Page 42 of Sweet Temptation

“It’s not enough.” Helpless, she grabbed his biceps, his shoulders, pulling him in tight. “More.”

Gripping her behind one knee, he lifted her leg and wrapped it around his hip. Brow furrowing with concentration, he began to move harder, then harder still. She cried out every time he bottomed out inside her, her pleasure snapping tight like shock waves every time he hilted.

A few more thrusts and she heard—she’d swear she actually heard it—something snap in the air. Looking up into his eyes, she saw the last shreds of her sanity dissolve, and then they were both wild, moaning and growling and grabbing and nipping. She came seconds before he did, her sex clutching at him greedily as she went molten around him. He pumped into her one final time, holding her close as he emptied himself inside her.

As they stilled, her breath rasped as though she’d just run a marathon. Sweat slicked their skin, sealing them together.

She loved him. She was so stupid, but how could she not?

He was going. He was leaving tomorrow.

This sucked.

His gaze searched her face as she pressed her lips together, shaking her head. He inhaled but didn’t ask, instead pressing a kiss to her forehead before slowly pulling out.

“I’ll be right back.” She watched him pad across the room to the bathroom, admiring the view, possibly for the last time.

The thought had her struggling to a sitting position. She reached for the whiskey that he’d set on the floor and took a hearty swallow. Over the rim of the bottle, she watched him return. He took the bottle when she offered, taking a sip himself before setting it on the bedside table. Then he pulled back the covers and patted the bed.

Crawling up the mattress, she lay down beside him. She burrowed her face into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I don’t think this is normal.” His voice was soft but still made her whip her head up so that she could see his face.

“What do you mean?”

“This... Whatever this is between us.” He grimaced when he saw the disbelief on her face. “That came out wrong. I mean... What we’re feeling here for each other. I don’t think it’s something that happens often. And don’t deny that there’s something here. You know it just as well as I do.”

“John, I—” Oh, why was he making this harder? It wouldn’t change anything. It couldn’t. “You can’t stay. I can’t go. So what difference does it make?”

She wanted to say it then. Wanted to tell him she loved him, but that wasn’t fair—not to either of them.

He exhaled harshly into her hair. “I’m going to miss you so goddamn much.”

“I’m not going to disappear, John.” She swallowed thickly. “We can talk on the phone or text or email. We can still be friends.”

“It’s not going to be the same.”

She opened her mouth to tell him it would be okay, but she couldn’t spit the words out, because she knew he spoke the truth.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

BANG.

Bang.

Bang.

“What the hell?” John bolted upright. Beside him, Meg gasped, startled, clutching the sheet to her chest.

“Forget to pay your bill?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “Order super aggressive room service?”

“Whoever it is, they can go the hell away.” Highly resentful of the intrusion into their remaining minutes, which were ticking away, he turned back to Meg. “I haven’t ordered anything. Though now that you mention it, that whiskey was awfully good when I licked it off your skin. Maybe we should order some champagne and do another taste test.”

The pounding came again, more insistent this time.

“Oh God,” Meg said, tossing the covers off and scrambling to find her dress off the floor. “Whoever it is wants in here, and they’re not happy.”

“Shit,” John said under his breath and grabbed his pants from the floor to pull them on. He padded to the door, looking cautiously through the peephole. His chest constricted when he saw who was on the other side.