Down by Contact (The Barons 2)

My hands rose, clutching the front of his hoodie. Everything else in my head crashed to a screeching halt. There was nothing but the drumming of my heart in my ears, the rustling of clothing as he yanked me tighter against him, and the faint way I sighed once our lips parted.

He tasted so good. His mouth was so warm. And his tongue was so talented, slicking against mine in a slow caress. Those long fingers slid up to cradle my face while he drank from my mouth like a man seeking youth from a fountain, at first questing and tentative and then hungry and demanding.

And I could do nothing but dig my fingers into his hoodie and try to keep up. I’d wanted to kiss him for a couple of weeks now, because it was part of the deal for me. If I had sex with someone, I wanted to feel their lips on mine. To be two humans sharing a moment in time and not just two people rutting together to get off. And I’d wanted it more because he’d denied it.

But this feeling building inside me? The trembling hands and satisfied moans while frantically returning his kiss? It had nothing to do with triumph and everything to do with the warmness I’d felt as I’d watched him shut the interview down.

We pulled away, but we continued to grip each other close. My eyes flicked open just enough to see him looking at me the same way—dreamy, flushed, and full of lust.

“I don’t need to go by my house.”

Adrián dragged his gaze from my mouth. “What?”

I licked my lips, taking a deep breath. “I don’t really need to go home.”

The fog cleared and a boyish smile crept up. “Wanna come by my way?”

“Yeah.” I dragged the pad of my thumb along his full bottom lip. “I do.”

Chapter Eleven

Simeon

The walk to his building was silent, and no one noticed us, as we were both hunched over and hiding beneath our hoods. The days of going unnoticed in the neighborhood were gone since the media had started coming out full force. I mostly didn’t mind, but Adrián didn’t want everyone and their mother knowing where he lived.

The silence made sense as we approached his place, but it neared awkward territory once we were still on mute in his apartment. He glanced at me and quickly looked away before muttering something about checking the Weather Channel.

I hesitated by the front door. How had we gone from kissing and whispered invitations to this bullshit in the span of twenty minutes? The knot of ever-expanding lust for him kept trying to force me in his direction, to drag him into a kiss and fuck him into speaking, but I didn’t. There was no way I was going to throw myself at this damn boy yet again. He’d brought me here. He could figure out his life and what he wanted from me.

“Hey, I’m gonna step out and make a call real quick.”

Adrián frowned over at me. “Why you can’t make it in here?”

“Because it’s none of your business.”

“Damn. Sorry. Go ahead.”

I winked and backed out the door, hoping there was no automatic lock. Loitering outside on the sidewalk was a crap idea, so I climbed the staircase to the roof. I’d expected it to have a couple of benches and some greenery, but there was a drained pool up there as well as a wet bar. What an interesting development. Maybe there was something to apartment living after all, but I’d never get over the lack of privacy every time I wanted to go outside.

I walked to the edge of the roof and, with my arms braced on the railing, called Marcus. The wind was already picking up as the outer storm bands whipped in from the Atlantic, but for right now, it felt good. The sky was beautiful, too—gray and dark blue and daunting, but the swirling clouds with darker patches here and there were like artwork. The sky in NYC seemed much smaller than where I was from, and there were times when I missed being able to see this open stretch.

“Hey Bradreaux,” Marcus greeted me. “What it is?”

Scoffing, I looked down at the water. “Please do not come with that dumbass ship name. People have way too much time on their hands.”

“I dunno. I think it’s kinda cute. Gav does too.”

“Is Gavin there?”

“Yup. We’re resisting the lure of the club because Noah will wild out on his ass if any pictures turn up of him dancing with anyone else.”

His voice had changed in the middle of it, going more distant as he put himself on speaker phone. I laughed.

“Bro, you think Brawley would dance with anyone?”

“Exactly,” Gavin’s low, deep voice chimed in. “And he’s lying, anyway. He wanted to stay in and watch some HBO show about titties and dragons.”