Run to Ground(88)

She wanted to be strong and independent. For her siblings’ sakes, she needed to be strong and independent. It was just such a relief to have a little help.

“You okay?” Theo asked, eyeing her carefully.

Jules realized she’d stopped in the doorway, half-in and half-out. Flushing, she moved all the way inside and closed the door before turning the dead bolt. “Yes.”

He was still watching her, but his expression changed. Concern morphed into focus, and he took a step closer. Jules watched, like prey hypnotized by a predator, as he moved in, not stopping his advance until every part of his body, from his legs to his belly to his chest to his lips, were just a fraction of an inch from hers. Her breaths were quick and shallow; her breasts brushed his chest with every inhale.

“I don’t want to want you,” he murmured, the heat of his words warming her lips. It took a second for the meaning to penetrate her brain. When it did, her gaze locked onto his, and she raised her hands to his chest, intending to push him away.

“Then don’t.” She meant her voice to sound challenging, rather than husky. The feel of his pecs beneath her palms startled her into stillness. Her hands flattened against his chest, but her touch turned into more of a caress than a shove.

“Too late.” He moved infinitesimally closer, and his lips barely grazed hers when he spoke. It made it very hard for her to concentrate on what he was saying. “You know what’s worse?”

“What?” Jules asked, distracted as her desire rose. If he didn’t move, didn’t close that tiny gap between them so they were finally kissing for real, she was going to either scream or kiss him herself.

“I actually like you.”

Despite her growing impatience, his words made her smile, especially the bemused exasperation in his tone that made what he was saying sound so sincere.

“You know what else?”

“What?”

“My dog likes you, too.”

Her laugh was soft and surprised. In the middle of such intensity, she didn’t think she could feel amused, especially by Theo. “And I like your dog. Not as much as Dee, though. She really likes your dog. In fact, I think she might be in love.”

At the word “love,” his dark eyes went soft and hot at the same time. Without another word, he finally, finally closed the gap and kissed her. Because of the long lead up, his extended, teasing almost-kiss, she’d expected it to be gentle, exploratory. It wasn’t.

It was explosive.

The touch of their mouths was the ignition switch, and Jules’s brain went white as all her thoughts were blown out of her head. Only Theo remained, his lips and tongue and the press of his body flattening her against the door. She burrowed her fingers through his short hair, pulling him impossibly closer, trying to fall even more deeply into him.

With a groan that set off vibrations she could feel down to her toes, Theo snaked one arm around her waist and slid the other over her hip to her thigh. With an effortless ease that Jules—even in her kiss-clouded state—couldn’t help but appreciate, Theo lifted her off the floor.

Immediately, she wrapped her legs around his waist, wanting the pressure and friction of that position. His hands ran up the back of both thighs, kneading and squeezing her hamstrings. With a groan, she pressed closer, locking her ankles behind him and her arms around his shoulders.

He leaned his weight into her, sandwiching her between his powerful body and the unyielding door. Her shoulder blades rubbed against the wood panels, an aching pressure that only drove her arousal higher. And during everything, he kept kissing her—and she kept kissing back.

Jules couldn’t stop. She could barely stand to pause long enough to suck in a quick breath before diving back in for more. In those seconds, it felt as if her physical connection with Theo was more important than her need for air.

Pressing his hips even more firmly against her, pinning her securely against the door, Theo released his grip on her legs and caught two handfuls of her blouse at her waist. He tugged upward, and Jules untangled her arms from around his shoulders to help. Impatiently, she wiggled and pulled, probably hindering his efforts more than helping, but she wanted the intrusive fabric gone. There was a pop as a button flew off and a tearing sound as a seam gave way, and then her shirt was over her head. Theo tossed it away.

Without pausing, he yanked off his T-shirt. He ducked his head to begin kissing her again, but she held him off, entranced by his chest, needing to touch the lightly furred expanse of muscle. As she looked her fill, running her palms across his chest and making him groan and jerk under her touch, Theo reached behind her and unhooked her embarrassingly serviceable bra.