Feisty Red (Three Chicks Brewery #2) - Stacey Kennedy Page 0,28
he did to us. I hate that you’re still carrying around all this pain after all these years. I hate that after all the love we had, we ended like we did. I want to forgive you. I want to move on. What did you want to tell me? She drew in a long, deep breath, hoping to hell she got this right, and then she knocked.
No response.
She knocked again, and when the door opened, Clara only just managed to stop her mouth from dropping open.
Sullivan’s brows went up. “Clara? What’s wrong?”
He opened the door wider, and a slow-building heat rolled over her. Sullivan had always been a good-looking guy, but now, he was pure man, with a body that looked cut from a fitness magazine. His hair was wet from an obvious shower, telling her he couldn’t sleep either, and a towel was wrapped around his wide bare shoulders. Her fingers tingled to reach out and touch him, and her breath became ragged as she let her gaze follow a path down his squared chest to his six-pack to that sexy V at his hips to his gray sweatpants that left absolutely nothing to the imagination as to what he had beneath them. And she really, really liked what he had. Scratch that, she suddenly really, really wanted what he had.
She swallowed deeply, and by the time she glanced back up, Sullivan’s eyes were hot and hungry.
A beat passed.
She could nearly taste the energy pinging between them. The heat burning. The want to make all that had gone so wrong better. “Sullivan—”
That’s all she managed before he had her in his arms, kicking the door shut behind them. She went willingly, forgetting what she’d wanted to hear. Because this was both an apology and an acknowledgment of them taking back all they had lost. His woodsy-scented shampoo infused the air when his mouth met hers, and she tumbled into everything the kiss promised. His kiss was familiar, and yet different, older, wiser, more patient and knowledgeable. Every slide of his tongue and deep, passionate press of his lips had her reaching for more.
When he finally broke the kiss, long minutes later, they were both breathless. He cupped her face, heady emotion dancing in his eyes. “I love kissing you, Clara. In fact, I want to kiss you until we forget why we shouldn’t be kissing, but I don’t want to hurt you again.”
“I won’t let you hurt me again,” she told him, dead serious. “I’m not that young girl who blindly loved you.” She slid her hands up his huge arms, feeling each muscle flex under her touch. “Your dad stole something from us. I want it back.”
Sullivan pressed his forehead against hers. “I’m not staying in River Rock. When my suspension is over, I’m going home. This can’t last.”
She cupped his face now, bringing his tormented gaze back to her. For all the confusion and the worry of wondering what to say to him, now it became all too clear. “We were never meant to last, but we can choose how we end it this time. To take back what was stolen from us, and give ourselves what we should have had—a proper goodbye. To finally heal all that went wrong. Then we can finally put all this behind us and go on with our lives.”
He watched her closely, then all the hesitation faded from his eyes. Their lips met again as his agreement, and there was nothing soft about it. The kiss was rough and spoke of years of heartbreak. Years of pain they could never recover from. And this, this was their time to heal.
When he broke the kiss again, he spun her around, his strong chest to her back. She shivered, sliding her hands down his thighs as his kiss traveled over her neck. A soft moan spilled free when his hands working their way under her top. “You’re so beautiful, Clara.” His voice a low rumble in her ear, sliding his strong hand across her stomach. “Somehow even more beautiful now.”
She felt those words ripple across her. Felt his touch right down into her soul. Here, between them, there was unthinkable pain. Hard truths. But there had once been love, so much love. She twisted around and her mouth met his, and she kissed him, slow and easy. His woodsy aroma swirled around her as she became overwhelmed by him. His warm full lips were just as she remembered, like no time had passed.