Page 38 of Dark Soul

But Alexia didn’t want to end this. Her body, in fact, had already moved forward, until her front was plastered to his, close enough that she could feel the heat between them, even through her oversize black sweater and his dark gray henley.

Her arms came up to grab on to his biceps, to make sure he stayed in place.

Dark gave a moan of appreciation and deepened the kiss. His tongue found hers, and this time the little sounds were coming from her, and the kiss lasted forever, a kiss to replace all kisses coming before it. Finally, though, she had to come up for air. Her hands tightened against his arms, to let him know she wasn’t letting him go, that she just needed to breathe.

“You taste incredible,” he said, his voice a low, deep rumble.

“You don’t taste too bad yourself,” she said, trying to keep her tone light. When she went on tiptoes, Dark took the hint and kissed her again. His lips peppered her face with kisses, aiming for her nose, her cheek, the side of her mouth, but she grabbed him and kept him still.

A sudden thought struck her, making her interrupt the kiss.

“You said your friends were watching a movie?” she asked, looking towards the door.

“They won’t be back until tonight.” Dark took a step back. “I’m sorry. I’m crowding you. That’s not what I want to do. I want you to feel comfortable.”

“I do feel comfortable … with you. I feel … somehow, I feel like I’ve known you for a long time.”

“Let me make you some food,” he said, moving away from her. He breathed out noisily, as if he needed that distance. He opened the fridge and peered inside, looking for all the world like this was unfamiliar territory for him.

Maybe they order in a lot.

“I could make you a grilled cheese sandwich.”

That was sweet, but she wasn’t hungry.

“I don’t want a sandwich.” She pulled in her own sharp breath. In the past she’d never been very good at asking for what she wanted, but she was damn well going to do so now. “Could we … could we go to your room?” She hesitated for an instant. “You … you have your own room, right?”

“I have my own room,” he confirmed. He hesitated for a long instant, and for a moment she was sure he was going to offer her more food, but then seemed to change his mind. He put out his hand, waiting until she placed her fingers in his larger palm before leading her towards the stairs.

Awareness shot through her body.

This felt so … right.

Before she knew it, they were at the top of the stairs. His room was right off the landing. Decorated in shades of gray and white, it had the same beautiful view as the living area downstairs, and was divided into two separate areas—one half dominated by a white king-sized bed, the other half set up as a small living area.

He closed the door gently.

“This is nice. Television must pay well.”

“I can’t complain,” he said, his mouth tight. She wondered about that tightness. He didn’t seem like the type of man to care about money, but then, he clearly wasn’t hurting for it.

“Sit,” he said, pointing to the sofa, a gentle command, except she wasn’t here to take orders from him.

“What if I don’t want to sit?” she asked, standing up to her full height, which wasn’t very tall, compared to him.

“What do you want, Alexia?” he asked. His hand flew across his hair, the first sign that he wasn’t altogether in control.

She placed her hands on her hips in a confident move she was far from feeling. “I think … I think I want you.”

“You think?” he asked, taking a step forward, almost towering over her.

She shook her head. “No. You’re right. I don’t think. I know I want you.”

He pulled in a shaky breath. “You’re killing me, Alexia. Absolutely killing me.”

“I don’t want to kill you. I’d like to … I’d like to make love to you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed.