I’m the first to admit I can be naïve. I can be stupid and impulsive and thoughtless. But I’ve never been so right about anything in my life.
Kyle Daniels is my One. He is The One. Capital f**king letters and all.
I slam my empty glass down on the table next to me. The need to get away from this place, from his penetrating gaze, is more than I can take. I can’t fight it the thread pulling me to him anymore, so I leave the hall and I step into the night. Home. My heels click against the sidewalk as I head toward my house.
“What is it about you?” His voice drifts to me through the night. “What is it about you that keeps me coming back no matter how many times I try to walk away?”
I stop. “My brother.” I call the words over my shoulder.
“No. Not Cam. In fact, I think he’d kill me if he knew what I was thinking right now.”
My feet come to a standstill. Walk, you motherfuckers!
“I’ve tried to work it out since I got back. Every day I’ve sat and tried to figure out what it is, the reason I can’t stay away from you, and you know what? I can’t. I don’t have a goddamn f**king clue, Rox. Except you. Whatever it is, you keep me coming back over and over again.”
Breathe. “Go back inside, Kyle.”
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. He stops behind me. “I’ve tried. Fuck, Rox! Don’t you think I’ve tried to walk away from you? Don’t you think I’ve tried to stop this crazy shit in my head? I’ve succeeded, so many times, but not this time. This time I don’t wanna stop it.”
I take a deep breath, not wanting to hear this. I can’t hear this. “You’re lying.”
His hand settles on my waist. “Am I? Am I lying about the times I’ve thought about holding you in my arms until you’re begging for more? Am I lying about the times I’ve held your body to mine and wished there were no clothes between us? Am I lying about needing to make love to you so bad I’m going f**king crazy with need?”
Heart. No beating. Lungs. No breathing. Mind. No thinking.
“Kyle.”
Lips ghost my neck. “I’ve tried, Rox. I’ve tried so f**king hard, but it’s you. I can’t fight this shit anymore. All of it is true. Every goddamn word.”
“You’re drunk.”
“Am I lying about falling for you? About your eyes being the ones I look in and your lips being the ones I kiss every day? Am I lying about your body being the one I hold, one, two, three, f**king ten times a day? Am I hell!” His voice echoes through the empty woods. “Do you know what it did to me to see you crying and knowing I’d put those tears there? I know, babe. I know you feel the same, so why don’t you just admit it and put us both out of our misery?”
I can’t do this. I can’t stand here and listen to him. I should run. I know. But I don’t.
“Why?” I turn and yell at him although he’s right in front of me. My voice seems to echo in the empty village. “Why, Kyle? I’m nothing special. I’m nothing to scream from the rooftops about!”
“You are to me.” He sinks his fingers into my curled hair. “I told you you were everything to me. I wasn’t lying about that either. Rox, babe, believe me, for the love of God.”
I press my lips to his. It could be the small amount of alcohol or it could be his words. I don’t know and I don’t care. I just know I want him. I need him. Four years of a crush and I can’t give up now. I don’t give a shit about our past or the pain we share. I just care about the guy I’m holding onto like he’s all I have left in this world.
“Get on my back.” He smiles slowly.
“You’re kidding.”
“Get on before I put you on.” Kyle grins like a little kid and I stand behind him. My hands on his shoulders and his on my thighs help boost me up. I laugh. Hard.
“I feel like a six year old again.” I wrap my arms round his neck.
He laughs and jogs through the woods. I cling to his back, stifling my giggles the whole way, and wonder how I can go from not wanting to be near him one minute to needing him the next. It doesn’t seem right how quickly my feelings change – how quickly my mood changes around him.
His hand dips into my pocket, and he produces my house keys. The key flits into the slot of my front door and we step inside. Kyle puts it in the other side and locks it.
“Tell me now,” he whispers into the silence of my house. “If I’m wrong about how you feel and you’d rather a jackass than me, tell me now.”
I sink my fingers into his hair, gripping onto it. “You’re the only jackass I want,” I mutter against his lips.
I sweep my mouth against his and run up the stairs, sliding my jacket from my arms. Thundering steps tell me he’s following me, and I can’t help the laugh that leaves me when I throw my jacket to the side and run into my room. I’m not used to being chased. Every step, every pound against the wood, it sends a thrill through my body I can’t explain.
Kyle catches me just inside the door. His lips are hot and forceful against mine, teasing and pulling at every part of me. I walk backward with him attached to me, and we fall onto my bed, smiling against each other’s lips. Every part of my body is on fire where he’s touching me and I need more. Always more. I’ll never get enough where he’s concerned – I’ve wanted him for years, and I don’t know if I’ll ever stop wanting him.
My br**sts are exposed as he pulls my shirt over my head. His lips leave a blazing trail across my skin, and I pull his mouth to mine again. The need to feel his skin against mine overcomes me and I slip his shirt up his back. This is hot. It’s passionate. It’s filled with that burning need escaping me, the one I’m sure will never be satisfied.
His shirt lands on my floor at the same time my fingertips creep below the waist of his jeans. His lips push into my neck, making every part of my skin tingle, leaving every kiss and every touch to shoot downward. My core aches, desperately, frantically, insatiably. He’s doing this to me and I have to wonder if he knows. If he knows just how my body craves him.
I undo the button on his jeans and push them over his bum. There isn’t a part of my body not crying out for him right now.
One of his hands slips beneath my bra when the other slips beneath the lace covering my core. His thumbs tease both my nipple and my clit, flicking and rolling until I’m so wet he’d slip inside me with ease.