Kale groaned again. But this time, it was in need. “God damn it, Hope. God damn it, what have you done to me?”
His mouth slanted over mine.
Commanding.
Demanding all of me.
Tangles of tongue and nips of teeth.
He didn’t break the kiss when he hoisted me from my feet and pressed me deeper against the wall, his hands on the outsides of my thighs as he made a place for himself between my legs.
He rubbed himself at my center, his cock hard, as desperate as his touch.
I ached and whimpered, my fingers sinking into his shoulders. As if I might be able to hold on to him forever. “Kale.”
“I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t. Not you or Evan. You’re mine.”
Need tumbled through me. A raging storm.
This man too much.
Too perfect.
He pulled me from the wall and carried me the rest of the way down the hall and through the double doors at the end of it. He stepped inside, nudged the door shut with his foot, and fumbled to click the lock behind him.
He pulled back, staring up at me as he carried me into the center of the enormous, darkened room, the only light filtering in through the wall of sliding doors that overlooked the city below.
His room luxury and peace and comfort.
Masculine.
Sexy.
That was what I felt when he kneaded his big hands into my bottom, kissing me again and murmuring, “I’m losing myself.”
I framed his face in my hands. “And I’m finding myself.” He carried me toward his bed, which was massive and imposing, just like the man. Slowly, he slid me down his body, my feet unsteady when he set me on the floor.
He pressed a hand on either side of my neck, and I was sure he could feel the raging thunder of my pulse beating through me.
The way my heart went pound, pound, pound. “I want you, Hope. Want you in a way that scares me.”
I searched his face. “Fear never negates hope. It just means we want something badly enough that we’re terrified we might not get to keep it.”
A groan rumbled in his chest, and he was pulling me flush against all his hard and heat. “Sweet girl.”
“I need you,” I returned.
The air stretched taut around us. Pushing and pulling and demanding.
That attraction alive.
A thriving, breathing entity.
We panted through it. Sucking it into our lungs, inhaling each other as all our pieces fell together.
Forming something complete and whole.
Kale stared down at me. Eyes that intense, fathomless blue.
It felt as if I were jumping into the coolest waters, floating in the deepest sea, soaring through the warmest sky.
He gripped me tight. “Told you next time I had you, I wasn’t going to go easy on you.”
His voice grated with the warning.
Desire boiled my blood. “Don’t you know what they say . . . nothing good in life is easy.”
There was no longer any question about what had gotten into me. It was this magnetic man. Seeping into my skin. Dripping into my veins.
That was the only invitation he needed. Kale was on me in a flash. His mouth swooping in to capture mine the same way he’d captured my heart.
Swiftly.
Madly.
Wholly.
Plundering—body, mind, and soul.
I felt beautiful in his arms.
Bold and sexy.
My mama would call it risqué.
She’d be right because, with Kale, I was ready to take every risk.
He flattened his hands under my shirt, running them up my back and lifting it higher and higher.
“Strawberries and cream. So fucking sweet,” he murmured.
Those words sent a rush of chills skating down my neck and scattering across my flesh.
He tore my shirt over my head and dropped it to the floor before he flicked the hook of my bra and dragged it free of my arms. His eyes swept over me. Head to toe. “Look at you, Hope. You are a vision, baby. I think every fantasy I’ve ever had was of you, and I didn’t even know it.”
My spirit danced, and I was pressing my hands under his shirt, running them over the hard, defined planes of his abdomen, needing to discover him, expose every inch of smooth, tanned skin.
He stepped back and yanked it the rest of the way over his head.
A sharp breath left me at the sight. “I close my eyes, and this is what I see. You, Kale. Beautiful you. I never thought it would be possible to want a man the way I want you.”
I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his chest right over his beautiful heart that thundered and sped.
Every part of this man was stunning.
Captivating.
Kale suddenly dropped to his knees in front of me. Adept fingers were quick to work free the button and zipper of my jeans. He pulled them down a fraction and dragged me forward to kiss me on the lace fabric that covered my center.