Page 29

“Tahnee.”

His voice was low and a little ragged – as if he too was only just barely restraining himself. She could hear the desperation in it, and she closed her eyes.

“Robb, I –”

She hadn’t had any idea what she might have been planning on saying next – Robb, I think we should talk or Robb, I want you so badly I can’t see straight or Robb, I think we should get these dishes done – but in the next moment his hands were around her waist, and she didn’t care about talking at all.

He pulled her back against his warm body, the solidity of his chest against her shoulder blades. Tahnee let out a shaky breath. How long had she waited for this? How long had she been wanting this, longing for this, but never really thinking it would actually happen?

She sunk back against him, wanting to be as close to him as possible, and tilted her head back, lifting her chin.

It must have been clear what she wanted, because his lips were on hers in a moment, searing, crushing, and filling her with desire. She moaned into his mouth and felt his lips part wider in response, his own need for her obvious. It wasn’t just his erection pressing against her from behind, but the way he kissed her – as if he’d been waiting his whole life to do it.

And I guess, Tahnee thought vaguely, as she raised her hand to clutch at the back of his head, pulling at his hair in her desperation to draw him closer to her, he has.

One of his hands snaked up from her waist to cup her breast, while the other moved down between her legs, curling over her and pressing down gently.

Tahnee moaned again, writhing against him. Ordinarily, she might have thought things were moving a bit fast – not that she’d ever really complained about things moving fast before, since she’d always been in charge and known what she wanted – but right now, she just didn’t care.

Robb’s touch was like a live wire, lighting her up from the inside out, need sparking over paths through her body that had been lying dormant for longer than she could remember.

Maybe this is what fate feels like.

The universe had brought them back together again, and now all she could think about was him, of truly becoming one with him.

Desire pooled between her legs as his fingers moved gently, sending hot blades of sweet ecstasy through her.

Behind her, his body was as hot as a furnace, even through the clothes that separated them, his erection pushed against the small of her back, desiring her, wanting her.

Just as much as I want him.

The kiss broke as his fingers slid against her, and even through the fabric of her pants and underwear the touch sent a searing wave of pleasure up through her stomach, so strong that she couldn’t help but cry out, her legs turning to jelly beneath her – the only thing that kept her upright was Robb’s arms around her, his fingers relentless as they drew pleasure from her body.

His palm was against her nipple, and she arched up into his touch, wanting more. Twisting in his embrace, she turned to face him, grabbing his jaw between her palms and kissing him hard, messily, wishing there was some way she could just magic away the clothes that were keeping them apart.

Her head felt foggy as she lowered her hands to begin fumbling at the buttons of his shirt, pretty sure she heard at least a couple of them tear away from the fabric and go skittering off across the kitchen floor in her hurry to get to bare skin.

But as she pulled the shirt down his shoulders, she felt the crust of dried blood that stained the fabric, and she gasped, pulling back, the sudden memory of his injury cutting through the haze of her lust for a moment.

“Robb, your shoulder –” she started to say – but she quickly realized from the look in his eyes that right now, proper injury care was the last thing on his mind.

“It doesn’t matter,” he growled, his voice low and his breath hot against her ear – and even if she’d been inclined to argue with him, it didn’t matter, since in the next moment his hands were back on her waist, lifting her up as if she weighed nothing at all until she was sitting on the kitchen counter, the back of her head against the cupboards and his body pressing forward between her parted thighs.

He bent his head to the swell of her breasts, after he’d gotten her t-shirt off with a little more grace than she’d managed with his shirt, which now gaped open over the muscles of his chest and abdomen. Tahnee could feel Robb’s hot breath against her as his lips and tongue traced a burning path over her skin, his hands fumbling at her bra.

Still too many clothes, she thought – no matter how much she widened her legs, hooking her calves around his hips and digging her heels into the small of his back to clench him tightly against her, there was still far too much between them, too much fabric separating their bare skin.

Her own hands fumbled greedily at his belt buckle, wanting to get his pants off him as quickly as possible – all thoughts of going slow had left her head now, and all she wanted was to feel him against her, within her.

“Tahnee, are you –” Robb’s voice was a low rumble, and Tahnee gasped as it sent off vibrations all the way down to her core from where his mouth was pressed against the soft skin of her breasts.

“It sounded for a moment there like you were about to ask me whether I was sure about this,” she managed to get out, in between her heaving, panting breaths. “But I really don’t know how I can make this any clearer than I already have.”

His laugh made her shiver – she felt it almost more that she heard it, as finally he managed to unhook her bra, her breasts spilling free as it fell away. Tahnee threw her head back, digging her fingers into his scalp as his mouth found her nipple, pleasure rippling through her in building waves.

She was aware they’d both changed – hell, on the tram hadn’t she been thinking about how much hotter Robb was to her now than he had been when they’d both been young? – and in the past she’d sometimes thought about the way the years were showing on her body, that she wasn’t exactly the lithe young thing she’d once been, all lean muscle and restless energy.

But if Robb had noticed it at all, nothing in the way he treated her showed it – he kissed her reverently, hungrily, as if he wanted to find every inch of her with his tongue and taste it. They could have been the same stupid young kids they’d been back then, the way they were desperately pawing at each other like horny teenagers who’d just discovered sex and wanted to have as much of it as they could.