Locked In Silence (Pelican Bay 1)

I’d dreamed of what kissing Nolan would feel like for a long time. First back in high school, then again these past ten years whenever I saw someone who reminded me of the too-skinny kid with big, bright eyes and soft smile, and again in the weeks since he’d shown up at the center with an orphaned raccoon in the folds of his jacket.

But not one of those dreams even held a candle to what it was really like to kiss him.

In my head, I’d imagined someone I’d have to coax a passionate response out of, but the real Nolan’s hungry kisses were giving me a run for my money. If anything, everything he did, every brush of his mouth over mine, every touch of his seeking tongue served to drive me higher. The kiss that I’d meant to use as a time-out quickly became something else.

I forced myself to pull back before things got out of hand. But one look at Nolan’s plump, wet lips and expressive eyes, and I knew there were no words I could type on a screen or write on a notepad to make him understand why I’d done what I’d done.

Why I never had and never would see him as that lonely, weird, insecure kid that everyone else had pegged him as.

I pinned Nolan’s eyes with my own as I let one of my hands slide down his neck, over his shoulder and down until I reached his side. I asked him the question I’d never thought I’d have the chance to and waited for his response.

He was pulling in deep breaths of air, enough that his chest brushed against mine every other second. It seemed to take forever for him to answer me, but when he did, it was unmistakable.

And he didn’t have to speak it out loud.

One simple nod and that was all it took. I dropped my mouth back to his. I let the hand I had on his neck slide to cup the back of his head, and the other I wrapped around his waist. Our second kiss started off sweeter and more searching, but it flared white-hot very quickly. Nolan’s long arms wrapped around my neck and he reached up onto his tiptoes so he could make up for the height difference between us. I solved the problem by grabbing the backs of his thighs and lifting him. I took a single step forward and pressed him back against the grill of my truck.

He let out a little moan of surprise and then his legs were wrapping around me. The move put him a little higher than me and he took full advantage. His fingers clasped my face as he took complete control of my mouth. I let my hands skim over his ass and reveled in the feeling of his erection pressing against my belly.

My lust spiked exponentially with every kiss and every rub of his body against mine.

“Dallas,” he whispered between kisses, his voice carrying a note of awe. “Is this really happening?” he asked. I knew he wasn’t expecting an answer, but I gave him one anyway when I pulled back so he could see my eyes. The light from the truck’s headlights was bright enough that I had no doubt that he could see exactly what I couldn’t speak out loud.

Do you want it to happen, Nolan?

Chapter Seven

Nolan

I didn’t give myself time to think, because I didn’t need to.

I’d been dreaming of this moment for weeks now, years if I was being honest with myself. And now that it was here, I didn’t want to play it smart and question what it would mean, or think about how it would change things. Hell, I didn’t even want to know how it was possible that a man I’d always thought was straight clearly wasn’t.

All I wanted was more.

Of his mouth.

His touch.

His strength.

Him.

I didn’t care that I was still smarting from the knowledge that he believed me so incapable of taking care of myself that he’d been spying on me at work and following me home for days at least, if not more.

Whatever this was between us right now – it had nothing to do with pity or judgement.

He wanted me.

I didn’t need to feel his dick pressing against me to recognize that.

And I didn’t need words to tell him what he was waiting to hear. I didn’t even have to nod. I saw it the moment he saw my answer.

Because his eyes filled with relief and the softest, sweetest smile stole across his lips.

Lips I couldn’t get enough of.

I fitted my mouth over his and greeted his seeking tongue. He carried me around to the driver’s side of the truck but bypassed the driver’s door for the backseat door. I couldn’t stop kissing him long enough to let him open the door, but he managed it anyway. The soft cushion of the bench seat met my back. I finally stopped kissing him long enough for him to climb into the back seat and close the door, then he was on me again. I barely noticed him shoving his coveralls to the floor. The cab of the truck was chilly, but I didn’t care because Dallas settled his big, warm body on top of me. I opened my legs so he could fit between them, then I was wrapping myself around him as he practically assaulted my mouth. His work-roughened hands skimmed down my sides as his mouth latched onto my neck. He sucked hard and I automatically smiled. Dallas must have noticed because he paused and looked at me, his eyes going soft. He tilted his head and brought his thumb up to trace my mouth. I understood the unspoken question. He wanted to know what had put the smile there.