Page 63 of Between Hello and Goodbye

“Don’t say that. You’re only making this worse!” I pushed a finger into his chest. “You have completely infiltrated every part of me.”

“Good.”

Asher’s hand snaked out to grip me by the back of the head, under my hair, in a delicious tingle of shivers mixed with a twinge of pain. He hauled me to him, practically lifting me off the ground, and held me pressed against him. His brown eyes dark and hooded as they roamed my face, I had just enough time to release a little moan of want before he crushed his mouth to mine.

God help me…

That lone thought was drowned in a tsunami that crashed over me with Asher’s kiss. His mouth mauling me, the taste of him, finally—finally—overwhelmed me. He was everything I knew he’d be—raw, masculine power—and more than I could’ve imagined. For long moments, I could hardly do more than let him take my mouth with a sucking pull that stole my breath while his tongue skillfully worked every corner. I clung to his neck until a surge of pure desire coursed through me. I fought back, trying to match his ferocity, trying to devour him like he was devouring me, both of us starved for the other.

“Feel that?” Asher said thickly, when he wrenched his mouth away, his breath coming hard like mine.

“Yes…”

He pressed in closer. “That’s what it will be like when you’re in my bed, Faith. It’s going to feel like that while I’m fucking you.”

Sweet Jesus…

His thumb brushed over my lip. “We can’t pretend we’re something we’re not.”

“What are we?” I breathed.

“Don’t know. But it scares me too.”

Asher bent his head and kissed me again, sucking on my lower lip, tasting me and turning my insides to mush. I’d felt lust before, plenty of times. But this was…more. A desire that went beyond my body. A need for Asher Mackey that sank deeper with every passing minute, touching a part of me that’d been kept tucked away, safe and sound where no man could reach me. Every caress dropped little flares into that untouched space, revealing something raw and naked. Vulnerable and soft and so delicate, it would break at the slightest mishandling. It was the part of me I kept protected from pain and—I realized—the most perfect joy.

It was too much. I concentrated on what Asher was doing to my body as his lips moved down to my neck. Everywhere he touched me sent licks of heat skimming over my skin, down my back, between my legs. I could only cling to him, my muscles loosening like sand under his touch, and then moan into his mouth as he captured me in another searing kiss.

Finally, I pushed at his chest with both hands. “Car. Now.”

“Your condo is forty minutes away.”

“And your house is…?”

“Less than that.”

The short ride to Asher’s house went by in a blur. Night had fallen, and a panorama of diamonds smattered across the sky as he took the road east. I could hardly look at Asher for wanting him so bad and took his hand that was on the gearshift. I’d only intended to hold it, but instead, I hiked up my dress and laid it on my thigh.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said coarsely.

I moved his rough palm over my smooth skin, higher.

“Faith…I’ll miss my turn.”

Now I pressed his fingers against the dampness of my panties and a whimper escaped me at how good it felt. Howright.

“Jesus…” he growled.

“Eyes on the road, firefighter.”

I moved his fingers where I wanted them, and then he took over. His hand slipped under the silk of my thong, and I stifled a cry as his fingers found naked flesh. Jaw clenched, eyes hard and facing straight ahead, Asher worked me over, his calloused fingers on my most delicate, sensitive skin, moving in circles before plunging two fingers inside me.

“Ah, God…” I cried, arching off the seat.

For a few ecstatic moments, I held his hand where I wanted him, but he tore away too soon, breathing hard and muttering, “Going to have an accident.”

Thankfully, I only had to endure the torture for a few more minutes, as he made a hard left and a sign flashed outside my window:Anini Beach,Private Drive.

My eyes widened as we drove through a small neighborhood of not-so-small houses tucked into Kauai’s lush greenery, each overlooking the ocean. Asher continued on an even more secluded road and pulled into the drive of a huge old-country Hawaiian-looking two-story house—red with white trim, much of the ground floor elevated by wooden slats.