Nowhere But Here (Thunder Road #1) (12 page)

Emily

“GET BACK IN
the office.” Oz towers over me as if his mere massive height and thick shoulders would freak me out into complying, but after hearing what Eli said, Oz sort of resembles a kitten with his hair spiked along his arched back.

“And if I don’t, what are you going to do?” I probably shouldn’t smirk while saying that, but I can’t help it. This is too good to pass up. According to Eli, the big bad Oz has to listen to poor defenseless me.

Oz leans down and his powerful gaze hypnotizes me. “Are you begging me to put my hands on you to move you? Because I will. We already established last night that the two of us are three seconds away from tearing each other’s clothes off.”

My entire body runs hot. “We did not establish anything.”

He smiles. It’s not happy. It’s not mean. It’s a promise of a million things I’ve never experienced and it’s the sexiest sight I’ve seen in my life. “We established a lot last night and we’re going to establish a few more things now. If you don’t get back in that office, I will not only put my hands on your body, I will also lift you off the floor, toss you over my shoulder and carry you against me until we’re in a room...alone...with a closed door behind us.”

My mouth goes dry and yet I’m able to say the words, “You don’t tell me what to do.”

Oz reaches out and does exactly what he warned he would. His hands land on my hips and I suck in a sharp breath. Strong hands. Warm fingers. And they gently press past my jeans and into my flesh. A tug on my belt loops and in a swift motion, Oz drags me into him so that my body is flush with his. Heat curls along my skin and I have to fight from shutting my eyes with the sweet thrill.

The scent of burning embers overwhelms my senses. His thumb sneaks above the hem of my tank and I shiver with the swipe against my bare skin.

“Next step is to pick you up, Emily. Your body sliding against mine and when that happens I’m seriously going to want to kiss you. Is that what you want?”

Yes.

I blink.

No.

Definitely no.

With a half-numb brain, I shift back and Oz releases his grip. He inclines his head to the office and I half walk, half stumble into it. When I’m in, I slump into a chair.

“Glad we found a solution to the problem.” Oz cocks his hip against the closed door and folds his arms over his chest.

I knead my eyes to wipe away the stupor. “We didn’t find a solution to anything. I want to hear what Eli has to say to my parents.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Yes, it is, or I’ll tell Eli that you made me sad. I overheard what he said to you. You’re not officially a part of this Boy Scout troop and if you want in then you have to make me happy.”

His eyes narrow. “What are you going to do? Lie? You better think of a plausible way I made you unhappy because complaining that I kept you in here will add gold stars to my name.”

This idea sounded fantastic at the time, but I’m evidently not diva enough to pull it off. Sarcasm I can do. Lying isn’t my style. “I want to talk to Eli.”

“You can’t. He’s in Church.”

My eyebrows raise. “He’s where?”

“Church,” Oz repeats. “Our chapter’s board and the Lanesville board are meeting. There’s no disrupting them.”

“What if I’m bleeding?”

“You aren’t.”

“What if I need to go to the bathroom?”

“Not falling for it.”

“Please. I have a million unanswered questions and I want to hear what Eli has to say.”

Oz lazily shrugs one shoulder up and then down. “Not my problem.”

“Sneak me out. I’ll never tell.”

“You telling isn’t the problem.” There’s a serious set to his face that captures my attention. “If Eli asks if I kept you in this room, I need to answer him point-blank yes. Part of being in this club is keeping my word and answering honestly when asked.”

“I hate you,” I mumble.

“Works for me,” says Oz.

I grab a magazine off the desk and yank it open. Of course, it’s full of motorcycles and I flinch. Inside I’m screaming. Naked girls. Very, very naked girls strewn across motorcycles. I toss it onto the desk like it was infested with bugs. Which it probably is. The type of bugs that give venereal diseases. “Classy.”

“It’s a good issue,” Oz says. “And you didn’t even get to the good part.”

“The fascinating articles?”

“No.” His mouth tilts in this teasing way. “The centerfold.”

The centerfold. Gah. “And you didn’t even get to the good part,” I whisper in a high-pitched mock.

Oz actually gives a good-natured chuckle and I’ll be damned if I don’t smile in response.

“I don’t understand it,” I say without thinking.

“What?”

