GHOST PORTAL (#1 GHOST PORTAL series)

NINETEEN

Avery didn't hesitate anymore—he strolled right up to Jessamine and grabbed her by the ass to pull her into his arms. Immediately, she sensed the rock hardness he'd mentioned as he pressed into her; shivers of anticipation sizzled up and down her arms.

He then seized her cheeks between his two hands, keeping her face as close to his as possible, drinking in every inch of her features, capturing them to memory. He rubbed his nose to the tip of her nose, softly, then approached his lips to hers.

"I need to taste you, first," he said, so quietly she barely heard him—but she felt his words against her mouth.

His lips delicately touched hers; so soft, but slippery, lathered with liquor. The mere contact sent more chills down her spine, concluding in her legs that began to shake as Avery's mouth soon took hers hostage. His tongue skilled its way past her lips, giving her the full taste of him—tequila and salsa and a hot sweetness that she interpreted as pure lust. She responded to his kiss, hungry for more; famished for him to keep swirling his tongue around hers, dizzyingly fast, then slower, then fast again.

When he lowered his hands, Jessamine was breathless, and so was he. They were sweaty, their bodies tingling from their exchange. Jessamine spun and offered her hand to lead him to the bedroom—no words were necessary now that they'd breached each other's mouths, now that they'd figured out how deep their desire ran.

How did Jessamine keep this bottled up so long? She'd known him for a few weeks, tops; but she'd sensed that craving for him from the start, and hadn't acknowledged it until tonight, inebriated and in close quarters. She'd animated that lust, somehow ignoring the other sensations in her—the nausea, the negativity. She supposed desire was more powerful, and wasn't displeased by that.

Had Avery been feeling that pull between them, too? When they'd first touched—their hands, when she gave him his coffee—that electricity, that spark between them; was it supernatural, as he'd thought, or was it a precursor to this, to tonight? An inkling that their bodies wanted one another, that there was a physical link between them and urges they'd need to satisfy?

No time to ponder—they arrived in the bedroom, basked in her soft bedside light, allowing enough illumination to admire each other. Avery removed his shirt, leaving Jessamine breathless at the sight of his sculpted abs, his defined pectoral muscles that she'd more than once imagined as perfect and firm, throughout the night. Reality matched her dreams, surpassed them, even. He stood there like a model straight out of a men's swimwear magazine, and from the smirk sliding across his lips, he well knew how hot he was.

He nudged her onto the bed and resumed the kissing where they'd left off, letting his fingers wander through her hair, caressing her neck. One hand held firmly onto her ass, squeezing, while Jessamine smoothed her fingers over his torso, his lower stomach, then grasped his ass, too. Something jolted within her—oh, that was a fucking perfect ass, if she'd ever touched one.

Their tongues twirled, their legs entwined, and the passion continued to rise. She sensed his erection against her and was desperate to touch it, to get an idea of the girth, the length, to prepare for what she'd be letting inside her. But as she lowered her hand, finding her way down to his boxers, he pulled her up into a sitting position and unfastened her bra. Her breasts spilled out, perky and ripe for the taking; and he took them, eager to lather her nipples with his tongue's attention.

And as his tongue worked, she arched her spine, welcoming the energy zapping down her thighs, the warmth developing in her core, the wetness growing in her underwear. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, yearning, unleashing tiny moans with every flicker of his tongue.

As if these sensations weren't overpowering enough, she soon felt his finger running over her panties, dipping between the crease of her lower lips. He rubbed slowly, almost in tandem with what he was doing to her breasts, and more zaps zipped up and down her arms and legs. He then toyed with the side of the panties, teasing, as if about to pull them aside and slide into her wetness; but he looked up at her with the sexiest of grins, showing her he wasn't done playing with her.