The responsible version of Nova knows that I should be pushing him away, reminding him of the line in the sand we should never cross. But my delinquent side is acting up. Curious, hungry, decidedly drunk.
I never liked Responsible Nova anyway.
We keep one another's gaze for a long, pulsating moment and I light up on the inside, my heartbeats faltering, my stomach clenching. "What are we doing?" I say in a breathy whisper. I sway a little, feeling woozy.
His fingertips brush my skin when he reaches out to play with the pendant of the necklace around my throat. His voice is like silk against the shell of my ear. "I don't know about you but I'm working up the courage to lean in and kiss you.”
My stomach knots tighter. My tongue runs over my bottom lip. Oh, god. I wasn’t imagining it. He wants me. "Five bucks says you chicken out."
He chuckles deep in his chest. It’s an arrogant sound. The bass of it reverberates between my thighs. "Five bucks says I blow your mind."
I chuff and my voice drops dangerously low. "I dare you.”
For the sake of my ego, I’d like to believe that I’m cool, composed and collected on the outside but my insides are a pulsing, throbbing, lusting mess. I know for sure that I’ve never wanted anyone’s lips on me the way I want Charlie’s.
The energy between us scorches. An electric charge clips and sputters all around us. His massive hands fall on my waist, fingers flexing into my skin. They drag roughly up my back, rumpling the shimmery fabric of my dress. I keen into his crude touch, curving my back, pressing my breasts into him. I chew down on the inside of my mouth to keep from groaning.
He palms the back of my head, his fingers getting lost in my hair and he tilts my head as he moves closer to me. His lips are full and dewy and the feel of his breath fanning over my mouth is enough to make me lose my mind. He’s hesitating, weighing the pros and cons of doing this. He may be right to waver. Even in my drunken haze, I’m aware that doing this could change things. But all I really care about is the here and now. Nothing else matters until I’m tasting him, my tongue licking into his mouth, his teeth sinking into my lip.
Slowly, I lean forward, angling my face until our lips touch. “Chicken…”
The power of the contact is a shock to my system. I feel the fire of it coursing through my blood.
Growling, he presses his body closer, trapping me against the edge of the bar. He chuffs. “There’s no way I’m leaving my five bucks on the table.” Big, warm hands come up, cradling my cheeks as his lips close over mine. I open my mouth to groan.
That’s when his tongue slips inside. Wet, soft, hot, it strokes against mine. Fucking my mouth with his. My hands go around his waist. Each jab of his tongue is like a cattle prod, sending bolts of pleasure through my system. I’m boneless, senseless, thoughtless, surrendering completely to this moment.
He’s making it so easy to forget that we’re nothing more than friends. Right now, he’s just the tall, handsome man in the well-fitted tux. The man who’s kissing me, who’s making my knees weak, who’s making me lose my sanity.
I tilt my head to the side and his arms band around my body, holding me so close, so tight that I can feel his heart rattling his ribcage. I can feel his erection, concrete against my quivering belly. And now, he’s moving, rubbing, thrusting ever so slightly against me in a way that’s driving me mad. Adrift in the ocean of his kiss, I lose track of time and space and everything other than the feel of him against me.
He’s the one to pull away. “We should, uh…we should…” He hooks a thumb over his shoulder, pointing toward the door.
“Yeah, we should go. Yeah.”
Eyes half-lidded, he nods. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” In a mental fog of horniness, I move for the door. All I hear is my pulse roaring in my ears and the conflicting thoughts screaming in my head.
How could I kiss him like that? How could I let him shove me up against the side of the bar and run his hands all over my curves?
But when I replay the look of absolute lust and fire in his eyes…
How could I not?
“Here…” Charlie catches up to me and slides my purse into my hand.
“Oh, right. Thanks.” We freeze and stare at each other. Falling back into the same pattern of thought that had us humping all over each other to begin with.
Snap out of it.
I take a step. So does he. Somehow, we end up walking right into each other. “Sorry.”
“Um, yeah. Sorry.” He stretches a hand out gallantly, motioning for me to lead the way. “After you.”
With a curt nod, we resume the journey toward the door.
Awkward. Dazed. Horny.
Such is the current state of affairs.
The ride home is going to be interesting.
Chapter 17
Charlie
I shouldn’t have taken that dare.
When she challenged me to kiss her, I should have backed down. I should have walked away. I should have let her win. That would have been the right thing to do.
Now, I’ve gone and tasted her. I got her sweetness on my tongue. I felt her softness under my fingertips.
After all that, I’m supposed to drop her off at her doorstep? Walk her to her front door with a friendly wave and a see-you-around?
Well, fuck—that’s the last thing I want to do.
I want this girl in my bed tonight. I know it’s wrong but at this point, I’m fresh out of willpower. As I pull up to the curb outside of her house, I make a final appeal to my conscience. I give myself one last pep talk on the importance of not fucking the ever-living shit out of my dear friend, Nova.
