My Cone and Only (King Family #1) - Susannah Nix Page 0,40
I didn’t do it this time.
I had no idea what I was thinking, but instead of turning away from her mouth, I turned toward it.
Such a small, insignificant movement. Just a matter of a couple inches.
But it was the difference between a kiss on the cheek and a kiss on the lips.
Which was all the difference in the world.
9
Wyatt
I caught Andie’s mouth with mine, just like I’d always wanted to, and everything stopped. My heart, my breathing, my sense of time or place. My brain had already stopped working, clearly, or I wouldn’t have done what I did.
My entire awareness tunneled to the plush sweetness of her lips pressing against mine as her momentum carried her into me. In that one fraction of a moment when we came together, every inch of me soared to life.
Until I heard her sharp, surprised intake of breath and reality came crashing down.
She jerked her head back and stared at me, wide-eyed, her lips slightly parted and her breathing heavy with shock.
I didn’t know what to do. How to take it back. I would have given anything to undo the last second and erase it from both of our memories. All I could do was stare back at her, frozen in panic. My brain too nonfunctional to even form the words to apologize.
Andie’s hand was still clamped on my arm, and I waited for her to let go and back away from me.
But she didn’t.
Instead, I felt her grip tighten, her fingernails digging into my skin.
The sharp sting shot up my arm and straight to my spine, making my breath stutter loud enough that she must have heard it. Her eyes narrowed, studying me, as her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
Then she surged forward, hooking a hand around the back of my head to drag my mouth against hers. I froze for a split second before my body took over, responding to her on pure instinct.
My hands cradled her face as I angled my head to shape my mouth to hers. Her lips parted like silk sheets at the first tentative touch of my tongue, admitting me into her inviting warmth. I’d never tasted her before, and it was everything I’d ever dreamed of and more. Beneath the malty taste of the beer we’d both been drinking, Andie tasted like sunshine and sugar and strength. I delved deep, sinking into her sweetness, and gave myself over to the mindless pleasure of it.
Her hands dragged down the front of my shirt, then pushed up underneath it. When her fingers touched my bare skin, I made a low, feral sound in the back of my throat. I’d thought being around her was intoxicating, but this electricity between us was so much more intense and exhilarating than anything I’d ever experienced.
Liquid heat pumped through my veins with every racing beat of my pulse. My whole body sang as she explored under my shirt. Her nails scratched over my stomach, then her fingers dipped into the waistband of my jeans.
A sudden awareness of what she was doing—what we were doing—jolted me out of my stupor.
Guilt poured over me like an ice bath, and I tore myself away from Andie with an ungainly lurch. “Shit.” I dragged my hand across my mouth, my chest heaving as I struggled for oxygen. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
She licked her lips, which were swollen and pink from the pressure of my mouth and the scrape of my stubble. “Why?”
I blinked at her. “What?”
“Why shouldn’t you have done it?”
“Because…” My fists clenched at my sides. “Because this can’t happen with you and me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “This isn’t because of Josh, is it? Because you’re scared of what he’d have to say about it?”
That was precisely what it was, but I knew what would happen if I said yes. Andie had a knee-jerk reflex against her brother’s attempts to control her, and this would turn into another way for her to rebel against his protectiveness. She’d blow up at Josh and he’d blow up at me and everything would go to shit. It’d be skinny-dipping at the Holler all over again with me caught in the middle trying to keep them both happy.
I set my jaw. “No.”
“Liar.”
This wasn’t an argument I could afford to lose, and I refused to back down. “It’s because of me. Because I care about you, and I don’t want to hurt you.”