me. It’s good stuff.”
“I believe you, but I’m still missing my appetite.” I huff out a breath, folding my arms. “This is my fault. I’m not here to cry about it, but I have to do something about it.”
He sets down the knife he’d used to chop up garlic. “You already are.”
I pace the floor in front of the kitchen island, still not sure what I can do about any of this. The frustration inside me builds like a firestorm.
“Val.” He whispers my name in that low rumble he has, toweling off his hands after rinsing them. “You’re gonna make yourself dizzy, woman, fluttering around like a lost bee. Why don’t you sit?”
He steps around the counter and grasps my shoulders tight.
It’s the first time our bare skin has touched since we shared his bed.
Argh. I’m shameless. A total...I don’t even know.
I can’t think straight when he’s touching me. Looking through me with those eyes like lashing blue flames.
But it works. I stop fretting over things I can’t control.
My mind goes back in time to his bed. My heart follows. It’s racing so fast the rest of me can’t keep up.
So I cover my face with both hands, trying like hell to ignore my mess of a life, and enjoy this beast-man’s safety, his warmth, his magnificent embrace.
“Give it time,” he says softly.
Time. Right.
It only feels like forever being close enough to kiss him.
My mind flashes to us in his bed, and the image won’t leave. I reach out, running my hands up his neck, tracing his chiseled jaw.
He grabs my wrists and gingerly pulls my hands away from his face.
I keep my eyes closed.
“Open your eyes, Valerie. Look at me.”
I don’t dare, but I suck in a deep breath and listen.
Compassion and kindness fill his face. “I know this shit’s been hard on you, and I promise it’ll get better. Very soon. You’re too good to stay down in hell.”
I can’t find my voice.
Probably because I have no freaking clue what I’d say.
I shouldn’t act on desire, so I consider stepping away. But he still has this tight, bearish hold of my hands.
I shake my head.
Flint won’t let go.
He pulls me closer, then folds his arms around me. “I said I promise. Not something I ever do lightly.” The way he growls just confirms it.
My arms wrap around him, and I hold on tight, even as I’m suffering every second I’m pressed to his chest, breathing him in. He’s sandalwood and sea. This fierce, unmistakably masculine scent that’s absolutely Flint.
It’s like he’s my lifeline. My silver thread of sanity. The one thing keeping me from going insane through this ordeal.
He’s kept me alive. I’m certain of it.
And right now, he has me feeling very alive, indeed.
So I bury my face against his shirt, letting go, giving in to his bewildering cologne and musk and brash heat.
Maybe I am a different person than I used to be. My brain shifts away from dwelling on my sorrow to taking what I want.
Taking him by offering my all.
“Flint...” I lift my head and kiss his neck, his stubble, then the bottom of his chin, slowly working my way up to his lips poised in the perfect smirk.
When my lips brush his, curious and exploring, I half expect resistance. Doubts. Second guesses.
But I’m overjoyed when his lips meet mine, returning my kiss.
It lasts for an eternity, us glued together in passion and fury.
I’m flipping delirious, throbbing from head to toe. The desire glowing in his eyes gives me courage.
Without another word, I step back, just enough to slide my hand down his rock hard chest, his buck wild abs, grasping the waistband of his shorts.
“Fuck,” he grinds out.
Giving a brisk tug, I turn and walk down the hall leading to his bedroom, urging him to follow.
Once we’re there, I push up his shirt, and leave a trail of kisses across his chest.
“You sure about this?” he asks.
I smile. “Very sure. You promised me better, Mister.”
He lets out a low growl and grasps my face, kissing me again, making oh-so-good on his word.
Maybe he can’t save the world tonight.
But he can save me from spontaneously combusting thanks to my own reckless lust.
His kisses come hotter now, adding teeth, pulling a soft moan out of me as his hands roam my curves, finding new ways to hint and pinch and tease.
Holy hell!
We strip off each other’s clothes and fall to the bed, fully naked, his massive weight pinning me down. His cock finds my pussy,