Page 110 of Inflame

I watch her as she lives in the moment. Enjoying the wonder of dancing in the rain. Her eyes beckon me to join her. I shake my head, smirking at her, as I lean against a light post. My view is hazy as the droplets gather on my eyelashes, but all I care about is seeing the girl who is prancing in puddles just a few feet in front of me.

“Come on,” she calls. “Dance with me, Nic.”

“I’m enjoying the view,” I say, laughing.

And that I am. She is magnificent.

Her bottom lip pouts out. And without even thinking, I’m stepping closer and closer to her. Her vibrant personality is pulling me toward her, and before I realize it, she is taking my hands, and we spin. Her head tilts back and her tongue extends as she drinks in the rain—like I drink in this moment.

I can’t even remember the last time I acted childlike, and sharing this moment with her now makes me realize how much fun and excitement Claire brings to my life. She is so much more than just the physical fantasy I crave.

When the chill from the rain trembles through our bodies, we make our way to the car. We are soaked from head to toe. There’s not a dry spot left on either of us. I open Claire’s door and help her inside. Then I round the front and find my place behind the wheel. I glance over at her and am enchanted by her smile that can’t seem to dim.

Happiness looks good on her.

Her eyes sparkle, and I can’t help but wonder if she realizes what she does to me.

“Want me to drop you off at your apartment?”

Claire shakes her head no. And just like that, the smile is gone. The light that once beamed in her eyes has faded. I can’t tell if she is now crying or if the rain drops are just dripping down her face. “No.” Her word is barely a whisper.

I start the engine and turn on the heat. “Where to then?”

“I can’t go home,” she mutters. She sounds lost. Like she is somewhere else inside her head and not here with me in the car.

“Okay…”

“I just want to…” she says, pausing. “I don’t even know what I want anymore. Have you ever wanted to do something reckless just to prove that you are alive?”

I nod my head. “Yeah.”

“That’s what I want to do. Something stupid. Something selfish.”

She pulls out her vanilla cupcake lip gloss, and before she can get the cap off, I snap at her with a, “Oh hell no. Put that away.”

Her eyes go large and she looks at me with an innocence that I normally would never find attractive. But on Claire? Every freaking thing she does is sexy.

“Have a thing against lip gloss?”

“That scent, yes.”

“Oh, I may have another in here,” she says, rummaging through her purse with only the lights from the street shining through the fogged-up windows as guidance.

I place my hand on hers to stop her and then move it up to her chin. I grip her gently and force her to look at me. “The smell of vanilla that you wear drives me wild with a need to fuck you. So put it away before I do something reckless and selfish. Because tempting me right now will not work out in your favor. I am that volatile.”

Claire’s lips form into a little O-shape and her soft exhales almost make it impossible for me not to get hard. She has zero clue what effect she has on me, because if she did, she may deliberately try to torment me.

Claire looks down at her purse and twists off the cap to the vanilla cupcake gloss anyway.

My breath hitches in my throat but sounds more like a growl. Her eyes lock onto mine as she parts her lips, glides the tube across them, and then rubs her top over her bottom to smear it into full coverage.

“Maybe I want fucked,” she states matter-of-factly. “Ever think of that?”

I make sure the car is in park and reach over for her. I drag her closer to me as my lips attack her gloss-covered ones. She tastes even better than she smells. “I do more than just fuck,” I say, reacquainting myself with her lips. My fingers wrap around her damp hair as I pull her closer to me. I unfasten my seatbelt blindly and practically kneel up on the seat to get more of her. I want her here. Now.

“Take me, Nic. I want you.”

“Dammit, Claire.”

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