and lust ignited within her body, and her lips parted on a sigh as she blindly grasped for his shirt to tug him closer. Elliott was still her happy place.
His body was unyielding against hers, their tongues colliding with a hunger that left her breathless. Snaking her hand up his chest and threading it around his neck she lost herself in him, giving herself over to the kiss that should have happened all those years ago when he came back from playing hockey.
The kiss that if ithadhappened all those years ago, he never would have left. Or if he’d left, he’d have come back. He would have had to. No one else could have kissed him the way she was. She was sure of it.
It was the kiss to compare all other kisses to. Hell, she never wanted to leave. She never wanted anyone else to kiss him. And she wanted to kiss him forever if every kiss was going to be like this one.
Soft, gentle, yet somehow hungry and commanding. The kind of kiss that told you everything without saying a word. The kind of kiss that made you weak at the knees, breathless, and energized all at once.
His tongue danced with hers, and when it wasn’t, he nipped and sucked on her lips like they belonged to him. Like they’d always belonged to him. Her nipples strained against her bra, and she clung to him like she needed him braced against her to survive. Maybe she did.
His hands glided down to her waist, grazing her breasts as they roamed, eliciting a moan from her. She was soaking. She’d never been able to feel how wet she was from just a kiss before. And his erection was hard to miss considering it was pressed against her body. Fuck. He was rock hard. For her.
From just one kiss.
Was this what it was supposed to be like when someone kissed you? She felt cheated. Cat’s dad kissed like an open mouthed fish, and Alex… Well, he barely ever kissed her at all. She’d never really questioned that she was missing out until right now, this moment, until Elliott kissed her like it was his entire life’s purpose.
He kissed her like the secret to eternal life lay in her mouth and he was determined to search every square inch of it until he found it. She sighed, sagging against his firm body as she clawed at the hair at his nape and deepened their kiss.
When he pulled back, cold air swirled where his warmth had been. She frowned and her body protested his absence. She wasn’t done kissing him. Why had he stopped? Didn’t it rock his world like it had hers? Her fingers drifted to her lips as she examined his face.
His chest rose and fell with obvious effort as he shook his head. “I can’t keep kissing you out here. If I do, there’s a real chance your ex and your son will see you in a state of semi-nakedness while I fuck you senseless all the way to tomorrow.”
Holy. Fuck. Her pulse thumped at the base of her neck while pure unadulterated need throbbed between her thighs.
Neither of her exes were dirty talkers. But if Elliott kept telling her what he was going to do to her, she was going to orgasm where she stood. Clamping her knees together, she rolled her lips between her teeth and nodded. If she was honest with herself, there was a piece of her that didn’t even care.
Elliott’s phone rang, and his face fell. “I have to.” Agony swirled in his hazel depths. “With Mom… I…” He pulled his phone from his back pocket and the color drained from his face. “It’s her assisted living facility.” He was already pressing the screen to answer the call.
She hugged herself, suddenly cold and worried. When they were kids, Elliott’s mom had been so laid back and cool. She never let them do anything particularly wild, but she always gave them enough independence that Clare had never felt overly restricted.
Elliott listened quietly before nodding. “I’ll be right there.” He brushed his fingers along her jaw. “I need to go. Mom fell in the bathroom and needs sutures. She lost her shit at them and they had to sedate her. They think it might help if I’m there when she wakes up. They’re on their way to the hospital now.”
Clare picked up her discarded purse from the ground next to their feet. “I’ll drive.”
“I can’t ask you to do that, Clare.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I offered then, isn’t it? Let’s go.” She shot off a text to Mason’s dad to tell him where she was going. He’d be pissed, but considering he had just undermined her in front of their son, she didn’t give a shit. Fuck him.
If he wanted to villainize her for being a good person, for helping a friend, then let him. But Elliott’s hands were trembling, and he still looked as pale as a sheet. She wasn’t letting him drive anywhere.
“I’m not repeating myself, Eli-Belly. Get in the car.”
He snorted. “Not if you’re going to dredge up thatbelovednickname.”
Clare flicked her hair over her shoulder. “She wuuuved you, Eli-Belly. She called her Ken doll Elliott and made kissy noises for Christ’s sake.”
Elliott’s mom had told her about the girl next door who had such a crush on Elliott when they were little that she turned into something of a pint-sized stalker at only eight years old. Mrs. S. had told Clare that they’d come home and find this Elliott-obsessed little girl sitting at their dining table playing house with Elliott-Ken and Barbie.
He shuddered. “I wonder where she is now.”
“Probably in your house smelling your boxers.” Clare shrugged, unlocked the car, and jerked a thumb at it. “Which hospital?”
“Mercy. And I get to DJ.”
She arched a brow at him, over the top of the car as she opened the door. “You drive a hard bargain.”
