Chapter 41
The room tilts on its axis.
“You did?” I say as my heart does flips inside my chest. I stare at my feet, afraid to see his expression. “Why?”
“It’s been over for a while. We always seem to drift back to each other when we’re bored and then it fades. I’m tired of that cycle. Time to move on.”
“Makes sense.”
“That, and I have feelings for you, too.”
I freeze.
When I lift my head, he’s grinning at me.
He moves closer. The air feels charged. Alive. He cups my face with one hand, his thumb scraping the side of my jaw, eliciting a shiver. Then he leans in, just slightly, and the feel of his breath tickling my lips sends ripples of heat through me.
Tension coils in my body, mingling with anticipation and maybe a drop of unease. I draw a deep breath, and his gaze flits to the rise of my breasts beneath my shirt.
His lips curve in an almost imperceptible smile. He knows the effect he’s having on me. He feels it, too, this current of electricity coursing between us, dangerously close to snapping.
“Been wanting to kiss you again since the night at the Command base.” His voice is full of gravel and need.
He lets the confession hang between us.
I lick my lips, and his gaze drops to my mouth. Eyes flaring.
“What do you think? Should I kiss you again?”
It’s not quite a challenge, not quite a plea.
My heart hammers wildly against my ribs. “I think maybe you should.”
He grins, fingertips tracing my cheek, sliding down my neck. But he doesn’t kiss me. He keeps watching me, and now I’m wild with impatience, breathing a little faster.
He’s enjoying this. The buildup. The teasing.
Several seconds tick by. I bite my lip, my frustration mounting.
“Gray. For fuck’s sake,please.”
Laughing softly, he curls his hand around the back of my neck and brings my mouth to his.
The kiss is deep, urgent, and at the same time, there’s a tenderness to it, as if we’re both savoring the moment. His hands slide up my back, and I respond, tugging him closer to me, matching his intensity with my own.
I bunch the fabric of his shirt in my fingers. With a husky noise, he threads his fingers through my hair and deepens the kiss, his tongue slipping out to taste mine. My heart is racing. It’s been a while since I’ve been kissed like this. Not since—
I push the memory from my mind. I don’t want to think about that.
I want to lose myself in this moment, in the warmth of his lips and the way his hands are now sliding down the bumps of my spine to curl around my waist, pulling my body flush with his. I swallow a moan when I feel the hard ridge of his arousal pressed against my belly.
“Never wanted anybody the way I want you,” he mumbles.
We’re both breathless, yet we can’t seem to stop kissing. Gray pushes me backward until my shoulders collide with the wall. Heat pools low in my belly, settling as an ache between my legs. My breasts are straining against my shirt, nipples beaded into tight buds. I want my clothes off. I wanthisclothes off. I want him.
It takes all my willpower to pull back. I’ve been trying so hard to think before I act these days, to wrangle my impulsive tendencies, and other than going rogue during the Ice Canyon rescue, I’ve been doing well at controlling myself. My abilitiesandmy emotions.
So as my breath comes out in quick bursts and my heart continues to hammer in my chest, as my fingers fist the fabric of his shirt, and my knees go weak with desire, I force myself to take a step back. And then another one.
