He stops, swallowing roughly, something desperate in his voice as he says, “Is there any part of you, any part that feels a little bit, even the smallest sense that—”
“Yes.” I rise toward him, my hands lifting, framing his face, and he releases a breath, a pressure valve let loose, his relief abundantly clear.
“Yes,” I say again. “To all of it.”
It takes nothing, the barest movement, and then my mouth finds his. Electric and familiar. The way I’ve remembered it, but different from that first night too, because I know how he tastes now. How he feels. How he thinks.
I knowhim.
His hand comes to the back of my head, his fingers sliding into my hair, and he moves me, tilting my chin up. His mouth breaks away, and I protest, but then his lips come to my jaw.
“I’ve thought of this for days,” he says. His mouth travels, finding the lobe of my ear. His teeth catch it lightly, teasing, punishing, drawing a sharp breath from my lungs. “And it’s been torture. Being in the car with you. Inches away. That night we slept on the pull-out bed. Knowing you were rightthere,but that I couldn’t touch you. That I couldn’t do anything butthinkabout how much I wanted you.”
“Me too.” I reach for the back of his neck, drawing him to my mouth. I slide my tongue against his, relishing the sound he makes, enjoying the push and pull, the sense of ceding control, then taking it, a dance we’ve done before. One I’m eager to do again.
“Do you want to come upstairs?” I ask.
And Jacob pulls back, his eyes slightly glazed. I see the moment reason comes back to him, the way he blinks, then looks around the room.
“We’re still in the lobby,” he says, a bit stunned.
A laugh climbs up my throat. “Yeah,” I say. I reach for his hand, and his fingers seamlessly intertwine with mine. “Good thing Iain and Elsie aren’t here.”
He lets out a soft laugh. “They would have been shocked.” He squeezes my hand as we head toward the stairs. “Especially after you so adamantly told them that we weren’t together.”
“Oh—I…” I look up at him, uncertain, remembering his odd reaction back at the bar, but his eyes are soft now. Gentle.
He leans down and brushes his lips against mine, the kiss firm but quick, before he pulls away.
“I was…When you said that, I mean, I knew why you said it. It was the truth, but hearing thewayyou did it, I thought you were—that you wanted to make sure they knew you were single.”
My brows knit. “Why would I care if Iain and Elsie—”
“No,” he says. “Not them.” He’s quiet for a beat. “Callum. I thought you wanted…that you maybe wanted to leave with him and it made me…I didn’t realize it would make me…”
“You were jealous?” Something flares in my chest, surprise and wonder, and the tiniest tinge of pleasure.
“Yes,” he says. We take the last step upstairs, and he turns to me, his next words coming out in a hoarse whisper. “I was.” He shakes his head. “I was out of my mind with it.”
My insides go hot, and I reach for him. For his shirt, his collar, anything I can get my hands on.
“I would have been too,” I say against his lips. “I would have—” And then our mouths meet.
I don’t know what else I would have said, what I would have done. I’m lost, untethered, only holding on tothis. The low groan he makes, the way his hand comes to my lower back, pushing me against him.
Sparks skitter across my skin, igniting every place we touch. I feel his thighs, firm and hard beneath his kilt, as he slots one of them right in between mine.
I gasp, and he absorbs the sound, keeping me quiet.
“My bedroom,” he says, hushed and low, and moments later we’re there, just down the hall.
He unlocks the door, and he’s barely opened and closed it before my back’s pressed against it, his hands at my waist, lifting me slightly until we’re at eye level.
My arms wind around his neck, and he brings his lips to mine, the two of us slotting together in a way that feels natural. Easy. Every movement of our bodies is in sync, instinctive, as if we can predict how the other will respond.
He reaches for my leg, lifting it around his hip, and I do the same with the other, wrapping myself around him.
“Tell me something,” I tell him, tearing my mouth away for only a moment, then bringing it back to his.
