Enough delay, get your ass in there!

I scramble out of the car before I can change my mind, not even stopping to check my reflection in the rear-view mirror. I slam the door behind me and cross the parking lot in quick strides, my nerves doing a crazy dance in my stomach.

I push open the Tavern doors and step inside. It’s early afternoon, so the place is pretty empty: just some guys in the corner playing pool, and a few people eating at booths along the wall. I sweep my gaze around the room, eagerly searching for any sign of him. I don’t even know if he’s working today, I just know I can’t wait a single more minute to see him: I’m so pent up with nervous anticipation, it feels like I’m going to shatter into a thousand pieces.

I walk deeper into the room, still looking around. And then I see him.

His back is turned to me, and he’s delivering some food to the corner booth. I freeze, every nerve in my body sparking to life as I drink in the sight of him. He’s wearing a red T-shirt that hugs every muscle of his broad shoulders, and his worn jeans drape perfectly from the curve of his ass.

Even just the back of him is enough to reduce me to a fluster. I feel my skin blush, and I have to fight to catch my breath.

Then he turns and sees me.

Emerson stops. He takes a moment, just staring, like he can’t believe it’s really me. Then his expression changes. His eyes darken, and the look he gives me is so full of hunger that I feel it slam right through me, liquid hot desire flooding right to my core.

Oh God.

I feel my legs buckle, as Emerson abandons the dishes on a table and crosses the floor towards me in long, purposeful strides. I open my mouth to speak, but he doesn’t pause a second, he just grabs my arm and pulls me after him towards the back of the room. I let out a yelp of surprise, but he doesn’t slow, he doesn’t relax his grip on me for a second, not until he’s dragged me behind the bar and into a small storage room at the end of the hallway.

He slams the door behind us and backs me up hard against the wall, still holding me in an iron grip. I gasp to catch my breath, a thrill shooting through my veins. The length of his body is hot and hard against mine, his face just inches from me. I can feel the pulse of his heartbeat, and heat of his breath on my lips, sending shivers through my body with each ragged gasp of air. Even in the dark of the room, I can see the desire burning in his eyes, the light of a thousand fires raging, threatening to consume us both.

“Tell me ‘no’,” he demands hoarsely, echoing the question he asked just two nights ago. Then, I didn’t have the strength to answer, but this time, I dig deep into the last reserve of control I have and breathe my reply, the word falling from my lips in a moan of pure, desperate desire.

“Yes.”

Emerson’s eyes flash with victory, and then there’s no time left for coherent thought because he’s closing the distance between us, his lips coming down to claim me in a devastating kiss.

I fall, completely.

His mouth demands everything, and I answer with all I have to give, reaching hungrily to tangle my fingers his hair and claw at his shirt, desperately pulling him closer, deeper, into me. Emerson’s body slams against mine, and I groan into his mouth, our tongues entwined as we plunge deeper into the intoxicating sensation of this kiss. I have no boundaries anymore, no sense, nothing holding me back from the demands of his body and our lips and the deep liquid pool aching low in the center of me. My br**sts are hot and swollen under my shirt, and just the pressure of his chest pressed against me is enough to send ripples of aching pleasure through my body, but it’s not enough.

I’ll never have enough of him.

Emerson breaks the kiss, licking a blazing trail down the tender skin of my neck as his hands rove wildly across my bare flash. I tear at his T-shirt, finally pulling it over his head as he rips my blouse open and buries his face against my chest with deep groan of pleasure.

Oh God. I slide my hands across the glorious warmth of his bare shoulders, gasping as his tongue dances across my br**sts. His hands gently squeeze and mold my flesh, pushing the flimsy fabric of my bikini top aside until his mouth finally closes over me, and then I’m gone. My head falls back, drowning from the pleasure of his tongue and the firm, wet rasp of sensation flooding across my skin. He gently licks and nibbles at me until I’m desperate, aching against him, and then he finally he closes his lips around my nipple and sucks, hard.

Holy hell!

A foreign cry rips from my lips, but he doesn’t stop, he just turns his attention to my other breast, teeth gently scraping the sensitive nub until I’m mindless with frustration and deep, aching desire. I’m liquid, helpless, every heartbeat drumming out a desperate plea I feel throbbing to the very core of me.

Emerson lifts his head. His eyes are two dark pools of desire, a clouded night’s sky. He catches his breath a moment, unsteady, and then drops a kiss on my lips. Sweet. Almost tender. I barely have time to take it in before he grabs my shoulder and spins me around, pushing me this time so my bare chest is slammed up into the wall, my cheek pressed against the cold concrete.

I gasp, my heart skipping with the thrill. I can feel him up against me, a solid wall of muscle trapping me in place, the hard ridge of him pressed against the small of my back. I can’t move, or see the expression on his face, only hear the hoarse groan Emerson sounds as he twists a handful of my hair and yanks it to one side, kissing a searing trail along the curve of my neck.

I whimper, bound and powerless against him, and oh God, loving every minute of it. His hands roam around to my front, across my br**sts, tugging and teasing at the tender flesh before they slide down my stomach with heart-stopping intent. My legs give way, and I sag back against him as his fingers slip beneath the waistband of my skirt and under the thin lace of my panties, blazing a determined trail to the tight, aching center of me.