On the Rocks (Last Call #1)(29)

I stiffen for just a moment, more from the shock, but then my senses give in to the feeling of his mouth moving over mine… and I give in. My arms snake around his neck and his drop to my waist, as we both pull each other in as close as possible.

The kiss is warm and languid. There’s no frenzy… no urgency. It’s as if we do this a hundred times a day, although the feeling is beyond extraordinary. His tongue is warm and commanding, his body hard against mine. It’s a feeling I could get used to. It’s a feeling I could become dependent on.

Before I can make another observation on the rush of thoughts that are circulating through my mind, Hunter pulls his lips from mine.

“What was that for?” I ask, my breathing coming out in sharp bursts.

His hands fall away, and he steps back from me. Frustration washes over his face, and he slides his fingers through his hair to punctuate it.

“Hell if I know,” he says with a tinge of anger. “I couldn’t f*cking help myself.”

My hands come together in nervousness, ringing against one another. I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. I have no clue how to even begin a conversation with him. All seemed right in my world just moments ago when we were kissing, but now everything seems wrong.

Hunter watches me warily, waiting.

When nothing seems to be forthcoming, he sighs. “What is it you wanted, Gabby?”

“I—I—” I have no idea what to say. The only thing that is coming to mind is, “Please kiss me again,” but that just doesn’t seem appropriate.

When it’s apparent that nothing intelligent seems to want to make an appearance from my lips, Hunter shrugs his shoulders and starts for the door. “When you figure it out, let me know.”

When he walks by me, a sense of urgency hits and I reach out to grab his arm. “Wait.”

He turns to look at me, his face unreadable and impatient. “What do you want?”

It’s a simple question. At this very moment—what is it I really want? There’s only one answer, although I’m not sure exactly what it means.

“I want you,” I tell him quietly.

He narrows his gaze at me, suspicious of my motivation. I can’t say as I blame him. Stepping in toward me closer, he asks, “In what way?”

“I don’t know,” I practically whine. “I’m confused.”

His features smooth out at my pathetic nature, and sympathy filters into his eyes. He reaches his hands out and frames my face again, leaning in closer. “Me too. So let’s figure this out.”

I take in a deep breath and let it out gratefully, some of the tension leaving my body. It helps to know he’s confused as well. I don’t feel quite so alone right now.

“I don’t know what this is,” I admit. “I don’t know where this is going.”

Giving me a small smile, Hunter leans in and gives me a kiss. When he pulls away, he says, “No one knows where anything is going… not for sure. Who’s to say we need to know what waits for us? Maybe all we need to know is that we don’t want to stay where we are.”

He makes it sound so simple. It’s so Que Sera Sera.

Great, now that song is freakin’ stuck in my head.

“So… is this just sex?”

“No,” he says quietly. “I told you the other night this was special. You know that, right?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I look down at the floor, not willing to let him look in my eyes, in case he sees that it was more than special to me. That would make me too vulnerable.

“At the risk of sounding too much like a girl,” he continues, “I need to tell you that the other day… making love to you, f*cking you… whatever you want to call it, was different for me. So that makes it special. So that makes it more than ‘just sex’.”

I look back up at him because his words are encouraging. “Yes. It was special.”

He grins at me, complete relief awash in that smile. “So… that means we can keep doing it?”

“Sex?” I ask, not sure exactly what he wants to keep doing.

Hunter throws his head back and laughs, then pulls me into a hug. He rocks me back and forth, still chuckling. “Yes, Gabs. Sex, f*cking, making love, getting you off, getting me off. I don’t care what we call it, but I want to keep seeing you.”

“Seeing me?” I ask again, I’m sure sounding like an idiot.

He pulls back and looks at me suspiciously. “Are you drunk or something? You’re usually not this slow.”

I can’t help the giggle that escapes, but then I make sure he understands me next when I say, “I don’t want anyone to know.”

He flinches slightly, and his eyebrows scrunch inward with confusion. “Why not?”

“It’s just so awkward right now… trying to figure out what we have. I’d rather not have the glaring spotlight on us as we try to make sense of this. Just having to deal with the barrage of questions we’d get from our friends and family gives me the wiggins.”

I punctuate my statement by shivering.

Hunter stares at me a moment, and then asks, “The wiggins?”

“Totally the wiggins,” I affirm.

“Okay… while I don’t relish the idea of keeping this a secret from our families, because f*ck knows it’s going to be hard to keep my hands off you, we’ll take this slow and see where it leads before we go public.”