Collide (Collide, #1)(59)

Now she wanted to turn back around and face him to see his beautiful eyes and soak in every inch of his delectable body, but when she attempted to, he held her in place. He was teasing her, and she knew it. His touch left searing heat with every inch that made contact with her sensitive flesh. It left her wanting—no, craving—more. His attention was fast becoming an addiction to her that she didn’t think she could ever get enough of. If “Mother Nature” wasn’t calling her name, she would’ve stayed in that position with him the entire night.

Quickly turning to face him, she stared into his eyes. “I have to use the bathroom,” she said, the words coming out as breathless as she anticipated they would.

“I’ll take a walk with you,” he replied, wiping a thin sheen of sweat from his brow.

“You don’t have to.”

He smiled at her almost questioningly. “I’m not letting you wander through this mayhem alone.”

She playfully flexed her bicep. “Really, I’m a tough girl.”

“Well, you’re a beautiful tough girl, so I would feel better making sure you don’t get mauled on your way to relieve some of that alcohol out of your system.”

She casually shrugged. “I guess you have a point.”

He led her gently by the elbow to one of the bathrooms located on the first floor. With the long line wrapping its way through the kitchen, they decided to try one of the others available on the second level. Emily peered at the mountain of stairs with a look of grief. Gavin smiled at her reaction and helped her climb her way to the top. To her dismay, the line for that bathroom was longer. Gavin let out a full throaty laugh at the look on her face. She shook her head and explained there was a third level that supposedly had more bathrooms. As he did before, he helped her up the stairs. With no line at all and the top level essentially empty, Emily was in and out within two minutes.

When Emily emerged, she found Gavin leaning against the wall, his eyes locking on hers as she walked over to him.

Mocking his position, she stood next to him, their shoulders barely brushing. She turned her neck to look up at him. “Thank you for making sure I didn’t get attacked on my way up here.”

Pushing himself off the wall, Gavin stepped directly in front of her—so close that he could feel the heat emanating from her body. “Not a problem. Are you ready to go back downstairs?”

Tempting her own destruction, she shook her head. The sounds from the music and party going on below faded away. Other than her own quick breathing, Emily could hear only his voice, see only his eyes, and feel only his hot breath feathering her cheeks.

Gavin could feel the emotions filtering through her eyes. Lust. Desire. Want. Need. All of which mirrored his own. He stepped closer still, their eyes never unlocking. “Tell me what you want,” he whispered.

Not answering and acting on impulse, she pressed herself against him, melting into the solidness of his hard body. She slowly brought her arms up around his neck, stared deep into his eyes, and pulled the smooth musky scent of his cologne through her nose. She anchored him with a salacious gaze, their lips inches apart with her sweet alcohol-infused breath dancing across his face.

“Say it, Emily.” The words came out in a low growl as he grasped the curve of her hips. “I need to hear you say it.”

Even in her alcohol-induced daze, she knew what he meant. With her chest rising and falling from her labored breathing, she answered, barely getting the words past her lips. “I…I want you.”

With the weight of his body, he pressed her back against the wall and licked the soft spot below her earlobe. “Tell me how much you f*cking want me,” he breathed.

Heat pulsed in her stomach, tingling through her entire being, as his tongue traced a wet torrid line up her neck. “Oh God, Gavin,” she moaned, her body trembling. “You’re in my dreams, in my thoughts, in my skin.”

Before she could catch her breath, he claimed her mouth. His lips were a shock to her system, breaking the rhythm and certainty of her beating heart. He tasted of mint, a little bit of booze, and something inherently Gavin. Delicious heat curled through every muscle, every fiber, and every cell in her body. With one hand splayed across the small of her back, he took the other and buried it in her tangled curls. Emily moaned softly as the heat of his mouth moved easily over her lips. The assault on her nerves was close to overwhelming, not allowing a single coherent thought to pass through her mind. He might have stolen her breath the first time they kissed, but here and now—stealthy like a cat burglar—he was trying to steal her heart.

With alcohol, lust, and desire reeling through her veins, Emily was dimly aware of them haphazardly stumbling into an empty bedroom. With the back of his foot, Gavin kicked the door closed. They embraced one another like a boa constrictor wrapped around its prey. Gavin let out a groan as their lips briefly tore apart, allowing enough time for Emily to pull his shirt up over his head. Gavin’s fingers fumbled to unbutton her blouse, eventually tossing it to the floor. With both of their chests heaving for air—Emily in her bra, skirt, and heels and Gavin left only in his pants—they stood face to face staring at each other for a beat.

The connection caught and ricocheted through them. Never breaking his gaze, Gavin bent his head and crushed his mouth to hers again, her lips tasting better than he remembered. His hands roamed over her soft skin as he studied every inch, reading her flesh like a novel written in braille. Everything about her was pure deliciousness. He kissed her as though the brief time they had been apart had starved him of all basic human necessities. Emily released a soft whimper as his tongue laved over her ear, down to her neck, and across the curve of her collarbone. That whimper—that lusty little whimper—sent Gavin’s body and mind into overdrive when they fell back onto the bed.