Now that she was seeing things clearly, she knew that didn’t want any of those things. She didn’t want the big city. She didn’t want to be independent from her friends and family. And fuck wild oats, they’d only ever brought her chaos and heartache.
Connor squeezed her hand. “Need a ride?”
She nodded. She didn’t, really. Everything was so close here. She’d walked over, it was less than a mile. But she wanted to be in the car with him.
It didn’t matter that she’d been with him all day, and now all evening at the meeting. She wanted to be with him all night, too.
Gee. Ya think that might be your heart trying to tell you something?
Her inner voice wasn’t always the most compassionate. In fact, sometimes it was a downright bitch. But she didn’t mind. Sometimes she needed a good kick in the ass, and her inner voice was just the right bitch to deliver it.
Connor held the door open for her, supported her elbow as she climbed into the truck. Electricity shot through her body, just like it did every time she felt Connor’s strong hands supporting her, or his strong arms holding her.
Shut it, inner voice! I already know that’s a sign!
Wow. So now she and her inner voice were having actual conversations. That was probably another kind of sign. The not-so-great kind.
Connor climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled the car out of the parking lot.
The radio came on when the engine started, and the song that filled the car was Wham’s “Last Christmas.”
Luna’s stomach clenched. The lyrics described a relationship where the man had given the woman his heart and she discarded it, causing a lot of pain in the process. Now the two were seeing each other again, at Christmastime, and suffice it to say, the feelings were flying.
Wow. So, yeah. Kind of on the nose.
She turned to Connor. “Do you feel like taking a drive?”
He smiled. “Always.”
Connor navigated the car aimlessly through neighborhoods, and they commented on the Christmas lights on each house as they listened to the Christmas songs being played on KVAL - everything from Nat King Cole’s traditional rendition of “The Christmas Song” to “Little Saint Nick” by the Beach Boys and Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Finally, Connor pointed the car down a much less-traveled road that headed up into the mountains a ways and then pulled off onto an overlook.
And not just any overlook. Their overlook. It had been their special place to park when they were going out. Which wasn’t saying a lot, actually, since it had been half of the senior class’s special place to park...but, still. It had sentimental meaning.
Connor turned off the engine and suddenly, the inside of the car was engulfed in silence. It was shocking after she’d gotten used to the rumbling engine noise, combined with the poppy holiday music.
Now, there were no distractions. All that hit her ears was the sound of Connor’s breathing and her own blood rushing through her veins.
Tingles spread outward from her pounding heart. They were so isolated in the car together, like the only two creatures on earth, encased in a little pod of metal and glass.
Did he feel it, too? She turned her flushed face to his and saw that he was already looking at her, his eyes burning with intensity.
That answered her question. She wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t imagining things. The energy between them was enough to power all of the Christmas lights they’d just finished looking at.
Connor reached out and brushed her hair back from her face. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered. It seemed like all of the magic of the season was contained in those two little words. Like an elf had sprinkled fairy dust all over her skin, causing the electric tingling she felt on every inch.
Yeah, she was probably getting her mythologies mixed up, but it was the last freaking thing on her mind at the moment.
She grinned playfully. “Hey, Connor. I have a question for you.”
He ran his fingers lightly down the side of her face and it was all she could do not to shudder and moan with the sheer pleasure of it.
“Ask away,” he replied, and his voice was spread so thin with rasp that he almost never got to hear the question, because she very nearly passed out from the rush of arousal it sent crashing over her.
She leaned in, close to his ear, and whispered, “Wanna make out?”
The playfulness was completely gone from her tone. She forgot that she’d ever started this out as a teasing exchange. Now, she was completely caught up in the heat between them. It was all-consuming.
He didn’t answer her, just pressed his lips to hers and pulled her to him as he kissed her, his lips moving passionately against hers as his hands roamed over her body.
That was answer enough for her.
Chapter 19
Connor
Connor’s lips traveled down Luna’s neck as his hands roamed over her curves. God, he absolutely loved the feel of her skin under his hands. It was intoxicating. When he touched her, everything else went away. He didn’t think about the years they’d been apart. He didn’t think about the future. There was only the moment.
He pressed his tongue into her mouth, exploring its hot recesses. With every movement, every moan, his blood rushed faster and hotter through his veins. He needed her. This was right.
That was the one thing he couldn’t get past—would never be able to get past. Every time he touched her, he knew that things between them were meant to be. She was the girl for him, no question.
It was really just a matter of not scaring her off until she reached that same conclusion.
When they were together like this, feeding off of each other’s energy and totally on the same page, it was so easy to just go with the flow and not worry about the future.
In fact, it was the easiest thing in the world to just think about her body, her lips, her hair, her scent. To lose himself in the sensation of kissing and touching her. That was what he resolved to do, to just let instinct and the moment carry him on a tide of arousal.
He slid his hand underneath the lower hem of her shirt and slid it up the smooth, warm skin of her torso. He rubbed her skin in small circles with his thumb, loving the way she trembled under his touch. It gave him such a sense of power to know that his touch affected her that way.
He wanted to make her feel good, sure. But the rush came from just knowing that he made her feel, period. It had been so hard to know what to think when they’d been operating under radio silence. He wasn’t sure if she thought about him, or would remember how special things were between them. Knowing that she did, on both counts, was great. But knowing that he could still draw that kind of reaction from her was even better.
He pushed her shirt and bra up over her breasts, revealing dark red nipples, standing out pert and hard against the creamy skin of her chest. He let his eyes travel over the length of her body, his cock straining against his jeans.
She was so damn beautiful. He’d missed her so much. There were so many nights that he’d lain awake in his bed, picturing the body that he was now looking at again. She was here for the taking and he was going to do exactly that.
He leaned down and touched the tip of his tongue to one hard tip, and she trembled and exhaled, and a small moan escaped from her. His dick jumped inside his pants. God, he couldn’t wait to bury it inside of her. But first he was going to explore every inch of her skin with his hands, and his mouth.