Neil’s eyes darkened. His eyebrows were angry slashes across his forehead as he stared at me. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Fucking hell, I’m mad at you,” he said in a low, gruff voice.
“You have every right to be.”
A second later, he reached forward, yanking me over onto his lap. I gasped as his hands smoothed over my hips, then ran possessively up my spine before sinking into my hair.
He met my gaze, his eyes hard and passionate. “You can’t just run off and do crazy, irreversible things without talking to me first. That’s not you, Afric. You don’t bury stuff. You say it to my face. What changed?”
I looked away, unable to handle the intensity of his eyes when I responded. “I guess I was just so hurt at the idea of you going to Annabelle because I let you kiss me last night, and that’s not something I agreed to lightly.” I paused and lifted my gaze, hoping my meaning hit home.
His fingers weaved through my hair, kneading at a tight spot at the base of my skull. God, that felt good. His eyes lowered to my mouth. “It’s partly my fault. I should’ve just told you I was going to see Annabelle, but I saw that you were already stressing about the kiss, so I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”
“Can we forgive each other and move on?”
“Yes,” he replied fervently. “But first, if anything like this happens in the future, promise me you’ll ask me about it first before drawing your own conclusions, and I’ll promise to do the same.”
I brought my hand up and wrapped my pinkie around his. “I promise.”
Neil’s expression heated as he brought my hand to his mouth and dragged his lips over my knuckles.
A swift bolt of desire shot through me. Shivers skittered down my spine. “Neil.”
His eyes blazed when I said his name, and his head tilted, a confidently masculine look on his face when he replied teasingly, “Afric.”
“You’re making me come over all peculiar again,” I said breathily.
He smirked. “So long as I make you come, I’m good with that.”
I laughed shyly. “I’ve created a monster.”
He continued massaging my skull, his mouth close when he whispered, “I want to kiss you.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
Less than a second later, his mouth crashed onto mine with crushing intensity. There was nothing soft or tentative about this kiss, not like the ones he’d given me last night. This kiss held the sheer ferocity of his passion, and it knocked me sideways. I couldn’t remember ever being wanted like this before.
Neil’s tongue dipped out, a silky caress, and I moved my legs, climbing astride him until I felt the delicious thickness in his pants. It slid against my core, and I trembled into the kiss. Neil’s hand tightened in my hair while the other moved down to cup my backside.
He broke the kiss, breathing fast as he growled, “You’re so fucking sexy.” Then, he bent and gently nipped my jaw with his teeth. “I’m obsessed with you.”
His words made my heart feel like it was lit up in a shimmery glow. This time, I was the one to kiss him. I dragged my lips teasingly across his before deepening it, tasting him. I’d never kissed anyone like this. Up until this point, I’d only ever tolerated a man’s mouth on mine, but not now. Now, I was an active participant.
Neil had come into my life unexpectedly, and it was just as unexpected how he’d slowly become an intrinsic part of my reality. I’d once thought him dull and unimaginative. Now when I considered living in a Neil-less world, all I saw was grey. He was the glow that lit up my days, the colour that painted the canvas of my existence.
We kissed for countless minutes, exploring every inch of each other’s mouths before a brazen impulse struck. Sarita wouldn’t be home for at least a few more hours, which meant there was no chance of anyone walking in on us.
I broke the kiss, gulping down a lungful of air while Neil stared up at me, his eyes hooded, cheeks flushed. I wanted to make him feel good. I wanted to drive him wild.
And that was why I started to climb off him, my knees hitting the floor. He watched me, chest rising and falling.
“What are you …” his voice trailed off as I reached for his fly, and his eyes followed the movement of my hands as I pulled down the zip. I swear he stopped breathing when I slipped my hand inside and cupped him. He was hot and hard and silky, and I gasped at the feel of him. Neil’s head fell back against the couch as he muttered strangled words under his breath.
“You’re so hard,” I said, gripping his firm length. My thighs trembled, clenching at the thought of him inside me.