Rival (Fall Away, #2)(98)

“All right.” She gave in. “Half-pipe comes, too. Everyone will love that,” she added sarcastically.

I took my hand out of her shorts and lifted her shirt. “This would be so much more fun for me if you were topless,” I said, pulling it over her head with no resistance.

Reaching over and grabbing the insides of her thighs, I pulled her ass into me and nudged her upper body forward to lean over the keys.

Bending down, I swiped her hair to the side and dragged my tongue up her back, breaking every once in a while to sink my teeth in softly and kiss her.

God, I loved her. There was never anything or anyone I wanted more, and she was mine. When we were fourteen years old she came into my life on the heels of a cruel and self-serving woman, but I would do it all again. Every minute. Every ounce of pain. I would go through it all again to get to her.

“Madoc?” she whispered, tilting her face to the side. “What does ‘Fallen’ mean? The tattoo on your back?”

Questions.

“It doesn’t say ‘Fallen.’” I kissed a trail up her back, but she pushed herself up and turned her face to look at me, tears in her eyes.

“Fallon?” She pinched her eyebrows together in understanding.

I took her face in my hand, kissing the corner of her mouth. “I got it a couple of years ago,” I told her. “I never forgot you. I never stopped loving you.”

Her eyes closed, and she reached her hand behind her to caress my cheek.

Then, looking at me again, she gave me a small smile. “That’s because we’re unstoppable.”

I dived in and kissed her hard. Damn right.





Don’t miss the next engrossing romance from Penelope Douglas, Falling Away



Available digitally in January and paperback in April 2015 from Piatkus

K. C. Carter has always followed the rules—until this year, when a mistake leaves her the talk of her college campus and her carefully arranged life comes crashing to a halt. Now she’s stuck in her small hometown for the summer to complete her court-ordered community service, and to make matters worse, trouble is living right next door.

Jaxon Trent is the worst kind of temptation and exactly what K.C. was supposed to stay away from in high school. But he never forgot her. She was the one girl who wouldn’t give him the time of day and the only one to ever say no. Fate has brought K.C. back into his life—except what he thought was a great twist of luck turns out to be too close for comfort. As they grow closer, he discovers that convincing K.C. to get out from her mother’s shadow is hard, but revealing the darkest parts of his soul is nearly impossible. . . .





I inched around slowly, watching as his long body stepped off the stairs and walked toward me. The dark washed jeans hung off his hips, and I got a damn clear look at the muscles framing his abs in a V. He had a swimmer’s body, but I wasn’t sure if he was actually a swimmer. From the way the top of his jeans barely hung just above his hairline, I guessed he wasn’t wearing boxers . . . or anything under the jeans.

He came up to stand in front of me, hovering down since he was a good seven inches taller. “What are you doing here?” he accused.

I scowled at the air around him, before shooting my eyes to the ground.

“K.C.!” He shoved his hand in my face, snapping his fingers a few times. “Why are you roaming around in the dark alone?”

I finally looked up and had to hide the way my face felt on fire at the sight of his blue eyes. For someone so dark and wild, his eyes were so out of place but never seemed wrong. They were the color of a tropical sea. The color of the sky right before storm clouds rolled in. Tate called them azure. I called them Hell.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I took a deep breath. “Liam’s too drunk to drive, all right?” I bit out. “He passed out in the car.”


He looked down the street to where Liam’s car sat and narrowed his eyes before scowling back down at me. “So why can’t you drive him home?” he asked.

“I can’t drive a clutch.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. Running his hand through his hair, he stopped and fisted it midstroke. “Your boyfriend is a f*cking idiot,” he muttered, and then dropped his hand, looking exasperated.

I rolled my eyes, not wanting to get into it. He and Liam had never gotten along. Mostly Jax’s fault.

I tipped my chin up and kept my tone flat. “I knew Tate was staying with Jared tonight, and I didn’t want to wake up her dad to let me in the house to crash. I need her to help me get Liam home and to let me in her house. Is she up?” I asked.

He shook his head, and I wasn’t sure if that meant no or “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Digging in his jeans pocket, he pulled out keys. “I’ll drive you home.”

“No,” I rushed. “My mom thinks I’m staying at Tate’s tonight.”

His eyes narrowed on me, and I felt judged. Yeah, I was lying to my mother to spend the night with my boyfriend. And, yes, I was eighteen years old and still not allowed the freedom of an adult. I couldn’t stand the way the little shit was looking at me now.

Okay, so he wasn’t little. But he was still slightly younger, so I embraced the privilege to be condescending.

“Don’t move,” he ordered, and then turned around, walking back to his house.