Her breath hitched—sharp, broken—and something inside me snapped. Clean. Absolute. The last thread of restraint I'd wrapped around this need severing so completely I felt it like a physical break.
I kissed her. Fierce and hungry and claiming, my mouth crashing against hers with none of the hesitation that had plagued every other touch. This wasn't confusion. Wasn't accident. Wasn't something I could walk away from pretending it meant nothing.
This was inevitable.
Her lips parted on a gasp, and I swallowed it, taking advantage of her surprise to deepen the kiss with deliberate intent. My hand stayed on her waist—anchoring, possessive—while the other remained braced beside her head, keeping me from pressing my full weight against her even as everything in me demanded exactly that.
She made a sound—soft, needy—that went straight through me.
Her hands came up between us, fingers curling into my jacket like she needed something to hold onto. Like she was drowning, and I was the only solid thing in reach.
I shifted closer, thigh sliding between hers, crowding her more thoroughly against the wall. The kiss turned deeper, hotter, my tongue sliding against hers with the kind of thorough possession I'd been denying myself for too long.
She tasted like wine and something sweeter underneath—something that was just her, intoxicating and dangerous and mine in ways that should've terrified me. Did terrify me. But not enough to stop.
My fingers flexed against her waist, fabric bunching under my palm as I fought the urge to slide my hand beneath her shirt and feel bare skin. To map every inch of her with touch instead of restraint.
Her back arched slightly, pressing closer, and the movement sent heat flooding through me so intense I had to break the kiss or lose what little control remained.
I pulled back just enough to breathe—forehead still against hers, chest heaving, every muscle trembling with the effort of not taking more.
Her eyes fluttered open, dark and dazed and devastatingly beautiful.
"Tell me to leave," I rasped against her mouth.
She shook her head. Small. Certain.
Destroyed me completely.
Because this time, I wasn’t going to.
Chapter 23
Olivia
His fingers curled around my throat—firm enough to tilt my head back until the wall met my skull with a soft thud. The angle changed everything. Made me arch into him, made my breath come faster, made the world narrow to nothing but the heat of his mouth and the pressure of his body and the way his thumb brushed just under my jaw.
I gasped and his tongue slid in—deep, claiming, dominating in ways that sent fire licking through every nerve. His other hand stayed on my waist, but now his fingers dug in, possessive, like he was memorizing the shape of me through the fabric. The kiss turned rougher, hotter; his teeth nipping my lower lip before soothing the sting with another slow slide of his tongue.
My hands flew to his shoulders, nails digging in through his jacket. The muscles under my palms were coiled tight, trembling with the same restraint that had just shattered between us. He made a sound—low, guttural, almost pained—and shifted closer, his thigh pressing between mine until I could feel the heat of him through both our clothes.
A whimper escaped me, swallowed immediately by his mouth. His grip on my throat adjusted slightly, thumb brushing my pulse point, and I felt the way it jumped under his touch. Felt the way his own breathing hitched in response.
He pulled back just enough to murmur against my lips, "Tell me to stop."
I couldn't. Wouldn't. My fingers tightened in his jacket, pulling him closer instead of pushing him away. His eyes burned into mine—dark, hungry, searching for any sign of hesitation.
There wasn't any.
His mouth crashed back into mine, harder this time, his body pinning me against the wall with deliberate pressure. The kiss turned desperate, his tongue stroking deep, his hands roaming—one still at my throat, the other sliding up to tangle in my hair, tilting my head exactly where he wanted it.
I arched into him, my body responding without thought, without hesitation. The heat between us was unbearable, the pressure of his thigh exactly where I needed it, the way his teeth grazed my lip before his tongue slid back in?—
He groaned, low and rough, and the sound vibrated through me, making my stomach clench. His hand left my throat, skimming down my side before gripping my hip hard enough to bruise. The kiss turned filthy, his tongue fucking my mouth with slow, deliberate strokes that had my legs trembling.
I gasped against his lips, my nails scraping down his back, and he answered with a growl, his hips rolling once, just once, the friction making my breath stutter.
His mouth trailed down my jaw, his teeth scraping the sensitive skin beneath my ear. "You're killing me," he rasped, his voice rough, broken.
