Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115737 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
He looks like a statue, frozen into position. He’s waiting for me to decide, our eyes never unlocking. Then he nods, so very mildly I nearly miss it. He can see my inner conflict. He’s silently willing me to remain where I am, because despite what he said, I could be the one to walk away. To make the decision for both of us.
The choice is down to me. Whether it’s the right decision for both of us is unknown. But right and wrong aren’t featuring in my mind. It’s too consumed by him.
I shift my grip on the door, ready to shut it. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, guys,’ I say, not looking at them.
‘Huh?’ they all call in unison, but I ignore them and turn to the cabbie, reeling off their addresses. But my eyes remain focused on Jack across the road. I slam the door, hearing my friends’ confused mumbles, but the driver pulls away before they can protest further. There’s no question that any one of them would leave me alone on a night out, but the alcohol is in my favour tonight. I look to the back of the cab as it drives off, seeing Lizzy looking out of the back window, her confusion evident. Then her eyes flick to the other side of the road and her mouth drops open. I just catch the sight of her straight lips before the cab takes a corner.
My phone rings two seconds later. I don’t answer it, but I do send a text, telling her that I’m fine and I know what I’m doing. It’s a lie. I haven’t the faintest idea what I’m doing.
I look up through my lashes to Jack. There’s a road between us – him standing on one kerb, me on the other, cars whizzing on by between us. And when he steps into the road, having a quick check for traffic, I start backing up as he comes closer, until my back’s pressed into a brick wall. My breathing is shot to bits and my body is trembling like a flame in the breeze.
When he reaches me, both of his palms land on the wall on either side of my head. I’m staring at his neck, afraid to lift my eyes to his face now that he’s this close. ‘Why didn’t I carry on walking home?’ he asks, his frustration clear and present. ‘Why the fuck didn’t I just carry on walking?’
Because you felt it too, I scream in my head, feeling dizzy from the intoxicating smell of him – his closeness, the light skim of his groin across my dress.
His hard stare drills holes into me as his face slowly lowers towards mine. I hold my breath and let him brush his lips lightly over mine, our eyes still open and locked. My breath stutters, as does his. Then he pulls away a few inches, his tongue running across his bottom lip, as if tasting what he’s just had. His chest forces against mine from his deep inhale. ‘Tell me to go,’ he whispers, the demand licking its way from the base to the top of my spine. ‘Tell me.’
‘Go.’
‘Not a fucking chance.’ He swoops in and takes my mouth as if he owns it – deeply, passionately and with an unfathomable conviction. I’m immediately lost in a haze of want and lust as he grinds into me. Our tongues duel, our bodies press together, and it’s beyond any level of pleasure I thought possible.
I bring my arms up to circle his neck, holding him while we kiss like we might never get the opportunity to do this again. One of his big palms slides onto the back of my thigh and tugs, bringing my leg to his waist. I’m inhaling his groans, swallowing them down into the deepest parts of me, whimpering each time he circles his hips into mine, forcing me harder to the wall.
Holy fucking shit, I’m lost.
‘I need more than this,’ he says desperately, working his lips to my ear and licking the shell slowly, panting hard. ‘I need you naked. I need to be inside you. I need you fucking now. Where do you live?’
His question gives me a moment’s pause. I’m as desperate for all of that as he is, but I still have a tiny scrap of sense within me somewhere. No way am I taking him to my place. I still have to be wise.
This isn’t me. I’m not reckless, but right now, halting this is impossible. It might be the spontaneity; it might be how illicit this feels; it might be the thrill factor, the danger and the unknown. Or it might just be something as simple as intoxicating chemistry. I don’t know, but I want more.
‘Your place,’ I counter, nuzzling into his neck, feeling him shake his head.