Page 96 of Boss of the Year

Do everything you’re not supposed to, Lea had told me.Before it’s too late.

“Lucas?”

“Yes?”

“Will you…Will you kiss me again?” My voice was barely a whisper on the wind. “Not as a message this time. Or because it has to mean anything. Just because it feels good. Because itdidfeel good to me. And I wondered if maybe… Did it feel good to you?”

He went very still, and for a moment, I thought he would refuse. He should refuse, for both our sakes.

But, God, I wanted him to say yes.

“Marie. You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I think I do.” My hand trembled as I reached up to trace his jaw with my finger. Shivered at the delicate scrape of his stubble. Imagined that roughness reddening my untouched skin. “And I’m not asking whether I know what I want. I’m asking if you want it too.”

“You’re asking if Iwantto kiss you…” He seemed to be processing the request until that final word, when his gaze snapped back to mine.

And just like in the kitchen, just like in my dreams, those broad, solid hands were on my shoulders again, then my waist, as he backed me against the wooden wall of the shed and proceeded to kiss me like he was drowning, and I was the oxygen that could save him.

“Does that feel,” he demanded between harsh gulps of air, “like Idon’twant to kiss you, sweet girl?”

I could barely suck in another breath before his mouth was on mine again as he slid his fingers into my hair and hauled me closer.

“Sweet,” he grumbled against my lips before taking them again and again. “My sweet,sweetMarie.”

“Lucas,” I gasped as his mouth trailed down my neck. “Oh!”

“Tell me to stop.” He sucked hard on that spot below my ear, enough to make my hips roll toward his. “Tell me this is wrong.”

“It is wrong.” My breath had turned to short pants as his tongue continued whatever voodoo it was working on my neck. But instead of pushing him away, my hands found their way into his hair and pulled, encouraging him on his mission. “But—oh—I don’t want you to stop.”

His hands drifted down again, encircling my ribs so his thumbs brushed the undersides of my breasts through my shirt.

My back arched. Lucas groaned.

“You’ve never had anyone touch you like this, have you?” His thumbs continued higher, teasing the outline of my breasts, memorizing their shape.

“No.” The world felt torn from my chest.

“Fuck,” he breathed. “I’m going to hell for this.” He cupped my breasts fully, then. Stroked my nipples more, then pulled lightly while his mouth claimed mine again.

“Lucas,” I panted as he pulled at my collar, eager for more flesh. “What—oh myGod.”

My hands fell down his shoulders, to his waist, where I fumbled with his jeans.

There was no thinking. It was automatic. All I wanted was to get closer.

Lucas groaned into my neck, the vibration making me whimper, but he caught my wrist just before I got the button undone.

“Don’t.”

“What? Why?”

“If you touch me like that, I won’t be able to stop.”

The bird was trying to fly now. And God, I wanted to let it out.

“M-maybe—” The word was barely a stutter from my lips. “Maybe I don’t want you to stop.”