Page 34 of Entwined Hearts

He shrugs. “Once you break free of the shit holding you back, it feels pretty great.”

I had been sort of kidding, but it seems we’re headed for the deep end. I wonder if he thinks I’m being held back by something—though what would that be, Jake? My competitiveness? “It’s not…lonely?” I ask.

His eyes go still. “Nope. Because everything you need is right…” He taps the place where my heart is beating furiously. “Here.”

I swallow. “But does that mean…you won’t…need someone?”

He sweeps the lock of hair away from my cheek, combing it behind my ear. “Depends on what you mean by ‘need’,” he says.

A chattering, nervouszingof energy flashes over my skin as he leans in to kiss me.

Nine

Anya

Despite my heartbeat ramming into my ribs and my mind screaming to slow the heck down, I close my eyes and feel Colby’s lips press softly into mine.I shouldn’t be doing thisbattles withwow does this feel good. I kiss him back, our lips locking together for a slow, tantalizing moment. He continues, his mouth so gentle and full as our lips touch and explore. The heat from his body spreads into me, making me feel warm and shivery at the same time. Colby brushes the edge of my cheek, and the sweet sensation makes me sigh.

I know this is wrong, but the magnetic pull of him is delicious, powerful. Colby takes a step closer, and I feel his tongue graze the edge of my lip before he nips another kiss. It’s as if he’s extended an invitation, and my blood surges as I return the kiss, flicking my tongue against his. Our connection deepens, sending my breath right up into my collarbones. My pulse quickens, the blood whooshing past my ears.Whump, whump, whump. My mind spins off-kilter as our lips lock and our tongues dance. It’s so playful and sensual, like slipping into a hot bath or drinking something warm and tasty on a cold day.

I’m swishing along on this feeling when something hard settles against my abdomen. I don’t realize what it is…until I do. Slowly, I pull back.

He chuckles, adjusting his stance. “Sorry,” he says, but he doesn’t look sorry. He looks like a little boy who got caught stealing cookies, but who knows he’s too cute to be punished.

“Just kissing…does that?” I ask, shocked. Maybe I just haven’t noticed it before, but no guy I’ve been with has been so…reactive.

He groans, and it might be the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard. “I can’t help it. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

A warmth blooms inside my core, and I find that I’m clenching my thighs together. “Does this happen…regularly?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. I’m genuinely curious.

He snorts. “When I was fifteen, yeah.” His sparkling eyes zero in on me with an intense gaze. “But now?” He pauses, his face tightening. “No.”

“Oh,” I say. “Sorry, I don’t mean to tease you.”

“I think you do,” he says, smiling. “I think you like it.”

“Maybe,” I say with a laugh. With it, all the tension in my body evaporates.Man, does that feel good.

He caresses my cheek again, then cups my chin and tilts it up until our eyes connect. “You can tease me all you want, Anya.”

I feel myself falling into his hooded gaze. He leans down for another kiss, and my lashes flutter against my cheeks. His lips touch mine, but there’s way more energy behind it this time. Soon, our tongues are darting, flicking, his lips soft yet aggressive, bringing on a yearning for more.

He reaches beneath my shirt to stroke along my lower back. I shiver at the rush of cold air that accompanies it, but everything warms quickly—my spine to the nape of my neck, my racing blood, my belly. It feels so good to be touched like this while his lips entice and tease me. An image of Jake in the back of his van with Breeze/Bliss pops into my mind. As if to fight it, I kiss Colby back firmly and press my body into his, feeling the unyielding ridge inside his pants grind against my hip bone. I imagine what it would feel like to touch him.

The thought takes me by surprise because I usually don’t fantasize about that kind of thing. But there’s something different about Colby. Maybe it’s because he’s so confident. Or maybe it’s because he’s sexy as hell. Whatever it is, I can’t help but want more of whatever it is he’s doing. I stroke the band of bare skin at his waist. He’s smooth and firm, stretched tight like a drum and wonderfully warm. I imagine our bodies pressed together, chest to chest. My mind goes to dreamland, imagining my breasts on his firm torso and the way he might touch me. A desire starts to pulse in my bloodstream, and I trace the edge of his jeans toward the bulge pressing into me. Tentatively I reach out to stroke him with the outer edge of my palm.

I feel a shudder pass through him. He dips his fingertips beneath the edge of my waistband to caress my lower back. I sigh into his mouth as he slowly strokes lower in little swirls, his rough hands somehow so gentle. Our kisses are stoking the fire inside me. I stop wondering what will happen, and I just let it. For now, I’m wanted, and it feels so freeing, so powerful. I tell myself it can’t be wrong. I won’t let it be.

When I stroke the length of him again, he hisses, his hips curling back. “You’re gonna need to stop that unless you want things to get extremely messy.”

“Such lack of self-control,” I say in a mock-scolding voice, but I obediently slide my hand to his lower back, where his muscles are taut and firm.

“Watching you scurry all over the place today hasn’t helped.”

“You mean you’ve been lusting after me all day?” I ask, eyeing him.

He gives me an impatient sigh. “I’m doing my best not to be an asshole and hit on you, but fuck, Anya,” he says, deftly adjusting his package. “Do you know how difficult that is?”

I consider the idea that he’s been thinking about me. For how long?

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