Page 89 of For Better or Hearse

She props a hand on her hip. “I’m not interested anymore.”

He blinks, and she laughs. She likes teasing him. Likes watching him come undone.

Then, slowly, he smiles. “It’s rocks.”

It’s her turn to blink. “Rocks?”

“In every new place I’m in, I take a rock.”

“That’s a right proper nerd, Nathaniel.” She tilts her head. “I’m impressed. There’s nothing sexier than a rock.”

Eyes blazing, he inches closer.

She smirks. “Do you have lots? Of rocks?”

His hands settle on her waist. “Of course. Igneous. Metamorphic. Sedimentary.”

“Sedimentary. Sounds sexy.”

“Unreasonably so.”

“We should probably get to bed,” Ash hedges softly.

Neither one of them moves.

Several heartbeats later, Nathaniel leans in. One muscular forearm rests on the wall above her, pinning her against the doorframe.

Ash swallows. Her breaths come out funny. Shallow. Raspy.

Wordlessly, he dips down and kisses her. His tongue teases hers into a stupor, pulling a whimper from her.

He breaks the kiss. Puts one big hand on her hip. Traces one long finger along the line of her waistband to dip below it.

Her hips arch slightly, pressing against him.

“What do you feel when I do this?” His blue eyes sear hers. Hungry and heated.

“Everything,” she whispers. “I feel everything.”

“Yeah,” he murmurs. “I do too.”

So heavy, the space between them. In her chest, fluttering warmth. A sensation she hasn’t felt in an ice age. Like a candle warming.

She stops trying to fight it. Her hands shoot out and grab his face. She yanks him toward her. Their mouths crash together. Devouring. Frenzied and claiming.

Her brain fizzes. Her lashes flutter. Gasping for air, she pulls back. “I shouldn’t want you.”

“Because we hate each other.”

The thorns around her heart tighten a fraction. “Right.”

“Wrong.”

“Because of Augustus.”

“Right.”

“But I want you. Naked.” His heated gaze lands on her lips. “You turn me on. So fucking much.”