“I cantakeit.”
My brows lift inconfusion.
“Whatever you wanna throw at me, whatever you need to work out of your system… If you wanna scream or cry or hurl things at a moving target… I can take it. I’m strong enough for anything you got to give, so bring it on. Whatever you need to do to make that anxious blade cutting through you a little less sharp. I’m here for you. I canhandleit.”
Shit shit shitshitshit.
His words weave a web of warmth around my heart, and I’m overcome by the craziest urge to pop up onto my tiptoes, to crush my mouth to his and show him, unequivocally, just how much I appreciate that offer, even if it’s one I’ll never take himupon.
Idon’t.
I take a deep breath, steady myself, and force myself to whisper, “Thank you, but it’s not your responsibility to saveme,Luca.”
“What if I made it mine?” he asks, eyes intent. I get the strangest sensation he’s actually asking something elseentirely.
What if I makeyoumine?
My heart is clanging inside my chest. I swallow roughly. He watches my throat working, eyes simmering with thoughts he doesn’t share. The dark blue rings around his irises are so deep I could drowninthem.
“Delilah,” Luca murmurs in a rough voice, his face a hairsbreadth from mine. “Something else you shouldprobablyknow.”
“What’s that?” I repeat, voice barely audible above my poundingpulse.
“Been wanting to kiss you for six fuckin’ months. Not waiting anothersecond,babe.”
His hands cup my cheeks, he angles my head up to his, and before I can blink, his mouth isonmine.
ChapterNine
Looking for trouble? Get yourself aredhead.”
Delilah Sinclair, citing nature over nurture as the source of all herproblems.
God,he’s a great goddamnedkisser.
It’s everything I’ve spent the last few months imagining and yet somehow…better.His lips are playful and passionate, consuming but not crushing as they sweep over mine in a kiss that makes my whole world tilt off-kilter on its alreadycrookedaxis.
With his mouth on mine, I discover I was right when I said I was a lost cause. Because when he’s kissing me, that’s exactly whatIam.
Lost.
At first, all I can do is hang on for dear life. I can barely breathe, let alone kiss him back. That doesn’t last long, though, because when you’ve been waiting as long as I have to kiss Luca Buchanan and it finally happens, you sure as hell don’t allow the opportunity to pass by without taking fulladvantage.
Mind blanking, heart racing, I twine my arms around his neck, part my lips beneath his, and lean into the kiss with everything I have. When he feels my enthusiasm, a deep growl rattles in his throat and his grip on my nape tightens, pulling me closer until our bodies are fused together. His other arm winds around my back in a bind so tight I can barely breathe, but I don’t mind at all. I’ve got no mental capacity left to care about much of anything, except the way his mouth feels moving over mine with such unyieldingpassion.
Who needs oxygen, when you’re kissing a manlikethis?
I’m still wearing his sweatshirt, fully covered from neck to mid-thigh, but I can’t help thinking about how easy it would be to lift it over my head and throw it across the room, so there’s nothing but skin and a few scraps of lace between us. I haven’t forgotten that look in his eyes earlier — half-lidded and hot, promising enough passion to wreck me completely. With a single glance he let me know, without any shade of doubt, that one night with him would ruin me for any other man… because afterward, no one else would evermeasureup.
The reckless, senseless, masochistic streak inside of me wants to rise to that challenge; is practically dying to test that theoryfirsthand.
Go ahead, Luca. Take yourbestshot.
I’ll wreck yourightback.
His hand fists in my hair and I moan into his mouth, unable to stop the sound. I don’t care that he knows how much his touch is affecting me. It feels too good to think about things like embarrassment or what this will mean, when we finally breakapart.
If I never stop kissing him, I’ll never have to face the repercussions of this lapse incontrol.