Big Shot(14)
“It’s not cool.” Her words were muffled by the hands still masking her face. “It’s terrifying.”
He rolled his eyes at her overly embellished act. There was no way he was going to allow her to hide for the entire ride, which defeated the purpose of this outing. Gently grasping her wrists, he pried her hands away to reveal her apprehensive features as he pulled her to her feet. Her wide eyes latched onto his, and while he acknowledged her trepidation, he suddenly wanted her to actually enjoy this ride and the spectacular view of the city at night.
“Two rules, Natalie,” he said softly as he led her to one of the windows with a metal bar for her to hold on to. “You remain standing for the entire twelve-minute ride, and you keep your eyes open, too.”
“I know I already called you an *, but it bears repeating,” she muttered as the gondola continued to climb higher and higher into the night sky. “This is cruel and unusual torture.”
“I’m not trying to torture you.” Okay, maybe he was, just a little bit. He liked having that advantage over her.
He curled her fingers around the metal bar so she had something to hold on to, and still standing behind her, he braced his own hands beside hers on the rail to give her a feeling of safety. Except the intimate position caused the front of his body to brush against the back of hers, and that’s all it took for his cock to register the close proximity of her ass. With her wearing those hot-as-f*ck heels, she was the perfect height for him to bend her forward and tunnel his shaft along her soft, wet *.
He felt her body tremble and heard a soft, strangled moan catch in her throat. The arousing sound was like a slow stroke to his hardening dick, which made him feel like the * she’d called him because he was fairly certain those noises coming from her were dismay and not a response to the sexual awareness he was dealing with.
She drew in a shaky breath as they reached the very top of the rotation, then groaned again as they began their slow descent down the other side. “This is so . . . damn . . .high.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised, and meant it. Despite daring her to get on the ride, he’d never do anything to deliberately hurt her.
“You can’t stop the glass bottom of this stupid thing from falling out!” she snapped back.
Holding back his amused chuckle took effort. “Dramatic much?” he teased.
He felt her legs start to buckle, and he instinctively secured an arm around her waist—which brought her backside flush to his body. He caught a whiff of a soft, feminine scent—the one he’d always associated with her—and wondered if she realized that she’d somehow turned the tables on him. That he was now the one being tortured.
Her breathing grew rapid, and she suddenly turned around in his arms so she was facing him. Her eyes were huge, her pupils dilated with a surprising amount of fear he hadn’t anticipated, and genuine angst was written all over her expression.
“I can’t do this,” she said, panting with anxiety, her complexion pale. “Oh, God, I’m going to pass out!”
He had an oh, shit moment as he realized she wasn’t joking or exaggerating, and that he was responsible for her oncoming panic attack. Remorse immediately kicked in, and feeling like a jerk for pushing her further than she was comfortable, he released his hold on the steel bar and framed her face in his hands. He forced her to concentrate on him as she gasped for air, quickly on her way to hyperventilating. He knew heights weren’t her favorite thing, but he truly had no idea the extent of her fears.
“Breathe, Natalie,” he ordered firmly, knowing what it had cost her to give in when she was so strong-willed and had no doubt wanted to prove herself capable of handling the ride. “Just keep looking at me.”
He continued to coach her on inhaling and exhaling and eventually felt her body relax. Her heaving chest calmed, and that hysterical look in her eyes gradually ebbed into something so soft and vulnerable it hit him square in his chest and stole his breath. His heart raced as they stared into each other’s eyes, the ride no longer her focus as her anxiety diminished and awareness took its place.
Her lush mouth parted on a soft sigh, and the sight of her pink, wet tongue slowly gliding across her lush bottom lip was like an irresistible tease, fueling his need to taste her, to finally give in to the desire that kept him up late at night, imagining how she’d feel moving beneath his hard body and moaning his name as she came for him.
With his palms still cradling her face, Wes tipped her head back a few inches so that her mouth was poised beneath his, waiting for some kind of sign that she was opposed to what was about to happen between them. Instead, she whispered his name like a plea, destroying any last bit of restraint he’d been holding on to.
He doubted a single kiss would satisfy years of wanting Natalie, yet he couldn’t stop what was about to happen, even knowing how wrong it was to take advantage of this moment. But kissing her felt inevitable and as necessary as his next breath, like something inside of him would die if he didn’t have her, just this once.
He stared into her clear blue eyes, the trust and reciprocal need lingering in the depths slaying him. The need he understood. But the trust . . . that was something he didn’t deserve.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured huskily, unsure if he was apologizing for making her ride the Centennial Wheel or for finally giving in to the urge to kiss her.