No Weddings (29 page)
I wanted to know what made her gasp. I needed to discover what made her scream. In the darkness of the night at her front door, I pressed her body against the cold wood.
When I braced my arms above her, gripping the doorframe to hold my shaking body upright, she leaned away from the door, molding her body back into mine. The moment spun slowly around us; time seemed to slow, suspend. All I could think of now was her on her kitchen island covered in honey, her legs spread wide as I dipped down, tasting all she had to offer.
“Cade?” Her voice trembled.
“What?” I rasped out, my voice lost.
She blinked heavily. “You’re looking at me like that again.”
“Like what?”
“Like you want to devour me.”
I swallowed hard, glancing from her eyes to her lips and back again. “I do.”
There we stood, her clinging to me, begging me with her eyes. To do what? Take charge…but be gentle? I couldn’t. If I leaned down to kiss her, I couldn’t be sure I would stop. I was afraid I would burst into flames, break her door down, and tumble down with her to the floor.
Trying to hold it together, I gripped the doorframe harder. With great effort, I focused on my breaths as I stared at her lips.
They moved to form the shape of an O, and her eyes widened a fraction before they softened, as if she hadn’t understood my body cues at first, but now spoke the language.
With flattened palms, she spread them up my chest, then stopped midway, holding them there, as if her gentle pressure reinforced my restraint, and together we held back an avalanche.
Searching my face, she leaned up. Her tongue peeked out, wetting her lips the way she did around me a lot lately, as if she wanted to devour me too. As if she couldn’t wait to have a taste.
I kept my eyes open, unable to believe this was finally happening, not wanting to miss one second of it. Her breath was soft and warm against my chin, then my cheek.
She moved forward, brushing her lips along my jawline. I felt her pause, place a tender kiss there. She glanced up into my eyes again, keeping our gazes locked until she moved to the other side, doing the same.
For a brief second, I shut my eyes and swallowed hard. “Tease.”
I opened them again to find a wicked smirk on her face. “You have no idea.”
She was right. I didn’t. The more I was around her, the greater a mystery she became. I couldn’t wait to find out what made this intriguing woman tick, even if she teased out the unveiling of all that was Hannah from now until eternity.
Her face grew serious in concentration as she stared at my mouth.
My breathing grew shallow. My pulse raced hot through my body, thundering into my cock with aching need.
In slow motion, she tilted her face upward, and her eyelids drifted closed. I closed mine too, needing to feel everything as she did.
Soft brushes feathered across my lips. Then using more pressure, she molded them softly to mine. Her hands slid to my lower back, and she pressed her pelvis into my groin.
I moaned, overloaded with sensation.
Her tongue flicked out, teasing before she sucked on my lower lip.
I gave in to her tender pace and kissed her back with all the restraint I had. When she started to pull away, I leaned in, sucking on her lower lip.
One sip and I was drunk on this incredible woman, swimming in a sea of her. I was a drowning man, and I never wanted to come up for air.
After several seconds of hungry exploration, Hannah eased back, breaking contact. Our hot puffs of breath fogged across our lips. Hers were pink, glistening.
Wow. Just
fucking
wow.
I took a shaky breath, and she did the same. We stared at each other for long seconds while I remained still, muscles tensed, not trusting myself to move.
She finally smiled, biting her lip, then sucked it in, as if tasting me on her skin. Pulling her keys out of her pocket, she took a step back before turning to unlock her door.
When she shifted back toward me, I leaned forward, unable to let her go. She reached behind her, grabbing on to the door handle. The action jutted her breasts out like an engraved invitation. I bent down, staring, growling.
She bent down, her face interrupting my detour to meet my gaze. I fought the urge to look down at the even more spectacular view.
“Good night, Cade.” She smiled.
Pure happiness radiated from within her.
I’d
put that feeling there. And she’d let me.
I groaned as she backed into her house, feeling helpless. And very much in need of more of everything she had to offer. “You can’t leave me here like this.”
“Can you wait until tomorrow night?”
