Page 86 of Falling Like Stars

“He’s a knucklehead, but we love him,” I say, watching my parents bicker with my brother, who has them laughing—against their wills—in an instant. I pull my gaze back to Rowan. “But tell me. Are you okay?”

“I’m good.” She leans in. “And also…”

The rest of her sentence is to kiss me, and I taste the cold sweet mint on her lips. Instantly, I want more of her, more of everything that is her. I deepen the kiss, holding her face with one hand, the other holding a melting cone I want to get rid of so I can touch her all over.

I feel eyes watching. I break the kiss to see my family staring, then quickly averting their gazes when I catch them.

“Subtle,” I say.

“Everyone is watching,” Rowan says, glancing around. “You make it so easy for me to forget you’re famous.”

“Good. Let me know when I don’t.” Rowan gives me another soft kiss that journeys southward along currents of heated blood. “I’d really like to be alone with you somewhere.”

She smiles against my lips. “Yes, please.”

It feels like an eternity before we’re back at the house, but finally, we say our goodnights. Our room is one of six bedrooms in the house. I overdid it on the real estate front when I bought such a large place, but now I’m glad. We’re miles from anyone else, and I need to touch her. I feel like an exposed wire whenever Rowan’s within an inch of me. A heat that needs release.

Inside the spacious room, we’re kissing before I can shut the door. I have her up against the wall, taking her mouth in deep sweeps of my tongue, drinking down her moans of want that make me so fucking hard.

“God, Zach,” Rowan breathes as I move to her neck, biting, licking, sucking. Her fingers are in my hair, holding me close. “What are you doing to me?”

Not enough. Not yet. There are still too many clothes between me and her skin. I strip Rowan out of her jacket just as she’s trying to pull my hoodie off me. For half a minute, we’re a disorganized tangle of grasping hands and reaching fingers. I move away just enough to yank the hoodie off and then go back to her. I kiss her hard while I get her jeans open.

“Oh God,” she breathes as I touch her over her underwear while she’s working to get me out of my shirt.

Finally, she pushes me away enough to get my black Henley off. Then she’s drinking me in, her gaze trailing over me with unabashed want. She moves in and presses a kiss to the center of my chest, before gazing up at me.

“You’re beautiful,” she says.

The naked emotion in her voice enflames me as much as anything else. I kiss her deeply, reverently, before the need in us both flares up again, and soon we’re kissing as if we’re the other’s air.

I take off her top in one movement; her blonde hair falls around her bare shoulders. Her bra comes off next, and I immediately put my mouth to one of her small nipples, biting and sucking. My hand palms her other breast, squeezing and gripping as hard as I dare without hurting her.

“You are so fucking beautiful,” I manage, and move to kiss and suck her other breast. Rowan’s hands are tangled in my hair, a touch that somehow makes me feel valued. I drag my lips back up her skin, her throat, her chin, and take her mouth in a searing kiss.

“Zach,” she moans. “Want you so bad.”

I lift her and carry her to the foot of the king-sized bed, then stand her on her feet. We’re both still in our jeans and kiss frantically while helping the other to undo buttons and pull zippers. Finally, she’s naked in front of me but for her barely-there thong, cut high on her hip. I haul her close, tangle my fingers in her hair, and kiss her hard while my right hand slides down her body, along her stomach to the silky material that is all that separates me from what I want.

Rowan’s moan tapers to a sigh as I tease her over her underwear, my fingertips grazing her most sensitive flesh. Her own hands slide my back to tug at my boxer briefs. But I’m too greedy for her.

I wrap my arm around her waist, lift her up, and then lay her down on the bed. I lie over her, and my mouth moves to her small breasts, then her stomach. Then I rise up on my knees and gaze down at this woman with possessive need. Rowan’s eyes flare as she watches me trail my fingers up her thighs, taking my time, drawing it out.

“Zach…”

“Shhh.”

I reach her thong and slowly pull it off, an inch at a time, making her more and more naked until she’s bared beneath me. When it’s at her ankles, I toss it away. She arches her back, lifts her hips.

“Please…”

I strip off my boxers and lie over her again. She clenches her legs around my waist, her hands grasping at my back before moving down to my ass where she grazes my skin with her nails out of want, not rage. Her entire body is vibrating with desire, and I want so badly to slide inside her and take her.

“Wait,” Rowan whispers hotly in my ear, breathing hard.

“I’m good…” I begin, but she shakes her head.

“I know,” she says. “I want to ride you.”

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