And the truth was, it made me wonder if there was depth behind those sexy eyes and the cocky attitude, or just filler.
“Deal.” He shook my hand, and we made steady eye contact. Noticing his hand was big and rough, I wondered what line of work he was in.
This was definitely not the manicured hand of a college student.
“Tell me, pretty please,” I said, releasing him.
“My serious thoughts. Okay.” He looked around the dining room, as if making sure there was no one who could hear him, then put his hands to my ears to whisper:
“I’m going to tell you the honest truth, because I’m not a fan of bullshitting. You ready?”
I nodded. “Ready.”
“I came over here because your mother asked me to check up on you when she called over to express her condolences for Louisa.”
“You said that already,” I emphasized. “That’s not a sandwich-worthy reveal.
“I didn’t say that the moment I laid eyes on you, I started having serious thoughts about you. And I mean seriously inappropriate thoughts.”
My body tingled all over the way he emphasized inappropriate. I wondered what he meant by it.
The way I could feel his breath on my neck as his hand hung on my shoulder, I thought I had an inkling of what he was thinking.
“You did? About what?”
“You want to know more?”
I nodded again.
He spoke slowly, his voice low and gravelly. “Alright. It’s the damnedest thing, really, Florida. I can barely carry on a conversation with you. I know we should be sharing our losses and I should be consoling you for the death of your father and everything but all I want to do is tear your clothes off. But—none of that matters. Because, like you said, you have a boyfriend. Which is a shame, because if you didn’t, then I might…”
The word ‘boyfriend’ dripped with smirky disdain. My heart began to race. I was pretty sure he knew I had made Jameson up on the spot. I opened my mouth and then closed it, speechless.
My breathing felt heavy. I was practically hypnotized by his voice and his feel. I lifted my hand and touched the skin of his arm.
I’d only met him what—two days ago? Well, aside from seeing him when I was back in grade school. Nevertheless I had felt an instant attraction to the man. His piney scent. His playful demeanor. But still knew next to nothing about him, other than the fact that he’d experienced two horrible tragedies in his life.
“Might what?” I asked.
“Might do this.”
Knotting my hair with his fist, he pulled it back, then dove with his mouth and kissed me on my exposed neck like he was my boyfriend.
Warmth swarmed my body the way he attacked me. I’d been dying for human touch during the past few days. But I never thought this was how I’d break my drought.
“Oh God. Shane. You can’t…”
I pulled my arm away from him, not wanting to admit even to myself how good that had just felt.
This wasn’t supposed to happen so quickly, especially with a virtual stranger. At the same time, I felt powerless to totally pull myself away from him. “Did you like that kiss?”
“Yes,” I admitted.
Shit. With all the adrenaline pumping through me, I had completely forgotten about my ‘boyfriend.’
“So, you and your boyfriend more of an open thing?”
“I mean…we’re on a break…remember?”
And Florida guys don’t kiss like that.
His light eyes were this icy combination of light blue and gray, and they bore into me. Breathing hard, I felt like he was about to devour me.
“Do you want more?” He upturned an eyebrow, grinning suggestively.
I wasn’t sure where this side of me was coming from. I’m not the girl who moves this fast, especially without even so much as a date.
But as I sized him up, biting my lower lip, I took him in.
He was almost tragically gorgeous, so lean and muscular with a hardened, handsome face. The kind of guy who if he lived in Florida I bet would be sucked up by the club culture, because he’d be able to have his pick whenever he went out.
I was under his spell, and the next words out of my mouth surprised even me. “Yes, please.”
Please? What the hell, Natalie! Since when did you turn into a docile little girl?
Switching his position so that his legs were in front of me, he pressed the front of his body against mine, then lifted me up onto the kitchen counter by my legs.
Once he had me sitting on the counter, his lips landed hot and heavy on mine, and he ate up a moan that would have escaped me.
A bout of madness overcame me, and I found myself furiously running my hands under his shirt. His hands, for their part, were running similarly up the sides of my shirt.
As we hungrily devoured each other, I felt my hands—seemingly with a mind of their own now—tug his shirt up.
Shane aided me in ripping it off, and then we both paused for a moment. I leaned back, propping myself up by my hands, and he stood with his hands resting on my legs. His shirt coming off had tousled his shaggy hair, and now he looked almost unfairly delectable.
We stared at each other with hunger in our eyes.
“How far do you want to go?” he asked, stroking my wrist.
“I don’t know,” I said, though as I stared at his perfectly lickable V-cut abs leading to the Promised Land, I knew what my body wanted.
It was my pesky mind that was getting in the way.
But right now, my body was betraying my mind and winning out. The loneliness and trauma of the past week was launching my mind and body to what felt like a new physical and spiritual plane. I had taken my father for granted while he was alive, and I’d never get another moment with him.
I craved human connection, and male connection all the more. Almost like magic, here was this beautiful yet rugged man, staring back at me with eyes full of life. He was my only link to this town, now.
In another instant his lips were on mine again, devouring me. My arms shot straight up and he knew what to do. He ripped my tank top off and tossed it aside.
While we continued making out his hands floated up my stomach. I felt their warmth as they landed on my breasts, fingers reaching under my bra and gently touching my hardened nipples. “Further?” he whispered between heavy breaths.
“Yes,” I said, and he responded by reaching a hand around my back and unhooking my bra.
My eyelids fell shut and I ran my hand through his thick, blond hair as he flicked his tongue on my nipples, lightly running voraciously over the tender skin of my breasts and sending chills to roam throughout my body.
“Fuck, I was not expecting this,” he muttered, burying his face in my neck. I ran a hand along his back, lightly running my fingernails over his skin.
“Me neither,” I answered.
“You’re so goddamn sexy, Dyno. It actually boggles my mind. Fuck me.”
He ran his hand down my jeans and over my clit, which made heat pool between my legs like crazy.
“You want me to…fuck you?” I asked. I couldn’t tell if he had said it as just a phrase you say when you’re hooking up, or if he really wanted to do it right now.
“I meant…fuck me, you’re ridiculously gorgeous.” He gripped the back of my head as we made out. “Open your eyes.”