Wildfire

Chapter 25

I stared at the brick wall in front of the truck, words sticking in my throat. It felt like someone was screaming the words, "AWKWARD, AWKWARD, AWKWARD!" in my ear. I swallowed, pushing past the nerves in the pit of my stomach. "Thanks, I guess."

I saw him look at me in my peripheral vision, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. "For what?"

"Dropping me back?" I shrugged, like he hadn't just/maybe signed his own death sentence.

He sighed and brushed a hand through his hair, his forehead coming to rest in his palm. His voice was clipped as he said, "Don't mention it."

I stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to say something else, but he didn't. I wasn't sure what else to say; this obviously wasn't the time to bombard him with questions, but I didn't want to just leave him either. I knew he'd been suicidal since the day I'd met him, but now that I was aware of the fact, I realized I didn't trust him not to do something stupid when I left him alone.

But that's not your problem, Paige, I reminded myself. You're not his keeper.

I frowned and reached for the door handle, but when my fingers touched the cold metal, I couldn't resist turning back to blurt out, "Don't do something stupid."

Except it came out more like, "Don't do smmmh" because suddenly he was leaning over the console, his fingers driving through my hair and his lips coming down hard on mine. It was the last thing I expected, but it succeeded in doing what I'd been trying to do all night: it drove every coherent thought from my head.

Heat eclipsed my body and for a second all I could breathe was him; the scent of earth and pine and just himhimhim, and then I was leaning forward, my fingers crawling along the hot skin of his arm and curling around the back of his shoulder. My eyes fluttered shut, lips firming against the force of his, and I found myself kissing him back with as much hunger and desperation as he offered me.

His hand glided down my back, the tips of his fingers trailing heat along the indents of my spine, and I shivered at the sensation. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt this warm ­— I was completely enveloped in it, from the feel of his heated skin beneath my fingers to the searing press of his lips against mine, over and over again, stealing my breath and chasing away the lingering chill of the rain.

His fingers curled abruptly around my thigh and my breath hitched, my heartbeat kicking into overdrive. He leaned closer, pressing me back into the door of the truck, and then his lips were on my neck, his tongue skimming the length of my throat.

I opened my eyes and stared dazedly at the ceiling of the truck, my nails digging into his shoulders.

"Ohh," I breathed as his teeth suddenly sank into my shoulder. Pain lanced down my arm and the shock of it was like a bucket of cold water thrown down my spine. I stiffened, my nails digging harder into the base of his neck.

"Diego!" I moaned.

He laved his tongue over the bite mark, seemingly oblivious to the sudden change in mood, and I could feel the cold, numbing sensation of his saliva seeping into the wound.

Oh hell, this felt so much worse than the hickeys he'd given me before. Those had been tiny nips compared to this!

"Diego," I tried again, my voice coming out much more husky than I had intended. Panic started to well in my stomach when he didn't even look up, his teeth still latched onto my skin. I tried to squirm beneath him, but he had my thigh in a death grip and I could barely move against him.