Page 21 of Runaway Bride for the Boss

She winces. “I haven’t really had the chance to explore the town, and Andrea said it’ll get really cold when the first storm hits, so I decided to wander before the bar opened. I didn’t expect the storm to come so hard and fast.” She says everything in a rush barely stopping to take in a breath. My eyes drop to her lips again.

“All of a sudden it started raining, and I was trying to wait it out in the park, but it just wouldn’t stop…and I don’t have a phone to reach Andrea. I knew she would be worried, and I was so sure that the bar wasn’t that far away because I hadn’t been walking for too long when the rain started…so I started walking back. But I must have gotten turned around because I suddenly got lost, and my glasses were so fogged up that I could barely see in front of me…and I was so worried about—”

I watch her lips move, transfixed. She’s a talker, this one. My ears pop as my cock tightens in my trousers. Don’t do it, Alex. Not her. Anybody else but her. So what if you’ve been searchingfor her for a year. You’re bad for her. You can’t give her what she needs, and you don’t do commitment, period.

I try to negotiate with myself, but I’m finding it really hard to care about any of the reasons I’ve listed.

“Fuck it,” I mutter.

Autumn stops talking and squints. “What? What did you—”

I kiss her.

CHAPTER 13

AUTUMN

I’m rambling. I know I am, but I can’t help it. I ramble when I’m nervous, and I’m so nervous right now. Why is he staring at me like that? Like he’s been stuck in the desert for days, and I’m a tall glass of cold water.

I continue talking, trying to ignore my fiercely pounding heart and the loud rush of blood in my veins. “I must have gotten turned around because I suddenly got lost, and my glasses were so fogged up I could barely see in front of me…and I was so worried about seeing anyone because this seemed to be a residential area. But then I heard someone shout, hey, and I was so scared because what if it was a serial killer? And there I was unable to see. But then I was so relieved when I realized it was you and—” I trail off when he mutters something.

“What? What did you—” The rest of my question is cut off by his mouth pressing onto mine in a devastating kiss that completely catches me by surprise. This man who spent a year searching for me after we shared one of the most intense and fateful interactions of my life – who then told me it was a mistake after we finally got to taste one another – is now kissing me as if he will die if he stops. Like this kiss is what is fuelinghim, breathing air into his lungs, keeping his head above water after he’s been stuck below the surface.

The kiss doesn’t start slowly. His tongue immediately probes my lips and invades my mouth as if he owns it. He is tasting me so thoroughly, so completely, I feel as though I am his and his alone to devour and consume entirely. In this moment, anything he wants or asks for I would give over freely. But I feel as if he somehow already knows this. And maybe that’s what is scaring him, although I don’t think Alexander Beaufort scares easily.

His hand sinks into my hair and he angles my head to deepen the kiss. All rational thought flees from my mind. My eyes close, and I move restlessly on the leather seat as I kiss him back. My heart beat becomes wild, body trembling with need for this man before me. A need for more, for all that he is willing to give me. His tongue tangles with mine and a languid moan escapes me. Alex suddenly breaks the kiss. I realize he’s breathing just as hard as I am. Before I can speak, he gently removes my glasses and places them next to me.

“I don’t want to break them,” he explains roughly as he grabs me by the hips and shifts me until I’m straddling him. His body is warm and hard, and I shiver deliciously against him.

My eyes adjust to his closeness. I finally get to really see him. I take in the stubble along his jaw, his glistening wet hair, and the silver flecks in his eyes. He’s devastatingly handsome, frown lines and all. I trace a nervous hand over his brow, smoothing out the deep lines that represent all that plagues him. What is he hiding? What makes him so hard, so lost in his head? He seems to be taking on the world alone, and I feel the need to carry some of his burden. If even just for a moment.

My heart beats a hard and fast staccato as a hardness beneath me makes itself known, and I shift until I’m positioned directly over his length. Fuck, that’s him. I can’t control myself as my body involuntarily grinds against him, and one of hishands clamps down on my hips with a vicious growl, holding me still.

I whine breathlessly when he doesn’t return the action. In response, he grunts as he slams his lips over mine again. He grabs a fistful of my wet hair, wrapping the strands around his fingers tight enough to sting, which only seems to stoke the flames of my pleasure.

A high pitched sound I’ve never made before escapes my lips before I can stop it.

“Fuck,” he groans, his lips moving across my jaw to the side of my neck. He runs his tongue from behind my ear. I tilt my head to encourage him further as he continues to my collarbone. My breathy moans seem to make all sense of control leave him, and he bites down on the tendons of my neck, then sucks on the flesh hard enough to leave a mark.

He shifts his hips on the seat, rubbing himself between my spread legs. I moan again and he grunts in approval. He releases my hair and moves both his hands to my ass, pressing me down onto him while simultaneously thrusting himself upward and against my most sensitive area.

“Alexander”, I whisper, throwing my head back and riding every wave of hot pleasure that’s coursing through my body, bringing me so close to release that I’m desperate for it.

Alex suddenly goes still. I groan in frustration as I press myself down onto him. He curses darkly and moves his hands back to my hips, squeezing the flesh there to stop my frantic movements.

“Don’t you dare stop or I’ll—” I start to threaten him with bodily harm but stop when a rapping sound registers. Someone’s knocking on the window.

Suddenly everything rushes back, and I realize where we are: in his car, in the middle of the street of God knows where. Someman is bent down, shielding his eyes against the glass as he knocks on the window. Thank God, the windows are tinted.

I scramble to get off his lap. For a moment Alex’s grip on me tightens, and I consider that he might not let me go. But common sense prevails, and his face hardens as his control returns, and he releases me. I let out a sign, but whether it stems from relief or disappointment, I don’t know.

“Stay here,” he orders tersely and takes a moment to adjust himself before getting out of the car.

Oh, my God, Autumn. What did you just do?

I moan miserably as I sink into the seat and my wet clothes slide against the leather. My eyes slide shut. What the hell was I thinking? I’ve tried to distract myself, keep him off my mind after that first night, and now this? I’m in no place to be falling for anyone, let alone kissing a man I barely know in the rain. “What’s with you, Autumn?” I whisper.

He kissed me first, but that doesn’t exactly matter right now when I responded far too eagerly. I never reacted that viscerally with Larson throughout our three years together. I can’t explain it, but this man is irresistible to me. The more he tells me to stay away, the more I crave to understand him, to break through his stone facade. I have a feeling no one ever has, and he’d prefer to keep it that way. It’s as if being closed off is his security. Being alone is his sanctuary and being misunderstood, his saving grace.

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