They’d been naked, she thought as he shifted to the sensitive skin just behind her ear. She felt the nibbles again, followed by a quick dart of his tongue. Her breathing increased just a little, and more memories filled her mind.
How he’d looked. The feel of him on top of her. It had all been really, really nice. When he’d sucked on her nipples—that had been the best.
Heat and pressure seemed to build inside her. There were unexpected aches. Her breasts swelled and between her thighs, she felt a strange heaviness. Not pain, exactly, but a restlessness that had nothing to do with needing to sing and everything to do with the man who held her.
“Kipling,” she breathed.
Before she could tell him what she wanted—not an easy task, considering she had no clue—he kissed her again.
The second she felt his lips on hers, she parted. She wanted, no, she needed him inside her. Needed the dance of tongue against tongue.
He didn’t disappoint. He plunged into her mouth as if he required the connection as much as she. She met him stroke for stroke, straining for more. At the same time she leaned against him, wanting their bodies touching everywhere. She arched her hips and found her belly flat against an unexpected hard ridge.
For a second she was confused, and then she got it. He was aroused.
She’d done that! She’d given Kipling an erection. Elation joined passion and gave her a thrill of female power. Not sure what to do, she kissed him deeply. At the same time she rotated her hips, pressing her belly hard against him.
His hands dropped to her hips and held her in place. Fingers dug in, and she heard a low groan. She wasn’t sure if it came from him or her and knew it didn’t matter. The aching, heating, straining became clear in a single word. Desire.
She wanted Kipling. Wanted him the way they’d been together in the bar. It didn’t matter that the ending had been weird and, well, disappointing. She wanted to do it again. Very much. Which made no sense.
For a second, she thought about them taking off their clothes right here, on the grass. The sun would be warm on their naked bodies. They could take more time and—
Kipling drew back. “For someone who was recently a virgin, you do pack a punch.”
He was breathing hard, and his eyes seemed a little glazed. Destiny was too shocked to notice much more. Because as she watched, he was moving farther away.
“We’re done?” Done with the delicious kisses and thrilling touching?
He gave her that sexy smile of his. “We’re here to work. Cassidy’s going to wonder why we’re not looking for her.”
“Oh.”
Right. They had a job to do. They were on a well-traveled highway. What was wrong with her? They couldn’t get naked here and do that on the side of the road. What was she thinking?
She had a bad feeling the problem was a lot about not thinking.
“You’re right,” she said, turning away to grab her equipment. Only instead of walking, she seemed to stumble a little. As if her legs weren’t working right. And now that she was paying attention, she felt flushed and disoriented. Was she getting the flu?
She spun back to face Kipling. “It’s you,” she told him. “You did this to me.”
“Did what?”
“I don’t know. Something. I’m not right.”
“You’re right enough for me.” His expression was annoyingly self-satisfied.
Why would that be? Kipling wasn’t—
She froze. “You fix things. You think there’s something wrong with me.” More pieces fell into place. “You want me to have an orgasm. You’re trying to change my mind about sex. You want me to like it.”
The last sentence was more accusation than statement. “You’re drawing me in.” She squared her shoulders. “It’s not going to happen. I’m stronger than any biological urge.”
He didn’t look the least bit discouraged by her tirade. If anything, his smile widened. “Is that so?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’re not at risk?”
“Not even a little.”
“Good. Have dinner with me Friday. At my place.” When she would have spoken, he held up his hand. “Not one article of clothing will be removed. You have my word.”
How disappointing.
Destiny didn’t know where the thought had come from, but she ignored it. “Fine. I’ll come over for dinner and you’ll see. Now that I know what you’re up to, I’m going to be strong. Like a rock. I have absolutely no interest in sex at all. Not with you. Not with anyone.”
Kipling walked to the back of his truck and lowered the gate. He handed her a backpack.
“Famous last words,” he said. “Now let’s go find Cassidy.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“TRY THIS,” DESTINY SAID and played the chord on her guitar. “The rhythm is off, so it’s harder to follow. I asked Dad once why he wrote it that way, and he didn’t have an explanation. I think he was drunk.”
Starr giggled. “He used to drink a lot. I’ve read some stuff online about what he was like.”
“Not everything you read about Dad is true,” Destiny told her. “There are a lot of stories that people make up. I guess because it sells magazines or allows the teller to pretend to be close to someone like Jimmy Don Mills. There have been a couple of unauthorized biographies written about him. One of them is mostly accurate, if you want to read that.”