Page 23 of Undertow

If her boundaries are this generous, there’s little chance I’ll ever step over them. I take what I want, but I’m not a fucking pervert. I would never threaten harm to her or her loved ones.

But I’m damn sure not going to be resisted.

I know she wants the same thing, she’s just afraid to take it for herself, so I’ll have to step in and see that she gets what she needs.

I lean down to brush my lips against hers. She’s so fucking soft. I sink my fingers into her hair and cradle her head as I kiss her.

She tastes fucking incredible.

I need more of her, so much more.

I thought one night might be enough to cure me of my interest in the intriguing little belly dancer, but I was very wrong. I’ve tasted herandfucked her, and I feel like I haven’t even had a sample. If anything, my appetite for her now feels more enormous than it was before I had her.

Seeming to catch on that she’s not leaving unless I let her, she kisses me back. Her tone is more cajoling and less reserved when she says, “I really have to go home.”

She’s telling me, but asking at the same time.

She needs me to let her go for the moment, but it doesn’t mean she won’t come back.

It doesn’t feel so final this time.

Of course, she could just be playing nice to get out of my snare with no intent of ever returning, but that’s not going to work for me.

Caressing her jaw, I smile faintly and ask, “You know what I thought the first time I saw you?”

“Who is this lunatic, and where are her clothes?”

I smirk. “No.”

She smiles, seeming more open again. “What did you think?”

“I thought you were there to grant me a wish.”

“A wish?” she questions, laughing.

I nod. “But you know what? I’m going to grant yours instead.” It’s not selfless, really. Now that I’ve stalked and pounced on her myself, I don’t want her sleazy neighbor coming anywhere near my territory. “I’ll solve your Hartley problem. You don’t have to file a restraining order or worry about a bill. I don’t want you to do anything else. I’ll handle it from here.”

“Was this my payment?” she asks in a tone intended to be light, but I can tell it expresses real concern as she avoids my gaze.

I tip her chin up, not letting her get away with the avoidance. “No,” I say clearly. “This was a date, and I want another one soon.”

Carefully extracting herself from my embrace, she says, “I already told you this can’t go anywhere.”

“I don’t agree.” Her mouth opens, but I hold up a hand to stop her. “I’ll handle my son.”

She isn’t willing to agree, but she doesn’t want to argue with me about it either, so she plays her avoidance game and tells me she needs to get going.

I’ll let her go for the moment, but I make her wait while I get ready so I can take her home myself.

When we pull into her driveway, I start to open my car door to walk her inside, but she asks me not to.

I know she doesn’t want to make noise and wake her daughter, but I suspect she also doesn’t want her daughter to know she was out with me.

I relent, allowing her to escape my company, but not before I tell her, “I’ll see you again soon.”

She smiles but doesn’t agree. “Thank you for a nice night, Hayden.”

Then she closes the car door, walks to her front door, and disappears inside the house without so much as a backward glance.

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