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Tonight, she’d felt it all, every bit. With one kiss, she’d realized that she could have it if she wanted it. If she was brave enough to step out of her comfort zone and reach out with both hands. There would be no stepping back, no hiding.
Sliding her hands down his muscled torso, she let her fingers burrow underneath his cotton t-shirt to the smooth, warm skin underneath. She heard his indrawn breath at her touch and grew bolder, tracing his ridged abdomen with her fingertips.
“Are you sure? I need you to be?—”
“I’m sure,” she said, leaning forward to press a kiss on the strong cords of his neck. “I know what I’m doing. I won’t regret it in the morning.”
She’d said the word…morning.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “Will you let me help you, Mia? I can keep you safe. I won’t let you down.”
He wouldn’t. Somehow, she knew that even if they hadn’t known one another long.
“Yes, but I don’t want us to make a lot of promises to one another that we might not want to keep in the morning. I don’t want to think about tomorrow right now. I just want to live in this moment. Is that okay?”
His answer must have been affirmative because he captured her lips in another sizzling kiss that had her temperature soaring into the stratosphere. Flames of pleasure licked at her flesh as their clothes seem to disappear on their own, tossed aside carelessly. She’d worry about wrinkles tomorrow.
The hunger inside of her was unquenchable, a demon clawing at her inside and out. She’d gone so long without loving touches that she couldn’t get enough. His hands blazed a fiery trail down her body and his lips followed as well. When he’d lifted her foot and tenderly kissed her ankle and then up her calf, she thought she might burst into flames and die of pleasure right there on the couch. Each brush of his body and lips sent her spiraling higher into the stars.
Teetering on the edge of climax, she urged him closer, wrapping her legs around his lean hips and pressing him forward. They moved together slowly at first, a bit awkward until they found the rhythm that they both needed.
Her nails dug into his shoulders as she whispered his name over and over as if she was casting a spell. There was only the storm that howled and whipped violently outside while the two of them fell over the precipice together.
A river of heat rushed through her veins, scorching in its intensity. She heard her own name fall from Grant’s lips, his head thrown back, a muscle in his jaw pulsing. She forced her eyes to stay open, wanting to remember this moment for the rest of her life. She’d think of this night and the beauty and tenderness of this man. She’d tuck this memory away like a precious souvenir. She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but for tonight?
She was with Grant, completely.
Mia couldn’t truthfully say if she had ever been in love before. Not really.
But with him, she was sure. She’d never come closer than she was right now.
6
Mia’s lids fluttered open, the sun slanting through the gap in the drapes over the sliding glass door to the balcony. The sounds of the howling wind and trees were gone and there was a sense of peace in the air. The storm had moved on but how much damage it had left in its wake was still to be determined.
The man lying in bed with her, curled around her like the “big spoon,” would have to go out there today and assess what had happened. There might be people to rescue, homes that were broken by the force of the wind, and rising waters due to the rain. He had a big and important job to do, and he couldn’t be lazing around a hotel suite protecting her from her ex. He might have been hers alone last night, but today he belonged to the town.
After they’d made love, they’d talked for a long time. Grant had told her more about his family and his career. It was easy to see that he loved what he did, and he took the responsibilities seriously.
She’d tried to open up a bit more about her life, mostly talking about her childhood since the last few years had been so painful. Grant had promised once more to protect her no matter what.
She believed him. She wasn’t sure why she trusted him so implicitly, but she did.
Even now, wrapped in his strong warm arms, she felt incredibly cared for and safe. As if nothing in the world could ever touch her.
“Is it morning yet?”
Grant’s question was punctuated with a wide yawn. They hadn’t had near enough sleep, but he was still going to have to go to work today. Probably quite soon, too.
And her? She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She’d pretty much agreed to let Grant help her, but she wasn’t sure what that was going to look like. She couldn’t just put down roots in this fancy resort suite. She had to stand on her own two feet somehow. She couldn’t allow herself to become a burden.
Their relationship was even murkier. Was this a one-night stand or something more? She had feelings for Grant, but it was probably lunacy to get involved with someone the minute she was away from her abusive ex. And how on earth was this amazing man not locked down in marriage with kids? He was born to nurture. It didn’t make any sense.
“It is,” she replied, turning in his arms so that her head was resting on his chest. His heart thumped steadily under her cheek, strong and steady, just like him. “You have to go to work.”
“I do,” he sighed. “I need to get out there and see what damage we have. There are people I want to check on, too.”
He’d told her about Evelyn and the other citizens of this town that he kept an eye on. If anything, it made him even more attractive than he already was. He was a true-life hero although he wouldn’t like her saying so out loud.
