fuonlyknew

Even though she was expecting it, wanting it, dying for it, his first kiss came as a complete surprise. The pressure of his lips directly behind her ear had her half-closed eyes opening wide and her breath leaving her in a tiny gasp.
Immediately she closed her eyes and tilted her head, giving him full range of her neck. He didn’t disappoint her.
She inhaled slowly, deeply when she felt him take the lobe of her ear between his teeth. Then he pressed his nose into her hair and breathed in its scent, and she found the action highly erotic. He planted his mouth on the back curve of her jaw, the feel of him tasting her skin caused a heat to flush over her entire body—a heat she knew had nothing whatsoever to do with the full, midday October sun that blazed overhead.
His thumb had been leisurely playing over the hills and valleys of her knuckles, but now he raised his hand, catching her chin in his fingers. Ever so slowly, he turned her face toward his.
The intensity of his gaze was like a physical touch, and when she opened her eyes, she wasn’t surprised to find him studying her features. He took in her hair, her forehead, her nose, her mouth and chin.
She wanted desperately to smile at him, to give him some sign of what she was feeling. But the magnitude of desire raging through her veins seemed to anesthetize the muscles in her cheeks, and all she could do was return his stare. However, she wasn’t too concerned by the fact that she couldn’t give him a smile, because she knew without a doubt that every emotion she was experiencing was displayed, as bright as daylight, in her eyes. She felt sure of it.
He slid his fingers back along one side of her jaw, his thumb back along the other. When he tilted up her chin, her breath caught in her throat, and she was certain he meant to kiss her.
He loomed over her, his mouth a scant inch from hers. He was so close, his shadow blocked the sun and she could feel his silky breath on her cheek.

“Jason?” she prompted. “Did you want to say something?” Fear now pounded at her temples. What would she do if he chose to ignore what they both knew was right in front of their faces?
His voice was soft and caressing as velvet. “I, uh, just wanted to say goodnight.”
Disappointment welled up inside her, sharp and painful.
Why couldn’t he acknowledge what he was feeling?
Why couldn’t she bring herself to voice what was going on inside her? Swallowing around the aching lump that had gathered in her throat, Katie knew the answer to this question.
Ever since she was a little girl, she’d gotten the unspoken message from her parents, friends, movies, books, television, Hallmark commercials—from society as a whole—that it was inappropriate for a woman to approach a man for whom she had feelings.
She admired Jason, thought he was handsome. He appealed to her as no other man ever had—and she’d been introduced to many far more cosmopolitan men, men from all over the world, men with wealth and status. Yet none of them melted her heart like Jason did. Yes, she thought, she would even go so far as to say that she desired him. But she simply didn’t feel right making the first move.
“Well,” she said, her voice full of reluctance, “goodnight then.”
She watched the taut muscles in his neck contract as he swallowed. And when she looked into his eyes, she frowned.
There in his powder blue gaze she read… something. A need. A want.
He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to be close to her. He wanted to explore this new awareness that had sprouted between them. She could see it in his eyes so clearly that it was nearly a tangible thing. But he was being held back. By what, she had no idea.
Jason was communicating his feelings to her silently. Did she want to let the opportunity pass? If she did, would he be left thinking she wasn’t interested? But then, what if she was reading the signs wrong?
But that was ludicrous. The signs were blatantly obvious. His desire to pursue whatever it was that was hanging between them was as clear as shining crystal. Now all she had to do was decide if her own yearning to explore this magnetism was strong enough to force her to act in a way that went against everything she’d been taught.
In a split second she found herself walking the few steps it took to reach him. The closer she got, the heavier and less breathable the air seemed to become.
Before she even had time to contemplate her actions or her words, the question was forming in her throat. With the tiniest of exhalations, it was on her tongue, passing over her lips.
“Would you like to kiss me?”

“So you rode in on your white horse…”
Derrick laughed so hard he had to stop talking. Reece only glared at his friend.
“And scooped up the poor damsel in distress,” Derrick was finally able to finish.
Jason couldn’t hold back his snickers any longer, and he joined Derrick. “And carried her off to the castle.”
“Yeah,” Reece growled, “and I hope both of you clowns choke on your beer.”
Derrick and Jason tried hard to force serious expressions onto their faces, then made the mistake of catching each other’s eyes. Their snickering drew the attention of the other customers in the small sports pub.
“Look, I’m not in the mood, okay?” Reece tipped up the smoky-colored beer bottle and took a long swallow. He tried to focus on the ball game playing on the big-screen TV at the far corner of the room as he asked, “What was I supposed to do? The woman was out of her head. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days.”
The excuse sounded lame, even to him. He guessed he deserved the jeers and jokes being made about his behavior. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. He saw both of them grinning like idiots.
“Hey,” he said seriously, “I said I’m not in the—”
“Okay, okay,” Jason said, lifting his hand. He nudged Derrick, who was still having trouble getting his humor in check, in the ribs.
As if running interference for Derrick, to give the man a few more seconds to compose himself, Jason went on, “It’s just that we never expected something like this from you, Reece.”
Reece raked his fingers through his hair. “I know.” He heaved a deep breath. “I’m pretty surprised myself.” His next sigh was powerful enough to puff out his cheeks.
Hell, the very last thing he needed was a woman messing up his life!