The Last First Kiss (Harlequin Special Edition)

by Ferrarella, Marie

  “No,” she answered with what she could only hope looked like a careless shrug. “Um, what was it that you think you felt?”

  He knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted him to say it first. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?” he guessed. With a laugh couched in disbelief, he shook his head. “Okay, I’ll go first.” He looked at her profile as they drove. Damn but it was near perfect, he thought. Why, after all this time, especially with their history, was she getting to him like this? “God help me, I felt something. And—” he took a breath, as if to fortify himself before continuing “—not for the first time.”

  Kara gripped the steering wheel harder. Her chin went up in unconscious defense. “This isn’t my first time, either.”

  He realized that she’d misunderstood him. “I meant with you. Not my first time with you,” he emphasized, trying to get his feelings across.

  With her?

  That completely threw her. Her eyes darted toward Dave quickly. Her heart decided to relocate back up into her throat, possibly permanently this time.

  “Really?” Did that sound as breathless and tinny to him as it did to her? Her nerves were all over the place and she damned herself for it.

  This is Dave, damn it. Nothing-special Dave. Don’t act stupid.

  “Really,” Dave said. “Face it, Kara,” he went on. “For whatever reason, there’s an attraction between us.”

  She didn’t want to face it. Didn’t want to admit it or lower her defenses. She was actually afraid to lower her defenses. The only way to take the edge off this was to be flippant. So Dave would think that this was business as usual for her instead of completely uncharted territory.

  “You probably have some kind of a scientific name for all this,” Kara said.

  Why in heaven’s name would she think that? But then, the way her mind worked had always been a huge mystery to him and, he suspected, most likely to anyone else dealing with her.

  “No,” he told her simply.

  He wasn’t helping, Kara thought. If she wasn’t careful, she’d find herself slipping into a vortex, one from which she didn’t think she would ever emerge.

  “Okay,” she said gamely, “how about if we call it ‘Albert’?”

  It was official, he thought. He really hadn’t a clue what went on in that head of hers. “‘Albert’?” he questioned.

  “Yes, Albert. As in Albert Einstein.” Kara didn’t have to look at him to know that he was staring at her as if she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had, but this tiny tidbit actually did make sense. “According to one of the latest biographers, it seems that Albert Einstein had one heck of a raging libido.”

  That might or might not be true, he didn’t know. But there was one thing he did know. “You’re driving past your development,” he told her.

  Kara did a double take.

  Damn it, he was right. She was driving past the entrance to her development. Pressing her lips together, she refrained from saying anything as she made her way to the next light that, fortunately, allowed for U-turns.

  “I guess the conversation with you is so scintillating,” she cracked dryly, “I didn’t notice the entrance.”

  “I like you better without the sarcasm,” Dave told her quietly.

  Kara was grateful that they were inside his car so he couldn’t tell she was blushing. Because of her fair skin, she was probably an embarrassing shade of pink right now.

  Why his comment should do that to her was something she didn’t completely grasp and refused to explore at the moment. The less she thought about him—or “them”—the better, she decided.

  “I’ll make a note of that when I get a chance,” she promised flippantly.

  “Right.” He reminded himself that Kara had brought his car to him and that she had brought him something to eat, as well. She was under no obligation to do either, so beneath the bravado, there really was a very decent, kind person.

  One who, for some unknown reason that pointed to the fact that God had to have a sense of humor, stirred him the way he really had never been stirred before.

  Every single woman he had ever been out with—women he felt were close to perfect in temperament, women who’d matched his own personality and intellect—almost immediately left him restless, eager to be on his way. Bored. Every woman he thought he should be attracted to, he really wasn’t.

  And the one woman he would have bet his soul that he wasn’t attracted to, he was. How was that for a cosmic joke at his expense? Dave thought darkly.

  Kara drove into her development, but rather than take the first available space in guest parking, she continued driving until she came to a second set of guest parking spaces. He hadn’t even noticed them when he came to pick her up.

  She finally picked a space, parking in the last empty one that was closest to her apartment.

  “Less distance to walk,” she explained when she saw him looking at her quizzically.

  Taking a breath, as if bracing herself, Kara unbuckled her seat belt and opened the driver’s-side door, then got out.

  Dave quickly followed suit on his side, emerging from the vehicle at the same time she did.

  Time to beat a hasty retreat, she thought nervously, feeling disgusted with herself at the same time for her reaction. Just what was it that she was afraid of? She’d always been so fearless around Dave, had always enjoyed being able to tease him. Since when did she subscribe to the better-safe-than-sorry school of thought? And exactly what was she being “safe” from?

  Still, she heard herself saying, “Well, I’ll give you a call when I figure out the next phase of Operation Meddling Mothers.”

  To her surprise, rather than agree or just say goodbye the way she expected him to, Dave looked at her over the hood of his car and said, “The world won’t end if you invite me in, you know.”

