Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107454 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 537(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
I kick the door closed.
43
THIS IS WHAT LIBRARIES ARE FOR
MARK
Not gonna lie. That was a hot move, kicking the door closed. My pulse races. But I’m not going to let on how much it affects me.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I say as I cross my arms, lean against the shelf of tomes.
His hazel eyes are fierce as he stalks over to me, stopping inches away. “I wanted to. Just like I wanted to text you to tell you I was coming.”
I swallow roughly. “Yeah. You should have. It’s just . . . polite,” I say, but I’m not entirely sure what words are coming out of my mouth. Focus is hard with the way he stares at me. Like he wants to lick every inch of my skin.
“Polite is the last thing I feel toward you, Banks,” he says, and where he was unsure minutes ago, he’s strong now. Determined. “That’s why I thought about just showing up and surprising you. But I don’t think you like surprises, so I RSVPed.”
“I hate surprises,” I say, but I like what you’re saying, so keep going. Don’t stop talking, please.
“Yeah, I figured you did,” Asher says, his voice going sultry.
“I RSVPed weeks ago. You did . . . maybe today?”
I know because I checked the invitation every damn day for his name. But I keep that to myself.
“Like I said, it was a last-minute thing,” he says, stepping closer, so I catch a whiff of his rainfall scent, and it makes my mouth water. “The organization changed my itinerary, and as soon as that happened, I hopped on a last-minute flight, and I swear, the whole time, Mark, the whole fucking time I was flying over the Atlantic, all I was thinking was how much I wanted to see you.”
This can’t be real.
But it is.
Sometimes you just stop thinking.
You do.
Like right now.
I step away from the wall, spin him around so his back is to it, and shove him against the shelves.
Like magnets, our lips return to each other.
Our mouths crash together in a frenzy. Electricity crackles between us. I swear I can hear the sizzle, feel the snap of the line.
I grab his hands, lift them above his head, and push him rougher against the books. The spines probably dig into his back, and I don’t care, and he doesn’t either.
The fact that I’m supposed to be at a party just doesn’t matter at all.
My hands thread through Asher’s, our fingers linking. I devour the man I have missed madly.
It’s a greedy kiss. Hot and messy, and I love every single second of the sloppiness. The click of his teeth, the tangle of our tongues. Most of all, the way his fingers curl so tightly around mine. Like he’s holding on for dear life. His fingers coil around mine in a possessive grip that makes me feel like he doesn’t want to let go of me.
I don’t want to let go of him.
The temperature inside me launches like a rocket, shooting to the sky. Sweet, hot tension lashes through my body, and I want to revel in this moment as he sweeps his tongue against mine, and we say hello again.
We say everything with our bodies.
I missed you.
I want you.
I need you.
I don’t want to break this kiss for anything in the whole universe, except maybe for this . . .
I wrench away. “Spend the weekend with me.”
I blurt it out, and it’s not even a spur-of-the-moment request. Well, technically it is, but it’s born from months apart, missing this man.
This man who just makes me feel . . . alive.
He makes me feel good in a way that’s so much more than sexual.
Asher’s smile is contagious as his lips twitch, and his eyes glint. “With you, as in at your place?”
I laugh, confused but happy. “Yes. With me. The whole weekend. Can you?” My voice pitches up but I don’t care. He’s here, he came to see me, and that’s literally all I need to know.
He nods in slow motion, like he can’t believe his luck. “I was going to stay the night with Flip,” he whispers, but the sentence is unfinished when he dips his face to my neck, grabs my hips, and hauls me close as he sweeps his mouth under my chin.
Has anything ever made me weak in the knees?
Nothing except him.
My toes are curling as he kisses me luxuriously, with slow, soft, wet kisses along my jaw, like he’s relishing the taste of me.
“Mmm. Missed this,” he murmurs.
I groan, running my hands through his hair. “So you have to leave tomorrow?”
Another kiss on my jaw as he nods.
“I’ll take tonight, Asher. If it’s all I get,” I say.
He lifts his face, dusts a soft, tender kiss to my lips. “I’ll change my flight. I want to see you, Mark Banks. I want to spend the weekend with you. I want to take you up on the best sleepover offer ever.”