Page 66 of Should've Been Us
Desperate and needy and madly, crazy inlove
He broke the kiss with a groan after a few minutes, “Fuck. Lu, we gotta stop.” Her hips arched, rubbing herself against him and he cursed again before steadying her with his hands on her waist. “Stop or I’m going to rip this beautiful dress off you and fuck you in the nearest coatcloset.”
She bit her lip and glanced up at him from beneath her lashes. His blue-green eyes were hooded with desire and his golden hair fell forward over his forehead. His lips were red and swollen and damp and she loved knowing that she was the reason for it. Just like she was the reason his shoulders heaved as he sucked in deep, gulping breaths of mind-clearingair.
“Dammit, Lu. Don’t look at me like that.” Hegrowled.
“Like what?” She bit her lip harder, trying to hide asmirk.
“Like you want me to shove your dress up and fuck you right here in thehallway.”
Lulu twined her arms around his neck and leaned up until her lips brushed his, “Maybe Ido.”
Connor kissed her again. Hard. His mouth took hers in a harsh, punishing kiss but he pulled back after tugging her bottom lip. He frowned and kissed her softer and then even softer, brushing his lips against hers again and again and again until she felt like she might melt into a puddle right there in the thickly carpetedhallway.
Finally, he raised his head and looked at her and the heat in his eyes had banked into something softer as well. He caressed a hand over her cheek and down her throat. His eyes followed the movement down to the top of her dress and over the curve of her breast before reversing path. When he got back to her jaw he caught her chin and forced her eyes tohis.
“You look beautiful,Lulu.”
Heat swept over her cheeks at the reverent way he touched and looked at her, “Thank you. You look pretty handsomeyourself.”
“How are you holdingup?”
“Fine.” She tilted her head curiously, “Why?”
“I know today is going to be hard for you andI…”
“No.” She put a finger to his lips, cutting him off, “No. It’s not hard at all. Notanymore.”
“Lu.” He caught her by the wrist and pulled her hand from his mouth but she shook her head before he could say anythingelse.
“I let it go. I let him go. I’m fine. I’m better than fine. I’m happy.” She cupped his cheek and forced him to look at her this time, “You make me happy,Connor.”
“God.” His voice was rough when he dropped his forehead to hers, creating a small cocoon where they shared breath as he whispered. “You don’t know how much I needed to hearthat.”
She softened against him even further, holding him against her body. He’d needed her, she realized. He’d needed to see her, to reassure himself that she was his and that she wasn’t pining for their friend. It was hard to believe the always arrogant, cock-sure Connor Shaw could be self-conscious but standing here with him now, she knew that he’d been worried and she hated that she hadn’t told him the words that would wipe away all of hisdoubts.
“Connor…”
“Shh.” He hushed her gently, “Just be here, with me, for a minute longerokay?”
“Okay.” She gave in as he held herclose.
Being in his arms felt so good, she relaxed against him. His strong arms around her held her up as surely as her own legs did. She put her cheek to his broad, firm chest and listened to the reassuring beat of his heart. She wasn’t sure how long they stood there like that, together, silent, simply enjoying the feel of one another in their own private world, before Connor sighed against herhair.
“I should probably take you to himnow.”
She reared back to look up at him, “What?Who?”
“Derek.” Connor frowned as he said his best friend’sname.
“Why would you take me to see Derek?” She asked inconfusion.
“He asked to see you.” His frown lightened a little when she raised her eyebrows, “As much as I wish it was true, Aubrey was wrong. I didn’t just steal you away for myself. The groom really did ask to seeyou.”
Suddenly, Connor’s self-conscious doubts made sense. She’d thought he had made up the excuse to get her away from the bridesmaids but hehadn’t.
Derek had asked to see her. Less than an hour until his wedding was set to begin and Derek had asked to see her. He wanted them to talk before he got married and tied himself to another woman for eternity. He wanted to seeLulu.
