Page 39 of Love Me

“We know. How’s that new swing of yours coming along?” he asked.

That was harsh, but point made. “You know why it’s hard for me.”

“I know.”

“I’m working on it.”

“I know,” he repeated, grabbing my hips and pulling me to stand between his legs.

I tried not to act surprised or awkward. I put my hands on the back of his neck and the tips of my fingers were poked by the tips of his buzzed hair.

Because he’d initiated this closeness, I decided to take a risk. I raked my fingers through his blond hair. He closed his eyes as I trailed my nails over his scalp, and I began massaging his head. “Will you help me build my swing?” I asked.

His eyes snapped open, locking with mine. “I can do that.”

As he leaned into my touch, his hands squeezed my hips a little and pulled me even closer.

“Since you’re in such a giving mood, can I ask for one more thing?” I asked.

He rested his head against my stomach. “You can ask me for anything.”

Warmth bloomed in my chest at those words. I almost stopped massaging his head to savor the feeling. Almost. He seemed to be really enjoying what I was doing, and I found that far more satisfying. “Actually, it’s not a request, more of a heads-up. My friend Isabelle is looking for a part-time job and I told her about the front desk position.”

All I got in response was a grunt, which was perfect. I had no expectations of him. Desert Stone was the guys’ and it wasn’t my place to sway their decisions. But Isabelle was my friend and I wanted to at least say she’d apply. Knox could do what he wanted with that information.

His grasp moved up from my hips. I gasped at the feel of his warm hands as they slid over my exposed skin. His thumb rubbed over my ribs from the top of my leggings to the bottom of my sports bra.

An unbearable heat burned through me. “Knox.” I tugged on his hair a little, forcing his head back. He stared up at me with hooded eyes. I wanted to kiss him.

I released his hair instead.

He captured my wrist as I went to drop my hands at my sides, and he pulled me down.

The moment his mouth was on mine, I challenged him by trying to control the kiss. Every fiber of my being wanted this man and that was how I kissed him. I showed him how much I wanted him with my lips and tongue.

He let me. He didn’t pull away or shut down.

So I allowed myself to let go and just feel with him. I straddled his lap. My fingers returned to his hair as my mouth broke from his and traveled down his neck. Needing to taste him, I swiped my tongue along his skin.

I felt him shudder as my mouth trailed over the spot a few inches down from his ear. I paused there and ran my teeth over that sensitive area. His breath hitched as I nipped at that spot harder, then licked away the sting.

He let out a throaty growl and his patience for letting me have my way evaporated. He fisted my ponytail, forcing my mouth from his neck, and his mouth claimed mine. He kissed me that way, too. Like he was claiming me, and his tongue was what he used to brand me.

His arms hugged me and he stood. I didn’t have time to hook my legs around him before he set me on the desk. He gently pushed me to lie back and he followed without breaking our kiss. We knocked things over, crinkled papers. He didn’t seem to care. Instead, he shoved most of what was on his desk off of it as we made our descent. He leaned over me, standing in between my legs. I locked them around him, nestling him tightly against my core.

His hands smoothed over my sports bra before he squeezed. I arched into his touch like an offering. With one hand he shoved my sports bra toward my neck and broke away from my mouth to take in my breasts. The cold air conditioning assaulted my nipples, making them peak. But it was his gaze that made them ache to be touched.

His warm hands pushed my boobs together before he nuzzled his face between them. The feel of the scruff along his jaw scraping against my sensitive mounds made me shiver. He ran his nose toward one of my nipples before sucking it into his hot mouth. He made me writhe beneath him as his tongue and teeth took turns torturing me. My legs tightened around his hips and I bumped against his hard shaft in his pants. We both groaned and he rocked his hips, grinding himself against me. The feel of him behind the roughness of his slacks against the thin material of my leggings was like stoking the flames of a fire. It made me hotter and hotter.

“Knox,” I moaned, so close to coming.

He stilled.

Oh, no.

It was as if the sound of my voice had the same effect as a bucket of ice water on him. He removed his mouth from my breast and flattened his hands on the desk by my upper arms. He stared down at me for a long moment, eyes taking in my exposed breasts, my flushed skin, my labored breathing. “Shiloh—” he started to say.

No. No. No. No.