Chapter 9: Rule Two

"Then touch me," I said.

It came out sounding braver than I felt.

For a second he didn't move.

The highway rushed past in the mirror, trucks shaking the car on their way by.

Then Declan let go of the wheel, reached across the console, and slid his hand into my hair.

He kissed me.

It was nothing like the church.

It was hungry, and it didn't ask.

My hands found his shirt and pulled, and a button hit the dashboard.

He made a low sound against my mouth that I felt in the base of my spine.

"Not here," he said roughly, and tore his mouth away.

His forehead pressed against mine and his breath came hard.

"Not on the shoulder of the Kennedy. I'm taking you home."

"Rule two," I said.

"Cora."

"Separate bedrooms. I'd hate for you to break it."

"Say that again in the elevator," Declan said, and put the car in gear.

He drove the rest of the way with one hand on the wheel and the other wrapped around mine on the seat.

He didn't let go in the garage, or in the lift.

The doors closed on us, and I turned to say the thing I had practiced.

I didn't get it out.

He had me against the mirrored wall before the first floor lit, his hands under my jaw, his mouth on mine, his body hard and warm against me.

I had known he was big.

I hadn't understood what it would feel like to be held still by it.

"Rule two," I managed, against his lips.

"Mine," he said. "My rule. I'm breaking it."

"You can't break your own rule."

"Watch me, Cora."

I laughed, a breathless broken sound, and he swallowed it.

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