Page 122 of Tailwind

I felt him smile as his lips brushed against my forehead. He shifted. I could feel every movement through the thin fabric of his shirt. Heat radiated from him and I could feel it rising inside of me too.

My eyes began to adjust. The light from around the door reflected off the silver chain that hung around his neck, dipping into the hollow at the base of his throat.

A bang cut through the quiet. I flinched. Gordi had returned, slamming the back door open. Theo’s hands flexed on the small of my back.

‘Babe! You still here?’ Gordi called out, passing our hiding place.

An indistinct reply floated from further in the aviary. She had a lot of patience.

‘I can’t believe it,’ I murmured, watching the silver chain shift as the tendons in Theo’s neck moved. ‘He’s going to get laid before me tonight.’

‘It’s for the best, Paldon. No one else could satisfy you anyway.’ His breathing was even and smooth, yet his heart was pounding hard and fast enough that I could feel it while pressed up against him.

‘No one else?’ My tongue ran over my lip as I parsed his words. Then I huffed out a low laugh, bringing a hand up to play with the necklace that was keeping so much of my attention. ‘And you could?’

‘Yes, I can.’ Theo dipped his head down so he spoke by my temple. ‘I’d have you falling apart at the seams, Paldon.’

A shiver ran down my spine, lighting up every nerve in my body as it went. He moved one of his legs so it rested between mine. My breath caught. He was about to lose this test of wills.

‘I think the playboy Volitant rider look is all an act. There’s no fire in that breath of yours.’ I tugged on the necklace, pulling him lower.

‘Oh, but I know you, don’t I? Better than anyone else.’ His hands began to move. One slipped further around my waist, strengthening his hold on me, the other drifted down. ‘Think about it. Who is the only person who’s ever been able to keep up with you? Who knows what you want the moment you think it?’

My nose brushed the corner of his jaw. I bit my lip, desperate to hold back. To not be the first one to break.

‘It would be the same, Paldon. I’d match you move for move, push you to your limit to make that finish feel so—’ He nudged my hair away from my ear, catching my earlobe as he spoke. ‘—so sweet.’

I breathed him in, his citrus scent consuming me. It rushed to my head, making me think it was a good idea to keep going.

It was Theo though. I’d spent five years hating him and even longer competing, arguing … There were so many reasons to say no, to not find out if he was right. Those reasons fell away as his lips brushed my cheek.

‘Lena?’ He laced my name with longing.

‘Prove it.’

The tension between us snapped. Theo pushed his hips into mine, sending a thrill rushing through me. My hands went up behind his neck and into his hair, feeling his soft curls fall over my fingers. He braced one arm next to my head and curled the other around my lower back. We moved in sync.

His kisses started on my neck where he’d whispered my name, wetting my skin and chasing upwards to my mouth. When his lips met mine for the first time my entire body erupted.

I gripped on to him, wanting everything immediately. I tried desperately not to lose myself as his tongue danced with mine. He couldn’t win this quickly.

So I suffered pulling away from his mouth to trail mine along his jaw. The way his breath hitched made me delirious. That’s what I wanted.

‘You didn’t think you could do this without a fair fight, did you?’ I used the pressure of his hips as leverage to move my legs either side of his. ‘You forgot that I know you too, Theo. How long do you think it will take for me to ruin you?’

I brought a hand around to his face, tracing a dimple as he let out a quiet moan. I pulled his mouth back to mine. He didn’t resist.

‘Let’s find out,’ he whispered between kisses.

Theo scooped his hands around my thighs, lifting. My legs wrapped around him to lock him to me, my skirt shifting up and making way for him. He pinned me there against the door with only his hips and ran his hands up my body.

‘Too scared to not have me pinned down?’ I muttered into his hair as he kissed my neck. ‘Don’t you want to know what I’d do to you?’

A tremble ran through his body, then mine. One hand skimmed along my dress, stopping at my breasts to cup, rub and pinch in ways that made me groan. The other kept going up to cradle my chin. I arched into him.

‘I know exactly what you want to do.’ His breath was heavy, shallow. ‘You’d try and get me on my knees.’

‘Wrong, Theo.’ I tugged at his hair so he looked at me. His eyes were soft, his pupils wide with pleasure. ‘I’d be the one on my knees.’