by Jenika Snow
I didn’t know how long I kissed her, but I knew I could’ve done it forever.
When I pulled back, we were both gasping for air, our arms wrapped around each other, this look of wonder covering her face. I knew I probably looked the same way.
“I’ve been in love with you for so long, Shiloh. And I’m sorry for the way I acted, but seeing you with someone else, whether it was friendly or not, set me off. I feel possessive of you, protective. I’m a selfish bastard when it comes to you, but I am sorry.” She gave me a small smile. “I shouldn’t have gone about it like that. And when I asked you out, it should’ve been done the right way, with me telling you how I feel.” I smoothed my finger along her cheek, her skin so soft, the scent of flowers coming from her. She was perfect in every way, and I knew I’d beat myself up for the rest of my life for not making a move sooner.
I leaned down and kissed her again, sweet and soft, gently. Her nails dug into my arms, holding me close. I fucking loved it. I pulled back and smiled, feeling like I’d just won the fucking lottery.
“I’m off for the rest of the night,” I said, hoping she’d want to spend more time with me. “I don’t want to end this time with you yet.” The very thought of letting her go home was not something I even wanted to contemplate.
“Let’s go for a ride. Let’s just go and talk. I feel like the last two days were a lifetime.” I closed my eyes and rested my head against hers.
“That’s the truth.”
And then I helped her into the cab of my truck, telling her we’d pick up her car later, that I needed her close. I knew where I would take her, somewhere perfect and private, somewhere we could be alone.
And that’s all I wanted. To be with Shiloh.
Chapter Five
Kace
“Kace, it’s locked up. We’ll get in trouble if we’re caught.”
I glanced over at her, my hand on the door handle, a grin on my face. She looked so worried with her eyes wide and her hands clutching the edges of her jacket.
“We can’t just break in. It’s not, you know, legal.” She looked at the gate I was about to break open. She glanced back at me.
I grinned. “Baby, everything’s legal if you don’t get caught.”
“Oh God,” she whispered.
I jumped out of the truck heading towards the gate, working the chain from around the metal, and then I swung the door open.
I was about to trespass on private property with a lake owned by the Rice family. They were rich, the wealthiest family in town, owning a good chunk of land, this lake included. But I knew they rarely came out this way, and had somebody come mow down a path every month.
So Shiloh and I would have some alone time. It was a hell of a lot better than sitting in a parking lot, or going to the movies. Besides, ambience was everything.
Once the gate was open, I got back in my truck and pulled forward. I put it in park, hopped out to close the gate so it wasn’t obvious we were here, and once back in the vehicle, I headed down the uneven gravel road to where the lake was.
Luckily, I could tell it had been mowed recently, with the underbrush clear two cars wide. On either side of us were thick trees and weeds as tall as I was. It was a good drive down the road, but my headlights finally showed the massive lake.
I turned my car around so it was now parallel with the lake, cut the engine and lights, and looked at Shiloh. The moon was bright enough that I didn’t have to turn on the interior light to see her. The silvery glow washed through the window and made her look even more gorgeous.
She shifted on the seat and looked at me, lifting her hand and running her fingers through her hair. A groan was ripped from me.
“What?” she said softly.
“You know what,” I said just as quietly.
She shook her head and a little smile covered her lips. The shadows filled the interior of the vehicle, but I could tell she was blushing.
“I don’t know,” she said and still ran her fingers through her hair.
“Do you know how fucking beautiful you are?” I knew she was blushing harder.
We were both quiet for a long moment, and I swore I could hear her heart beating. All I wanted to do was reach out and pull her in close, to show her with my body, my hands and my lips how much she meant to me.
But I didn’t want to rush her, push her in the wrong direction. If all she wanted to do was talk, if all she wanted to do was sit here in silence, then that would be perfectly fine with me because I was with her.
The silence stretched on between us, but the truth was we didn’t have to say anything. If all I did was stare at her for the rest of the night, I would be a very happy man.
“I got accepted into NYU, Kace,” she said softly and my heart jackknifed in my chest.
I knew she’d get accepted, no questions asked. All I could do was nod. My throat was tight, my mouth dry. God, hearing her say it hurt, knowing she was going to leave like a hot poker to my gut. “I knew you’d get in. You’re so smart.”
The silence continued to stretch.
“It’s so far away,” she said softly.
All I could do was nod.
“But right now, I just want to worry about us, about the here and now. Can we do that, Kace?” She sounded so nervous, so worried that I’d tell her no.
Did she not know that I’d do anything for her, give her anything?
“Do you realize how much I love you, Shiloh?” I changed the subject to hopefully let her know without actually saying it that we didn’t need to talk about school anymore. “Do you realize how much?” I asked again when she didn’t answer. My voice was pitched low, deep. She licked her lips and I watched the act, her tongue moving over the swell of her bottom lip, my cock hardening. My dick had punched forward, gotten stiff the moment I saw her step out of her car at the construction site.
