Stepbrother Dearest(79)

My voice was trembling. I was so nervous that my first question was a dumb one. “What happened to your glasses?”

“Contacts tonight.”

“Oh.”

Finally, the shock was starting to wear off just enough for me to attempt to ask something that made sense. “I have a million questions. How did you get here? How did you find me? How—”

“Shut up, Greta.” His hot mouth enveloped my lips and abruptly interrupted all further questioning. He devoured me with reckless abandon. If there were any doubt about where things stood between us, the possessive feel of this kiss, the way he pressed his entire body against me, annihilated it.

Without having to say it with his words, the kiss spoke volumes. His tongue lashing at mine, the guttural sounds that came out from his throat as he did it, it was the first time since I’d met him that I’d truly felt it in my bones: he was mine. All of the reservations of the past, every shred of what had been holding us back was gone.

I didn’t know the full story yet of how we suddenly arrived at this place, but I wasn’t sure it mattered.

My fingers raked through his hair desperately as I pulled him harder into me.

Don’t ever leave me again, Elec.

We were still in our own little world despite people dancing all around, bumping into us. He breathed over my lips with his forehead on mine. “I’ve been waiting for you to finish the book so I could come to you. That was the plan.”

“You’ve been in New York all this time?”

“I was already in New York waiting when I sent it.”

“Oh my God.” I buried my face into his chest and savored the smell of him sans cigarettes. I looked up at him and had to ask the question even though it should have been obvious. “You broke up with her?”

He nodded his face over mine.

I continued, “But the ending…you said you were doing the right thing. I thought—”

He cut me off with a kiss again then said, “I figured you might assume that. But the right thing…was admitting that I couldn’t possibly fully love her if my heart beat faster for someone else.” His hands cupped my cheeks. “My heart hasn’t shut up since it spotted you standing in that garden. I finally listened. It just took some time to clear my head enough to really understand what it wanted.”

I was sure it was a long story, that ending things with Chelsea wasn’t easy for him. I knew he’d genuinely loved her and that he’d tell me everything in due time, but now was not the moment for that.

As if he read my mind, he said, “I promise I’ll tell you everything about what happened, but not now, okay? I just want to be with you.”

“Okay.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and let out a breath so intense, you would have thought I’d been holding it for seven years. Maybe I had been. We kissed like our lives depended on it, not coming up for breath for at least the duration of three consecutive songs. I was sure my friends saw us, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him long enough to check for their reactions. They probably thought he was a random hookup, and there would be a lot of explaining to do at work. I pressed my body into his and could feel his erection through his jeans. We were practically making love on the dance floor.

This was surreal.

He spoke into my ear, causing me to shiver. “Do you want me, Greta?”

“Yes.”

“Do you trust me?”

“I do.”

“I need you to let me have you now.”

“In the club?”

He smiled over my mouth. “I wanted you to finish reading, to know everything before I came to you. I’ve been wandering around this city hard as a rock for three days just thinking about being with you. Your apartment is too far from here. I can’t wait anymore.”

“Where can we go?” I asked.

“I don’t care, but we need to figure it out before I take you right here on this dance floor.” He grabbed me by the hand. “Come on.”

He ran my fingers through his and led me through the thick humid air of the club. All of the hairs on my body stiffened. What we were doing felt dangerous. Elec was a full-grown man now. When I was last with him sexually, he was practically a boy. I was sure he’d gotten even better in the years we were apart, and I wasn’t sure what I was in for. It had been a really long time since I’d even been with anyone. He was going to be able to tell how long it had been.

There was a door leading to a back room, but when Elec tried to open it, it was locked. He looked back at me with a smile that gave me the chills. “You said you trust me, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait here.”