Confused, I searched her face. “What’s tomorrow night?” I needed specifics here. Did she mean the bed? Or the kitchen island? Were we talking chocolate sauce or honey?
“If you don’t have plans, would you want to go out on our first date?”
My heart soared. This brave girl was taking the leap, giving me a chance with her heart. I wouldn’t let her down.
“Fuck yeah, I would!” Her startled look humbled me. “I mean, yes. I’d love to.”
Her expression softened. “Then, c’mere, you. How about one last kiss to tide you over?”
This time I met her halfway, losing myself in Hannah with every moment she granted.
An incredible team of people were directly involved in making of
No Weddings
and are mentioned below; however, any errors within the published novel, whether existing there intentionally or not, are ours alone.
Enormous appreciation goes to Kristi at Picky Editor. She was the first developmental editor and the last proofreader. But in between, she went above and beyond, providing additional editing, support, and advice in areas that far surpassed the traditional author–editor relationship. Kristi, we enjoyed the journey all the more because you were an integral part of it. You are a rare treasure, and we’re immeasurably grateful for you and all you do.
Thank you to Claire and Bryan at Finish the Story for helping us polish the book. We appreciate the time you spent, especially your perseverance, patience, and understanding to get the story just right.
Huge thanks to Heather and Misty, our close friends and cheerleaders, for fielding all of Kat’s random texts and for providing valued opinions about the opening of the book.
To our social media friends, fans, supporters, readers, reviewers, and bloggers, both those we’ve interacted with thus far and those we look forward to meeting—we are immensely grateful for all you do. Your unending enthusiasm for reading our stories fuels our excitement to write them.
Stone, what in the world could I say here to cover the depth of my gratitude to you? Not enough. But I will say that I’m so glad we took a wild idea over pizza out one night and turned it into a labor of love and laughter. I’d shout out some of the hilarious moments to make you laugh, but I have a feeling you’re already thinking about them…and smiling.
Kat…Wait, what? Is this like wedding vows? You know what you mean to me. The journey. The love. The laughter.
Squirrel!
Award-winning and bestselling romance author Kat Bastion has teamed up with her husband Stone Bastion to create the new contemporary romance series No Weddings.
A few factoids about the writing team…
Kat enjoys her chocolate rich and dark, her music edgy and soul-filling, and her vacations exotic with toes dug into the sand. And she’s wildly, madly, deeply in love with Stone.
Stone likes pounding the trails on a mountain bike, vibrating the sound system with rock music, and down time spent on a stand up paddleboard. And he loves Kat wildly, madly, deeply…and then some.
Together, they’re having a blast bringing fun-filled romantic stories to life and hope you’ll join them in the exciting adventure.
Kat’s first published work,
Utterly Loved
, was a twentieth anniversary gift of love poems to Stone that they decided to share with the world to benefit charity. Net proceeds from
Utterly Loved
, and a portion of net proceeds from all their books, go toward charities involved in the fight against human trafficking.
Kat and Stone live amid the beautiful Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Visit their blog at
www.talktotheshoe.com
, website at
www.katbastion.com
, and their Twitter accounts at
https://twitter.com/KatBastion
and
https://twitter.com/StoneBastion
for more information.
Keep informed about new releases by
joining their Email Subscription list
.
The Unity Foundation mentioned in
No Weddings
is a fictional charity, but human trafficking is painfully real for millions of victims worldwide.
Your purchase of the No Weddings Series helps these victims because a portion of the net proceeds of all our books are donated to charities who support them. These charities are creating legislation and prosecuting criminals, rescuing and restoring victims, and raising awareness in the effort to eradicate the tragedy of human trafficking.
Please visit the Charity Support and Awareness page on our website
www.katbastion.com
and blog
www.talktotheshoe.com
to learn about some of the organizations we donate to and to find out how you can further support them.
“A single act of kindness is the foundation of many miracles.”
~ Kat Bastion,
Utterly Loved
.
This ebook was designed and formatted by
Artisan ebooks for discerning authors and publishers.
No Weddings
is a book of fiction. Names, characters, places, occurrences, and theories are the products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, locales, events or theories is wholly coincidental.
