Chapter 23
Luna
Walking through Connor’s front door, there was a charge in the air that Luna hadn’t experienced the first time she’d been there. She thought it must be something about knowing the reason they were there—it brought out the animal-lust side of her that she’d been getting back in touch with lately.
It was like Connor flipped a switch inside her, one that turned her into a wanton woman, driven by desire and unrestrained by inhibitions.
And she had to admit, she kind of liked the “new her.”
As soon as Connor closed the door and locked it, he turned to her and she could see the hunger in his eyes. It sent a thrill through her body that completely counteracted the chill that had invaded it as they stood outside for the tree lighting ceremony.
She didn’t just feel warm inside. She felt a raging heat that couldn’t be tamed.
Connor stepped over to her and pulled her to him. Luna gasped and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his torso like a boa constrictor, digging her nails into his back like a tiger. Damn. He was bringing out the whole animal kingdom in her!
He cupped his hands under her ass to hold her up and she ground herself down into his palms. His tongue invaded her mouth and she pressed a hand to the back of his head to pull him closer to her.
God, she couldn’t get enough of him. He was like a drug, and now that he was back in her system, she didn’t want to spend another day without him. Not even another minute.
She pulled back just far enough to speak. “So, I have a feeling we’re going to satisfy a fantasy tonight,” she teased.
He laughed, a low and throaty sound. “I have a feeling we’re going to satisfy more than one. But which was the one you had in mind?”
She grinned playfully. “Remember when you said that we should ‘really do this in a bed’ sometime? Well, I’m pretty sure tonight is that time.”
He dipped his head down and planted kisses up and down her neck, pausing just long enough between kisses to whisper a few words at a time. “Baby, we are going to use every part of that bed, all night long, again and again. Does sound good?”
She was so lightheaded that she tossed her head back and moaned at his words, which drew a low chuckle from Connor. He licked her neck, moving his tongue slowly up her superheated skin and then whispered, “I’ll take that as a yes.”
She returned the low chuckle. “You can take that as a hell, yes.”
He moved his hands away from her ass, then, and wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her tightly against him—and she, in turn, held even more tightly to him.
Clinging. That was the only word to describe it. She was clinging to him. She had to smile at the description as it popped into her head. Yeah, clinginess had never been her issue where Connor was concerned. Quite the opposite, in fact.
And, she thought as he carried her up the stairs and to his bed, maybe the fact that she could smile at the thought now, find just a bit of humor in all the pain, meant she was growing past it, and that her issues with Connor were dealt with—or at least in the process of it.
The hope of that thought filled her with almost as much warmth as Connor’s kiss.
When they reached the bedroom, Connor laid her down gently on top of the comforter and kissed her again, running his hands all over her body as he did.
Losing herself in the kiss, she let him undress her, barely doing enough to even help him. She liked the feeling of being led and taken care of. For so much of her life, the driving force had been INDEPENDENCE, with more than just a capital I. It had been all caps. And written in blazing neon.
For all those years that she’d sought that independence so fiercely, though, there’d been one major thing missing from the equation: the fact that it was also freaking awesome to lay back and let yourself be taken care of every once in a while.
And she knew now that letting herself depend on Connor, at least a little bit, didn’t make her any less capable or…and here was that buzzword again…independent.
That would’ve only been true if she couldn’t survive without him. Well, she obviously knew that she could. She had for many years. But—and this was the important part—she just plain didn’t want to!
She’d never have Connor’s fingers brushing through her hair the way they were right now if she had to live without him. Never feel the soft touch of his lips on her neck again, like the way he was peppering her with kisses at the moment. Never feel his strong and demanding hands roaming her body the way they were just then, giving her a promise of what was to come.
And, yeah. That would just be plain unacceptable.
Her breath was coming so fast as Connor removed one article of clothing after another that she thought she might be in danger of hyperventilating.
Her head was spinning, but she knew that might have nothing to do with the fast, shallow breaths she was taking. It very well might just be her body’s natural reaction to being touched by Connor. And she realized that if she just let go, resigned herself to losing control, and just went with it…it was freaking awesome.
How many other things in her life, and her relationship with Connor, might she discover were freaking awesome if she could just summon up the courage to let go and embrace losing control?