Page 71 of Already At Risk
“Is it so hard to believe that I just want to make you happy, Natalie?” I bent my head, letting the tip of my nose drag through her damp hair until I found her ear and my lips grazed the curve of it. “I’m going to make yousohappy tonight.”
I heard the hitch of her breath and couldn’t keep my lips from curving in satisfaction.
“I’m already happy,” she whispered, and I could feel the bubble in my chest expanding, building pressure inside me. “I’m happy to be between you and a wall again. It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite things.”
“How coincidental,” I murmured, using my teeth to tug on her earlobe and then enjoying the way Natalie sucked in with delight. “You’requickly becoming one of my favorite things.”
I dropped my mouth to her neck, sucking on that spot, the one I’d been dreaming about, the sensitive hollow above her collarbone that I’d visited before. She tasted just as goddamn good as I remembered. Better, actually. This time, she tasted a hell of a lot more likemine. Even if it was just for five nights, even if she wasn’t ready for anything more than that, I was going to make sure she knew she was mine each and every time we were together.
Natalie tipped her head back with a groan, letting me take what I wanted,becomingmine as she wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer.
Happily taking that hint, I stepped in, crowding my body against hers. Natalie gasped at the collision and then fisted the fabric at the base of my neck, like she needed to hold on to something as I tasted her.
And God, did I taste her. My tongue flicked at her skin as I inhaled her scent, so incredibly intoxicated by it. My teeth scraped, nipping ever so slightly, and the part of me that knew I was giving too much attention in one spot, that I might leave a mark, didn’t care. Actually, the thought made my head spin and my cock stiffen in a way I simply wasn’t used to.
I’d never been possessive of anyone before, not in the way I knew I was becoming of Natalie.
And I hadn’t even kissed her yet.
I needed to.Oh my God, I needed to.
“Cameron,” she rasped, arching her back off the wall, seeking friction, hungry for it. I understood how she felt; there were too many layers between us, too many barriers keeping us from feeling each other the way we wanted. I hated the restriction of my suit coat and the slipperiness of her light jacket, but I didn’t want to stop right now, take time away from anything that wasn’t my mouth on hers. Because Natalie was searching for the kiss. She needed it, too. And Christ, did I just want to give in and give it to her.
But I pulled back.
I needed to see her, watch the expression on her face, the shape of her mouth when we redid this moment. Natalie’s eyes flicked over me, confused at first, and then realization washed over them. Her lips parted, and I stared at them, breathing heavily.
Wanting, wanting, wanting.
It was just me, her, and this hallway, this wall I had her pressed up against. Six months ago, we’d done this, and it was at this moment that she slipped away from me. And I’d spent every single day, every hour, since then thinking about it, about what I hadn’t gotten.
Her mouth on mine.
Her breaths against my lips, gasping for air.
The slide of her tongue when it tangled with my own.
Her body pressed to the wall of my chest.
I fucking needed it—all of it.
And thank the Lord for the bright yearning that painted Natalie’s expression, telling me she wanted it, too.
The hesitation I witnessed in her eyes last time had vanished. Her body remained still, not moving even an inch in an attempt to escape. If anything, she pulled me closer, fisted my shirt harder, arched further toward me.
“Tell me I can kiss you,” I said, both a pleading request and a command. I needed her to tell me, and I knew she wanted to.
Her nod was slow but sure. “As long as you’re sure about this, you can?—”
I cut her off before she could even finish, slamming my lips to hers.
I felt the quick intake of Natalie’s breath, the surprise in the stiffening of her body. But it lasted only seconds, the same amount of time that she equally disarmed me with the sheer perfection of the kiss and the simple but intoxicating taste of her. And after those seconds passed, after we simultaneously realized what this was, howincredibleit was going to be, Natalie melted against me.
Her mouth molded to mine, sealing our lips together with a deep moan that vibrated through both our bodies. Natalie sank into the kiss, tugging me impossibly close, as though we could mesh together, as if we could become one.
And I understood why.
It was suddenly crystal clear why Natalie had been so tentative before, in the bar.
