It felt like someone had caught my tongue in a vise grip. Because every time I went to talk, I couldn't. My mouth didn’t move. My voice didn’t come up my throat. I watched him put his kickstand down and pull a cigarette from inside his leather jacket. He popped it between his kissable lips, struck a match and I listened to the end of it sizzle. He drew in a long pull and blew out the smoke, battering my face with it.
I refused to move, though.
I wanted an answer to my question.
“Did you like it?”
I blinked. “Yeah. I mean, I told you the bike ride was fun. But--”
He slipped off his bike. “Not the bike, Daddy’s girl.”
He stepped toward me, closing the distance between us. His warmth wrapped around me as our legs touched. Smoke trailed in wisps from the end of his cigarette as he gazed down at me with a playful stare and a crooked grin. I held my breath as the shadows swallowed us whole. The puttering of his bike engine backdropped the moment, covering up just how loudly my heart thundered in my ears.
Max took the cigarette between his fingers and flicked the ash off. But he didn’t return it to his lips.
“Did you like being close to me, Bambi?”
His hand came up to cup my cheek and my eyes fluttered closed at the heat. I nuzzled against his palm, answering his question with my movements. But he still waited for an answer to fall from my lips. I drew in a broken breath. My eyes slid open and I found him grinning wolfishly down at me. His hand held my face and I felt his thumb stroking along my lower lip. It sent shivers of electricity jolting throughout my body, puckering places on me that would surely anger my father. I knew if I let this go any further, I’d have more problems than I could manage. I knew if I didn’t step back, I’d have more than just daydreams about this sexy biker on my mind. Impure thoughts rattled around in my brain as my eyes fell to his lips.
Those lips I couldn't stop thinking about kissing.
“Answer me, Daddy’s girl.”
I swallowed hard. “Y--yes. Yes, I--I did.”
He leaned in closer. “Prove it.”
I felt his breath against my lips. I felt his body press into mine. His hand slid into the tendrils of my loose hair, gripping it softly, commanding my stare to stay with his. My half-hooded eyes danced around his face, watching his eyes turn to black as wisps of cigarette smoke wrapped around us. Like imaginary ropes pulling us together. Forcing us into one another’s orbit.
“Like this?” I whispered.
I pressed my lips against his and squeezed my eyes shut. I held my position, wondering if I was doing it right. I heard something flick. I felt Max pull back. And when I heard the soft sizzle of his cigarette, I peeked an eye open.
“Was that…?”
He blew smoke into the oncoming fall breeze. “You’re stiff, you know that?”
Disappointment filled my gut. “I guess I don’t really have--”
“If you’re going to kiss someone, kiss them like this.”
His hand fisted my hair and he pulled my head back. His lips crashed against mine, swallowing the gasp that bubbled up the back of my throat. I slid my arms around his neck, feeling his tongue slide across the roof of my mouth. He invaded me, backing me up until I felt myself being pressed against the outer brick wall of my dorm room. Then I felt his knee press between my legs.
“Yes,” I moaned.
He chuckled as his tongue slid against my own. The taste of beer and burger and cigarettes overwhelmed me. I slid my hands through his hair, clinging to the perimeter of his leather jacket. I stood on my tiptoes, pressing myself tighter into him as he sucked on my lower lip, drawing from me an involuntary sound that I didn’t know how to describe. Finally he pulled away from my lips.
But I wanted to make that sound again.
“Come back,” I breathed.
I fisted his shirt and captured his lips again. Only this time, I mimicked his movements. I raked my teeth along his lower lip. I let my tongue slide over the roof of his mouth. I tamed his tongue with my own, tasting him as my hands danced around his chest. Up and down his torso. Heck, I even slid my arms underneath his leather jacket just to pull him closer to me. I heard that telltale flick again. His hand gripped my hair and he pulled my lips away from his. I whimpered for more as he took one last drag from his cigarette.
Then he put it out against the brick right by my head.
“You’re a quick teach, Bambi.”
His cigarette smoke wafted against my face, but it didn’t stop me from smiling. I felt alive. I felt as if I had stumbled into heaven without even realizing it. I felt my nipples pucker hard against my bra, my thighs aching with a need for rest, even though I didn’t want the moment to end. I settled myself softly against his knee—his thigh, really, since it still sat between my legs. His thumb slid along my lower lip one last time. He dragged it down slowly, watching as my lip bounced back into place once he released it.