The Rivals - Dylan Allen Page 0,204

I imbue my voice with that pride.

He nods and then shakes his head like he disagrees. “No, Kal. I’ve fucked-up so bad.” He sounds despondent.

I forget the distance I tried to create and move closer to him. “What do you mean? You’re a shoo-in for that job.”

“No. Not that. This. Us.” He reaches out and presses his palm between my breasts and at his touch, tears spring to my eyes.

The bone-deep regret in his voice scares me. I shake my head at him. “We didn’t stand a chance. We had everything against us. Your mother hated me. Life…”

He moves so quickly; I don’t even see it coming. His arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me up against him. And then drops us onto the low-slung couch under the window.

He holds me in his lap, his eyes hook onto mine and that wolf-like keenness he had whenever he was determined appears.

“Remi—” I start to admonish him.

His big, warm hand cups my jaw and the words die in my throat. His hand on my skin ignites every synapse of need in my body. It’s like he flipped a switch.

“Yeah… I know. I feel it too,” he says quietly. His hand moves up my jaw and to my hair. I close my eyes against the shiver that runs through me when the pads of his big fingers caress my scalp.

“Remi…”

“You’re so beautiful,” he says, and I look down at him.

“You are, too,” I whisper. And he is. Inside and out.

He brings his face to mine until our foreheads touch and our noses brush each other. I rock mine back and forth over his forehead.

His eyes roam my face. “I missed that fucking freckle.” He whispers and his breath dances on my lips.

So close.

So, so close.

A wave of longing crashes against my resolve and my breath hitches.

“Can I kiss you?” He asks, holding my gaze, piercing my very soul with it. I’ve never wanted anything more. I have to bite my lip to keep from begging him to please kiss me.

I shake my head.

He groans softly and slides his nose along mine. I exhale a shuddering breath and he inhales sharply, like he’s trying capture it.

“Don’t you remember how good it felt when we kissed?” He asks.

Oh, how I remember. How I have dreamed of it. How I’ve tasted it, measured everything by it.

And just like when I was a girl, I can’t deny him anything. And our time apart has only amplified our feelings.

The tips of our noses rub against each other as I nod.

He cradles my head and brings my mouth to his.

The touch is electric. It sizzles. And our sharp gasps are synchronized.

My lips quiver as his brush back and forth across them and a wildfire of gooseflesh covers my entire body.

When his tongue, hot and wet and so fucking delicious, sweeps across my bottom lip I’m transported.

To a place where he and I are together. Without parents interfering, without fucked up timing. Without heartbroken nights that made me careless. Without anything but my best friend, my lover, the man I would have followed anywhere he’d asked me to.

It was one summer, but it had been the most wonderful, unexpected interlude in the shit show that had been my life.

I let my chest press against his and wrap my hand around his neck and the kiss deepens.

His tongue sweeps inside my mouth and tangles with mine. He licks and sucks and reverently, lovingly reminds me of everything I’ve missed. This is the most perfect kiss. Because this is the most perfect man. Even in the ways that we are flawed, we are each other’s perfects.

His hand drifts down my shoulder and he cups my breast and his thumb sweeps my nipple. His fingers twist and fist the hair at the nape of my neck, lips skid down my throat, his teeth and tongue working in beautiful concert – nipping and then soothing.

I am unraveling. I’m approaching a place I shouldn’t be going. The warning bells start to ring. This is wrong. And, I won’t ruin my chance at having the life I always wanted.

Not when the last time I let him close enough, he decimated my heart.

There’s a loud crash in the hallway and I yank my mouth off his and jump out of his lap. His fingers circle my wrist and he yanks me back.

“No. Not yet,” he says and his lips press to mine again

“Remi. No. Please… let’s not. I feel it, too. But… no.”

I put a