I brush a strand of hair out of her face. “It managed to render you speechless yesterday. I was hoping it would work again so I could get a word in.”
“So, you’re not going to tell me why this can’t happen?”
I smile. “Well, I was—that was the plan, anyway. Fuck, Tessa. We’re playing with fire.”
She steps even closer, and I have a clear view down the front of her shirt. “Isn’t that the point? The part that makes it so tempting? The danger of it all is so fucking alluring.”
“If we get caught…”
“We won’t.”
And just like that, my resistance snaps, and our mouths collide once more. Her arms go around my neck, and she presses herself against me. I explore her with my tongue as my hands slide up and under her skirt, gripping her ass. The breathy moan she lets out is enough to send me off the edge, but I hang on by a thread—a very irritating, moral integrity thread that the rest of me would really like to take a pair of sharp scissors to right now.
I move my hands to her hips and break the kiss, keeping her away as she tries to come back for more.
“Tessa. Tess!” I grit my teeth. “We can’t.”
“Why, because we’re in the school?” She rolls her eyes. “Let’s go back to your place then.”
“No, that’s not why.”
Her face drops. “But you just…”
I sigh. I’m going to fucking hate myself for this. “I know, and we can kiss, maybe even fool around a little, but we can’t have sex. We’re already too attracted to each other to be discreet. Sex would only make it more difficult to keep it hidden.”
She raises one eyebrow, like I just told her the most ridiculous thing she’s ever heard. “What the hell kind of shit is that?”
“Some people would call this a compromise.”
“Sounds more like a fucking tease.”
I chuckle, bending down and kissing her softly. “Yeah, but you’ll deal with it.”
16
TESSA
All I can feel is Asher as we sit on his couch, in the middle of a heated a make-out session. His hands on my waist. His mouth moving against my own. His hair beneath my fingertips. Our tongues tangle together, and I can taste him. The smell of his cologne infiltrates my senses. I swear I could get high on him and him alone.
“Are you sure this is all we can do?” I murmur against him, sliding my hand over his crotch.
He shudders and grabs my wrist. “Don’t. I’m so far past the point in my life where cumming in my pants is remotely acceptable.”
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth. “Is someone having trouble sticking to his own rules?”
Growling, he pulls back only to kiss his way down to the left side of my neck. I tilt my head to the side to give him better access, but the instant his lips graze the skin, I’m blasted back to Saturday night.
“Look at you. It’s like you were begging for our attention, weren’t you baby?”
His hand runs up my side. I try to push him off me, try to get away, but I can’t move. It’s like my body is paralyzed. Why can’t I fucking move? My mouth opens to scream for help but nothing comes out.
“We’re going to have so much fun with you,” the other one tells me and comes down to lick a stripe up the side of my neck.
I freeze at the memory, and Asher instantly stops. He looks at me with nothing but concern in his eyes.
“What? What’s wrong?”
The small part inside me that’s pleading for help tells me to be honest. To tell him to stop and take the time to figure out what’s going on with me. But I can’t. Talking about what happened and admitting that I’m affected by it gives them power. It makes them win. I won’t allow that.