Page 61 of Always

“Be my guest, then.” She gestures me toward the bathroom.

“Oh, no. You can’t dangle the idea of a shower with you in front of me and then take it away.”

“I didn’t dangle anything, Braden. You know that as well as I do. We’re not together right now, despite—”

“Fuck it all, Skye. I don’t care.” I grab her and slam my mouth onto hers.

The kiss is more than pent-up passion. It’s primal, like a mark.

Like when I bit the top of her breast that time.

I’ve missed her.

I can’t stay away from her.

She breaks the kiss and pushes me away.

I cock my head and adjust my groin. I’m hard and throbbing and only a moment away from fucking her against her door.

But I remain silent.

“You’re the one who ended things,” she tells me. “Then you go to my parents’ home without telling me. Then you tell me you want to have vanilla sex.”

“All true statements,” I say.

“But you can’t be with me, you say. Not until I can answer the question you asked me after the club.”

“That’s true.”

“So why are you kissing me? Why are you trying to get into the shower with me? Because we both know what will happen in the shower.”

I stalk toward her and push her against the wall, pinning her, my hands gripping her shoulders. “Why am I kissing you? Don’t you know by now?”

“N-No. I mean, yeah. You love me. You desire me.”

I shake my head. “It goes so far beyond that, Skye. You know that, because you feel it, too.”

She nods, shivering.

“You’ve become a drug to me, and damn it, I can’t leave you alone, no matter how much I know I should.”

“Y-You don’t have to leave me alone, Braden.”

“Don’t I?”

“No. Because I have an answer. Tonight I’ll answer your question.”

I crush my lips to hers once more. Her apron is coated with God knows what, and I’m wearing a custom Armani suit, but I don’t give a shit.

Our tongues tangle and duel. The kiss stays primal, as if we’re two animals getting ready to mate.

For that’s what our desire is—animalistic. It has been from the beginning. We’re drawn to each other as if the universe has forced us together for some divine purpose.

And perhaps it has.

Perhaps I needed to figure some things out about myself to live a happier life.

Perhaps Skye needs to do the same thing.

---