I played a couple of tunes on my upright bass, before placing it back in its hard-shell case. Dakota had agreed to keep some of my belongings that were harder to ship at the condo. I would used Johan’s spare bass in the studio, one I’d grown most fond of.
When I still hadn’t heard back from Rachel twenty minutes later, I chucked my phone on the bed and plugged in my headphones. If I was going to get any sleep tonight, no matter how minimal, I need to calm the fuck down.
A few moments later, I was startled by a hard knock at my bedroom door. Who in the hell was in the condo?
When I swung open the door Rachel stood there biting her lip, unsteady on her feet. “What . . . why aren’t you at the movie?”
She looked down at her toes. “Dakota and Shane went, but I asked Andrew to drive me home.”
My heart was lodged painfully in my throat. “Why?”
“I just . . . couldn’t . . .” Fat tears began rolling down her cheeks.
“Hey, come here.” My hand at her hip, I pulled her into me. “I’m going to miss you, too.”
She tucked her head into my chest, her fingers grasping at my shoulders.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I said, kicking the door shut behind her.
“No. I just . . .” Her voice was soft and breathy. “I need you to hold me.”
When her emerald eyes met my midnight blues, a spark flared in my chest so forceful, scorching, overwhelming—that I nearly doubled over from the intensity.
It was as if all the molecules in the room were rearranging themselves to be in our airspace—forcing our fiery energy together.
It was so primal, there was no way anyone would have been able to tear us apart.
In one second flat, I had her wedged against the door. I ran my nose along her jawline as her breaths became ragged.
“Kai.”
My lips skimmed her ear. “What the hell are we doing, Rachel?”
“I don’t know.” She whimpered as my fingers braced the back of her neck beneath her hairline. “It’s already fucked up. I’d rather you left with this kind of memory, wouldn’t you?”
I growled as I lifted her off the floor, and she wrapped her legs around my waist.
My hands traveled beneath her denim skirt to her nearly-bare ass, and my hard-on ground against her stomach.
Dakota was at a movie, we were alone in the apartment, and Rachel was mine—all fucking mine, for these final stolen minutes. I wished that I could freeze this moment and stare into her eyes for all of eternity. I had no idea what the fuck we were doing—just that I needed this, too, even though I’d pay for it later.
Her arms wrapped more securely around my neck, and I leaned forward to kiss the tears from her cheeks, her skin salty, her smell divine.
This was so going to fuck with my brain, but I didn’t even care. The chance to be close to her one last time was like finding water in a fucking desert. I was ravenous for her.
She fisted my hair as her mouth found my ear. “Kiss me, Kai.”
My heart was practically crashing out of my chest as I brushed my mouth against hers, savoring how soft, how smooth her lips felt. Committing them to memory for later, when I was alone with my thoughts, my fears, and my regrets.
She hummed in response, revving me up like a wind-up toy.
I flicked my tongue at the seam of her lips, and she opened up to me. I explored every corner—her teeth, her gums, the roof of her mouth. She moaned when my ring caught on the inside of her lip. “Oh, God.”
Our lips crashed together in a deep and bruising and all-consuming kiss. It felt as if the stars in the entire fucking galaxy had aligned, and I never wanted to let go, to kiss anyone else ever again.
Her mouth tasted like cinnamon and her skin smelled like rice flower and I was drowning in her. Submerged in the ocean of everything that was quintessentially Rachel.
I sank down on my sheets, bringing her with me, and then scooted back against the headboard. I felt so alive having her in my arms, in my bed. Our lips continued searching, barely coming up for air.
Her hands were everywhere, touching every part of me she could reach. She shoved at my shirt, and I gathered the cotton material behind my neck to haul it over my head.
“Much better,” she purred into my ear.
“Your turn.” I lifted off her shirt and then made quick work of unclasping her bra and tugging it from her arms. I hadn’t been sure if I’d ever be able to lay eyes on those pert brown nipples again, and the sight of them made me lose my breath.
Then we were skin to skin, the soft cushions of her breasts flattening against my chest, and I considered telling her that she needed to come to Amsterdam with me.
Live with me. Be with me. Never let me go.
Chapter Thirty-five Kai
I cupped her face in my hands. “God, what you do to me.”
I nibbled and licked her bottom lip and then swept kisses along her neck. I flicked my tongue against her collarbone and then down the center of her chest. Drawing her soft breast into my mouth, I sucked it into a stiff peak.
She grasped my neck as her other hand worked between us to flick open the button of my pants. All lucid thought seeped from my brain as her fingers worked my zipper, and she then gripped me firmly in her palm.
I groaned as my mouth found her other nipple and tugged it between my lips. She cried out and ground her ass against my legs.
“Touch me, Kai,” she mumbled in a haze of desire. “No holding back. I need to feel your hands.”
I knew she was saying these words because I’d been too delicate with her this past month. But now—I couldn’t hold back now even if I tried.
My hands traveled to her ass, and I jerked her skirt up around her waist. She was wearing a lacy white G-string like some goddamn angel.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I grunted out. “I need to see that pretty pussy right now.”
Her head fell back, and she moaned in an erotic way that appealed to some animalistic part of me. My longing for her skyrocketed and my patience grew thin. I grasped hold of the thin strings on either side of her panties and ripped them away from her body.
Her eyes were wide in wonder as the lacy material slid from my fingers to the floor.
“Gorgeous. So goddamn gorgeous,” I whispered as my finger reached down to tunnel inside of her. She whimpered so loudly the neighbors might have heard, but it was arousing as hell, considering we’d had to be quiet every other time.
And now she was grasping my dick and rubbing it against her thigh, trying to scoot her body closer. “Fuck, baby.”
I removed my finger from inside of her, and she brought it to her lips.
Watching her lick my finger clean was one of the sexiest damn things I’d ever seen.
She pumped her hand up and down my erection and then rubbed the tip over her soft center. And holy fuck, my dick coming in contact with her wet entrance almost made me explode on contact.
She jerked her hips forward, intent on joining our bodies, and I grabbed hold of her shoulders. “Wait, Rachel . . .”
“I’m not holding back this time,” she said, her eyes glazed over with longing. “I need to feel you inside of me. Right now.”
“Oh, you’ll feel me.” I clutched her cheeks in an effort to keep her focused. “I’m going to bury myself inside that gorgeous pussy until you scream my name and come all over my dick.”
Her eyes widened and her lips parted. She loved when I talked dirty and I planned on delivering. “But we need to find a condom.”
I hadn’t bought any condoms in a couple of months but there was certain to be a spare around here somewhere. She wasn’t thinking straight, so I needed to be the rational one.