Tipsy (Take It Off #5)(21)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I held her face still, being greedy with my need. My lips ravaged her mouth, being gentle but leaving behind nothing. I nipped at the corner of her lips and rang my tongue around the edges. My bottom lip fit so perfectly in the center of hers that they joined together like two halves of a whole.

When I wanted more, I pressed my thumbs into her jaw, ever so lightly, and her lips parted so I could sweep my tongue into her luscious mouth.

She tasted like toothpaste, like cool mint. It was a stark contrast against the heat of the kiss, the heat that was pulsing between us.

Her hands found the front of my shirt and she gripped it, taking large fistfuls and pulling herself closer to me. Her tongue swept the roof of my mouth, and I groaned, my pulse picking up as all the blood in my body rushed to the area between my legs.

With a deep groan, I ripped my mouth away from hers and she grabbed me back, covering my lips with hers, gently coercing my piercing into her mouth to roll it around her tongue. The gentle tugging sensation was unlike anything I felt before. Need slammed into my body. All the blood left my head and traveled south. All the air left my lungs, and the only thought I could summon was telling me to take her then and there.

She made a little purring sound and released the piercing, pressing a full kiss against my lips before she collapsed forward, burying her face in my neck. Every so often her lips would brush against my beating pulse and desire would sweep me all over again.

I put a leash around my lust and told it to heal. This wasn’t what I came here for.

No. That was a lie.

This is exactly what I came here for. She was exactly what I wanted.

It was bad timing. The worst.

How the hell was I going to do my job and keep Julie in my life?

11

Julie

Whoa.

It wasn’t much of a word, but it was a hell of a feeling.

I didn’t just bury my face in his neck because I couldn’t get close enough (can you blame me?). I did it because I needed a minute to compose myself. I felt like a pair of well-worn jeans, comfortable and stretched to the perfect fit. His lap was exactly right. It was almost a shame, really. Because now no other seat would fit me like this. I would always be wanting the feeling of being against him.

But like a well-worn pair of jeans, I had a hole in my pocket and stuff was falling out. Like my emotions. Like my heart. If I looked at him right now, he would see it. He would know.

I’d never kissed anyone with a piercing in their lip before. That little silver ring begged to be sucked on, and I couldn’t resist tugging it into my mouth. The metal was cool against my fevered body.

And his lips… bloody hell.

It almost made me mad all over again that he hadn’t kissed me on our first date. He withheld such a blissful moment from me for far too long.

I thought it was because he wasn’t interested. I thought it was because my feelings were one-sided.

My feelings were so not one-sided.

There was no way in hell he could kiss me like that if he wasn’t into me.

A little giggle escaped my lips and I cut it off, hoping he didn’t hear my epic display of girly giddiness.

His broad, heavy palm slid up my back. “What’s so funny?”

I pressed my nose against his neck and smiled. “Nothing.”

“Are you seriously still drunk?” he asked, a hint of speculation in his tone.

After all the hurling I had done? Not likely. “I’m just tipsy.” On you.

I’d like to retract my previous statement that people could not get tipsy on other people. They totally could.

I snuggled a little bit closer, tucking my hands between us, feeling the steady rhythm of his heart against the backs of my palms. When both his arms wrapped around me, I was totally surrounded by him.

It was a feeling I’d never experienced before.

It was all-encompassing. It was all-powerful. It was all I ever wanted.

I felt safe. I felt warm. I was so utterly comfortable against him that I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. I didn’t think about his track record of disappointing me. Or that after tonight I probably wouldn’t see him again.

For several long, blissful moments, I just existed in his arms and everything else melted away.

Reality creeped in slowly. I knew that there were likely a hundred questions that I should be asking… but honestly, I couldn’t think of one. It wasn’t because I didn’t care or that Blue being undercover didn’t interest me. Everything about Blue interested me. I wasn’t big on reading, but if he was a book, I would read him cover to cover. Over and over again.

It’s just that… none of that stuff mattered. Not really. It was quite clear to me that I was vulnerable to him. It seemed it didn’t matter what he did to me; I still wanted him.

But my wanting him didn’t change that he wasn’t available.

With a sigh, I pushed up off his chest, and his arms slid down to loop loosely around my hips. I couldn’t bring myself to pull completely away so I left my hands resting on his chest.

“So you’re an undercover cop,” I said, my eyes taking in all of his features and his mussed up hair.

“Yep.”

“You don’t know how long this case will last?”

“No.”

“And if I see you out, I should pretend I don’t know you?”

He frowned. “You’re not going to see me.”

“Just like I wasn’t supposed to see you tonight?” I countered.

He gave me a look. The kind of look that said “are you seriously challenging me right now?” I guess maybe I was. I yanked my hands away from his chest and crossed my arms to stare at him. I was waiting for my answer.

He studied me. “You aren’t going to be visiting any more places like that.”

“Says who?” I asked, lifting my eyebrows. Surely he wasn’t trying to boss me around.

“Says me.”

My gaze slipped away from his glare and down to the little ring in his lip. It was so close… I could just lean forward and—

He made a sound deep in his throat and took my face in his hands, forcing my gaze up. “Stop that.”

“I’ve never kissed anyone with a lip piercing.”

“I’m your first, huh?”

I nodded. “Is that part of your cover?”

He brushed a thumb across my bottom lip. “Yeah.”

“I like it.” I admitted, looking at it once again.

“Do you now?” he asked, smiling slightly.

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s very painful,” he said, a sly look coming into his eyes. “You should kiss it. Make it better.”