I had no control over my body’s reaction where she was concerned.
“I love you too,” she said softly and I wanted to groan, wanted to just say fuck it all and pull her on top of my lap.
I started breathing harder, that idea sounding better by the second.
“I think I fell in love with you the moment I saw you move into the house across the street, although I didn’t know it then. I might not have known what love was that young, but I knew that I had to have you in my life forever.” The truth spilled from me and I was unable to stop it. I didn’t even want to.
I wanted Shiloh to know everything, to understand that when it came to her there was no one else. She was what was important. She was my life.
And then, surprising the hell out of me, she was the one who moved closer to me, placed her hand on my thigh, which had my dick punching forward against my zipper, demanding to be free, and placed her mouth on mine.
I curled a hand on the steering wheel, knowing I needed to be calm, keep my control, because if I didn’t I’d be feral when it came to her. But when she moaned softly, that rope that bound me, keeping me in check, broke right in two.
I had my hands on her shoulders, my fingers curled against her arms. I pulled her closer, tilted my head to the side and opened my mouth. Our tongues touched and it was the sweetest fucking thing.
For long moments we kissed, her lips pressed to mine, our tongues dueling together. I was drunk and high and everything in between, and it was all because I finally had Shiloh.
She broke the kiss and pulled back an inch, the shadows moving along her face, and the sight of her so worked up was a visual aphrodisiac.
“We should go slow,” I breathed out, my voice pitched low.
She didn’t say anything for a second, but then shook her head. “I don’t want slow. I feel like I’ve been waiting a lifetime for you.”
Yeah, I was fucked in controlling myself.
I had my hands on her waist now and all but pulled her on top of me. She shifted so her legs were on either side of my thighs, her pelvis right on mine. She gasped and I groaned at the contact. I pushed her down on my
cock and lifted my hips at the same time, letting her feel how hard I was, how turned on she’d made me.
I trailed my lips along her neck, running the tip of my tongue on her skin, tasting how good she was. I latched my lips around the side of her throat and sucked at the same time she started rocking back and forth on me. I wanted her to get off, wanted to let that pleasure and knowledge that I’d caused her to feel that way claim me.
“God, Kace,” she whispered.
I could have come in my jeans from that sound alone.
“I want you.” Her voice was so low, so soft.
“You have no idea how much I want you.” I lifted my hips slightly, digging my hard dick against her. She let out the sexiest little mewl.
I lifted my head, about to kiss her again, but she leaned back slightly.
“What is it, baby?”
She didn’t answer right away, but the way she licked her lips, the fact she looked at me with so much pleasure, had every male part of me roaring out.
“I want you,” she whispered again. “I want you right here, right now.”
I felt my heart literally stop in my chest at her words. My hands curled tighter around her waist involuntarily, my body reacting as if I had no control.
“Take me.” She leaned in and kissed me softly. “Take my virginity.”
I closed my eyes and groaned. “I can’t take you here. You deserve better.”
She kissed me softly, little moans coming from her. “But I need you. I’ve waited so long.”
Fuck, she was going to be the death of me.
We rested our foreheads together and breathed out roughly. I wanted to be a gentleman and do this the right way, take my time with her. But the truth was I was too fucking selfish where she was concerned. I wanted her like a fucking addict.
“My parents are working the night shift at the hospital tonight.” She pulled back, looking me in the eyes.
Thank God for her folks being nurses. Night shift sounded pretty fucking perfect in this moment, seeing as that meant I could be with my girl.
“Take me to my place.”
I leaned in and kissed her, knowing that it would have been hot as hell to take her right here in the cab, but also knowing she deserved a bed.
I pulled back and looked at her lips. Her mouth was slightly red and swollen from our kisses, and that had the possessive side of me rising up. I was so damn proprietary of her.
“Tonight I’m going to make you mine.”
Chapter Six
Shiloh
We all but fell through my bedroom door, the arousal I felt unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
“I’ve wanted you for so fucking long,” he said in this low rumble.
I didn’t want to think about anything but right now. Because if I let myself really think about leaving for school ... leaving Kace after just starting—whatever this was with him—I might just break down and ruin everything.
So instead of saying anything, I pressed my body to his, speared my hands in his hair, and pulled him close. I slammed my mouth on his, knowing I was being frantic, desperate.
He opened his mouth instantly and our tongues touched, a little moan leaving me at the feel, the taste, the smell of him. I was so hot and consumed, so aroused.
What we’d been doing in the car had started this fire in me and it was raging now, taking over every inch of me. And still we kept kissing.
I slid my hands down his hard, muscular chest and grabbed the end of his shirt, pulling it up and breaking the kiss only long enough to get the material over his head. He had his hands on my lower back, pulling me close and kissing me again as soon as the shirt was tossed aside.
The feel of his steely, stiff erection pressing against my belly had a fresh gush of wetness spilling from me. I felt dizzy and hot and like I’d float away if he wasn’t holding on to me. He was then gripping the edge of my shirt.
