She pressed forward against him, opened her mouth, and took his tongue.
She couldn’t breathe. So close … She felt full of him … But not full enough. Her entire body was aching, readying to take more of him. This was Lynch. The center of how many moments of sexual tension that she’d ignored or pushed away? There was no way she could ignore it now. She felt as if she’d been starved, the hunger growing so intense that it had to break free.
His hands were cupping her buttocks, bringing her into him.
She arched and cried out as she felt him against her. Then she was frantically rubbing against him, making sounds deep in her throat.
“Yes.” His eyes were glittering wildly. “Kendra … It’s going to be—” His hands were on her sweatshirt, pulling it up, then off her. “Let’s get downstairs. You won’t like it if your neighbors decide to—”
“I don’t care.” All she cared about was his hands, which were now on her breasts. “Why should I? This is all that matters. Just do it.”
“Oh, I will.” His mouth was on her nipple, his teeth tugging. “I don’t know why it took me this long. I’ve been crazy to do this since I first saw you. Things kept … getting … in the way.”
She knew that, and she’d been the one putting up barriers against Lynch. Crazy. There didn’t have to be reasons when there could be this pure eroticism, when she could have him inside her.
Reasons.
She’d told Lynch she had to have reasons. That anything else wasn’t good enough for her anymore.
That was crazy, too. Not when they could have this moment. Sex was everything, wasn’t it?
“You’re backing off,” Lynch muttered. “Stop it. Dammit, I can feel it.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You are.” He pushed her away. He was breathing hard, and his eyes were blazing. “You’re thinking, and you’re wondering about what happens next. Do you think I don’t know you by now?”
“I know you’re not screwing me,” she said fiercely. “And I know I want you to do it.”
“Shit!” He whirled away from her. “I’ve got to be the stupidest son of a bitch on the face of the Earth.”
“Come back here.”
“No, I’m not screwing you.” He was breathing hard. “Because when you woke up in the morning, you’d still be wondering if you’d made a mistake. You’re comfortable with what we have now. You don’t know who the hell I am, and I intimidate you a little.”
She couldn’t believe this, she thought desperately. She wanted him to shut up and touch her, to come inside her. She took a step closer. “No, you don’t.”
“Oh, yes. And I knew you’d be vulnerable tonight because you felt frightened and helpless. I even tried to back off. But I still moved too fast. Because I wanted it too damn much. Because I know it’s going to be fantastic.” He violently jerked open the door that led downstairs. “Shall I tell you what would happen if I screwed you tonight?”
“You don’t have to tell me. Just do it. I’d love it. I’d want it.”
“Don’t say that. And then afterward you’d feel uneasy about having me with you as a friend and partner, and you’d end up not calling me if you needed me. And I could find you dead in a fifty-gallon drum someday. You like the status quo, Kendra. The fastest way to lose you and everything we have right now would be to drag you down on this roof and fuck you.”
He slammed the door behind him.
*
SHE STOOD THERE SHAKING, looking after him. What the hell had happened? She had never seen Lynch that explosive. He had wanted her. She knew he had wanted her.
And, my God, how she had wanted him. It had been crazy and sexual and pure need. How long had she been feeling that way about him and not letting herself recognize the intensity?
Too long.
But then she couldn’t remember ever feeling like that about any man. It had been bewildering and a little frightening. Not that she had shown him those emotions. She had been more aggressive than she’d ever been in her life. She had almost jumped him, dammit.
She sank down to the floor and linked her legs in her arms and rocked back and forth. Her body was still feeling hot and ready and aching.
And what would she have felt if she’d actually had him inside her?
Too much.
Lynch was always too much, always kept her on edge, always made her uncertain that she could handle him.
That was the man himself, not the sex with him.
But what if they were bonded together?
It could be mind shattering. What do you think?
He had said that, and she had instinctively shied away from answering. Because she had thought that he was right, and she was terrified of that lack of control.