For a moment I hover above us, seeing myself half naked and pressed against him in a car beneath a steadily cascading force of nature. He drags me slowly back down to earth, kissing my mouth as if he plans to devour me. My tongue slides against his and he licks it gently before sucking my bottom lip hard enough to bruise.
There was this piano piece I played once, one of the first ones Nana taught me. It was a classical piece by a famous composer whose name I can’t recall this very second. But I remember learning it and feeling like my fingers were battling for control of the keys. That is us right this minute, each of us desperate to be closer, deeper. Fighting for more. I want more so bad I can taste it, can touch it like a tangible thing.
Hearing the sound of my own whimpers and breathy pleas makes me realize we’ve steamed up the inside of the car. Rain or no, Gavin could take me any way he wanted right here, right now. I’m about to tell him so, writhing against him as his hands roam everywhere at once, across my back, down into the waistband of my panties, gripping my hips, when he stops suddenly.
“Damn it, Dixie. What are you doing to me?” His question startles me and my body begins to retreat, but his hands hold me firmly in place. “I used to have all this control. All these years I’ve done so well. Now . . . I got nothing.”
Leaning forward, I let my lips brush gently against his, pulling in his air with my breath. “You’ve got me,” I say quietly into the stillness.
He leans his head back against the seat and I take advantage of the opportunity to lick a path up his neck. A low groan escapes the back of his throat and vibrates against my tongue. I suck at the sensitive skin beneath his ear, savoring his warm male flavor. He even tastes like rain.
“You tryin’ to mark me, Bluebird?”
I smile, letting my bared teeth graze against his throat. “Mmm. Now that you mention it . . .” I suck harder and he struggles beneath me, pulling me backward with both hands.
“And how would I explain that?”
“Not my problem.” I attack his neck again and his warm chuckle fills me with so much happiness I feel as if I could burst. “I love when you laugh.”
We both go statue still. The L-word. I forgot that he doesn’t want to hear it. The damn thing just slipped out on me.
He gets that broody look again and I roll my eyes. “Relax. It wasn’t a marriage proposal. I just like your laugh. Always have.”
He tilts his head and grins at me. “Oh yeah? What else have you always liked?”
“Your tattoos,” I whisper, cranking up the intensity sparking between us and ruining our teasing moment. “I have pretty much been aching to touch every single one since you started getting them.”
“That so?” His eyes drift down my body and my mind goes immediately to one of mine that I know I have to keep hidden. For now at least. If he sees it, there’s probably no way in hell tomorrow night is happening. “Speaking of tattoos. You have a few more than I knew about.”
“That’s because you never bothered to look.”
“It stopped raining,” Gavin says evenly without responding to my complaint. “We should get back on the road.”
I nod, feeling painfully exposed. “Yeah. We should.”
Swallowing hard, I start to move off of him as gracefully as I can in hopes that my dignity doesn’t fall to the floor. Pretty sure it’s somewhere around my ankles.
A firm hand lands on my outer thigh with a light slap, effectively stopping my lateral motion. “Wait.”
“For?”
Confidence and pure male bravado exude from him along with his intoxicating scent. “This,” he says, sliding a hand between my thighs.
I should say something. Come back with a witty retort, but I can’t. Not with his warm fingers sliding beneath my previously offensive black lace panties.
“I fucking love these,” he says, stroking the thin scrap of fabric barely covering my most sensitive area.