But like a well-worn pair of jeans, I had a hole in my pocket and stuff was falling out. Like my emotions. Like my heart. If I looked at him right now, he would see it. He would know.
I’d never kissed anyone with a piercing in their lip before. That little silver ring begged to be sucked on, and I couldn’t resist tugging it into my mouth. The metal was cool against my fevered body.
And his lips… bloody hell.
It almost made me mad all over again that he hadn’t kissed me on our first date. He withheld such a blissful moment from me for far too long.
I thought it was because he wasn’t interested. I thought it was because my feelings were one-sided.
My feelings were so not one-sided.
There was no way in hell he could kiss me like that if he wasn’t into me.
A little giggle escaped my lips and I cut it off, hoping he didn’t hear my epic display of girly giddiness.
His broad, heavy palm slid up my back. “What’s so funny?”
I pressed my nose against his neck and smiled. “Nothing.”
“Are you seriously still drunk?” he asked, a hint of speculation in his tone.
After all the hurling I had done? Not likely. “I’m just tipsy.” On you.
I’d like to retract my previous statement that people could not get tipsy on other people. They totally could.
I snuggled a little bit closer, tucking my hands between us, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart against the backs of my palms. When both his arms wrapped around me, I was totally surrounded by him.
It was a feeling I’d never experienced before.
It was all-encompassing. It was all-powerful. It was all I ever wanted.
I felt safe. I felt warm. I was so utterly comfortable against him that I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. I didn’t think about his track record of disappointing me. Or that after tonight I probably wouldn’t see him again.
For several long, blissful moments, I just existed in his arms and everything else melted away.
Reality creeped in slowly. I knew that there were likely a hundred questions that I should be asking… but honestly, I couldn’t think of one. It wasn’t because I didn’t care or that Blue being undercover didn’t interest me. Everything about Blue interested me. I wasn’t big on reading, but if he was a book, I would read him cover to cover. Over and over again.
It’s just that… none of that stuff mattered. Not really. It was quite clear to me that I was vulnerable to him. It seemed it didn’t matter what he did to me; I still wanted him.
But my wanting him didn’t change that he wasn’t available.
With a sigh, I pushed up off his chest, and his arms slid down to loop loosely around my hips. I couldn’t bring myself to pull completely away so I left my hands resting on his chest.
“So you’re an undercover cop,” I said, my eyes taking in all of his features and his mussed up hair.
“Yep.”
“You don’t know how long this case will last?”
“No.”
“And if I see you out, I should pretend I don’t know you?”
He frowned. “You’re not going to see me.”
“Just like I wasn’t supposed to see you tonight?” I countered.
He gave me a look. The kind of look that said “are you seriously challenging me right now?” I guess maybe I was. I yanked my hands away from his chest and crossed my arms to stare at him. I was waiting for my answer.
He studied me. “You aren’t going to be visiting any more places like that.”
“Says who?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows. Surely he wasn’t trying to boss me around.
“Says me.”
My gaze slipped away from his glare and down to the little ring in his lip. It was so close… I could just lean forward and—
He made a sound deep in his throat and took my face in his hands, forcing my gaze up. “Stop that.”
“I’ve never kissed anyone with a lip piercing.”
“I’m your first, huh?”
I nodded. “Is that part of your cover?”
He brushed a thumb across my bottom lip. “Yeah.”
“I like it.” I admitted, looking at it once again.
“Do you now?” he asked, smiling slightly.
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s very painful,” he said, a sly look coming into his eyes. “You should kiss it. Make it better.”
I reached up and pulled his hands away from my face and leaned forward. My chest brushed against his as I tentatively drew the silver ring between my lips. My tongue swept across the skin, lavishing the area with warm moisture, and he groaned.
Feeling a little bolder I rocked forward, the area between my legs rubbing against his jeans, and tugged a little harder on the ring as I slipped my tongue through the center.