Page 22 of Parentmoon

“Darlin’?”

Our eyes lock, holding a second before I let go of his fingertip, free-falling into something I might not survive. Next, he places his forefinger against my lips, tracing over them once more. His own lips spread, swollen and surrounded by a sprinkle of ink, chrome, and snow dust. A whisp of air leaves his mouth.

Brazenly, I lick the length of his finger.

“Darlin’.” Dallas growls. The sound travels down my center and settles against that tender nub, pulsing and pleading to be touched again.

“Give me that tongue elsewhere.” His Southern drawl thickens.

I clench my thighs together. Uncertain what I’m suggesting, my voice is hardly more than a whisper. “Where?”

All rational thought escapes me when his mouth is suddenly on mine. He’s kissing me like I’ve never been kissed before. Like my soul is on fire and he’s the only thing that can extinguish it. Only, he’s stoking the flames higher, hotter, spreading them wider, and I’m reveling in the blaze. His hands are in my hair and my fingertips caress his jaw. The scruff prickles, adding to the heat rising within me.

His tongue rushes forward, demanding a dance before I’ve learned the steps. With each caress and twist, a ripple of lust rushes through my belly, catching in my throat. I lean into Dallas, and he lowers both his hands to clutch my backside, tugging me against him.

“That mouth,” he mutters against mine. “This ass.” He squeezes me tighter, pressing me closer.

I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him in place along my body. Our mouths move, the dance shifting from a lusty tango to a sultry slow glide. I’ve never been kissed like this, so consuming, so captivated.

Then, Dallas is pulling away.

With my eyes still closed and my heart galloping, his hands are on my hips and he’s pushing me away from him. My arms release his neck and slide to his chest. His own heart hammers underneath the tight tee covering his pecs.

“Dallas?” My eyes search his, which are wide and round and the brightest blue I’ve ever seen. He’s watching me in return with a question in his gaze. One I can’t read as I’m trying to answer my own thoughts. What just happened? Why aren’t we kissing? Does he still want to remove my dress? Where is the confident attitude he mentioned?

I close in on myself and tug my arms back, clutching them against my chest. Dallas still watches me, his fingers digging into my hips. He’s no longer pushing me away but holding me in place.

“You can’t kiss me like that,” he warns me, voice thick and growly.

“You kissed me first.”

He shakes his head, suggesting I misunderstand. “It’s not a competition.”

He tips forward, his forehead gently meeting mine. “That was a once in a lifetime experience.”

My shoulders fall. “Are you saying we only did this once and never again?”

“I’m saying a first kiss can never be duplicated but I’m going to try like hell to repeat it.”

His mouth is on mine again. Teeth nip at my lower lip and when I gasp, his tongue invades once more. We stand in the living room, making out like every breath depends on the other person.

Eventually, I’m moving until my back meets the coolness of the sliding glass door and Dallas pulls his lips away from mine. “That the kind of kiss you want each night before bed?”

Tongue tied from tangoing with his, I don’t answer him.

His lower body pins me in place. The bulge of him nestles against my belly. With his thin linen pants and the lightweight material of my dress, the outline of him is easy to appraise. Thick and long and solid.

“I want to touch you, darlin’.” He’s already lifting the side of my dress.

While my brain is screaming what are you doing?, my body is chanting, yes, yes, yes! Any possibility of a response is muffled when his mouth returns to mine, and he slips his hand between my legs.

Then I remember I’m wearing this body slimming underwear that goes all the way to my breasts.

I catch his wrist and stop him.

“I . . .” I don’t know what to say or how to explain myself. How to clarify what I’m wearing.

Dallas watches me. His eyes shifting from one to the other of mine.