Page 93 of Aria

I’d given her the opportunity earlier in the day, but she had shot me down, insisting that she liked us the way we were.

Platonic.

Despite the dagger to my heart, that had settled it. I had made a conscious effort in that moment to move on. To get over her.

To pretend we were just friends.

And yet… here she was, our bodies twisted together, and her lips a hair’s breadth away from mine.

Chelsie lowered her eyes. “What if I don’t know what we are?”

“You know.”

Her heartbeat danced with my own.

Th-thump, th-thump, th-thump.

The air was charged between us. If a match were lit, we would both go up in flames.

Or maybe we already had.

Chelsie glanced back up, her lips parting with my name. “Noah…”

“You don’t have to say anything. We can talk more tom—”

But my words were cut short, stolen by her perfect mouth.

She was kissing me.

She waskissingme.

I froze with disbelief.

Fuck,Chelsie was kissing me.

When she made a little mewl, something in me ignited; my brain kicked back on, and I grabbed her face between my hands and shoved my tongue into her mouth. She went limp in my arms, making that sound again, as she succumbed to something bigger than us both.

Her hands clung to my t-shirt, tiny groans escaping her as my tongue plunged in and out, knotting with hers. Chelsie’s legs continued to entwine with mine, a mess of tangled limbs, while she raised her left leg to wrap around my waist, her pelvis grinding into me.

I was hard. I was really fucking hard.

Eager fingers moved to grip my hair while our tongues danced, hers sweeping over the roof of my mouth, sliding in and out.

Goddamn… she tasted fucking magical. Like taffy apples at the fair. My entire body was on fire as I moaned into her mouth, and she replied by pressing herself harder against the rock-hard bulge in my jeans. My hips involuntarily bucked against her, craving her heat. “Fuck, Combs… you’re killing me.”

She reached for my belt buckle, and my dick beckoned for release. I wanted to be inside her. I wanted to pound her into the mattress while my name fell from her lips over and fucking over again, until she had no other choice but to be mine.

God, but we can’t. We shouldn’t.

My erection strained against denim as Chelsie’s fingers fumbled with my zipper. Our mouths were still fused, bodies writhing, hands everywhere. Teeth crashed together as a deep growl rumbled in my chest, and I sucked her tongue into my mouth.

Maybe just the tip.

Fuck, it’s never just the tip.

Chelsie released my pants to grip the hem of her shirt and pull it up over her head until her breasts were exposed, bathed in a sliver of moonlight from the crack in my drapes.

My eyes dipped, heart stuttering.

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