Page 65 of The Perfect Melody

“Now I know you better, and I like the person I’ve come to know. A lot.”

“You know some people—mostly Mei—thought this was a date,” I say, circling a hand to indicate both us and our surroundings.

“Did you?”

Taking a deep breath, I decide to be brave. “I wasn’t sure, but I hoped it was.”

At my admission, his lips tilt up at the corners. “Trust me, Trouble, when I take you on a date you’ll know.” Austin scoops up my hands from where they rest between us, easily engulfing them in his. “On that note—would you like to have dinner withme?” he asks with calm confidence, as unshakable as the hills surrounding us, as though he already knows my answer will be yes. It’s incredibly hot.

“I’d like that. At Bowman’s?”

He barks a laugh. “God, no. Give me some credit.”

“Quill and Dagger then?”

“No. I’m taking you to a proper restaurant.”

“You know I don’t care about fancy, right?”

Austin shrugs. “It’s not about that. Taking you somewhere special is one of many ways I plan to show you how much you mean to me. Besides, do you really want to spend our first date surrounded by our coworkers and my mother, or my nosy friend?”

I hadn’t thought of that. “Good point. Fancy it is.” I hesitate for a moment, searching his green eyes for any sign of doubt, but there’s nothing except a soft look of sincere affection I’ve never seen from him before. “You mean a lot to me too.”

Austin’s thumbs stroke lightly over the backs of my hands where they rest between us, and I shiver again, but this time it has nothing to do with the cold. He’s looking at me with such longing it’s almost impossible to reconcile this soft, open version of Austin with the man I met on my first day in town. Knowing he won’t make the first move when I’m essentially half naked and vulnerable, I lean in and wait for him to bridge the rest of the gap between us.

The kiss is gentle, almost tentative, as we learn the shape of each other. It’s filled with a tenderness that makes me wish this was my first kiss, not the slobbering attempt at one I had at sixteen, delivered by a drunk boy at a party, who didn’t give a shit about me. That doesn’t matter now, because just like with a first kiss, I already know I’ll always remember my first kiss with Austin.

We pull apart, just enough to give each other room to breathe. “Wow.” The tips of his ears, already pink from the cold, darken and I know he didn’t mean to say that out loud.

“Just think, if you hadn’t been so stubborn, we could have been doing that for weeks,” I tease.

Chuckling, Austin shakes his head, then guides my mouth back to his, not messing around this time. His hands on me become my only anchor points to reality, as I’m otherwise swept away by the ebb and flow of his lips against mine. Our tongues tangle in a give and take that leaves us both breathless, and suddenly kissing isn’t enough anymore.

Holding onto the back of the bench with my right hand for balance, I shift up onto my knees. Both of Austin’s large hands immediately go to my waist to steady me, tugging me closer as I swing my left leg over his lap until I’m left straddling his thigh. Our lips meet again in a kiss full of desire as one of Austin’s hands slides lower, gripping me tightly and encouraging me to grind against him.

A whimper escapes my lips at the delicious friction, the sound swallowed down by Austin’s eager mouth. His free hand moves to the front of my unzipped coat, and he pulls back from the kiss, even as I automatically try to chase the contact. “May I?”

“What?” I ask, dazed.

He toys with the tab of the zip on the jacket, then slides his hand up the teeth of the zip, the back of his fingertips only just brushing against my bare stomach. “I want to see you.” He kisses my jaw, then the spot on my neck right by my ear. “To touch you.” Another kiss to the column of my throat, the soft press of his lips contrasting with the slight friction of his beard, making my thighs squeeze together around his as my hips instinctively rock against him. “Do you want that too?”

“So much,” I reply, gripping his chin and tugging his mouth back to mine.

Austin’s hand parts the coat, slipping inside to glide from my hip, over the dip at my waist, and up to the curve of my breast. His thumb brushes over my taught nipple and I gasp against his mouth. My hands tangle in the wet strands of his copper hair as Austin kisses his way down my neck, nipping and sucking at the sensitive skin. His lips trail over my collarbone, then he reaches my breast, and the hot glide of his tongue over my nipple through the fabric of my bra makes me moan.

Rain still hammers down around us, but the outside world feels distant even though it’s only steps away, close enough that I can still feel the cold wind against my back. None of that matters right now. In here it’s just me, Austin, and the raging heat between us.

Calloused fingertips shove down the cups of my bra to expose my breasts, then Austin’s mouth is back nipping, and licking, and teasing. His free hand squeezes the breast not currently occupying his mouth, then he rolls the tight bud of my nipple between his fingers while sucking the other one. I can’t stop grinding against the thick, firm muscle of his thigh, urged on by the grip his left hand has on my butt. Even through my underwear and leggings, the friction feels incredible.

Letting my hands do some exploring of their own, I hold onto his shoulder with my right while my left trails down the broad expanse of his chest and over his stomach. He hasn’t got defined abs the way the so-called heartthrobs I’ve taken to events have. Austin’s build is thick and strong, hewn from hard work, being on his feet all day, and outdoorsy activities rather than hours in the gym. I can’t get enough of it.

“You’re so fucking perfect. I can’t wait to taste every inch of you,” Austin growls against my chest, kissing his way across to lavish the other side with attention. His grip on my butt tightensas I rock against him, my breaths coming in quick pants. My hand glides over the bulge in his jeans, and his hips jerk involuntarily. As if we’ve been doing this forever, Austin kisses me again, sweeping his tongue into my mouth and tangling it with mine while pleasure continues to build between my legs.

Pulling back just enough so that he can look me in the eye, Austin’s lust-filled eyes drink me in. “That’s it, Trouble. Ride my thigh. Use me to get off.”

I’m so close, teetering on the edge, but I can’t quite get there. “I—I need… Fuck.” I groan in frustration, grinding down on him harder. The feel of his hands on me, digging into the soft flesh of my arse, tugging on my nipple, the way his short beard brushes against my neck in a way that I know will leave a delicious redness behind all feels so good. I want this, wanthim, but it’s not enough.

“What do you need?”