She turned her head slightly, our mouths closer to alignment. “Yes?”

I dug my fingers into her thighs. “To be clear: You want me to kiss you.”

“To be clear: You want to kiss me.”

I chuckled, my lips grazing her jaw. “Smart-ass to the end.”

“All talk…”

“Yeah?” I dragged my lips down her jaw.

She gasped. “Yep.”

Until our mouths met. A slow, burning caress. A soft, tender kiss. It seemed to be something I’d waited my entire life for.

Her lips tasted like cherries, sweet, succulent. Her presence consumed me.

My left hand slid up, underneath the hem of her shorts, my other hand at her neck as she released a sigh against my lips. She was so damn perfect.

I opened her mouth with mine, darting my tongue inside, eager to find out what her tongue tasted like when she let out a moan.

And then her phone pinged in three rapid successions.

Flustered, Bane pulled back. “We…um…”

“Shit,” I mumbled.

“Right.” She jumped to her feet and hurried inside.

I dragged a hand down my face. I was such an idiot.

We weren’t really dating; that much was clear. We were coworkers returning to our real lives in a matter of days, to our bickering rivalry and competition for PM. This was all a fantasy, and we both knew what reality was like.

I was not her rom-com.

Twenty-five Bhanu

Oh my lord, what was happening? Why was my body on fire, my skin burning, my goodies aching, my wheels lubricated like they were trudging through a monsoon? I didn’t even know what to do with myself…I mean, sure, I did know what I’d do to myself if I were alone, or better yet, let Sunny finish what he’d started.

Ugh! Stop this!

I frantically paced the living room. What would that be like? His hands all over me, pulling, tugging, groping, squeezing, exploring. His mouth all over me, kissing, licking, sucking. Was he a biter? Oh my god, I wanted him to bite me. I didn’t even want gentle caresses. I was at the point where I just wanted everything hard and fast while he slammed me against the wall. Could I ask that of him? Would he do it?

Oh my god. This room, with its many fans and AC, was much, much too hot. I needed to strip off my clothes. I could barely breathe.

Sunny slipped in through the back doors, keeping his distance as we met halfway. His face was flushed, his eyes imploring. “Are you okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah.” If by “okay,” he meant desperately needing a release.

“Was I misreading?”

I shook my head. God, no. I wanted him to kiss me. I just…ugh! What were we doing? How would this impact us at work? Especially if I ended up being his PM? What if anyone at work found out?

He took a few strides toward me as I lowered myself to the couch. Anything to keep from pacing, to stop the anxious jitters.

Sunny sat next to me, twisted at the hip so he could face me, and never once took those dark, intense eyes off me. “Did I make you uncomfortable?” he asked carefully.

“No.” At least not in the sense he was asking. My body was raging, practically squirming. Oh, my. When had a man ever made me feel this untethered, like I could drift away at any moment?

He exhaled, his gaze skittering down to my throat, leaving a scorching heat. And oh, how I wished it was his mouth instead of his eyes surveying my flesh. “Should I…not have…”

His voice was devouring, smoothly entering my body, a body that wasn’t prepared to be devastated by how it reacted. The tightening of muscles, the tenseness, the wave of rampant desire that could be felt down to the bone. It was a vibration causing an acoustic wave against my eardrums, as simple as that, yet reverberating through my entire being.

“Can I?” I rubbed my neck, unable to hold back.

“Anything,” he growled, not waiting for my request.

Before I knew it, before he could blink, I crawled toward Sunny and straddled him, lowering myself onto his lap, our eyes locked, his hands on my waist guiding me. I was becoming undone. He felt so incredibly sensational between my legs, so close to those very well-lubricated wheels. I hadn’t meant to rock against him, but it happened. He furrowed his brows in wanting, his chest moving in and out. By the way his arms tensed, I suspected he was trying very hard to control himself. Which, of course, turned me on even more.

“I’ve been dying to try this…” I confessed.

Unleashing inhibition, I moved to his neck and licked his throat as he swallowed, panted out a breath. How I loved his reaction to me. His hands gripped my waist a little harder, rocking me against him. And this time, I felt his readiness. A pleasant surprise of solid girth.

A kiss up to his jaw. A grind against his lap. My thighs tightened around him. Oh, boy. I wasn’t going to last long. How embarrassing would that be? And how little did I care?

I bit back my moan. He kissed my cheek. Oh my lord. Here he was being gentle and sweet when I wanted him to pound me into oblivion.

Sunny slowly, methodically kissed me and nipped my lower lip. Grazing his teeth over my skin, sucking. It did all sorts of chaotic things to my insides.

Then he bit me. Finally.

I kissed him fervently, like a madwoman who couldn’t remember this would have consequences, to which Sunny promptly responded. He returned my kisses with a passion I hadn’t felt in a very long time, if ever. Lightning bolts of pleasure razed through to my core, heating my body by several degrees, setting me on fire. When his tongue met mine, when he bucked up into me, I couldn’t fathom the sorts of noises coming out of me.

Sunny’s hands skimmed up my sides, beneath my shirt, undoing the back of my bra like a snap of his fingers. At this point, he could give my clothes one look and I was sure they’d just disintegrate.

“Bane,” he muttered, pressing one hand against my butt, encouraging me to ride him, and another hand skimming across my side to cup a breast.

I let out a squeak of pleasure. Every touch, every movement, incinerated the consequences.

His kisses wandered down to my jaw and throat, nipping at my neck. He dragged that masterful tongue across my collarbone and down my chest, darting it lower, underneath my shirt. And lower, beneath my bra. And lower.

I clutched his hair, arching my chest, willing him to get to the right spot. How could he be close and so far? Was he teasing? I didn’t need teasing. What I needed was his mouth fully on my breast. I’d have told him if I could form any actual words right now.

My shirt was now halfway up my breasts when the front door opened.

We parted so fast, my head spun. Sunny grabbed a pillow for his lap, and I tugged down my shirt because my breasts weren’t about to be hanging out for Kimo to see. Except it was just Diya at the door, one foot inside, one foot still outside. Her eyes were as big as lemons, but then she snapped to herself and squealed, “Get it, girl!”

“Oh my god,” I muttered, my fingers at my temple.