But he didn’t pull it up right away, instead slipping his hands underneath the material and holding on to my waist, his big palms making me feel small and feminine. He used a little bit of pressure with his fingertips to pull me closer at the same time he thrust forward, digging his erection into my belly, grinding himself slightly against me.
A gasp left me at the knowledge I was the reason he was so lost in sensation, so mindless in his need. I was too far gone to prolong this.
So I broke the kiss and tore at my shirt, tossing it aside and immediately going for the button of my pants. I pulled at the zipper and was about to push the denim down my thighs when his hands on mine stopped me. His broad chest rose and fell rapidly, the air in the room so hot I felt beads of sweat covering my body.
“We can go slow. We can take our time.” He swallowed and I heard the sound loud and clear, as if it surrounded every part of me. “We have all fucking night.”
I shivered at the sound of his voice, the tone so deep and rough, scraping along my body and causing goosebumps to form.
I stared into his eyes, the darkness wrapping around us. I lowered my gaze to his chest, staring at every hard dip, every muscular plane. He was strong and lean, not bulky like a weightlifter, but sleek like a swimmer.
My heart pounded so hard it hurt, slamming against my ribs, my arousal like a living entity inside of me. I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to take my time. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this my entire life.”
“God, Shiloh, baby, you can’t say things like that or I’ll come before this even starts.”
I got hot all of a sudden by his words.
Despite the arousal moving between us, I felt something shift, saw this softening in his face, this seriousness covering him.
“I love you, and I should have told you. I should have been honest with both of us long before now.” He looked pained, as if he couldn’t bear to say those words. “I won’t let you go. I’m a selfish bastard when it comes to you, and it’ll always be that way.”
I stared into his eyes, unable to look away, knowing that this was the most important moment of our lives. “I love you too.” I’d never get tired of hearing him say those words, or me telling him how I really felt.
“You’re smart and beautiful, and I don’t deserve you. But someone was looking down on me, because here we are.” He smiled and I saw the boy I’d fallen in love with all those years ago.
“Don’t say that,” I said in response to him saying he didn’t deserve me. We were made for each other.
“You got accepted to your dream school, and although I wasn’t surprised, I know what that means.”
I’ll have to leave.
I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but he shook his head slowly, stopping me.
“You could go to the ends of the earth, Shiloh, and I’ll still follow. I always will.”
My heart was beating so loud and hard, I wondered if he heard it. “What does that mean?” I whispered.
He reached out and cupped my cheek, smoothing his thumb along the edge of my mouth, sending tingles throughout my entire body.
“It means that where you go I follow.” He moved an inch closer, staring directly into my eyes. “It means that if you’re going to NYC, then so am I.”
My breath caught. “But your dad, the family business?”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. None of that matters because if you’re not with me, then my life doesn’t mean anything, Shiloh.” And then he leaned in and kissed me, pressed his lips to mine, silencing me so I couldn’t protest.
He broke the kiss and I inhaled sharply.
I didn’t want him giving up his life for me, didn’t want him going across the country because he didn’t think we’d last otherwise. “Kace, I can’t ask you to do that. You have your family here—”
“You’re my family, Shiloh. You’re what matters.” He kissed me again, but it was fleeting. “And if going to New York means I can be close to you, then it’s exactly what I’ll do.” He rested his forehead against mine. “I love you.”
He pulled me close to him and I rested my head on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating against my ear, knowing that I wasn’t truly home, really happy, unless I was with Kace.
And when I saw Kace look down at my mouth, I found myself lowering my gaze to his lap. There, pressing against his jeans, was a massive erection. My throat tightened, every part of me tingled, and I found myself opening my mouth, about to say what I had wanted to for so long.
God, this is really happening. We are really going there.
The longer we stared at each other, the more the blood rushed through my veins, the pressure in my body becoming almost unbearable. I knew where this was headed, and I anticipated every second of it.
Kace
My cock was hard, and all I wanted to do was be buried between Shiloh’s sweet thighs. I wanted her virginity and I wanted to give her mine.
I wanted us connected as one, wanted Shiloh to know that for me she was it, that I’d never give up on us.
I was harder than a fucking steel rod. My cock jammed against my zipper, demanding to be free, to be buried within her tight, hot body. I should go slow. That would be the smart, honorable thing to do. But was that on my mind? Fuck no. I wanted hard and fast. Frantic.
I’d saved myself for her, because no other woman would ever compare to her, could ever hold my heart. That was reserved solely for Shiloh.
I couldn’t control myself anymore. Fuck being friends. I was ready to make her mine.
“I love you, Kace.” She said those words so low, almost on a whisper. “God, I love you so much it hurts.”
The air left my lungs like I’d been sucker punched in the gut. I couldn’t even move, let alone form a coherent word.
I groaned. I’d never get tired of hearing that. “Say it again,” I whispered.