Page 38 of Untamed Heart
We were still going some five or six songs later, the second whiskey chasing the first, a hand pressed on my hip.
‘You two are creating quite the impression,’ a voice said, forcing me to spin to my right to find its owner.
His face was hard, a scruffy dark beard under a dark hat.
‘I’m Eli, from over at Elk Creek,’ he added, in response to my confusion.
I drew back, finding Lil’s hand and squeezing it.
‘What do you want?’ I asked, bracing myself as I felt Lil stiffen.
‘I see she’s already filled you in on the state of things.’ He smiled. ‘I’m not here to talk about that, though – that’s just business. I’m here for myself right now, and myself would like to buy you a drink.’
I shook my head.
‘No thanks.’
‘Ah come on, sugar, you look like you need someone to show you around a little.’
His hands crept up on my hips.
‘Eli, you ever want to use those hands again, you’re gonna need to take them off her.’
Cole’s now familiar warmth bloomed across my back as he stood behind me, his shadow falling across the smaller man. I had to resist the urge in every cell to close my eyes and lean into it.
‘Okay, okay, cool it,’ Eli said, backing up a half-step and releasing me.
‘Cole, it’s fine, don’t start nothing in here,’ Lil said, her hand catching his arm.
‘I’m not starting it,’ Cole growled, still staring at Eli, one of his own hands drifting around to my front, fingers resting on my waist. ‘But I’ll finish it if he doesn’t quit looking at your cousin like that.’
I could hardly breathe. Enveloped in his body, his smell, the touch of his fingers . . . even through the dress it felt as it had that first night in the other bar. Overwhelming. Completely intoxicating.
Kyle had never made me feel like this. No one had. A sudden moment of passion in a bar and almost two weeks of flirting had affected me more than almost a year with someone I’d thought I loved.
The realization hit me square between the eyes and I put my hand to my throat, as though it would choke me. How could I have loved Kyle? How could that be possible when one touch from this man was enough to make me forget myself, to live a whole new level of feelings?
As Eli backed off into the crowd, Lil shot Cole a warning look and went back over to the bar, leaving us together. Alone. Slowly, he turned me to face him. Anger burnt in his expression, his eyes searching mine.
‘You okay?’ he asked, his voice gruff.
I nodded, unable to trust myself to speak, my eyes drifting to his mouth, then back to the warmth of his eyes.
‘He’s still looking over here,’ he said, pinching the bridge of his nose, distracted. ‘Lil’s gonna kill me if I beat the shit out of him.’
‘Then don’t,’ I replied as he blinked, trying to read my expression. ‘There’s more than one way to make your point.’
This time, my left hand pressed on his hip, the right brushing his fingers. They responded instantly, curling around mine.
‘What did you have in mind, Princess?’ he said, leaning down as I tilted my head up.
‘Give him a reason not to touch me again,’ I whispered.
With a barely stifled moan, he reached down and cupped my cheek, our mouths meeting in a rush, soft and crushing at the same time. Our hands, now intertwined, were bumped and jostled by the other dancers as we became our own moment, consumed by every surging feeling. His chest against mine was almost too much, and I felt an overwhelming urge to find a quieter place and rip everything separating my skin from his straight off.
We kissed as though searching for, and finding something, simultaneously. His hand eventually escaped mine and traced the outline of my breasts as I pulled him closer still. Our touches became too much for others to see, our breathing quickening. Finally, someone wolf-whistled and we paused, catching our breath, faces still almost touching.
‘I’ve been imagining that all day,’ he breathed, lips against mine again, tongue tracing my mouth as he held our bodies pressed tight. ‘All fucking week, actually. I can imagine a whole lot more, but we’d need somewhere more private than here – more private than a corridor, even.’
