Rival (Fall Away #2)

Her fists didn’t stop, though. Landing with two hard thuds right on my chest, I grabbed her wrists, trying to still her.

“I hate you!” she screamed, but the flutters in my stomach turned to amusement that I couldn’t hold back.

I burst out laughing, and she went wild.

Her arms flailed, and she tried pulling away and kicking at me, until finally I let her body crash into mine, dragging us to the ground. She landed on top of me, but I quickly rolled us over, straddling her.

She didn’t cry out, thank goodness, only wiggled and shot me with bullets from her eyes. God help me if a police officer stumbled this way, though. This “banter” was something most people wouldn’t understand. I wasn’t going to hurt her. I just wanted her attention.

Pinning her arms to the ground at the sides of her head, I leaned in, whispering in her ear.

“What did I say wrong?” I teased, feeling the fast rise and fall of her br**sts against my chest. “You’re not having fun at college, or you’re mad that I called it? Don’t be ashamed for spreading yourself around, Fallon. It’s genetic. You’re your mother’s daughter, after all.”

“Ugh!” She reared up, trying to throw me off, but I pressed down.

“Come on!” I challenged, seeing the tears I wanted in her eyes. “Come on. Admit it!”

Her face, hot with fierce defiance, looked about ready to explode.

And then she screamed, “I’ve never been with anyone but you, ass**le!”

And I stopped. Everything stopped.

The air left me. My face fell. I didn’t care that my heart pounded like a baseball bat across my chest.

What the hell did she just say?

I narrowed my eyes, studying her. She sucked in air through her teeth, glaring at me like she wanted to tear me apart.

“No one,” she growled. “Now get off me before I scream.”

I couldn’t believe it.

“In the two years that we were apart, there was no one else?” I questioned, still hovering over her.

“There will be.” Her threatening whisper sounded scarier than her shouts. “I’m going to make you a distant memory.”

I narrowed my eyes at her challenge, and whether I understood it or not, my dick started to swell, as well. Maybe it was the position we were in, the heat of battle, or the need to break her down, but I wanted to touch her hard.

I saw the silver glint of her tongue ring through her teeth, and I instinctively ran my tongue across the back of my bottom teeth, remembering the feel of that in my mouth on the dance floor.

Her breathing was slowing, and she licked her lips, not wavering under my gaze.

I kept my voice low and soft, trying to reach her. “You act like you have no heart, like you just swallow your conscience with all of the pain you cause. But I see through it, Fallon. The truth is, you want me like nobody’s business.” She closed her mouth and swallowed. “You’ve always wanted me. You know why? Because I don’t try to kill your demons. I run with them.”

Her chest started rising and falling faster again, and her eyes faltered.

“And I never stopped wanting you,” I added before crashing my mouth down on hers.

She moaned into my throat, and I was like a man at a feast. I couldn’t kiss her fast enough. The more my lips moved over hers, the deeper the hunger in my stomach.

More, more, more. My whole body was on fire.

How did she always do this to me?

I straightened out my legs, flattening my body against hers, and moved my hands off her wrists and to the ground. I was about ready to do f**king cartwheels when she didn’t hit me but instead took my face in her hands to deepen the kiss.

Her hot, slick mouth connected with mine, and I kept my lips open over hers to play with her tongue. Every time the tongue ring brushed over a part of my mouth, my dick jerked with the rush of blood.

“Goddamn, Fallon. Your f**king tongue,” I gasped before diving in for more. The ball in her mouth turned me on to the point where I’d probably be okay just kissing her for the rest of the damn night.

But . . . hearing that she’d only ever been with me made me feel a ton of different things I couldn’t analyze right now.

All I knew was that I wanted to be her first with everything now. I wasn’t worrying about her comparing me to other guys. I was only worried about living up to her fantasies.

Which, strangely, was a taller order. I wanted to give her everything.

Moving to lie on the ground at her side, I didn’t break the kiss as I ran my hand down her body and slipped it inside her jeans.

“Jesus.” I pulled back, opening my eyes and looking down at her.

She wasn’t wearing underwear. Just her jeans.

My hand reached lower, finding what I wanted between her legs, and a smile tugged at my lips. My fingers found her center, and I could already feel the wetness at her opening. She arched her head back and panted.

“Do you know how much you turn me on?” My question sounded more like an accusation. “So wet and perfect.”

Mine.

Sliding two fingers inside of her, I nearly f**king lost it. The heat. The wetness around my fingers. “I want inside this,” I told her, pumping my fingers faster.

“Madoc, please,” she pleaded, and I dipped down to trail my tongue along the ridge of her ear. She shuddered and leaned her head into me.

“Not yet. I want to give you another first.”

Pushing myself up on one knee to hover over her again, I took my hand out of her jeans and reached up, pushing the hem of her shirt up below her br**sts. Taking the skin of her stomach in my mouth, I teased it with little kisses, trailing a line down to the top of her jeans.