Head Over Wheels (Steamy New Adult Romance) (18 page)

We were two silhouettes surrounded by shadows, features barely definable, but his eyes were outstanding, sparkling like jewels as moonlight struck his face. It would have been so easy to let my body melt into his, surrender every emotion that had fought to surface since the first moment my eyes fell upon his. The darkness was a delectable aphrodisiac, but I couldn't let myself crumble. I had to break away.

"What are you doing?" I tried to struggle free, but I was cemented in place. I felt my handbag slip to the ground, where it landed beside my feet. "Let me go!" My body thrashed. This was a side of him I didn't see coming. He could have walked away at that moment, especially after I'd slapped him, but he didn't. His determination to keep us together was stronger than mine that was parting us.

"What's wrong with you, Jewel?" His breath was heavy on my face. He sounded anguished, and absolutely clueless. "Why are you bugging out on me?"

"What's wrong with me? Take a look in the mirror, Jim Jim." My nostrils flared with indignation.

Sheltered from the restaurant's flood lamps, the only light came from the hovering moon. And it dashed across our shadows. For the second time in a single hour, he looked wounded. I wanted to take back everything I'd said. Start the night over. Better yet, not even have gone out with him.

"Let me try it this way, Indigo." I was up in his face. "You confuse the hell out of me. I'd go to battle for you, but I'm not up for fighting with your loved ones ... over you. So let me leave, please, before things get worse."

My heart was breaking. I desperately wanted him, but was I up for all of the unnecessary stress and baggage that came with him? I didn't mean half of what I was saying, but there didn't seem to be an alternative. Being without him was painful, but being with him wasn't much better. I had to escape.

"Fighting for me? Jewel, I think about you almost every minute of every day. Even while I'm at the hospital, trying to concentrate on my work." His breath was short. "You don't have to fight for me ... you have me."

His healing hands were strong, and beneath his touch I was about to break.

"I see your face when I'm not with you, feel the touch of your hands, and I want to ..."

"You want to fuck me." My words tumbled out in a strangled gasp.

"Oh God. I just want to be with you. Can't you get it through your head?"

He watched me with a stare so intense, I felt it deep in my soul. My heart pounded. My chest rose and fell at an almost intolerable rate.

Without warning, he brought his lips down on mine with such force our teeth clashed. His tongue fiercely rounded my mouth, then raked over mine, again and again. He drew in my bottom lip, sucking, caressing, his tongue doing incredible things that made my legs all but cave in.

When I moaned, he released his hold. I recklessly wrapped my arms around his neck, returning his kiss with a passion I never knew existed inside me. My hips tucked against his, rolling like angry waves, while my breasts crushed his chest, our bodies molding together until not even a breeze could slip between us. Then his lips slid from mine, and his breath was hot in my ear. His winded voice sounded desperate."Baby. Please don't go."

He held me so close I could barely breathe; he was whispering, telling me he was sorry for what they'd done, and he'd never do anything to hurt me.

A flash of lightning lit the sky above us, but it was the Wrangler's headlights that finally broke us apart. "We'll take this up in the car." Indigo sounded like he'd just run a marathon. He picked up my purse, dusted it off, and put it into my hands.

I could barely move, and I knew he felt the same. I watched his fingers fumble with the keys the valet handed him. Even in shadows, the flush of his face was evident. Nervously, I fluffed out my love worn hair, removing the clip, so it hung in unruly waves over my shoulders, down my back.

When Indigo tucked me into the passenger seat my head was spinning, every nerve in my body heightened. The concept of sitting demurely didn't enter my mind, and I surrendered to his hands as he lifted me, rearranging the position of my torso, my legs, the hem of my dress. All the while I felt his breath on my face, fought the urge to pull him down on top of me.

I let my head drift with his movements, craving his body as he rounded the car, the headlights emphasizing his strides, the stillness of his profile. I let my head fall to the side, watched him make his way to the open door across from where I sat shivering, filled with such longing: longing for his hands to tear at my clothing, my skin, my heart, my soul, devouring me until I was no more a part of the universe. Then I would no longer want, or need, or breathe, for life had become far too painful.

My eyes clung desperately as he shrugged out of his jacket and flung it on the back seat. Loosened his tie, rashly stripping it from his neck. Then he was on the seat beside me, and without closing the door, he unbuttoned his shirt midway down his chest, emitting a ragged burst of air as though the clothing had strangled him. But I knew it was desire that had stolen his breath.

He turned to me with a tortured look, as if grappling with the biggest decision of his life, and needed my understanding, my help; his stare intense, as if battling an army of demons.

Concern sprung from my lips, sobering me. "Are you okay to drive? Because we can call for a taxi ..."

"I'm fine." With a firm grip he pulled his door closed with such force it slammed, rattling the windows.

I knew not to question him. He was working through something monumental, no doubt, as I had before, and I would let the decision be his alone. He didn't seem like the same man who'd hours earlier smiled in the lobby of my apartment building. Why did I feel responsible?

Lightning struck on the heels of thunder, then the sky turned pitch black, masking the moon, the stars. Isolated raindrops thumped against the windshield, the roof, then the sky unleashed a furious downpour.

Riding in silence built anticipation until I was ready to burst. We seemed to be going in a different direction than the one from which we'd come, and I didn't recognize the route we were taking. "Are we heading home?"

"We were, but with this heavy rain it's difficult to see. Cars seem to be pulling off ... stopping." Obviously concentrating on the road, his words were mechanical, yet urgent. At least the weather wasn't my fault ...

I opened my eyes to a blur of headlights jamming the road before us, vehicles gathering on the flooding shoulders. The speed of the Wrangler reduced to almost a crawl. A sign to my right was washed by our headlights, and we took the turn.

"We won't be heading home just yet ... if it's okay with you." His grip on the wheel tightened, as though a conclusion had been reached and he was seeking permission, or forgiveness perhaps for a crime not yet committed.

My silence seemed to be all the absolution he needed. Pressing deep into the seat, I let my head fall upon the cushioned back, while my hands fell limply to my lap, folding in an odd position. I felt my shoes being kicked off, and the wiggle of my toes that had numbed. For more times than I could count, my head rolled to the side and back again, and I watched vehicles transform into residential roadsides.

We coasted onto a tree-lined road where our headlights pointed to gracious homes slipping by either side of the Wrangler. Rain drenched the roof, flooded the windshield, and Indigo turned the wipers to a higher speed.

The rows of trees eventually yielded to a meadow, where our lights grazed a turnaround. Through the heavy downpour I could barely discern the street sign which evaporated when the headlights dimmed.

Rain pounding the roof, keys dangling in the ignition, the relief of thumping wipers, and a clicking under the hood as the engine calmed were the sounds that competed with the rush of blood that drummed in my ears. Inside my chest my heart throbbed, matching the pulse in my head which I managed to lift, although it still felt weighted by a ten pound bag of cement ... as well as the world. I straightened in the seat, searching for my bearings, my eyes halting on Indigo's profile. He was looking straight ahead through what no longer appeared to be a windshield, but rather a sleek ebony ocean.

Lightning continued to bleach the sky, accompanied by rumbling claps of thunder.

"Guess you and the weatherman were right, huh?" I tried for a light tone, but my attempt was pitiful. Suddenly aware of the darkness of night, the isolation, the situation I was about to face, my heart throbbed even faster. "Are the doors locked?"

Indigo snapped a lever on his armrest, and I heard a double click. "Yup. You're safe and sound, in here, with me."

Turning in his seat he faced me, and with each burst of lightning I was able to see the hunger in his eyes. Watch the movement of his hands as they gripped and released the wheel. Before I realized what was happening, I was lifted, pulled across the seat, lowered onto his thighs and wedged between his chest and the steering wheel, defenseless against the strength of his desire ... as well as my own.

He rolled the seat back until it stopped dead on its tracks. For a stunning moment I went limp, then my mind insisted it was okay to feel this way. To go out on a limb, let him know I wanted him desperately. Worry about the consequences in the morning.
You're of legal drinking age for Pete’s sake. Woman up!
I burrowed into his lap, wrapped my arms around his neck. And I waited for the sky to fall.
What was I doing?

Pulling me close, his hands caressed my back. Then his lips took control, softly at first, running the length of my neck, crossing my cheek, sweeping over my mouth. A stream of warmth flowed into my ear with his whisper, "I don't plan on fucking you. So if you're wondering why I brought you here ... I just want to be alone with you ... hold you ... kiss you. Is that alright?"

"Yes." My breath blew out an automatic response.

"I've never met anyone like you before. You do things to me. Crazy things I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with."

"I know the feeling." Another breath worked its way through my throat.

"Tell me when to stop." His moist tongue swept my lips.

"I might ... I will ..."

I felt his passion grow beneath me and I shuddered, shifting my body that reacted wildly to his as I unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open. My fingers explored every inch of his exposed skin, skimming his neck, drifting to his chest where my palms experienced his muscular smoothness, caressing in circles, vertical paths, from his shoulders down to the belt my fingers were longing to unbuckle.

"Can I touch you?" His voice was as persuasive as his hands.

"Yes." My words were becoming so choked, I thought I'd suffocate at any moment.

His lips consumed every inch of my neck, lingering, nibbling. Then his face drifted to my chest where his lips roamed further than I'd expected, caressing the contour of my breasts, the smooth mounds that strained to be freed from the dress that held them tight.

With one arm locked around me, the fingers of his free hand traced the path his lips had taken, slowly sliding down my neck, inching across my chest, dipping beneath the scoop of my neckline. Acknowledging his intention, chills shot up and down my spine. My head filled with recent memories, both torturous and glorious, and realization shattered my senses. The guy whose body was in overdrive beneath me, whose heated breath was on my skin, was the gorgeous man I'd given my heart to in Kelly's, and here I was, in his arms. Should I die on the spot, as my pounding heart threatened to explode? Surrender to that small voice in my head that warned this might be the biggest mistake of my life ... or let myself go ... be swept away by ecstasy.

The windows were fogged, the sound of our breathing so heavy, I wasn't sure if it was his breath ... or mine ... or both. I felt the weight of a single finger as it rounded my breast, lightly skimming the silky fabric, all that stood between his hands and my skin. The stimulating circle grew smaller until my nipple tightened beneath his insistent touch, burning the tingling flesh beneath my dress.

I had no control over my body that strained against his, my hips that rocked with encouragement, overwhelming desire. I fought the urge to grasp the hardness beneath me, touch him intimately, as he was doing to me.

When I moaned his name, he reacted by cupping my entire breast, his touch growing firmer, lifting, almost ejecting my breast from the garment's hold. Again and again he cupped and released until I thought I would die.

"Jimmy ..." I squirmed, feeling him harden even more than I'd imagined possible.

"Baby," he groaned, "you have no idea what you're doing to me. But if you want me to stop ... tell me and I will. I'll do whatever you want ... but I'm not going to fuck you ... not here ... not now."

"I don't want you to stop yet ... just a little more ..."

His fingers slipped beneath the beaded neckline, inched to my shoulder, tugging my dress down to my elbow. The spandex bodice sprang from my body, snapping like a rubber band, settling into place where it clung to my ribs, baring an entire breast. An instant rush of cool air, blending with his urgent breath, swept my skin. Goose bumps covered my nakedness.

My fingers threaded through his hair, pulling, tangling. I rocked my hips, sucked on his neck until I almost drew blood, moaning his name, whispering, "Please ..."