  Stunned, she was certain she hadn’t heard him correctly. And if she had, then he needed to explain why he’d just said what he had. “What?”

  His eyes held hers as he began to repeat his statement. “The world won’t—”

  “No, I heard you. I heard you,” she cried, holding up her hand to stop him from going on. “And you’re wrong,” she told him. There went her pulse again. What was wrong with her, anyway? “It just might. Why throw the whole universe off just to continue with an experiment named Albert—?”

  It was the last thing she said.

  Dave had rounded the back of his car while she was talking and, right when she’d started to voice her last question, he’d framed her face with his hands, drew her to him and kissed her.

  He kissed her not as if it were some sort of an experiment, but as if he’d been restraining himself from reaching over while they were still on the road and kissing her right then and there.

  There was enough energy and passion within the kiss to completely take her breath away—as well as, in her opinion, to supply enough electricity to light up Las Vegas for a week.

  Part of her, for just a split second, wanted to flee. To run and save herself before it was too late. But that survival instinct died quickly. Survival was the last thing on her mind. Enjoyment coupled with eagerness and excitement took center stage, wiping everything else from her brain cells.

  Her knees went weak, as did the pit of her stomach. To steady herself—or perhaps to anchor Dave into place—she put her arms around his neck, holding him closer to her. Savoring the taste of him as her head continued to spin madly around.

  He wanted her too much.

  The way Dave saw it, while he was still capable of coherent thought, was that he had one of two options. He could either run like hell and find himself fighting off this urge time and again, even when she wasn’t anywhere around. Perpetually wondering if he was missing out on something.

>   Or, he could just follow his instincts, make love with this one-time harpy from his past and most likely discover that the expectations ricocheting through him right now were far too high. Then, once again, he would find himself being greatly disappointed in the person he’d selected because she wasn’t what he’d hoped she was—someone who actually made him feel alive and grateful to be so.

  Still, he couldn’t very well force himself on Kara. She needed to make her own choice.

  Drawing back, Dave looked at her. He pulled in a somewhat ragged breath before he asked, “So, are you going to invite me in?”

  Shell-shocked, Kara looked around, more than half expecting that civilization as she knew it had self-destructed.

  Apparently, it hadn’t. She had no idea why everything was still intact. God knew she wasn’t.

  “You mean you’re not in yet?” she murmured, her voice low and husky.

  She looked so dazed. Dave bit his lower lip to keep from laughing at the confusion in her eyes. There was almost something endearingly sweet about her expression, even though he knew better than to comment on that or point it out to her. If he did, it would probably be the last thing he’d get to say on this earth.

  So instead, he gave her a serious answer and said, “No, not yet. We’re still standing out here in guest parking.”

  “Not for long,” she assured him. Taking his hand in hers, she pulled him along in her wake. Looking over her shoulder, she told him, “I have no intentions of remaining in ‘Park’ any longer than I really have to.”

  Ignoring the warmth that anticipation was spreading through his limbs—hadn’t he been disappointed enough times to know that this was all eventually leading nowhere?—Dave laughed.

  “You never struck me as someone who could keep from moving around for long.”

  She looked at him over her shoulder again as she dug through her purse, searching for her keys. “I guess we’re about to find out a lot of things, aren’t we?”

  Yes, he thought, I guess we are.

  Chapter Twelve

  As he walked across the threshold into Kara’s apartment, Dave waited for his common sense to prevail. At that moment, he had every intention of stalling, of giving them both time to think through what seemed to be on the verge of happening.

  Those were his intentions.

  But then Kara turned around and looked at him with those incredible blue eyes of hers. And just like that, all the air around him evaporated, making it almost impossible for him to catch his breath.

  Impossible to do anything but focus on her and this sudden, intense and overwhelming need he felt raging inside of him.

  What the hell was going on with him anyway?

  This wasn’t him, he argued. He wasn’t given to feeling these kinds of passions and desires. He was far more sedate than that.

  Yet here he was, his mouth sealed to hers, his body heated in anticipation of what was to come.

  Maybe if she hadn’t kissed him back the way she had, his ardor might have dampened slightly and his mind would have been able to prevail, to take control. But the moment they came together, Dave could feel her responding to him, could taste the desire on her lips. In less time than it took to draw in a breath, all bets were off and sanity went straight out the window.

  Dave was only vaguely aware of moving into Kara’s living room, but he was acutely aware of her. The way her curves fit into the spaces of his body. The way her skin felt like the softest newly spun silk. And the way her mouth worked over his, fueling his passion and moving it up to the next level. Had he been a lit torch instead of a man, he would have burned so brightly that no one within miles could miss it.

  His downfall, he knew, was inevitable.

  Kara was in trouble and she knew it. This was no longer pretending, going through the motions for the benefit of their mothers. This was something that was happening in the privacy of her apartment with no one to see what was going on but the two of them. There was no excuse for this, no reason for it to be happening.

