Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,396

into him, his stubbled cheek lies flush to mine and feels surprisingly soft, his breath warms my lips as his mouth inches ever so close.

My heart drums within me at unsafe speeds, my blood pressure skyrockets as fight-or-flight kicks in. Axel presses me close to him by the small of my back, my body adhering to his rock-hard chest, and I can make out each chiseled detail with my flesh. My thighs begin to shake and quiver, my breathing quickens, and suddenly everything about this scenario has me lightheaded.

“Lex,” Axel groans as his lips brush over mine, and my entire body jolts from their touch.

My hands slap over his chest, and I push him away in one swift move. “Cheese and rice, what have I done?” I jump back, suddenly aware of my surroundings as if I had somehow teleported here instead of striding right in on my own volition.

“Wait, Lex.” Axel reaches for my hand, but I pull away in fear I won’t be able to resist his charms if he gets ahold of me one more time.

“Don’t you wait Lex me! Wine plus Raven equals stupid, stupid decisions! I played right into both your grubby little hands.” I spin on my heels, slapping my palm over my forehead. “How could I have fallen so far so fast?”

Axel pops up and wraps his arms back around my body as if they belonged there—as if I wasn’t about to pluck them off at the shoulder.

“Keep your hands where they are and I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your days brushing your teeth with your feet.”

Those blessed by God features openly frown at me, those dimples depress, and something about those watery gray eyes pinches my stomach. There are only a handful of people who have that effect on me. There are only a few people in general whom I’ve ever wanted anything to do with, and once upon a time Axel Collins was one of them.

He holds his arms up in surrender but doesn’t bother to widen the gap between us. “I like my hands right where God put them. How about a drink?”

“A drink?” I lean in until we’re just about nose-to-nose. “I bet you’d just love that, wouldn’t you?” I poke my finger hard in his chest. “Me—staggering drunk, begging you to have me, doing a strip tease on your coffee table, dropping to my knees and biting you in all the right places!” He winces when I say it. “Ha!” I laugh right over his lips, and he sheds an annoying smile that shakes me to my core with rage. “How dare you laugh at me. How dare you think you have the upper hand in this relationship.”

“Is that what we have? A relationship?” His forefinger caresses my cheek, and a chill runs down my spine, tingling all the way to my toes. My God, just one night. What could it hurt? Wait—what am I saying? Why am I suddenly so confused? I’m Lex the Ice Queen Maxfield. Things happen when and where I dictate them. This won’t happen to me. This will happen for me.

“I know you, Lex,” he rumbles so deep the words resonate like thunder deep down in my bones. “You want us back just as much as I do.”

“The hell I do.”

His eyes widen with the expletive.

“The only thing I want is this.” I press my lips to his, my entire body wrapping around him like a vine. Those cushion soft lips of his open and I fall right in, our tongues touching for the first time in so long my entire body swims with relief. I want this. I need this. And I hate Axel Collins for making me feel both of those things.

His tongue does a hungry revolution around my mouth, and we both expel a hearty groan at the very same time. A dull chuckle rattles both of our chests, but we don’t break our stride, our mouths still very much fused as this kiss permeates every last part of my being. It’s as if I had been holding my breath for all these years, and this, the first perfect breath I’ve craved for so long, is healing something deep inside of me.

But he’s not. The only thing this mouth to mouth will produce is more confusion, and if there’s anything I hate more than Axel Collins it’s confusion.

“Stop.” I pull back and crash my open palm over that sexy stubbled cheek, and the action alone makes me