Page 33 of Stolen Summer

“Do we have a deal?” Cole pressed, and I got a whiff of his scent, crisp woodsy sage with hints of sea salt as if carried on a phantom breeze.

I squirmed in my seat for several reasons. One of them was I hated being pressured. Nearly almost as much as I hated being poor. Or being pitied. Or being the subject of town gossip. Turned out, there was a long list of shit I hated. And Cole Riley was climbing up on that list as well as the way my body reacted to him.

“Here’s your answer.” I plucked a piece of spaghetti off my plate and hurled it across the table. With a satisfying splat, it landed on Cole’s face, dangling from his cheek until it fell onto his lap.

A stunned moment of silence passed before my giggle filled the kitchen.

I didn’t know what came over me. It would be easy to blame the wine, and it definitely was partially to blame, but since I’d been locked in this house with Cole, he’d been too damn serious. Neither of us laughed. All we did was scowl at each other from across the room.

Besides, the way I saw it, he deserved a noodle slapped against his face for getting me stuck in this house with him. All because of that stupid T-shirt.

“Oh, I promise you’ll pay for that, Killer.” His chair scraped over the floor as he stood up. Nothing about his features showed amusement, and that made it only funnier to me.

Still laughing, I shot out of my seat, quickly moving to the other end of the table, keeping the large slab of wood between us. He chased me, quicker than I gave him credit for, but I’d always been a decent runner thanks to those miles I walked daily.

“When I get my hands on you…” he threatened, dashing to the right, but at the last second, he faked a change in direction that I stupidly fell for. The laughter gripping my stomach made my legs slower and clumsier than normal, and the growl in his tone, along with the splatter of red sauce still on his face, only made it worse.

He caught me, his fingers tight on my wrists as he whirled me to face him. My laughter died when I saw the storm churning in his eyes. I took a step back, but I had nowhere to go, and my ass bumped into the table. His fingers weren’t gentle above my hands, but the soreness didn’t bother me, not when I was enraptured by the features of his face. My chest rose and fell in heavy breaths, and the smile curved on my lips slowly slipped at the darkening of his eyes as his gaze fell on my mouth. When those gold-flecked irises lifted, I lost all rational thought.

Fuck it.

I slammed my mouth on his before I could stop myself, a rush of heat and lust, edged with anger. At him. At myself. At our situation. I couldn’t pick it apart, not with his lips earnestly moving on mine, taking control of what I started.

He locked a hand at the small of my back, the other digging into my hair as he tugged our bodies together.

God, he’s so hard.

Everywhere. And I meant everywhere.

I could feel the swell of him through his shorts, the thin material offering little barrier between our bodies. Until this moment, I hadn’t been sure how Cole felt about me, but this was undeniable proof he wanted me.

He joked. He toyed. He made the bet. With his reputation, I couldn’t take anything he said seriously. If I had doubts before, the way he kissed made it very clear.

His tongue skated across my lips, urging me to open for him.

I did, and the taste of his tongue gliding against and taunting mine sent me reeling. I moaned into his mouth, needing more. This feeling—the desperation, the ferocity burning me alive—was new and like nothing I’d experienced before. Sharp, violent, passionate, dark, hot. I didn’t know what to do with it all but hold on.

My fingers trailed over the planes of his broad shoulders, up the back of his neck, and into his silky hair as if I were following the path on a map. I nipped at his lower lip, dying to sink my teeth into the steel hoop cool against my mouth, but I settled for using my tongue instead, toying with it.

Cole groaned, seeking full possession of my mouth again and deepening the kiss with an insatiable hunger I wasn’t sure either of us could satisfy with our mouths alone.

He must have had the same thought.

His hands roamed over my body, grabbing for my ass and squeezing with enough force I almost bit him, before he lifted me onto the table. My legs wrapped around him, drawing Cole back against me. I had to feel him. Whimpers escaped me as his erection nuzzled hard into my core. He didn’t have a shy bone in his body, not when it came to this, but I hadn’t expected him to. Someone like Cole oozed the amount of menace that made him dangerously sexy.

Holy shit.

His fingers were fucking magic.

My hips inched forward, demanding more contact, demanding just more, and the friction my movement created, even as minor as it was against his erection, sent need throbbing between my legs.

Tension built to a point teetering on the edge of sweet and painful.

My body arched into his, loving the way we fit. Every curve and dip between the two of us fit together seamlessly like a puzzle.

His lips curved along the side of my mouth, grazing my jawline, before taking a leisurely stroll to my ear where he took my lobe between his teeth. “I win,” he whispered, causing a shiver to skate down my back.

“Bet’s off,” I murmured back, only half aware of what the hell I said and even less aware of the position I was in.