“He didn’t make me.” I stared into those eyes, evidently completely losing the ability to stop myself from looking at her like I was about to become a stalker. “I would’ve done it anyway.”
Raquel smiled, even tipping her head back a little to keep looking into my eyes as she took a tiny step closer. “Yeah? Is it because you were so desperate to check the bed for scorpions?”
No. It’s because I’m desperate for you.
The person I was back in Chicago would’ve come right out and said it, but I wasn’t that guy here. I had actual, real feelings for her, and I was pretty fucking confident she felt the same way. Right now, we were just two people out here in the middle of nowhere, with a blanket of stars above and the lake glittering a few feet away.
Back at home, dating was complicated before it even began. There were expectations and assumptions, press to deal with,and never knowing if the woman wanted me or just someone with my last name and bank account.
This, however, was just for me. No matter what happened out here tonight, no one would ever know unless we told them. There were no cameras hidden in the bushes and no headlines waiting to be written.
Tonight, there was just me, standing on a shitty cabin porch that might cave in at any minute, looking at a woman I couldn’t stop thinking about, and she was looking right back. I took a small step closer, drawn to her in a way I couldn’t really explain but wasn’t interested in fighting right now.
I’d never been in a situation like this, but when her eyes flickered to my mouth, I decided to just go for it. On a whim, I brought my hand up to her cheek and pushed my fingers into her hair, closing the distance between us by stepping into her.
I sealed my mouth over hers.
The sensation hit like a bolt out of the blue, the entire world seeming to slam to a stop now that her soft lips were finally pressed against mine. My brain abandoned ship, the kiss sweet but electric as she opened for me. Her hands found my shoulders and held on tight.
I hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her to me, groaning at how good it felt to finally have those soft curves against my body. She pushed closer, the kiss deepening and losing that sweet edge so fast that I knew I’d been right.
This wasn’t one-sided. Raquel felt all the same things I did, and when she didn’t push me away, I stroked my tongue into her mouth, my heart hammering in my ears and my dick threatening a hostile takeover. Desire to take this further pumped hot and heavy through my veins, my body begging to take the reins.
Ultimately, the fact that I wanted her so very fucking badly was what made me break the kiss. Raquel wasn’t some one-night stand in the city, whose apartment I could flee tomorrowmorning. Whatever this was between us deserved better than my usual playbook.
I slid a hand to her hip and flexed my fingers, letting her know I wanted her to stay close even as I lifted my mouth away from hers.
“I should say goodnight,” I murmured, my voice rough and my breathing way too heavy, but at this point, it couldn’t be much of a secret how badly I wanted to not leave. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
She smiled up at me, her hands still on my shoulders and her cheeks flushed. “Yeah. Okay. Good night, Theo.”
As I nodded, she suddenly shook her head and slid an arm around my neck, pushing up on her toes to press her mouth against mine again. In the same motion, she stepped backward toward the door, pulling me with her and not letting go.
CHAPTER 18
RAQUEL
Breathless, I didn’t let him go, bringing him with me as I shuffled back to get him inside. Half a heartbeat later, he scooped me up, strong hands sliding under my thighs and lifting me like he wasn’t even aware I weighed anything.
He carried me in, striding purposefully forward while his mouth crashed into mine over and over again. I’d known he would be a good kisser. Something about the way he looked, moved, and even spoke just had that quiet, sexy confidence to it that said he knew what he was doing in bed.
I hadn’t known it was possible for a person to be such a good kisser that they could reduce you to a puddle of molten goo with only their lips and their tongue. On the other hand, his hands were involved too—as was the very hard body I was crushed against right now.
Either way, Theo destroyed my capacity for rational thought with no more than his focused, attentive kisses and the promise in his very deliberate strides. I’d never felt like a mere passenger along for the ride with a guy, but I kind of loved the way he was already taking control.
Kissing me senseless. Carrying me like a doll. Just decisiveness all round. It’s really fucking hot.
All I’d had to do was make it clear that I didn’t want him to say goodnight. I’d given him the green light and it looked like that was the only thing he’d been waiting for.
Right now, there was no hesitation. There was only heat and, apparently, the side table near the bed.
If I’d been thinking straight, I’d have warned him that it was there, but he’d never been in here before and I wasn’t thinking straight, so there was no way he could’ve known. One second, he was moving toward the bed with the intensity of a heat-seeking missile, and the next, he stumbled over the table and pitched forward.
I landed on my back on the mattress with a soft, “Ooof.”
Theo was on top of me fractions of a second later, those green eyes wide and horrified as he caught his weight on his elbow. “What the fuck was that? I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
I stared up at him. The fear and confusion in his gaze contrasted so sharply with the hard length of him that had landed conveniently between my legs that I started laughing. Hysterically. “I’m fine. Don’t worry. It was the side table. Are you okay?”
