AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Before I can negotiate, his fingers slide up to my skull and draw me in. His lips touch mine, as soft as a whisper in the wind. It’s the lightest brush, but it cracks open my core, leaving me hollow and desperate for more.
Fuck it. He paid, right?
I grip his jaw and pull his lips harder against mine. His growl of approval vibrates against my mouth, and I slide my tongue over his to taste it. He sucks on my bottom lip, glancing up at me with half-lidded, dangerous eyes as he releases it from his mouth with a visceralpop.
Fuck.The sound is a carnal sin, and the way it heats my blood only makes me want to hear it again. I chase his retreat, kissing him more violently. Each kiss hotter and wetter, each frictionless touch of our tongues steaming up the windows a little more.
I’m so lost in his taste that I barely notice his palm burning a path up the side of my thigh until he’s tugging at my waistband. As the air touches my hip, sudden clarity grips me.
I swat him away and press my back against the door. He lunges for me again, but I bring my foot up on the central console, my knee creating a physical barrier between us. “Enough,” I gasp, wiping his taste off my lips with the back of my hand.
His eyes are black and hungry as they climb down my hoodie and watch my chest rising and falling. “How much to kiss your other lips?”
Despite him being deadly serious and the thought making my clit thump, I huff out a laugh. “No more. Goodnight, Rafe. Thank you for dinner.”
He groans, dropping his chin to my knee. “Don’t be such a stubborn little shit. At least sleep in the car.” I shake my head, awkwardly reaching down for my bag. “Well what else are you going to do?” He glances up at my living room window like it’s his worst enemy. “You won’t sleep. You gonna sit and play chess with the roaches all night?”
No, I’m going to touch myself to the thought of where this would have gone if I were weaker-willed, then pretend to watch twenty episodes ofFriends,while really obsessing over each detail of the night.
Of course, I don’t tell him that. I don’t rise to his insult about my apartment, either. “Sounds like the perfect night in.”
“I’ll be parked out here all night, in case you change your mind.”
I twist around and pop my door open. As the cool air whooshes in and bites me, Rafe’s hand grips my wrist. I turn around, expecting a final plea, but I’m met with a hard set of his jaw.
His eyes search mine, something vulnerable dancing behind his serious expression.
“Just tell me I have a chance, Queenie.” His thumb skims over my pulse. “That’s all I need to know.”
My heart drops off its axis and beats somewhere above my navel. I stare back at him, taking in his brooding stare and every sharp plane of his face.
Emotion threatens to choke me, but I won’t let it. Not in Rafe’s car, anyway. I take what I’m owed from his wallet—plus a little extra for a tip, of course—and toss it into the cup holder.
I stare down at it while I answer his question.
“I told you to choose your route to hell, Rafe,” I say quietly. “It’s not my fault you chose the long way ’round.”
His stare blisters my back as I cross the road and disappear into my apartment building.
Rory’syelpfillsherdressing room. “Not sotight.Goose, you’re holding the strands like a Neanderthal.”
I meet her glare in the vanity mirror. “Last time, you said it was too loose. Now, it’s too tight. Maybe it’s your knotty hair that’s the problem.”
She’s impressively quick, swiping her brush off the dresser and reaching back to crack my knuckles with it. I hiss, tugging on her wonky braid.
“If you were anyone else, brother, I’d snap those fingers off.”
I give a careless glance toward the door, where Angelo’s leaning against its frame, expression as sour as his voice.
“Almost lost them in your wife’s bird’s nest, anyway.”
Rory shakes out the braid and ruffles her curls. “Same time tomorrow?”
“Unfortunately.”
I wink at her reflection, then sling-shot her hair band onto the dresser. Angelo’s expression melts into amusement. I feel it following me as I shrug on my jacket and stoop to give Maggie a goodbye scritch. By the time he steps into the hall to let me pass, that smugness is starting to piss me off.
“Say it now instead.”
