Page 21 of If You Dare

“Lily?” He slipped his hand beneath hers.

“Yes?” She could feel his eyes on her.

A beat passed. Then another. He flicked on the flashlight and held it under his chin. “I don’t suppose you’re scared enough of the dark to leave.”

“No. And I don’t suppose you’re planning on leaving me here by myself.”

A smile, then, “You might cheat.” He leaned in the slightest bit.

“True.” She mirrored his movement. “I wouldn’t trust you if our roles were reversed.”

A few seconds passed. Neither of them moved.

“What are you doing, Black?” she whispered.

“I think,” he answered, his warm breath fanning her lips, “I’m going to have to kiss you, McIntire.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The flashlight clicked off, and Marcus’s lips hit hers hard.

The stubble surrounding his mouth lightly abraded her lips, but he softened a moment later, giving her a brief reprieve. He wrapped his palms around her upper arms and she came to him willingly, then sort of fell onto him. The air mattress was about as stable as one of those inflatable ball pits for kids’ birthday parties.

Lips fused with hers, he laughed through his nose as he fell with her. She ended up on top of him. She didn’t think there could be anything better than lying against that hard wall of muscle until he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

Oh, yes. Much better.

Their tongues tangled in the dark, stroking greedily. She loved the way he’d taken control, and how good he smelled—how amazing he tasted.

He pulled away to suck in a ragged breath, and she noticed the hard length of him nestled against her thigh. She ground against him. Shamelessly. This was crazy, right? They barely tolerated each other at work, and they were in the least romantic location on the planet. Plus⁠—

“Sorry.”

Did Marcus Black apologize?

She lowered her breasts to his chest. Her lips against his, she whispered, “Are you?”

He tightened his hold around her as he pressed his erection against her belly. “No.”

“I didn’t think so,” she said with a smile.

He palmed the back of her head and slanted his mouth to kiss her. She wanted to whimper with relief. It’d been a long time since she’d been this free. She typically did what other people wanted her to do. But here, in the dark of this secluded place, she could do whatever she wanted.

She wanted him.

She took advantage of her heightened senses in the dark and explored his body by touch. The soft, worn cotton of his T-shirt, the puckered fabric at the hem, his insistent tongue in her mouth. She slipped her hand beneath his shirt, encountering an army of rock-hard abs dusted in hair. She trailed her fingers up his chest and savored the width of him, the coarse texture of him—the heat rolling off his skin in waves.

He groaned and deepened the kiss, nipping at her bottom lip, her jaw, her neck. When he found the hollow at the bottom of her throat, he explored it with his mouth.

Every brush of his lips was more erotic in the blackness. She was a prisoner to each new and unexpected sensation. The heat of his mouth, the cold prickle of air when he took his mouth away, the warmth of his hand snaking under her hoodie and shirt.

One of his hands closed around her breast over her bra. His other hand grabbed a handful of her butt. He hauled her closer, still kissing and suckling the side of her neck with his talented mouth.

His jaw raked along her neck when he dragged his lips to her ear. “You have the sweetest ass.” He squeezed again. “It feels better than it looks.”

“I—” The wet heat of his tongue on her earlobe froze the response in her throat.

His hand left her shirt and joined the other beneath the material of her joggers. He molded his big hands over the silk of her panties.