Page 70 of All for Love

MERCEDES

Kody devoured my lips and I gave as good as I got. My tongue slid into his mouth, tangling with his. He walked me back until I hit the wall, then hooked his hand around my thigh to wrap it around his hip.

Things were a mess between us. Tonight had proven that neither of us was ready to let go, and I didn’t want to fight it anymore either. Our kisses spoke to all of those emotions and more. Hungry, powerful, and raw, our mouths came together over and over again, our bodies meshed against one another as he trapped me between him and the wall.

I couldn’t get enough. After a separation that had once again lasted too long, I was desperate to be with him in this more vulnerable state we found ourselves in and desperate to prove that I accepted him just the way he was.

The depth of his emotion about that earlier had shocked me. It was a whole other side to Kody that I’d never seen before, and honestly, it was difficult to believe that this cocky, carefree sometimes-jerk had such a storm brewing right underneath the surface.

Feelings of inadequacy, insecurities, pressure? He felt it all, and I understood him so much better now that I knew about it. Not that my understanding changed any of the realities we were facing, but at least it made me feel like perhaps there was a purpose to all of this.

Perhaps that purpose was that Kody needed someone to show him he was worthy. That he was enough. The knowledge wouldn’t help me mend my broken heart once he moved on, but it was something. He deserved to be happy—whether he believed it or not.

While it was still true that he didn’t think he needed love in his life to be happy, I was pretty sure he wanted it. I’d caught him staring at Kaden and Brooke and at his dad and my mom at times, and I’d seen the expression in his eyes change.

At first, it’d been disgust and annoyance, but it was softer now. Almost longing sometimes. It just hurt to know I’d never have that with him.

For right now though, in this moment, as he pushed me up against the wall and swept his tongue into my mouth time and again, this was enough. We would never have a relationship, but we did have mutual attraction and we liked each other. Maybe more than just like, but I wasn’t ready to think too hard about that just yet.

So instead, I poured it all into my kisses. Then I ran my hands up the length of his strong back and pushed my fingers into his thick hair. I toyed with the strands, twisting and tugging at them. He groaned into my mouth and rolled his hips against mine.

Our height difference made this particular position precarious but not impossible. Plus, I was still in my heels, so that helped.

Kody held my leg firmly wrapped around him. His heart pounded against my chest as he flattened his abdomen against my softer one. His head was bent to keep kissing me, but this kiss was different again. Deeper and delivered with his whole body, like he was trying to give himself to me.

I took everything he offered and gave back a piece of myself. Moaning, I held his head to my own and nipped at his lower lip. He let out a low groan in response, and it turned into a chuckle as he let go of my leg and grabbed me by the hips. He walked us backward away from the wall as he kept kissing me.

“Where are we going?” I murmured between kisses. I tried to pull away but he wouldn’t let me.

“Bedroom. What I’ve got planned for you can’t be done against a wall.”

I smiled against his mouth. “Is that so? What have you got planned for me?”

“Everything.”

Desire pumped like lava through my veins at the quietly growled word, and my thoughts scattered as I let my body take the wheel. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and trusted him to guide us to wherever his bedroom was.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice whispered that it was okay to trust him with it because he was probably extremely practiced in passionately kissing women as he took them there, but I shut the voice up instantly. I knew Kody had been around the block a few times. I’d always known that, and if I was accepting him just the way he was, then I had to accept that part of him too.

Besides, I was no virgin either, and although I wasn’t nearly as experienced as him, I was no hypocrite. He hadn’t been the first man in my bed and I wouldn’t be the first in his. That was all there was to it.

My back hit a soft mattress and he crawled onto it after me, removing items of clothing as he went. Kissing and maneuvering our limbs into uncomfortable positions to get the fabric out from between us without having to separate completely, we finally managed to get each other naked and then collapsed in a heap of passion and tongues on his bed.

After lusting for him from afar all night—for the last couple of weeks, actually—it felt so good to be back in his arms that I couldn’t get enough. My kisses were sloppy and urgent as his hard body flattened against my own.

Kody didn’t seem as controlled as he usually was either. Both of us moaned and groped every piece of the other we could reach. My breathing was coming in labored pants and my entire body felt hot, my nipples so primed they could cut glass.

Between my legs, I was wet and wanting, and Kody ran a finger through my folds, his labored breathing shuddering as he groaned. “God, I want you.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I’m here for the taking,” I murmured against his lips. “In case it needs to be said, I want you too.”

He chuckled and moved his hand down to cover my mound with his palm. His fingers splayed across my soaked folds. “It’s still good to hear it.”

To my surprise, he moved half off me then, resting his forehead against mine and looking into my eyes as his fingers sank into me. I was surprised at the strength of the emotion I saw in those brilliant blues at that moment, but I might also have been blinded by lust, seeing things that weren’t really there.

On the other hand, it was painfully clear that he wanted me just as much as I wanted him, and we’d already admitted that we couldn’t stay away from each other. What we had between us was stronger than either of us had thought, and the surprise that registered in those eyes as he stared at me like that confirmed he felt it too.

Then his hand started moving and I lost track of my thoughts. All I knew was that he was looking into my eyes while getting me off, and it felt so much more intimate than I’d ever felt in this position before.