Wild Temptation (Wild, #1)(108)

Lunch wore off an hour or so ago.

My skin is tingling at the thought of touching Tyler. At being near him. At the thought of hearing his voice. Every part of me is consumed with longing and it’s barely been thirty hours since I last saw him.

After a few honks and a few more fingers in the air, I pull up outside my apartment. I grab my bag from the passenger’s seat and walk into the building. Then I pick up my stack of mail from my mailbox in the lobby and flick through it as the elevator takes me up. Bill…bill…bill—oohh, shoe sale!

I smile to myself as I step out of the elevator. A quiet knocking sound fills the hallway and I look up.

At Tyler.

Sitting on the floor, his back against my door, throwing a tennis ball at the wall opposite him. One of his legs is bent up, the other stretched out. I watch him throw the ball, catching it one-handed every single time.

I open my mouth to talk to him, but he beats me to it.

“I’ve been sitting here like a fucking idiot for about four hours. I have no idea why. At first, I thought you were in. Then I remembered you went out of town. Fuck knows where. No one will tell me where or why you went. So I sat down and started playing with this. Hit your neighbor’s door a few times. He invited me in, but I said I’d rather sit here. Got hungry and ordered pizza.” He knocks the box next to him. “Sat here like a fucking teenage boy hung up on some girl he’s never gonna get.”

My chest tightens when he looks at me. I’ve never seen his eyes so empty, so dull.

“That’s what I think. You know that? That I finally found this amazing woman who doesn’t give a fuck if I’m rich or down to my last five dollars. That I finally found this incredibly sexy and confident woman who isn’t afraid of what I want. Of my desires. And that I’m going to lose her, because despite being the same, we’re so different. Yet I still can’t fucking go anywhere. I tried. Couldn’t leave the motherfucking building!” He yells the last word and turns away from me. He slams the tennis ball against the wall opposite him and ducks to the side when it bounces back. “I have no idea what you’ve done to me, Liv. I just can’t walk away from you even though I know you’re going to ask me to.” He dives his fingers into his hair and looks down.

“I’m not.”

He looks up. My hands shake, and I’ve never been more afraid of my own words.

“I’m not going to ask you leave. In fact, if you try it, I’ll beg you to stay.”





“What?” He stands up slowly.

“I’m not asking you to leave,” I repeat, walking to him. “Stay. Please don’t go. Please don’t think I want you to. I don’t.”

He cups my face and brings my lips to his. “I’m not, baby girl. I’m not going anywhere.”

I hold him tight. “Good. I’ll kill you if you do.”

He buries his face in the side of my neck. “I need you, Liv. I need you so fucking badly right now. I’m coiled tighter than I’ve ever been.”

I dig into my bag blindly and grab my key. I slot it into the door and walk inside, him hot on my heels. I dump the bag on the floor and the mail on the coffee table then turn to him.

He kicks the door shut, and I’ve barely taken a breath before he’s on me, pushing me back on the sofa, pushing my sweater up my stomach. His hands slide across my skin as desperately as his lips move against mine.

I tangle my fingers in his hair and flick my tongue against his lips. Begging him for more, because I need this, too. I need all of him, starting right now.

“We should talk,” he whispers against my jaw. “I know we should.”

“Fuck now, talk later,” I say, throwing his words back at him. “And I’ll even agree to a snuggle.”

He grins, lifting me and pulling my shirt and sweater over my head in one swift motion. “Snuggly bitch.” He runs his nose along my jaw before his lips find my neck and travel down to my breasts.

He cups them over my bra, rubbing his thumbs over the spots where my nipples are. His mouth is hot against my skin, the wet, openmouthed kisses he’s dropping against me burning into me. I tug at his sweater now. I need to feel his skin against mine.

I don’t have the patience for this.

I tug more forcefully until he laughs quietly and pulls it off. His shirt follows. My fingers find his stomach instantly, ghosting over it. I kick my shoes off when his fingers trail down my sides to my jeans.

“I’ll take my time later. Right now, I need in you too badly.”

I unbutton his jeans. “Then stop talking and fuck me.”

“Gladly.” He shakes off the rest his clothes and removes mine.