Page 24

Heat prickles my skin at the drop in his pitch.

“Yeah.” Gosh, I’m breathless. My throat feels dry, so I take another drink.

Holt leans in. “Like what, baby?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” I wiggle in his lap just enough to feel the hard ridge of him grow under my bum. Heat spreads through all the parts of me, and I take another sip. This time, to cool myself down.

It doesn’t work. There is still fire in my veins, magma in my core.

I’m addicted to this. To him. To us.

“Careful, Faye,” he warns darkly. I love the sound of his husky words. I want to draw more from him. With mock innocence, I give another wiggle in his lap. His hand snaps to my hip, holding me in place as his fingertips bite into my flesh. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

“Am I?” I ask innocently, giving him wide, doe eyes.

“Jeez, baby.” He sets his beer down on the table beside the couch, his arms moving around my waist to tug me hard into his chest. Then I feel his hips move, just slightly, under me.

That fire spreads, a wild thing burning through me, entirely uncontrolled, even as I pretend to be chill.

“How’s that feel, huh?” His mouth is close to my ear now. He’s taunting me, I realize, trying to beat me at my own game.

I refuse to let him win.

Tipping my head back into the nook of his shoulder, I whisper, “So good, Holt.”

He curses, low and devilish, before I’m lifted from the couch and pulled down a hall. The room is small and dark, but I can see by the blue moonlight that spills in through the little window, that it’s a bathroom. The door closes, and then Holt’s hand is in my belly and he’s pushing me into the door. His mouth connects with mine the moment my back connects with the door.

His kiss isn’t like the others. It doesn’t start soft and slow and curious. It’s instantly hot. Instantly wild. And I’m instantly set aflame.

I love these stolen moments with him. I love exploring and experiencing him.

His hands roam up and down my back, tugging my hips from the door as he grinds into me. An explosion of aching need erupts inside me. My hands move to the back of his neck, and I pull his mask from his face in the seconds before he lifts me onto the counter. His hands find my knees and he pulls my legs apart, shoving his body between them before he’s kissing me again.

I can feel him there now. A whimpered, “Holt,” leaves my mouth.

He pulls back to murmur, “Just making out, Faye. Nothing more.”

And then his mouth is on mine again. His hands roam my body over my dress, exploring me in a way no one ever has. Nerves and need knot in my core. My skin feels different. Tight. New.

Everything with Holt is new.

I love it all.

We kiss for what feels like forever, and still, it’s not long enough. Then, a cheer unlike the others echoes through the house, shattering the spell as Holt pulls back, his forehead touching mine as he laughs.

“What?”

“The Vikings won.”

“Oh.”

“And I missed it.”

“I’m sorry.” I wince.

He shakes his head. “No. I’d rather be doing this with you, Faye. I’d just rather be with you.”

That’s when the music sounds loud. I feel the bass of it in my butt on the counter and laugh. “I guess the party is starting.”