There Goes My Heart (The Sullivans #20) - Bella Andre Page 0,19
said. We should go now. I’ve done my duty to support Brittany—and you’ve gone above and beyond in playing the part of my besotted lover.”
She began to move away, but he reached for her hand before she could. “Who says it’s just a part I’m playing?”
She seemed stunned by his question. “Of course it is. I mean, I know we kissed, but—”
“I want to kiss you again, Zara. I’ve been wanting to kiss you again and again and again since the moment my lips left yours.”
“Are you feeling all right?” She tried to say it in her usual sassy voice, but her words came out all breathy. “Last thing I knew, we couldn’t stand each other. More kisses… More everything… It would be crazy.”
“I’ll tell you what’s crazy. Here with you tonight—I can’t think of the last time I’ve enjoyed being with anyone as much. And when we kissed, the whole goddamned earth moved.”
“That should have sounded cheesy.” It was almost as though she was talking to herself. “Why didn’t that sound cheesy?”
“Because I have a feeling this is where we’ve been headed all along. To one night.” He paused to let her take it in. And to make sure he’d wrapped his own head around it before he took things any deeper. “Together.”
“One night?” She whispered the words in a shocked tone. “Together?”
He didn’t move, didn’t speak, didn’t push her to agree. He might have put the crazy idea out there, but it had to be her decision.
He didn’t know how long she thought it over. It could have been five seconds or five minutes. Finally, she nodded. “One night. That’s all it will be.”
He wanted to drag her out of the cocktail bar, run down the street to the hotel they’d checked into earlier, and toss her onto the bed so that he could taste every inch of her from head to toe, then back again.
Instead, he made sure to heed the voice in his head telling him to make absolutely sure she wanted this. “I don’t want you to wake up tomorrow and regret anything that happens tonight.”
“I won’t if you won’t.” He knew her stubborn look well. It was the one she’d worn during every one of their previous sparring sessions. “Kiss me, Rory. Show me what it feels like to truly be wanted.”
A man could take only so much temptation and still hold on to his control. His was done for as he slid his hands into her hair and crushed his mouth to hers.
* * *
Listening to Brittany and Cameron gushing over each other, Zara had been stunned that they still behaved as though she hadn’t been a part of their beginning—and that they hadn’t both cheated on her. For the first time, she truly had felt like a doormat.
Fortunately, Rory had come through for her again, getting her out of the bad situation before anyone else noticed her reaction. And then he’d gone one better and offered her a lifeline.
Himself.
This had all started with simply wanting to get through Brittany and Cameron’s engagement celebration in one piece. But the longer Zara spent in Rory’s arms, the less tonight had to do with her stepsister and ex.
Now, it had to do only with Rory.
She wanted him. And not because she knew going back to the hotel and making love with him would stick in Brittany and Cameron’s craw.
Forget about their engagement. Forget wanting to prove something to them. Forget gunning for the big prize.
Suddenly, all that mattered was how much Zara had come to like Rory. How safe she felt with him. How hot he made her.
She didn’t want to share him with anyone else. At least for this one night.
She made herself stop kissing him long enough to say, “What do you say we take this to the hotel?”
As though he couldn’t keep from touching her, he brushed the pad of his thumb over her lower lip before giving her a truly wicked smile. “I say, hell yes.”
CHAPTER NINE
Thank God the oceanfront hotel where they had booked rooms for the night was only around the corner. If she’d had to wait any longer to tear off Rory’s clothes and have her wicked way with him, she might very well have combusted.
She’d never been afraid or ashamed of her sexuality, but the truth was that none of her partners had ever truly plumbed the depths of it. Given how delicious Rory’s kisses were—not to mention how heady the feel of his large hands caressing