Drawing in a long breath, I turn to her. It’s nearly midnight. Just past her shoulder I can see the living room light on in her house. Her mother is sitting on the couch. Her sister is there, too, talking and laughing. There might be someone else in the room but I’m not quite sure.
Nova is in the passenger seat, knotting her hands in her lap, her eyes focused downward. I’ve never seen her so tense, so uncomfortable with me. I scold myself.
I’m a horny idiot. Look what I’ve done.
A panicked thought flutters through my mind; I don’t want to lose her. Women are in and out of my life like a revolving door. In all honesty, I usually like it that way because those who linger around on the peripheries after a few fucks bring me nothing but drama. I shiver when a certain scene from Fatal Attraction comes to mind.
But Nova’s different.
She’s been a constant in my life. She’s been a friend. A safe, drama-free place to fall. And of course I want to fuck her. What man wouldn’t? She’s gorgeous. Her body, with its wicked curves and smooth skin. Her heart-stopping eyes and vertigo-inducing smile. But she means too much for me to fuck this up just for some casual sex.
I just pray that our situation isn’t already permanently fucked.
Angling my body to face her, I release a heavy breath. "I didn't mean to confuse things between us. Nova, you mean so much to me. I don't want to lose you. Our friendship means so much to me.”
“Right,” she says quietly, a subtle hint of woe and bitterness carrying on her wine-scented breath. “You’re worried about our friendship.”
It’s not like her to get all cryptic on me. She’s the kind of person who says what she means and means what she says but I’m feeling the weight of the things she’s keeping bottled up right now. Shit, this isn’t good.
“What do you mean by that?” I try to keep my tone calm even as I’m starting to freak out inside. I shouldn’t have taken that fucking dare.
Her silence thickens the air in the car before she pushes out a hard breath. “I just…It was…” Her shoulders slump as she gives up trying to explain herself. “It’s been a long night,” she says quietly, hand going to the door. “I should get inside.”
I reach out to stop her. A frisson runs through my blood as the heat of her skin sears my fingertips. She shivers, eyes flashing to me with a look I’ve seen
on far too many faces. When a woman looks at you that way—soft but heated, under her thick lashes—it can only mean one thing. She wants you.
Ah, fuck. I scrub a hand down my face. I want her, too.
But there’s something else in her stare. Something vulnerable. Almost as though she questions whether I’m attracted to her, whether I want to take her home with me tonight. She’s one of the best things in my life and the idea of losing her over hurt feelings or miscommunicated emotions is nearly terrifying.
I’m not a fool. I know that kissing her changes things and fucking her would flip our entire relationship on its head. But I can’t let her go around thinking that I’m not attracted to her, that I don’t want her in this way.
I rub my temples with my fingertips. I am so fucked. She’s my friend and she deserves to know how I really feel. I won’t have her doubting herself just to protect my ego. I just need to deal with this like a man. I lift my head and look her straight in the face. “Can I be honest with you for a second, Nova?”
“Be my guest.” Her tone wilts with sarcasm and she sweeps an arm through the air.
My eyes fall to her lips. They’re swollen from our kiss. Her shimmery lipstick is faded, staining the corners of her decadent mouth. I relive the tender brush of the soft, warm flesh against mine and my lips tingle for her again. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long…”
Her eyes snap to me. Even in the near-darkness of the cab, the hypnotic emerald green raids my senses. “What?”
“I’ve wanted to do more than kiss you, actually.” Now that I’ve begun laying my cards on the table, the confession comes easily.
“Charlie…” A quivering breath travels up her chest and shakes its way out of her throat.
I ignore the buzz rolling along the surface of my skin. “But there’s a million reasons why I need to keep you at arm’s length.”
“What reasons?” She blinks, her chest rising and falling quickly.
“I’m not good at dealing with hearts. Bodies, yes. But hearts…” I close my eyes to get a hold of the confusion rampaging free in my thoughts. “And I’ve watched people hurt you, Nova. I would never forgive myself if I was just another asshole who did you wrong. You’ve been in my life forever. I wasn’t joking when I said that you’re my best friend.I don’t know how to function without you in the background, popping up at my house unannounced, bothering me like a pesky, little virus I don’t want to get rid of.”
Melodic laughter flows out of her mouth, the sound so sweet it makes my chest hurt.
“Fuck, Nova…”
Her tiny hands come up to my cheeks, dragging along my skin. So much need. “Fuck, Charlie…” She eases forward and her lips brush mine.
Tentative because she knows that I’m right.
Doing it anyway because the desire is too much despite everything that’s at stake.
“No…” My voice comes out as a warning.
“Just kiss me,” she begs softly. “Nothing between us has to change. Just kiss me.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Just kiss me.”
“Nova…”
“Just kiss me.”
Goddammit!
