Up in Smoke (Crossing the Line, #2)(68)

“Erin—”

She reached over and dug her nails into his thigh to quiet him. He followed her line of sight and found Mrs. May peering across the street, lifting her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. Erin moved at the same time he reached for her, settling on his lap. They couldn’t be caught watching the house, and obviously were of the same mind that kissing was the best way to detract from suspicious attention. Erin’s ass nestled over his already hardening dick as their mouths met in a long-overdue kiss.

What had it been? An hour? Jesus, he’d missed the taste of her. He’d taken her to Starbucks on the way over and she’d picked a peppermint mocha at random, never having been there before. Now her mouth tasted like Christmas and he couldn’t get close enough. He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tugging it down so he could revel in her texture with his tongue. Her head fell back on a groan that he echoed in his chest.

She twisted her hips on his stiff lap, biting his bottom lip and tugging as she did it. Tease. She knew he couldn’t have her here. In retaliation, he reached under her skirt and gripped her *. Her mouth left his, breath panting in and out. Connor squeezed her flesh, a reminder of what she’d woken in him last night. A part of him that wouldn’t be denied anymore now that it had been released.

“Play fair, sweetheart. I came in your mouth this morning, but I only consider that foreplay. I haven’t f*cked you today as far as I’m concerned, and I’m not happy about it.” He rubbed his knuckles along the dampening material of her panties, glorying in her gasp. “If you wanted my cock inside you so bad, you should have stopped sucking when I asked, but you were a greedy girl. Weren’t you?”

He felt a shudder pass through her. “Yes.”

“Don’t tease me, Erin.”

“I won’t.”

He released her and she slumped against his chest. Casting an eye across the street, he noticed Mrs. May had gone back inside, but the movers were sending covert glances in their direction. Breathing through a surge of possessiveness, he gently maneuvered Erin back into the passenger seat. He noted her stiff nipples pushing against the front of her crop top. Her denim skirt had ridden up, giving him a tempting view of her beautiful thighs pressing tightly together. He should find somewhere less public to ease her. God, he wanted to like hell. But she’d asked him to help her do the right thing regarding her stepfather, and he hadn’t been able to give it to her. That shamed him. So once again, he would atone. Would make today special for her. Because as early as tonight, he would act. He wanted her to have a memory to hold on to when he failed to give her what she wanted, but took what he needed instead.

“Will you let me show you something?”

“Anything,” she answered, without a single hesitation.





Chapter Twenty-Two


Erin marveled over the feel of her hand tucked inside Connor’s as he led her toward the skyscraper’s revolving-door entrance. He’d offered her his hand so casually, she’d felt silly doing anything other than taking it. She suspected he was acting that way on purpose. Aware that all these little steps they were accomplishing one by one were actually mammoth-sized leaps. The skin-on-skin contact still stung at first, but somewhere in the middle of the night last night, pleasure with a hint of pain had turned into a craving instead of something from which to escape.

As long as Connor was the one holding her hand, she could trust it. Case in point, she had no idea where he was taking her, but she followed him willingly. Something she would have chewed her own arm off before doing a couple weeks ago. On the ride over, she’d been a little shaken up over what had happened between them outside the May residence. One minute she’d been lost in their kiss and the next, he’d been in command of every cell in her body. His hand between her legs, his deep, velvet voice that only came out to play when he dominated her. It should startle her how easily he could take over her emotions, her thoughts. But she wasn’t startled. He’d found a lock deep down inside her and turned a key only he held. Now energy flowed through her without the usual obstacles, reaching out to him for more. She could never be alarmed over something that felt this good, this right. And if it ever stopped feeling good and right, she also knew Connor wouldn’t rest until it did. That kind of trust was as unfamiliar to her as the responses he wrung from her body, but they were hers and they were perfect.

When they had passed through the glass doors, Connor asked her to wait nearby while he purchased tickets. For what? She strolled over to a display on the wall and saw that they were in the Willis Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. She didn’t get a chance to read more before Connor placed a hand at the small of her back and led her to an elevator. They waited while a group of tourists boarded and Connor signaled that they would take the next one. She was grateful for that. While she’d taken a step toward conquering her fear of elevators, this was a tall-ass building and she didn’t know how high up they were going. They might be in the steel death trap for a while, and who knew what crazy her brain would decide to dig up.

The second elevator rolled open, devoid of other passengers. She lifted her chin and stepped inside, Connor following behind her. As soon as the doors closed, she held her breath, waiting to see which button he would push.

The 103rd floor.

She gave a sharp exhale. “Guess the stairs are out.”