On the Run (Whispering Key #2) - May Archer Page 0,49

Beale’s grin a second before he captured my mouth more fully, and I realized too late that, virgin or not, if the man could take me apart with a kiss, sex with him was going to be about as safe as riding a roller coaster in an earthquake.

But given that I was so very, very screwed, what was there to do but hang on and enjoy the ride while it lasted?

8

Beale

Czarina’s StarCharts for Today:

Delayed gratification isn’t always the best policy, Virgo. Dissolve your inhibitions; grab what you want.

“Wawasthat?” Toby mumbled against my mouth as I steered us around the fountain in Mason and Fenn’s front yard and headed for the backyard without breaking the kiss we’d started in the driveway, which was really just a continuation of the kiss we’d started back on Menucha.

“Fountain,” I said shortly.

“Mmm,” he agreed before plunging his tongue back into my mouth. He groaned like a starving man who’d finally been given a meal, like it had been years instead of milliseconds since he’d tasted me, and fuck if my dick didn’t perk up at the sound.

I swept my hands up his back under his crop top, soaking in the feel of his smooth skin under my fingertips. He was so much smaller than me, but firm and solid, too.

We crashed through the gate, and Toby pushed me away with two hands, his brown eyes alight with mischief. I stumbled back into the column of the pergola that shaded one corner of the backyard.

“Are we alone?” Toby’s chest heaved. “No remodeling dudes around? Not that it’s a deal breaker for me, but I’d rather not be interrupted.”

“Oh. Um.” There was no space in my brain for thoughts about this, but I tried to make some. “Yeah. Yes. No trucks in the driveway. They only work a half day on Saturdays. We’re alone.”

“My God, you’re gorgeous when you’re thinking,” Toby breathed before stepping back into my space and lifting up on his toes to lick a path up the side of my neck. “And you taste delicious. Fuck. Salty and sweet. I want to put my mouth on you. All over you. Okay?”

Was that an actual question? Did he expect an actual answer? Just in case, I said, “Good. Yes. Do that.”

Any further response I might have made evaporated when he clamped my earlobe between his teeth, and my goddamn knees actually quaked.

“Holy Jesus,” I breathed, like I was experiencing a religious conversion, because I kind of was. “I’ve never… Do that again!”

“Wait.” Toby pushed me away again and kept both hands braced on my shoulders. His breath came in rough pants. “Wait. Wait, wait. You’ve never had someone kiss your ear?”

I shook my head. “Not that I remember.” And I would definitely have remembered something that felt this good.

He tilted his head to one side. “How virgin is virgin, Beale?”

“Uh.” I shook my head, momentarily unable to form a sentence since all the blood in my body had rushed to my cock and it was literally thrumming. “Not entirely virgin?”

“Oh, okay.” Toby pressed a hand to his stomach and sounded a little relieved. “I was worried I was moving too fast—”

“Too fast? No way.” Once I’d given in and said yes, it was like twenty-eight years of want had suddenly been unleashed, and things couldn’t happen fast enough. And it felt good.

Really good.

Fated, even.

It wasn’t that I thought Toby knew what he was talking about when it came to understanding how the Universe worked—I was pretty sure he would’ve told me the sky was on fire in his attempt to convince me to have sex—but that didn’t mean he was entirely wrong, either. Maybe this was a necessary stepping stone. Weirder things happened every day, right? And the part about me having a say in how my future manifested had the unmistakable ring of truth to it. Like I’d known that, once upon a time, and I’d let myself forget it.

I shook my head again. “I told you I hooked up with guys a few times. It was a few years back now, but it happened.”

“You did say that.” He went up on his tiptoes and bit at the edge of my jaw. “Silly me.”

My breath juddered out in a rush. “Yeah, like four times? Five, even,” I reassured him.

Toby pulled back again and did not look reassured. “Wait. Five times?” he repeated. “Or five guys?”

“Uh… both?” I gripped the back of my neck. “Maybe a couple extra times if you include Martin, my bunkmate