I need to stop. I’m getting too ramped up, my voice filled with husky passion.
I turn to the steering wheel and rejoin the traffic, keeping my eyes on the road with a mammoth effort, telling myself that I need to cool this passion before I make any decisions about Kyra. I can’t let my heavy arousal and my predator’s hunger guide me. I have to think.
And yet all I can think about is her, my need to possess her, every curvy inch.
“That was honestly the funniest thing ever,” Kyra says after a few minutes, laughing softly. “You don’t…”
“Is that one of your habits, Kyra? Saying something and then changing your mind?”
I glance at her, seeing that I’ve made her blush again. Maybe that should make me feel bad, but all it does is make me more certain that I’m going to make her mine. She looks so young and innocent when her cheeks turn red like that, the flush creeping down her neck, as though silently pleading with me to guide her…
In life, in the bedroom, in everything.
My woman needs her man, needs me. Always.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. So tell me.”
She wrings her hands in her lap. “I was just going to say, well, you don’t really seem like this on the show. Your fun side, I mean. I think the contestants would like to see it. And the viewers.”
“I can’t switch it on and off,” I tell her gruffly. “In the Marines, we’d often fuck around, doing the silliest shit. But apart from with my Marine buddies, I tend to stay focused on the business, on whatever task is in front of me. And that’s what the show is. A task to be completed.”
“So then why…”
“Why do I feel comfortable with you?” I prompt when she once again trails off.
“Yeah.”
I swallow, my throat tight. Staring hard at the road, not answering her question, maybe it makes me a coward. But I don’t know how to explain without unleashing the whole force of my feelings for her.
We drive the rest of the way in silence. I feel Kyra sulking next to me, her hands fidgeting with each other as she does a bad job of hiding how much my hot-and-cold shit is affecting her. I can’t blame her.
She deserves to know why I feel so comfortable around her. She deserves to be kissed, not head-fucked.
I should try and hold back the full force of my need for her, to take it slow, to introduce her to the idea slowly instead of shutting her out based on fear.
Or maybe that’s an excuse because she looks just so damn kissable as I pull up outside her apartment building.
“Well, thanks for the ride.”
She moves to grab the door handle.
“Wait,” I call out, reaching over and grabbing onto her hand.
“For what?” She turns to me sharply. “It’s fine. I don’t expect anything from—”
Knowing it could be a mistake – knowing I might not be able to hold myself back – I lean forward. And this time, I don’t reach for the door.
Chapter Ten
Kyra
His lips crash into mine passionately. I’m so stunned that I can hardly react for a second, sitting there limply as he stamps his mouth against mine. His lips are rough and warm and taste freaking perfect, he groans and I feel my mouth open. It’s like something else takes over, maybe this desperate need I feel to father this man’s children.
I open my mouth and let out a muffled moan, my hands rising to loop around his shoulders. He’s got one hand on my hip, squeezing down, sending tickling sensations all around my body. My sex pulses wetly and my nipples rub against my bra.
He deepens the kiss, growling as he leans more heavily against me. I gasp when his other hand comes to rest on my thigh. He slides it up, higher and higher, and then suddenly breaks off.
Leaning back, he lets out a jagged sigh.
“Fuck, not here,” he growls, literally growling like an animal.
But then, as though magnetized, he kisses me again. He pushes his lips against me with so much force I almost can’t take it, feeling his lust radiate out of him.
As my mouth moves, my mind throws up a dozen possibilities, more reasonable explanations for what’s happening here.
I passed out during the car ride and I’m currently on my way to the hospital.
Somebody slipped me some hallucinogenic drugs.
I’m currently using the most immersive virtual reality headset ever.
It can’t be real, can it? He can’t really be kissing me.
But then I stop questioning it and bring my hands to his face, palming his strong jaw as he snarls and I moan, biting onto his lip without even thinking about it.
He breaks off the kiss again, squeezing the steering wheel.
“What was that about?” I whimper. “Why did you do that?”