Empty Net

I would ask if it would creep you out if I were standing behind you watching you stand outside my door but the real question is why are you here?

As the air rushed from her lungs, Audrey turned quickly to find him watching her. He was leaning against the hall wall, his phone in one hand and a bag of food in the other. He was wearing his warm-up gear: a pair of shorts and a thin tee. His hair was slicked back like he had just taken a shower. His eyes were sad. But they still electrified her and stirred all kinds of emotions deep inside her. She needed him. No more games, no more doubt, this was it. This was who she had been searching for. She was jumping in and not looking back. She was going to put her heart out there for him to take, and she was going to trust him with it.

She wasn’t going to fight it anymore.

Dropping her purse to the floor, she made her way to him. His eyes never left hers. Without uttering a word, she wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled her nose into his chest. She heard his bag of food fall to the floor before his arms came around her, holding her tight, causing her heart to skip a beat.

He still wanted her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered into his chest. “I was an idiot.”

Tate let out a long breath. “Look at me, Audrey,” he whispered back.

She looked up, his face only inches away as his eyes locked with hers.

His hands came up to cup her face as he shook her head. “Is this real?”

She nodded quickly. “Yes.”

“I have been a wreck. Please don’t do this to me again.”

“I won’t,” she gasped, her hands coming up over his.

He nodded. “You know, I was just fine before you came along,” he said, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Audrey nodded in agreement. “I could say the same about you.”

When his eyes dropped to her lips, he said, “Kiss me, love.”

Audrey wanted to cry out in relief. Closing her eyes, she went up on her tippy toes, pressing her lips to his. Like always, her heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest. There was no way her breathing was normal, and she wanted nothing more than to devour this man. Parting, they stared into each other’s eyes before she closed the gap once more, taking his mouth with hers. She voraciously ate at it, biting, teasing with her teeth as his fingers bit into her hips.

Audrey’s hands left his, slowly going up his biceps before she wrapped them around his neck. Tate stood to his full height, lifting her off the ground as his arms held her tight to his body. She could feel every single inch of him, and she couldn’t wait to feel him inside her. Wanting to be closer, she wrapped her legs around his middle, her hotness pressing hard against his. Tate let out a low, masculine hiss, biting down on her bottom lip as he carried her to his room.

Grabbing her purse off the ground, he maneuvered them into the room before kicking the door shut, turning Audrey and pressing her back against the closed door as he fiercely took over the kiss. His tongue explored her mouth, playing with hers as his fingers tangled in her hair, bringing him closer to her. He couldn’t be close enough, though. She wanted to climb the height of him and live around his neck. She never wanted him to stop. As his hands explored her thighs and ass, hers went to his neck. Her thumbs moved along the coarse hair of his jaw as her lips did numbers against his. Pulling away, he looked deep into her eyes, his lip between his teeth as he rubbed himself against her.

Toni Aleo's books