He lowers his face until we’re practically eye-level. “There’s a lot I need to say.”
I wet my lips and swallow.
“There are things I need to apologize for. But baby,” his eyes search mine, “I can’t sit next to you for another second without touching you.”
Oh… oh God.
“Without kissing you,” he adds, his lips brushing the shell of my ear as he dips to my neck, his breath hot. “Do you have any idea how much I like you?”
I swallow hard, my throat bone dry. My voice comes out shaky. “Tell me.”
His hand slips from the shelf until it wraps around my throat—firm, claiming, holding me there like I belong to him. He tilts my face up toward his, forcing me to meet the storm in his gaze.
“That Halloween night wasn’t just about forgetting the mess I’d made of my life—it was aboutremembering.About draggingback the parts of me that I thought were gone. You didn’t just bring me back, you gave mehope.And I haven’t stopped thinking about the strawberry-haired woman who’d made me feel alive again.”
Then his mouth crashes against mine. The kiss tears straight through every wall I've spent weeks building. Every thought, every doubt, every reason to protect my heart disappears the second he touches me.
I’ve always been a sucker for a good kiss. One that steals my breath just like the ones in the movies do. But for a while, I thought those types of kisses were purely cinematic... until now. Seth’s lips devour mine, rough and desperate, and I open for him instantly. His tongue slides against mine and it feels like he’s consuming me whole. A sound escapes me, raw and needy, and I claw at his neck, dragging him closer, grinding against him as if my body can’t get enough. Every nerve in me sparks, begging for more, forallof him.
And just when I’m lost in him, just when I surrender to the rush and let myself drown in the delicious chaos of it, Seth tears his mouth from mine.
“Fuck,” he groans, pulling back just an inch, his forehead pressing against mine as our ragged breaths mingle in the tight space. His hazel eyes are molten and filled with heat. “You’re too fucking good to us,” he murmurs, his voice thick with emotion. “You shouldn’t have driven all the way to Boston for Sawyer last night. And you shouldn’t have made us dinner, found another book for her to enjoy and shown up today to practice with her.You’retoo fucking good Bri.”
“Stop telling me what I should do,” I whisper.
Seth lifts his head, his brows drawing together as he studies me, his gaze searching, trying to read me. I get it. Maybe he thinksthat he’s getting free labor from me that he can’t repay. Or maybe he thinks that I don’t want to do these things. But that’s simply because he doesn’t know the real me yet.
“I enjoy showing love to the people in my life,” I say softly, my fingers trailing down his chest, feeling the hard ridges of muscle beneath my fingertips. These pecs that I’ve touched before that I can’t wait to touch again. “It’s something that I got from my mother.Never show up empty,she’d always say. Whether that’s bringing a home-cooked meal, staying up late to read a fantasy novel so I have something to talk about with Sawyer, or driving hours just to sit with her after a stressful situation. I try to always show up ready to help.”
I shrug slightly, my heart pounding as I look up at him. “Seth, I enjoy taking care of my people. It isn’t draining for me, it energizes me. I like giving. Sometimes, I think that I get more joy out of the act than the people who are receiving.”
His jaw clenches, his thumb brushing gently along my jawline, tracing the curve of my cheek. The thick pad of his thumb moves back and forth in slow, soothing strokes. I melt a little more into him and this quiet, intimate moment that we’re sharing.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t be telling you what you should and shouldn’t do.” His eyes darken, his thumb pausing as he presses it gently against my lower lip. “But, Bri, if you’re going to take care of everyone else in your life,” His voice dips lower, sending a shiver straight down my spine. “Please let me be the one to take care of you at the end of the night.”
My lips part and he takes advantage—pressing his thumb a little further, just enough to part them.
“Open,” he murmurs, his gaze locked on mine.
I do. I open for him, welcoming the weight of his thumb as he slides it into my mouth just like the way he did outside. But this time, his daughter isn’t waiting for us.
My tongue flicks against the tip, tasting him, and I suck.
A deep groan vibrates in his chest, and his eyes go almost feral as he watches me, his nostrils flaring, his jaw ticking like he’s holding back everything he wants to do to me.
“I’m going to take care of you tonight,” he growls, his thumb sliding deeper, his breathing ragged as he watches my lips close around him in a firm suck. “And this won’t be the last time. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I nod, my body already buzzing with the anticipation, my tongue swirling around his thumb before he pulls it out slowly, a wicked gleam in his eyes as I lick the tip one last time.
“Say it,” he commands.
“I want it too.”
“Good.”
His hand slides down my side, over my ass, dragging me flush against him. I feel how hard he is, and my brain goes a little blank, because I hadn't forgotten how big he is—I just hadn't prepared myself for the reminder.
“Sawyer’s either still in her room reading or asleep,” Seth murmurs, his lips brushing against mine, his voice low and full of need. “I can’t risk her hearing us. This closet is the furthest spot away from her room.”
