Feeling his breath so near my lips has me lifting my hands to his waist. A tear spirals over my cheek, and then I press my mouth to his.
This time there’s no alcohol to blame. We both know what we're doing. Ryker’s arms wrap around me and tilting his head, his lips nip at mine.
I move my hands to his jaw, and when our tongues touch, I have to lean into him from how intense it feels.
Ryker doesn’t deepen the kiss but instead pulls a little back. His eyes jump over my face. “I want you, Danny. God, I want you.” I let out a sob, and it has him saying, “It’s okay that you want me too. We’re both adults. This choice is only for us to make.”
He’s right.
All I’ve ever wanted was someone to call my own. A man I can love and build a life with.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that man would be Ryker West.
But he’s the one I want. My prince.
When I nod, Ryker takes a step back from me, surprise tightening his features.
“I need to hear you say it, Danny,” he whispers, his voice tense.
“I want you too.” A weird sound escapes me, something between a sob and a chuckle. “I can’t say no to the one thing I want most in this world.”
Emotion washes over Ryker’s face, and then his body slams into mine. His arms clamp me to his chest as he buries his face in my hair. “God, Danny. God,’ he sighs, the relief heavy in his voice.
I wrap my arms around his waist as happiness unfurls in my chest, and then I admit, “It’s been so hard ignoring how I feel about you. Especially with you teasing me every chance you got.”
His body shakes as he lets out a chuckle. “How long have you felt this way?”
“Since you started at Indie Ink.” I scrunch my nose. “Nope, that’s a lie. It started the summer break of your senior year.”
Ryker moves his hands up, and framing my face, he pulls back so he can stare into my eyes. “Say it.”
I take a deep breath as my eyes drift over his handsome face before they lock on his warm gaze. “I love you, Ryker.”
His mouth finds mine, and the kiss is filled with so much hunger, all I can do is hold onto him. Then it actually sinks in. Ryker is kissing me. My heart bursts wide open, and a world of dreams begins to weave around him.
His tongue sweeps through my mouth and then strokes against mine with so much confidence it robs me of my breath. His teeth begin to tug at my lips, and soon our desperate breaths fill the air.
By the time he breaks the kiss, I’m gasping, my lips numb with tingles.
Ryker takes two steps back, looking like the sex god I remember from last night. His lips are parted, and he looks like he’s a second away from ravishing me. My body floods with desire, stronger than anything I’ve felt before.
Somehow he reins his desire in, and then we just stare at each other.
Our breathing calm, and the longer our eyes remain locked, the more overwhelming the moment becomes.
It feels surreal.
My tongue darts out, and wetting my lips, I taste Ryker. My voice sounds uneven when I ask, “What now?”
“I’m just taking in this moment,” he murmurs. After a short while, the corner of his mouth curves up. “We’re doing this.”
“Doing what?” I ask. A dull ache starts in the back of my head.
Now’s not the time to get a headache.
“Dating,” Ryker replies. “A relationship. Whatever you want to call it.” He lets out a chuckle, his lips curving more.
“Dating,” I test the word. Us. In a relationship. Worry creeps into my mind. “What if things don’t work out between us?”
“I know what I want, Danny, and it’s you. I’m not going to change my mind,” he states, sounding sure of himself.
“What if our feelings change later on?”
He lets out a breath as he shakes his head. “After eleven years, that’s not going to happen. At least not from my side.”
“What do you mean eleven years?” I frown at him.
“At first, there was the teenage crush, and then I fell in love. One way or another, it’s always been you,” he admits.
Wow.
Ryker walks back to me, and lifting his hands, he places them on the sides of my neck.
His touch… God, feeling his hands on me is enough to make me throw caution to the wind.
I take a deep breath then say, “I guess we’re doing this.”
The sinful smirk tugs at his lips, and it has me pushing up on my toes and pressing a kiss to his mouth, and then I whisper, “That smirk is what had me falling head over heels for you.”