Page 64 of If I Stopped Haunting You

“What?”

He leaned an arm against the wall behind her, and she caught sight of the black ink of his tattoo. “I like it when you say my name,” he whispered.

Pen’s heart was beating frantically as she slid her hand up his chest and neck to tangle in his hair.

“I love it when you say mine.”

Neil leaned in ever closer, blocking everything else from view. He was so close and so warm, and she was impatient to touch him.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she apologized.

“Why?”

She tilted her head away, but he coaxed her back with a finger under her chin as she said, “I worried if I stopped hating you, things would change;Iwould change. But everywhere I went, youwere there, haunting me, reminding me of every time I’ve ever been wrong, of every time I’ve ever failed.”

Neil tucked a stray hair behind her ear, skimming her jaw and making her shiver as he whispered, “Hating me doesn’t have to be your whole identity.”

“I’m starting to think I don’t hate you.” He bent close as if to kiss her, but she pressed a finger to his lips. “But if you ever call me Penny,” she warned.

He gently nudged her hand away as he laughed and said, “Never.”

Then he was sliding a hand around her waist and bending closer, that rich, sweet smell of him invading her senses. Though she might have said no and pulled away a day earlier, she let Neil Storm in.

But Pen could be courageous and confident too. She stood on her tiptoes, curled her hands into his hair, and captured his mouth with hers.

Yesterday felt like a lifetime ago, and after all these hours trapped together, playing a game of cat and mouse, she and Neil were finally kissing.

And it wasgood. He tasted like snow, and as his tongue dipped in past her parted lips, Pen felt like she was outside once more, the snow falling in flurries around him, melting in his curls. Except he was warm, and his lips were warm, and there was nothingsoftabout this kiss.

Pen leaned back until she was completely flush against the wall, and he pushed in closer, his presence in this narrow space intoxicating. Her fingers tightened in his hair as his other hand snaked down to her hip.

It was a mirror of her dream, his mouth on hers, his hands digging into her hip and thigh, only this time her back was to stone, and he tasted like coffee, not whiskey. His hands wererougher, his grip stronger than in the dream, and damn if she wasn’t already slick between her legs. Her dream had literally become reality, and Pen was growing lost in the taste and feel of him.

She broke the kiss, gasping for breath and arching back as Neil bent to trail his lips down her neck. He pressed kiss after kiss into her skin, sending a fresh wave of heat straight to her center. Her nails scraped through his hair, clawing at his scalp even as his thumb dug into the groove of her hip, tightening impossibly. He slipped down to the soft divot between shoulder and neck, sliding aside her sweater and bra strap. His fingers skated across her skin, leaving a trail of fire in their wake as his light stubble scraped over her shoulder and down to her collar. She whimpered as his teeth raked over the bone.

“A collar girl?” he whispered.

Pen squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers tightening in his curls. “Apparently.”

He smiled against her and lingered for a moment longer, his tongue dipping out to draw lazy circles in the spot. He scraped his teeth deliciously over the bone, and Pen moaned as he clamped down on her collarbone and bit her, her body rocking against his in response.

His tongue painted a swirl of patterns over her shoulder, savoring every inch of exposed skin, and dear god, she didn’t know how much more she could handle before she tore off his clothes.

Hot breath fanned over her skin, and she felt like she was on fire everywhere he touched her. Her body sank into his as she pulled him back to her lips, eager for another kiss. Neil moaned as his hand slid down her arm, thumb brushing the underside of her bra before stopping at her thigh and squeezing. Every caress made her come alive, thawing her from the outside in. Water dripped down the side of her cheek where one of Neil’s damp curls clung to her skin. The sensation of the cold water against her flushed face made her body rock against his, yearning, craving. As if he couldread her mind, Neil’s hand edged under the hem of her sweater, his fingers dancing over warm, exposed skin as he parted her legs with a knee.

Pen made a soft sound in the back of her throat as she opened her mouth wider to him, wanting more than he could possibly give her.Thiswas what she’d been avoiding? Pen wished she’d given in to the desire sooner. In the study, the snow, the turret, hell, even in the front entry. She’d been putting off the inevitable for far too long. Neil’s other hand traveled down the wall to cup her ass, nails digging into flesh as her teeth scraped against his lips.

“I have been thinking about this all day,” he panted.

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t.”

Neil groaned as her hips rose to grind against him. He felt so good, so unbelievably good. And where her mind was normally filled with noise, the only thoughts flitting about were of him. Of how he knew just where to touch her, how incredibly turned on she was, and how the pressure from the bulge of his cock had her itching to drag him upstairs.

Together, they were perfectly imperfect, and she wouldn’t change a fucking thing.

He scooped her up, and she wrapped her legs around him, finally blissfully at the same height. Andcloser. That hard length of his was against the heat between her thighs, and as she moved against him, she could feel his cock nudging between her legs, searching. How the hell had they gone from hate tothisso soon? It should have been impossible, but Pen wanted nothing more than to undress him.

She wanted him inside her.