I tear her hands off my face and clench them in one fist as my other hand slides into her hair. I rush forward, so eager to taste her, to feel the softness of her mouth pressed to mine.
Her groan fills the car as our lips meet and I stab my tongue into the wet warmth of her mouth. I’m on fire, my blood thickening to hot lava. My brain is throbbing, a hundred worse case scenarios flashing through my thoughts. But right now, all I care about is how good she tastes and how much I want to sample every inch of her skin.
She struggles against my restraint, fighting for the release of her hands. I give in because I want to touch her all over. Sinking deeper into our kiss, Nova fists the front of my shirt and her body leans closer. She unclicks her seatbelt and climbs into my lap, the shimmery fabric of her dress splayed across my lap as she grinds her pussy against the too-hard length of my erection.
I want to fuck her so bad right now. And I may be a bastard for touching her in the first place but even I have my limits. I can’t bring myself to do it here, on the curb outside of her house, in a frigging rental car for god’s sake. This might be the only time I ever get to do this and I need it to be amazing.
I pull back, my bottom lip popping out of her mouth. My eyes search hers in the dim cabin. “I want you to come home with me.”
Her chest rises and falls quickly. She licks her lips contemplatively and then she nods. “I want that, too.”
I can hardly stand the pounding of my heart as I pilot the car across town. I can’t believe that I’m doing this. I can’t believe that it’s Nova in the front seat and that she’s coming to my house. I can’t believe that she wants me right now, the way I’ve wanted her for so long. I may just be the luckiest bastard this town has ever known.
A part of me is afraid that she’ll come to her senses. She’ll snap out of her daze and realize that this is a mistake. I drive just a little bit faster because I can’t let that happen. As wrong as it is, I’m all in now. I need her pussy tonight and until I get it, there’s no turning back. We’ll deal with the consequences tomorrow.
My gaze snaps over to her and she smiles. It’s a restrained grin, full of mischief and desire. The car jerks halfway into the next lane when she reaches over and strokes my thigh. She giggles, mumbles a quiet apology. She’s pulling her hand back but I grab her wrist, put her hand back on me, move it a little higher up, groan her name. She has no idea what she’s doing to me and this car ride seems eternal. I just want to have her in my bed.
When we finally get to my house, I pull up in the driveway and shift the car into ‘park’. I hop out so fast my feet barely hit the ground before I’m at her door, helping her maneuver out of her seat in that long, shimmery dress.
The front door is only a few feet away but I can’t wait that long to taste her again. I press her up against the side of the car and kiss her. I draw my hands down her body, over her curves. My fingers clench on her skin, so eager for all of her.
She pushes against my chest and our lips part. “Want you inside me,” she groans, her eyes pleading in the moonlight.
“Yes.” The word vibrates in my chest as I close my fist around her fingers and pull her up the walkway. She teeters in those high heels as she hustles alongside me.
I unlock the door and toss my keys onto the table in the entrance. As soon as she steps over the threshold, I slam the door and shove her gorgeous body against it. The skinny heel of her stiletto cracks and she stumbles. I’m right there to catch her. We both laugh as she toes off the shoes and kicks them away.
She moans when I lock my fingers in her hair and yank her head back. That moan deepens when my lips fall to her throat, kissing and sucking her there. Sweet cocoa butter. The taste, the smell, the invasion of my senses. “So good,” I mumble into her flesh. “You’re so sweet.”
Her fingers work on my tie and the buttons of my shirt. A shiver runs through me when she whips the shirt open and runs her warm little palms down my chest. I find the zipper running down her back to free her of that repressive shroud of fabric. Kissing along her shoulder blade, I pull the dress down her body and the straps pop off before the cloth falls to her feet.
Guilt plays at the edges of my consciousness but the lust is stronger, overpowering, irresistible.
I take a step back and my stomach tightens as I get a first look at the luscious swell of her breasts, the wide expanse of her hips, the golden length of her thighs. And she’s wearing a thong, a tiny triangle of lace. In that moment, I worry for my cardiovascular health because the sight of her nearly-naked does funny things to my heart.
Oblivious to the suddenly fragile state of my health, Nova climbs me, her legs wrapping tight around my waist. My hands come under her ass, squeezing her there as I carry her up the stairs. My heart can’t beat any faster as I kick my be
droom door open and step into the room. The door slams into the wall so hard that a lamp falls off the table and shatters on the floor.
My movements falter as I stand at the foot of the mattress with her in my arms. I’ve never brought a woman into my bed. This place has been off-limits. I’ve never brought anyone here.
Nova senses my hesitation. She pulls back and looks at me in the shadowy room. “Are you okay?” Craning her neck, she follows my gaze to the neatly draped linens and arranged pillows. Concern shines in her eyes when she looks back at me, somehow reading me like a book. “We don’t have to do it in here,” she tells me knowingly, so understanding.
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