I pause, but decide to continue. I’ll never see him again after today. “Why you make me feel comfortable.”

Lines bunch together on Oz’s forehead as he studies me. “Comfortable?”

I flex my toes in my sandals. “I don’t normally push at guys like I do with you.”

“I have a hard time believing that. Next you’ll claim you’re shy.”

A sardonic twist of my lips. “I’m not shy.”

“No shit.”

I giggle, he grins, then I sigh. Heavily. The events of the past twenty-four hours catch up to me. Being ripped away from my parents, some illegal motorcycle club at the motel, Olivia telling me that my life is a lie, trying to please Eli, the guilt of not pleasing Eli, the anger at Eli... A choking sensation squeezes my throat and I scratch my neck as if I could tear away the invisible noose.

“You okay?” Oz asks.

No. I’m not okay. All of this chaos threatens to follow me home. I’m happy at home. Content. And this visit from hell is going to mess with that.

Olivia said my life is a lie and there’s this dark suspicion that if I ask my mother for the truth, she won’t give it to me. An ache courses through me and my shoulders curve in with it. I’ve never doubted my mother before. Never. The pain that a few hours can shake my faith in her is too much to bear.

A slight, distant feminine voice rises up from the vent below my feet. My skin prickles. She’s here. My mother’s here. I stand and Oz pushes off the door, his eyes narrowed. “Emily, are you okay?”

I swallow.

One moment—a few seconds—and my entire life can change. I can do this and looking at Oz convinces me that overhearing my parents and Eli’s conversation is possible.

His black hair is an array of messy tufts sticking out in various directions. The bandanna is off and the urge is to knot my fingers in the strands. I step into his personal space. Close enough that heat instantly springs between us. Close enough that when we inhale to breathe, our bodies touch.

I lift my head and Oz’s deep blue eyes dart around my face in confusion. There’s a light stubble on his jaw and, being braver than I normally am, I reach up and gently brush my fingertips along the rough hairs. My heart beats faster with the soft scrape against my skin and Oz sucks in a breath of air.

“What are you doing?” His voice is deep and gruff. Each syllable caressing my soul.

What am I doing? I’m submitting to temptation. I’m taking control of my life. I lick my lips and Oz mirrors the motion. He’s not lying. He’s as attracted to me as I am to him and there’s no part of me that will regret what’s about to happen.

“I’m leaving soon,” I whisper.

“You are.”

“And I won’t be coming back.”

“You won’t.” His gaze wanders the length of my body. “But we can’t do whatever it is you’re thinking of doing.”

Resistance—not what I need and, deep down, not what I want. “Why not?”

Oz pierces me with his eyes and I spot not only a shadow of lust there, but a seriousness I’ve never seen from anyone else before. “Because you aren’t that type of girl.”

Normally, I’m not, yet I bristle like a porcupine and try to ignore the sting of rejection. Maybe he doesn’t want me like he claims. Maybe I’m making a fool of myself. “You have no idea who I am.”

“And you don’t know me and you don’t understand my world.”

His
world. He’s right. I don’t, but I do know there’s so much more going on than anyone will tell me and I’m bent on finding it out. Oz thinks he has all the power here, but I’m not blind and I do listen. He wants to kiss me as much as I secretly crave to kiss him. This rawness going on between us is nothing I’ve ever felt before. It’s primal, instinctual, and instead of fighting it, I’m bent on using it to my advantage.

The girl I normally am, she’s begging me to return to my chair, but nothing about this moment is normal. Being here, the picture Olivia gave me, Eli’s sudden interest in me...the way my blood pounds in an urgent rhythm whenever Oz is around. “Are you saying you don’t want to kiss me?”

Oz rubs a hand over his face as if he’s waging an internal battle. It’s a battle against me and, in this, I will win. I step closer, my body pressing against his, and a slight twinge of a possible victory overtakes me when he closes his eyes as if he likes the feel of me.

“Are you all talk, Oz? In the short time I’ve known you, you keep saying you want to kiss me and I’m admitting I want to kiss you. This is a now or never. Once I leave here, I will never return.”

I take a huge risk. I lay my fingers on his shoulders, my thumb tracing his collarbone through his shirt. His head snaps up as if I found his “On” switch. A wave of electricity crackles in the air when our eyes meet and I love the utter shock written all over his face. Yes, I am the person in control.

