Truth or Dare (His Wicked Games #2) Read Online Free PDF

to my car, I feel much better. I was putting too much
pressure on us too soon. I had an amazing time tonight, and I’m
looking forward to showing Calder exactly how amazing.
    He insists on following me back to my
apartment and “walking me to my door.” The entire drive there I
imagine exactly what I’m going to do to him—how I’m going to touch
and taste and tease him. How I’m going to get him back for leaving
me without my underwear all night.
    When we get to my apartment building, he
follows me up the steps toward my door, and the butterflies return
to my stomach. Why the hell am I so nervous? Calder is nervous,
too—or am I just reading too much into the way he curls and uncurls
his fingers around his keys? Have years of dealing with that
uncomfortable post-date will-he-or-won’t-he dance at the door
conditioned me to expect the worst?
    “So,” I say, trying to make light of my
nerves. “Should I be worried that you’re going to sleep with me and
never call again?”
    He takes the joke well, at least. He chuckles
as his fingers close around the keys once more, and his free hand
moves to my waist.
    We’ve reached the door now, and he turns so
that he’s facing me. He looks as if he wants to say something, but
the words never come. Instead, he just stands there, staring down
at me, and I can almost feel the distance stretching between
us.
    Time to nip that in the bud.
    I grab him by the front of the shirt and yank
him down to me, capturing his mouth with my own. He gets over the
initial shock surprisingly fast. Before I can even catch a breath,
he’s moved—forcing me back against the door, trapping me beneath
his body. His lips force mine apart, his hands run up and down my
hips, my waist, my breasts…
    Any awkwardness I feel disappears with his
touch. With the heat of him, the taste of him, the smell of him. This is how we connect, how we communicate—through our
bodies. I know everything he can’t say, and he knows all of my
fears. We can play at dating all we want, but the truth lies right
here, between us.
    I reach up and go for the buttons on his
shirt, pulling them apart one by one. Calder growls and reaches
around behind me, his hands sliding down to cup my ass. He begins
to tug the fabric of my dress up toward my hips, and I hear myself
moan in anticipation of his touch against my bare flesh.
    He pauses.
    I’ve reached the last button on his shirt,
but in my excitement my fingers are fumbling.
    “Wait,” he says, his hands closing around
mine.
    “It’s a quiet building,” I assure him.
“Everyone else is probably in bed already.” Still, I reach for my
purse, for my keys. It will probably be more comfortable in my bed
anyway.
    But Calder shakes his head. “That’s not what
I mean.”
    My keys are already out of my purse, but I
don’t turn around to face the door. “I don’t understand.”
    He lets out a long, shaky breath—in that way
people do before they tell you something they know you won’t want
to hear. Something clenches in my stomach.
    “What is it?” I prompt.
    “Lily,” he says slowly. “I was thinking, back
in the car… Maybe we should slow things down for a bit.”
    There it is. Like a punch to my gut. I
suddenly feel like I can’t breathe, but I don’t want him to see how
much of a shock his words are to me.
    “What do you mean by ‘slow things down’?” I
ask, impressing myself with how calm, how emotionless my voice
sounds.
    He’s studying my face closely, I can feel it,
but I don’t dare look him in the eye.
    “Maybe…” he says. “Maybe we should just try
dating for a little while. No sex.”
    No… sex. It takes my brain a moment to
process what he’s suggesting. “Why?”
    “I just don’t want us to get in over our
heads,” he says.
    I finally summon the nerve to look up at him,
and when I do, he’s raking his hand through his hair. He’s having
trouble looking at me.
    “Is that okay?” he says. “I think it might be
good for us.