Page 34 of Wild Fire

A low growl escapes his throat as his gaze settles on my mouth.

“You,” he says. “To walk away.”

His gaze holds mine in challenge, and I realize that’s exactly what this is.

A challenge. One I’m not sure I understand, but… that I want to understand, nonetheless.

“Can I ask you something?” I say, my voice low, soft, like his.

AJ nods, licking his lips. “You can ask me anything.”

“Will you tell me the truth?”

His lips turn up in the corner slightly, a ghost of a smile.

“Of course.”

He could lie to me, I know that. But something tells me he won’t. I should ask if we can start over. Forget about last night, and this morning and this car ride, and…

His tongue darts out to lick his lips and I swallow hard.

“Are you thinking about kissing me right now?” I ask, surprised by my own words because that’s not what I meant to say…

Oh, fuck.

Heat floods my cheeks as I realize my error, and before I can apologize and tell him I should definitely go before I embarrass myself further, one word renders me frozen in place.

“Yes.”

I did not expect that, and the shock must register on my face because his eyebrows furrow and he looks worried.

Scared, even.

“I’m sorry, I—”

My heart races, heavy in my chest as my breath catches.

He said yes.

He said he yes, he’s thinking about kissing me!

Holy shit!

I can’t help but smile because fuck, I want to kiss him, too.

“Then kiss me,” I say, my voice clear as a bell. “I won’t stop you.”

AJ lets out a low breath and closes his eyes as he hangs his head.

“It’s not that simple, Bright Eyes,” he says, his voice full of something I can’t quite place, but sounds an awful lot like guilt.

I lean up, just enough to capture his gaze, waiting for him to close the remaining inch like I know he wants to. Like I want him to.

His thumb brushes over my bottom lip slowly, reverently almost. His dark gaze holds mine like a hostage, and I can taste the salt from his skin as he gently coaxes open my mouth with his thumb. It’s slow and gentle in touch, but there’s nothing gentle about the look in his eyes or the way my dick hardens when he pushes his thumb into my mouth.

Without thinking, I wrap my lips around his thumb and suck before I kiss it, closing my eyes as my tongue grazes over the pad of flesh and it’s like something inside me awakens; like a monster emerging from a cave. I grab his wrist, tightening my grip as I push his thumb into my mouth more and start to suck, laving my tongue around him with a deep groan.

“Fuck,” AJ hisses and then he pushes me back against the side of his truck.