his blond hair look a little rough, and tousled, and I wanted to card my fingers through it and mess it up even more.
I’d been flummoxed when he knocked me on my ass, so efficiently and with so much power. It was so different than the Heath I’d seen downstairs. He’d been pissed off, fiery with it, and I’d been so surprised by the difference that I’d pissed him off further. But he’d stood up for himself so fearlessly. That turned me on like crazy—made me want him even more. I loved a man with a submissive streak, but it was even better when he had a backbone. When I knew he was giving up control to me because he wanted to, not because he was compelled to.
And after that takedown, I knew that’s how Heath was, even if he didn’t seem to know it. Maybe he craved a little support or instruction, but he wasn’t looking for anything someone deigned to throw at him. He’d push back when he was uncomfortable. And that made the giving in all the sweeter.
I was staring at his plush mouth, trying to decide if I should say something to break the tension, or apologize, or just wait until the reparative tasks were over to ask him out. Because I couldn’t kiss him, not now, not when I was here in the Hell’s Ankhor clubhouse as a guest, and made a mess of things already. And when I really, really needed to make a good impression on Blade and the rest of the inner circle. Making a move on their newest member was not the best way to do that.
And after Eddy, I knew how my heart worked. It wouldn’t just be a kiss. I got attached way too easily. The best thing to do was to keep my distance.
And then Heath did something else that flummoxed me.
He pressed up on his tiptoes and kissed me.
Oh, this was a bad, bad idea, and I should’ve pulled away as soon as it started. But every moment of Heath’s mouth against mine made me want more. His lips were so soft against mine, almost hesitant, less of a kiss and more of a gentle, sweet contact.
Like he was waiting for something.
Like he was waiting for me.
Without thinking, I wrapped my arm around his waist and hauled him flush against me. Heath gasped with pleased shock into my mouth and looped his arms around my neck. I deepened the kiss, taking control of it easily with my free hand sliding to his nape. When I opened my mouth against his, drawing his lower lip between mine, he responded beautifully with a sigh as his mouth dropped open. I dragged my tongue slowly over the curve of his lower lip, then brushed my tongue over his, and a shudder ran through Heath’s narrow body.
I kicked the door closed, and then spun on my heel, with Heath still held tight against me. I pushed him against the closed door and boxed him against it, kissing him again. Heath laughed a little breathlessly at the manhandling.
God, he was pretty, his cheeks flushed even darker pink and his lip swollen from the rough kiss. Despite how I’d tried to deny it, all the thoughts I’d had about Heath, all those glances we’d shared and the shy little smiles Heath had given me, had built into a powerful desire inside me, and now that I was kissing him, I felt drunk on it, like I couldn’t stop. I wanted to hear every little whimper and moan I could draw out of his small body, wanted to see if he flushed on his chest the same way he flushed on his pretty round cheeks.
Heath’s hands twitched at his sides. I broke the kiss and gripped him hard by the hips, pressing him to the door with greater pressure, and then mouthed along the curve of his jaw.
“You can touch,” I said.
Heath shivered.
“Touch me,” I said, a little more firmly.
As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t be pushing his boundaries with orders like that—not yet. I hardly knew him, and we certainly hadn’t discussed it. Sure, it was mostly harmless, but I wasn’t an irresponsible Dom.
And once I got a taste, I knew I’d want more.
Yet, as soon as I said it, Heath’s small hands moved across my abs. His palms slid easily over the slick fabric of my athletic shirt, and he inhaled sharply at the contact,