First his jaw began to twitch, then his nostrils flared, and when I flicked the tip of my tongue over his thumb and then bit it, he tore his hand free—and the kiss Panther laid on me then was brutal.
Hard, hot, and straight-up sex, that was what this kiss was about, and had he given it to me the other night back in his room, I wouldn’t have gone home as quietly as I did. This kiss was designed to destroy brain cells, and when he took hold of my leg and hiked it up the outside of his thigh, I wrapped my calf around the back of his leg and began to grind against him like we were both naked and somewhere near a bed.
I had no idea how long we were standing there in that room, plastered up against the door. It could’ve been minutes, hours, days…all I knew was that it wasn’t long enough, because when Panther began to pull away, every single fiber of my being began to protest.
As our lips disengaged, and our bodies disentangled, I stared at Panther and what a sight he was. His lips were swollen, his chest was heaving, and his hard cock had me reaching for mine.
“Don’t.” The order was raspy but clear, as Panther’s eyes fell to my erection.
“Why not?”
Panther licked his lips, and for a moment I thought he might ignore me, but then he said, “Because if you do, I’m not sure I’ll be able to walk out of here.”
This was the first time Panther had actually admitted to wanting me. To really wanting me. “Would that be such a bad thing?”
“It wouldn’t be a smart thing.”
“But would it be bad?”
Panther closed his eyes and appeared to be searching for patience. “I need to go. Please, just let me go.”
I pushed off from the door and stepped to the side, and as Panther walked forward and reached for the lock, I turned my head against the wall and caught him taking a final once-over.
“Would it really be such a bad thing?”
Panther’s eyes climbed back up to my face, and he shook his head. “No, it’d be too good, and that’s the problem.”
Before I could come up with a response, Panther flicked the lock open, yanked the door wide, and then strode out into the hall, leaving me standing there wondering how in the hell to make Panther change his mind.
20 Panther
I HAD TO get out of there.
Everything was a blur as I raced out of the building, my mind whirling. Had I really kissed Solo back? On base? Only minutes after the confrontation with my father?
As I straddled my bike and started it up, I wasn’t sure where I was headed, but I knew I couldn’t stick around the base any longer. I sped through the streets of Mesamir blindly, trying to outrun my father’s words, trying to forget how good it felt to kiss Solo.
Shit, I’d actually kissed him. And not only that, but I’d felt every hard inch of his body against mine, and it had been mind-blowing. All the time I’d spent trying to avoid him, pushing him away at every turn, and the explosion between us had happened when I least expected it.
No one saw us, I thought, trying to calm the panic in my brain. No one else knows.
Swallowing hard, I raced across the city only to find myself heading toward the airport. There was a park nearby, deserted for as long as I could remember, and even before I could drive, I’d cycle over to watch the planes take off overhead.
I pulled in and parked the bike beside the rusted swings, glancing up as a 737 raced down the runway and then pulled its heavy body up into the sky. It always gave me chills to watch how smoothly the pilots navigated such massive aircraft with ease, and with each takeoff, I wondered where they were headed. I’d never considered a career in commercial flying—with my father being who he was, that was never an option, even if it had been something I wanted.
I took a seat between the bars of the merry-go-round and leaned back onto my hands. It was surprisingly peaceful between the jets taking off—exactly what I needed to deal with the chaos in my brain and to calm my body the hell down.
Moments later, a crunch of gravel alerted me that I was no longer alone, and I didn’t bother turning around to see who the intruder was. I already knew.
“Did you put a tracker on me?” I said, keeping my eyes on the runway, where an airbus had started its ascent.
Solo chuckled as his steps grew closer. “Nah. I just followed you instead.”
It should’ve bothered me that he’d come here, that he’d interrupted a private moment. But as he motioned toward the spot beside me on the merry-go-round and said, “This seat taken?” I found myself not really caring that he’d made his way here. And, if I were honest, I’d expected him to come. Maybe I’d wanted him to.