His jaw clamped down as he stared at me with narrowed eyes. “I make the call for you, because I know better.”

“Oh, that’s lame, Sethie. Lame and stupid, and you can take that and shove it up your ass! I know what I want!” Too caught up in anger and frustration and grief and so many other things, I couldn’t stop myself. “I want you to kiss me. I want you to—”

A second passed, and then he was in my face, hands on my shoulders, causing me to gasp. “Don’t push this, Josie. Seriously. You have no idea what you’re asking for.”

Maybe I didn’t. Probably didn’t, because I had no experience, but what he did every night by coming in here and then leaving was wrong. I met his stare. “Then you don’t come in here and touch me and then leave, going off to do God knows what while I’m in here wondering what the hell is going on.”

A muscle throbbed along his jaw, and then he dropped his hands. “Fine. If that’s what you want.”

My mouth dropped open, because that was exactly what I didn’t want and it hurt—it burned inside my chest and my throat—how easily he could just be okay with that. And it hurt more than I thought it would. “Fuck you.”

His head tilted to the side as he stared at me, his eyes glowing a tawny amber. “Godsdammit, Josie.”

I glared at him.

He glared at me. “Fuck.”

A heartbeat passed, then Seth’s large hands were on my cheeks and his mouth on mine.

Chapter 24

I HAD absolutely no self-control.

Kissing Josie was the last thing I should be doing, but I was so done with fighting what I wanted, fighting what she wanted. Had it all been leading to this? Was I fooling myself every night I came to her, touched her, and then left, thinking I wasn’t building something between us?

Yeah, I was a fool.

But my mouth was on hers, and the action seemed to have caught her off-guard, her body stiff, but I was insistent. As my lips moved over hers, something rose up in me, something wild and electric, and I needed more than this…chaste gesture. I needed to go deeper. I needed to taste her.

Tilting my head, I caught her lower lip between my teeth, putting the slightest pressure there, and her hands landed on my chest and her fingers dug into the shirt I was wearing.

I flicked my tongue over her lower lip, and then across the seam of her mouth, coaxing a tentative gasp out of her. In the back of my head, I could sense that she was inexperienced, that I needed to hold back, but when her lips parted, I delved right in, stroking my tongue over hers, tasting her for the first time. And holy fuck, that taste went straight to all my nerve endings. I dropped a hand to her back, balling the thin, damp barrier of her shirt. She sucked in a breath, and I wanted it for my own. I took it, deepening the kiss, until one of her arms came up, looping around my neck. Second by second, her body relaxed into mine, and a deep, possessive sound rose from within me.

This was fucking insane.

But I couldn’t stop.

Savoring her mouth, the feel of her lips against mine—it had been forever since I wanted something this badly, and I wanted her. I pulled her body against mine, sliding her knees across the carpet, fitting her hips where I wanted them. The breathy sound she made into my mouth went straight to my cock, and I knew she felt that. There was no hiding it, and I wanted her to feel it.

Her hand caught in my hair, tugging my neck, and I nipped at her lips as I lifted my head, staring down at her. Those silky lashes fluttered open. Our gazes locked. Those blue eyes were deep, the color of the sky before it turned to night.

Something moved in my throat. I ran my tongue along my lower lip, tasting her.

“Seth,” she whispered.

I could hear her shaky breaths in the silence between us. Knowing I didn’t deserve this, I dropped my hands to my thighs, trying to gain some thread of control, but it was like grasping at raindrops. Our gazes met again, and the hunger and need pooling in those bright blue eyes undid me, snapping the restraint like a band pulled too tight.

Shooting forward, I clasped her cheeks again as I took the next kiss to a whole different level—none of that soft and coaxing bullshit. And she was ready. With a breathy moan, her mouth opened under mine. This kiss went deeper, was rougher, and the force propelled us. Josie went down, and I followed, my mouth never leaving hers, and the sudden change in positions was like hitting payday. Our bodies were flush, chest to chest and hip to hip. She was soft and wonderful under me.

Shifting my weight onto the arm planted on the carpet next to her head, I cupped her chin and tilted it back, deepening the kiss, wanting to somehow claim her very soul. Funny thing was, it was my soul that was being claimed, my breath that was being stolen, and my heart that was pounding crazy fast in my chest.

Josie was kissing me back, and there was a hint of hesitation, as if she didn’t know what to do, but it didn’t matter, because she was doing everything right, and that made me want to abandon any pretense of being tame. I could take her now—lose myself in the wonder that was Josie. I was rock hard, ready, but damn, if it didn’t go deeper than a physical need.

I wanted what I’d never had. Real companionship. Loyalty. Friendship. Her. Me. No third parties. Just us. A future. A tomorrow. Salvation. And that made my fucking chest compress, because I didn’t even know what to do with all of that.

But I knew what to do with all of this.

Her thighs spread, seating me against her, and a rough groan rumbled up from my chest as she flicked the tip of her tongue against mine. Fuck—so sweet. She made a soft, heady moan into my mouth and that catapulted a bolt of raw sensation through me, and all I could taste was her on my tongue, and it was wild, all-consuming.