  None except that she was going to self-destruct if it didn’t. If he didn’t make love to her soon and thus uncork the volatile forces that threatened to implode her if they weren’t released, she was certain her minutes were numbered.

  Survival meant only one thing. She needed to make love with this man.

  Now.

  With her hands amazingly a great deal more steady than what was going on inside of her, Kara began to peel Dave’s T-shirt away from his rock-hard chest. She dragged it up over his head and threw it on the floor without missing a beat. Her lips were hardly separated from his.

  When she began to uncinch his belt, Dave reached behind her, found the knot holding together her halter and started to untie it. For a second, she felt him fumbling as the knot initially gave him trouble, but finally the ties fluttered apart, one to either side of her, leaving her exposed.

  She could have sworn she felt a hot breeze pass over her bare skin as she anticipated what was to come next.

  She felt him catch his breath as his hands passed over her breasts lightly, reverently, as if she were breakable and required the utmost care.

  Her heart began to hammer so hard, Kara was certain it was going to crack a rib.

  She didn’t care. It was worth it.

  Reacting to the way his fingers caressed her, she kissed him harder. His touch was gentle, soft, but there was no question. At this singular moment in time, Dave owned her. She was his without a word needing to be uttered.

  Kara drew in a fortifying breath, then began undressing him again. With less-than-certain moves, she pushed his jeans down over his hips. The moment he was left wearing only his underwear, it was as if Dave suddenly snapped to attention and got busy. Within the next two heartbeats, she was no longer in her denim short-shorts. One more heartbeat and the white thong she’d had on beneath them became history, as well.

  A slight groan escaped her lips. Trying her best to keep her wits about her, Kara returned the compliment in kind. She hooked her thumbs beneath each side of his underwear and pulled it down with one quick snap of her wrists.

  Their bodies hot, their desire hotter, they came together like the opposite fields of a magnet, sealed against one another, their mouths still questing, still devouring.

  And then she was on the floor with Dave’s body over hers.

  Breaking contact, his mouth moved from hers. But there was no respite in the offing. His lips were already moving along the sensitive side of her neck, driving her absolutely crazy as desires she’d never felt before suddenly came to life within her core. Kara arched her body into his, trying to capture this sensation he was creating inside her.

  As his mouth slid down, bringing havoc to everywhere his lips and tongue touched, it stoked an urgency within her that was threatening to explode. Kara found herself in the throes of a sweet agony she’d never even suspected could exist.

  And then stars exploded as his tongue found what was to her a brand-new pressure point. Next to no extra contact was required before bursting rockets joined the stars, obliterating her sky, utterly and completely disorienting her.

  As she fell back, gasping, her eyes reduced to small slits, she could still make out his expression. Dave wasn’t smug, but there was a smile curving his mouth. A definite smile that denoted triumph.

  Seeing it caused her to rally, to somehow find a second wind and to silently vow that she was not the only one who was going to undergo this kind of wondrous torture.

  With a quick movement, she caught him off guard and managed to flip their positions. Within a blink of an eye, she was over him.

  Taking her time, teasing, moving forward and then back, she swept the tip of her tongue over him. With that one weapon, she successfully brought him to the brink, only to retreat ag
ain.

  Once.

  Twice.

  As she ventured toward a third time, Dave caught her wrists, tugged her over to one side and was on top of her again. No more games, he thought. He could only hold himself in check for so long before it all slipped beyond his control.

  His eyes on hers, vaguely mystified how he and the person he’d thought of as his mortal enemy close to twenty years ago had gotten to this place, he brought his mouth down on hers. Completely lost in her, he kissed her over and over again until they were both in danger of simply dissolving in a puff of steam.

  Parting her legs with his knee, the warmth of her core guiding him, Dave began to enter her slowly.

  And then stopped.

  His eyes widened and he looked at her, dumbfounded. He saw her looking back at him, something almost defiant in her crystal-blue orbs.

  Drawing back, he managed to form the words, “Are you—?”

  She threw the word “yes” back at him, thrust her hips upward and the discussion-that-wasn’t became a moot point.

  They were one now.

  Her hips moved in tandem with his, initially setting a pace until he took over. And then she mimicked him, not just echoing his movements but actually anticipating them. It seemed almost impossible for him to believe that this was their first time, they were that in sync.

  And yet, it was. It was their first time together.

  And it was hers, as well.

  His arms tightened around her protectively as the last moment seized him, bringing him to the mind-numbing, heart-pounding climax he sought. For a frozen moment in time, it held on to him as tightly as he held on to her. And then, the effects began to loosen, to recede, until he was left with a semi-racing pulse and encroaching confusion mingled with guilt.

  The euphoria disappeared.

  The guilt didn’t.

  Shifting, he dropped down rather than simply lay down beside her, his heart rate slowly returning to normal.

  “You’re a virgin,” he said hoarsely.