In a lightning-fast movement, Oz’s hand snatches mine, the one that’s touching him, and he holds it in his grasp. He shifts so that he towers over me, like he did in the hallway, in a way that suggests he’s trying to take back control. “Is this what you really want, Emily? To kiss me? You don’t think I see right through you? That you try to kiss me, I lower my defenses, and you push past me and out the door?”

His thumb moves over the top of my hand and I shiver with the contact. My mouth runs dry at the thought of how close we both are to going over this edge. “I can guarantee that bolting past you was never on my mind.”

“Who are you, Emily?” he asks in a husky voice.

I don’t know who I am here. At home, I’m definitely not this. But here? “I’m not shy, and for today, I’m bold.”

“Are you sure about that?” In less than a second, Oz wraps his arms around me, erases the minute distance between us and presses me to him. One of his hands roams the small of my back while the other wanders to my hair. His fingers play with the ends and the gentle pull causes pleasing goose bumps to form along my skin. “Are you sure this is the position you want to be in with me?”

He’s playing with me, he’s testing me, he’s insisting that I tuck my tail between my legs and admit that I can’t go through with what I’ve started, but he doesn’t get how badly I want to understand what’s going on, to learn the truth.

My pulse picks up pace and adrenaline shoots through my veins. This is a means to an end, a means to an end alone, but what frightens me is how much I desire this.

I edge my hands up, brush them against the hot skin of his neck, let my fingernails dance near the tips of his longer hair. Oz’s body tenses and melts into mine at the same time.

“Does that feel like I’m playing?” I whisper.

His hold in my hair tightens. “Whatever you think you’ve got planned isn’t going to work. You’re not walking out that door.”

“Are you scared of me?” I taunt.

“I’m scared of no one. If you want to do this, we’ll do this, but as I said, you’re not going anywhere, so you might as well step back now.”

I may not be going anywhere this very second, but I will be soon. Very, very soon. “Are you going to stop me from leaving?”

“Yes,” he answers as his hands begin to wander and I move my head closer to his, placing my mouth undeniably near his.

“Unless you’re scared, then stop me, Oz.” Our lips briefly touch as I speak. “Kiss me and stop me from leaving right now.”

His nose skims my cheek and he’s still battling the chemistry between us. My own blood hums and frustration kicks in. “Kiss me. Just stop thinking and kiss me.”

He accepts the challenge as he crushes his lips against mine. My knees immediately buckle and, searching for stability, I weave my arms around his neck. Oz uses his strength to support me in response. My fingers rake through his hair. His hands massage my back.

A warmth spreads in my stomach and it’s a driving need that causes me to curl myself around him. Both of Oz’s hands slip down my spine. A slight brush along my bottom and I suck in a surprised and excited breath as Oz grabs on to the back of my thighs.

My eyes open when Oz lifts me in the air and in a fast twist, I’m against the door right at his level. He stares at me. I stare at him. Our chests rise and fall at a rapid rate.

I have what I needed. The leverage to leave, but this...this type of kiss...I want more.

I tip toward him, letting my thighs carry some of my weight on his hips and Oz’s mouth edges up as he briefly closes his eyes, as if he enjoys the friction between us. I like that I affect him. I like all of this way too much.

My fingers drift into his hair, fulfilling my fantasy from earlier, and I tilt my head closer. Oz does the same and heat builds. If we start this again, will we stop? Do I want to stop?

The answer is no.

Mouths stir. A nibble on my lower lip. I take in his top one. A lick of his tongue. And the game continues to increase in intensity. Testing. Tasting. Teasing. Strengthening and growing and exploring and a silent rhythm is created. Soon not only our mouths are moving in time, but so are our bodies.

Oz redistributes my weight so that he’s leaning into me and my back is flush against the door. I part my lips, and the entire world explodes. His tongue sweeps next to mine and we’re both touching and moaning and so hungry for more. The delicious pressure of his mouth on my neck. More. The way his hips maneuver against mine. More. His muscles flexing under my caress. More...

I blink when Oz’s fingers slip to my shoulder near my tank-top strap. My hands slide to his chest and I push. As if I flipped his switch again, Oz places my feet on the ground and jumps back.