Page 29 of Love Overdose: St. Louis

Two.

Her lips curved softly.

Three.

I turned and walked toward my car before I could reach four.

The urge to go back followed my every step. I got behind the wheel, started the engine, and pulled from the curb before desire convinced me to knock on her door. But her taste remained on my lips the entire drive home, and I knew tonight that she would live in my dreams.

5

frankie

Midnight

Saturday

I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

The room was dark except for the blue light on my alarm clock and a thin stripe of moonlight slipping between the curtains. My sheets had twisted around my legs, one pillow was on the floor, and the other felt hot no matter how many times I flipped it.

This wasn’t a hot flash.

I almost wished it was. I could blame perimenopause, turn down the thermostat, and curse my hormones until exhaustion took over. But I knew the truth. This heat belonged to Elijah. My eyes closed, and his mouth covered mine again. The kiss had started slowly. He’d given me time to feel the softness of his lips and decide whether I wanted more.

I had.

The second I grabbed his collar and pulled him closer, something between us broke loose. His tongue filled my mouth, his hand cradled the back of my neck, and his body pressed mine into the front door. Then his hands went to my hips. I sucked in a breath as the memory traveled between my thighs.

He’d lifted me as if I weighed nothing. One moment, my heels were on the porch; the next, my legs were around him and the hard length of his dick pressed against my pussy.

“Shit.”

I opened my eyes and the ceiling stared back at me. My pussy throbbed beneath the thin material of my panties, heated and yearning. I shifted beneath the sheets, but the friction only sharpened the ache.

This was ridiculous.

Elijah had left more than two hours ago. I’d showered, moisturized, wrapped my hair, and climbed into bed determined to sleep. Instead, I had replayed that kiss so many times I could feel the exact pressure of his fingers gripping my thighs.

I rolled onto my side and punched the pillow.

“Go to sleep, Frankie.”

My body ignored me.

I pulled the sheet over my head. Heat gathered beneath it almost immediately, and I threw it off again with a frustrated sigh.

I sat up. “Let’s try this again,” I murmured. “But colder.”

If cold water couldn’t fix me, nothing could. I left the bed and crossed the hall to the bathroom. The overhead light assaulted my eyes, so I switched it off and turned on the softer fixture above the mirror.

My reflection looked as restless as I felt. The waves in my pixie cut were protected beneath my satin scarf, but my lips still appeared slightly swollen.

I touched them, but that was a mistake. Elijah’s voice returned in my head, deep and rough against my mouth.

You’ve got a few minutes… mere seconds, actually, before we reach a point of no return.

He hadn’t been bluffing. The warning had vibrated through his chest and into mine. I’d felt exactly how close he was to carrying me through that door. And I would have let him.