Page 40 of Inviting Trouble
As if in slow motion, he reached out and placed his palm over the tattoo. Her heart pounded furiously under his hand.
The last of his control snapped.
Chapter Ten
“Your heart is racing,” Park told her, his voice gravelly as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.
She couldn’t speak; this was the moment she’d been waiting for her whole adult life. Park touching her. Park wanting her.
He traced the tattoo with one finger, staring at it. “What does it mean to you?” His hazel eyes met hers.
Her mouth was dry. She licked her lips, drawing his gaze. “It means be strong, be fierce.”And it means Park stole my heart.
He placed his palm over her heart again, covering the hawk. “I’m honored.” He dropped his forehead to hers. “So honored.”
She couldn’t speak over the lump in her throat. He took a step back and pulled off his undershirt in that two-handed way guys did, shifting to show her his left bicep with a larger matching hawk tattoo. He’d gotten it when he enlisted. “For me it means think first before taking action. The hawk observes and then swoops in for the kill.”
She gave him a small watery smile and finally put it all out there. “It also means Park swooped in and stole my heart.”
His fingers flexed, his hands at his sides. “Mad, this—”
She held his face with both hands. “I’m all grown up. I can handle you.”
“I know,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion. He snagged her wrists, pulling her hands away from his face and back to her sides. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m not cut out for relationships.”
She met his eyes unflinchingly. She’d always known she wasn’t woman enough for a man like Park. He favored petite girly girls. “Just once,” she said. “Nobody has to know.”
He released her wrists, his eyes searching hers and then drifting down to her mouth and lower to the hawk over her heart. She waited breathlessly, needing him to make the next move, willing him to touch her. Finally, his large hand cupped the back of her neck, drawing her close, and then his lips met hers just as electric as she remembered. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her entire body against his. She expected a quick hookup, a rush of grabbing hands and then hard thrusts against the wall, like most of her hookups, but Park surprised her. His hand slid up to cup the back of her head, holding her as he kissed her deeply, tenderly, like he was cherishing her. She’d never been kissed like this in her life. He didn’t press her up against the wall, didn’t even let his hands roam, merely held her, one hand on her head, his other arm wrapped around her waist. It made her head woozy and her limbs heavy. He kissed her like he had all night, on and on and on, until her lips felt swollen, her entire body liquid heat.
His mouth trailed to her jawline to the sensitive spot under her ear. Both his hands spanned her waist, resting lightly, and she let her hands roam across the muscular planes of his back. She needed more of him, more heat, more skin on skin.
His breath ran hot over her ear as he whispered, “God, Mad, I want you more than is decent.”
“Be indecent,” she urged.
He let out a long breath. “Not with you.”
“Yes, I’m used to it.”
He dropped his hands to his sides.
“I can handle it.” She slid a hand to the waistband of his briefs, intent on pushing him, when he caught her wrist.
His hazel eyes met hers, the conflict in them clear to her—heat and restraint. He pulled her close in a tight hug, his words rasping in her ear like he’d run a long distance. “You’ll never look at me the same way again.” He released her. “I need you to step away now, turn, run—”
She grabbed his head and kissed him passionately. She never ran from trouble; she invited it. The kiss turned urgent, openly carnal, igniting her. His fingers speared through her hair in a tight grip; his other hand went to the small of her back, pressing her close against his hard body, his delicious heat. There was a tension in him under all that heat that told her he was holding back, going easy on her. Maybe because he knew it was a onetime thing. Maybe because this was the first time she’d always dreamed of. Their first time.
He shifted to her neck, hot kisses raining down the column of her throat all the way to her collarbone, his tongue tracing the dip between her collarbones. She wanted a lot more.
“Nobody has to know,” she reminded him, squeezing his ass with both hands. “Do what you want.”
He palmed her ass over the long shirt and then his hand slipped under the shirt, meeting bare skin. He pulled back enough to look at her, the intense heat in his eyes promising a lot more if she could only push through his restraint. “You forgot your panties.”
“They didn’t work with the dress.”
“You’re not wearing a dress.”
She stepped back, unbuttoned the last few buttons of her shirt, and let it drop to the ground. Park just stood there, taking her in. She hoped he wasn’t judging her to be too boyish. Everything about her was small and her hips were narrow. Not super curvy the way men seemed to like.
