rush through me, unlike anything I’ve felt before—scratch that. I’ve felt this before, over a decade ago. The memory makes me uncomfortable, and I doubt the wisdom behind this entire afternoon.
“We both want this, but if you’re worried about my restraint, I’m capable of holding back. I can stop before this goes too far.”
“Can you?” I’m too nervous to stop anything. I know I’ll cave. With Brody, I know nothing about restraint. I place my hand on his bicep and pull his thumb away from my mouth. His muscles bunch beneath my fingers.
“I can, although I don’t want to.” His husky tone sweeps over me.
“We need to talk before this goes that far.”
“You’re all I’ve thought about.” He grips my waist and yanks me against him, bringing his mouth back down on mine.
The air electrifies and sizzles, crackling through my whole body as the brush of his tongue sends shockwaves coursing through me. Every cell in my body takes notice. My lips tingle as our mouths meld together, and my knees weaken with the collision of our breaths.
His hands roam as he deepens the kiss. The movement of his jaw as he kisses me is restrained, slow, determined. When he licks along the seam of my lips, it’s a request, likely the only one I’ll receive, and I can’t help myself.
I give in.
In the next breath, he parts my lips and kisses me, taking control of our past and sealing our future.
My resistance, as always, melts beneath the dominating power of his desire. All I can do is hold on as memories of what it felt like to surrender to him course through me. His hands slide up and down my back. One hand lifts to grasp my neck where he tilts my head to deepen the kiss.
“If you don’t want this, say no.” His voice slides over me, silky and full of desire. A voice which lowers my defenses and allows bad decisions to gain strength.
I can’t. My treacherous body betrays me. I lift on tiptoe, practically climbing his towering frame, and hook my arms around his neck. Threading my fingers into the hair at his nape, this is the farthest thing from No a girl can get.
He digs his fingers against my back, crushing me against him. My hands slip down to his shoulders, where I grab hold and revel in the feel of our bodies pressed tight together.
He backs me against the doorframe and lifts me, wrapping my legs around his hips while leaning against me. I straddle his muscular waist as fantasies tumble in my head. Brody’s full, pillowy lips wrench untethered groans from my mouth. My blood heats with the shocking sensations he pulls from my body. His firm lips never waver, taking and claiming as he reacquaints himself with my mouth.
We kiss for what feels like an eternity, making up for lost time. He sucks and licks and eats at my mouth like a man starved of sustenance. The intensity of his kiss expresses his desire and states his intent. With Brody, words were always optional in moments like this.
“Fuck, Grace, but you taste like coming home.” Deep, sultry tones infuse his breath and lick along my skin, sending shivers racing along my nerves. His hands roam from my waist down to my ass, where he cups my butt and tugs me hard against the firmness of his erection tenting his jeans. “Do you feel what you do to me? How hard I am for you?” He nibbles at my mouth, teasing, playing. Pulling at my bottom lip, he bites down hard for a split second before kissing me again. He knows my reaction to pain, how it weakens my knees and holds me on the edge. “You taste like heaven. Like life itself.”
Mercy, but the heat of his mouth, and the velvety press of his lips on mine, spin my brain. I miss this, his all-consuming passion. The honesty of his desire expressed in the heat of his mouth is something I crave.
I want this. I need it.
A barrage of sensations bursts within me, but one in particular coils below my waist and aches between my legs.
Brody’s breathing slows. His hands return to my waist, where he lifts me and settles me back on my feet, severing our connection. He tears his mouth away from mine, panting.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Grace Atwood. You make me burn and set fire to my body. I can’t keep my hands off you.