no ill intentions.”
She nodded. “No, I was the idiot.” She let out a huge sigh. “My life has been a basket of snakes, lately.”
Jason hated snakes.
“You don’t have to tell me anything, Kiley. I just want you to be safe. I don’t really need all the details.”
“Of course you don’t. Why would you?”
Her comment was a bit on the snarky side and Jason didn’t like the tone. He squinted, looking down on her, wrinkling his brow. She was damned hard to figure out. He decided he better stop trying. He sensed something might be wrong with her or her situation. She was damaged, somehow.
“I’m sorry. I can’t seem to help lashing out at you. It isn’t you; it’s my situation. But that’s all I’m going to say.”
He didn’t believe her. “You sure?” He grinned at her shocked expression. “For someone who doesn’t want to talk about it, you seem to bring it up a lot.”
She attempted to get to her feet. He’d just pushed her over the edge.
Dammit!
He held onto her forearm, but only with enough firmness to let her know he wasn’t going to let go. If she insisted, of course he would do so. He wanted to make it clear she still had the control.
“Stay. Don’t go.”
It was too awkward for her to continue to rise, so she collapsed back down onto the sand, and withdrew her arm from his grip.
“Can we start all over?” he asked.
Looking into her warm eyes, he saw intelligence, honor, strength and something else he couldn’t quite figure out.
She nodded, not looking at him.
“Where would you like to restart this from?” he asked.
Her glance at his lips gave him a most delicious signal. He slowly moved his face closer to hers until he was about two inches from her. He licked his lips and then pressed them against hers. He felt her jolt, and then soften to him.
He separated and angled his chin in the opposite direction. She matched his movement and met him halfway again, where their lips touched. She opened to him but he didn’t take advantage.
Instead, he cupped her cheek with his hand, stroking down the side of her face, his fingers sifting through her hair.
Should I stop?
He was fairly certain she’d agree to anything he asked of her. The idea thrilled him. And he understood what a gift that was.
She held his hand in both of hers and kissed his palm. “Come inside. With me,” she whispered. “Please?”
Her shyness moved him. He was falling off a cliff like one of those deep dives off the rocks back home. His body was soaring through the sky as if he was a bird.
They held hands as she led them to a bungalow three houses to the left of the beach access path. She pressed her back against her sliding glass window, and before letting him inside, she drew her arms up around his neck and pulled him down to her in a full-blown passionate kiss that lasted several minutes. His hands roamed down her backside, and over her arms, while his kisses were placed under her chin and beneath her ear. He loved her faint flowery scent and the way her delicate breathing grew strong and robust, as the woman came alive in his arms.
He pressed her lower torso to his hardened groin, and she moaned into his ear.
She broke off their embrace, opened the door, and stepped backward into her living room. He followed her every movement and closed the door behind him.
The interior of the little home smelled like her. She had a candle burning on the kitchen counter, which gave off a golden angel-light. But his eyes were focused on the movement of her body as she continued to walk backwards, drawing him into the bedroom, where she dropped his hand and began to remove her top.
He stopped her.
“Let me,” he whispered, kissing her ear. “I want to do it all.”
“Oh my God,” she sighed before she wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulder and drew her knees up around his waist.
He chuckled. “Clothes are awkward. If you’ll just have a little patience, I’ll have you naked and wet in two minutes. And that’s being slow.”
His fingers probed the waistband of her jeans, sliding over her smooth buttocks. Once, again, he drew her in, and showed her what a good fit they were, and once again, she moaned.
He pulled her oversized tee shirt over her head, as she undid his fly. Her fingers found him just as