Page 67 of Burning For You

“Sorry. I’m only speaking the truth.”

“I only care more about what you’re thinking now.”

She could lie. She’d done it enough in her life about little things, even if she hated it.

Not horrible things. Just to get out of stuff she didn’t want to do.

Like she was too busy with work to drive home for a weekend birthday celebration with her new family.

If she said yes to one, she’d almost feel as if she had to say yes to them all.

Six kids, two parents, she’d be home eight times a year then. Add in the holidays with it.

Might as well not have even moved away.

“Right now, I don’t want to think at all.”

She lifted her head to look into his eyes. To see if she could read his thoughts.

If he would know what she wanted without her having to voice it.

He didn’t answer her. He didn’t need to.

Something dark and sharp shifted in his gaze, and then his hand slid from her back to her jaw, his thumb brushing her cheek like he was asking permission without words.

She didn’t pull away.

That was all it took.

He lowered his mouth to hers slowly, giving her time to stop him. When she didn’t, when her breath caught instead, he closed the last inch and kissed her.

Soft at first. Careful. Like he was testing whether this was real or something that might shatter if he pressed too hard.

Nothing was going to shatter but her control.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t done this once already. For the life of her, she couldn’t get a read on what was going through his brain.

Her hands curled into his shirt on instinct, her fingers gripping fabric as if he were the only solid thing in the room. The kiss deepened. Not rushed. Not desperate. But full of everything they’d been circling for far too long.

The tension. The history. The things left unsaid.

His thumb traced her jaw as his mouth moved against hers, unhurried, sure, like he’d waited years for this again and wasn’t about to waste it.

Like he was afraid after everything that happened today, she’d turn him away.

She didn’t. Instead, she melted into him, rising onto her toes without realizing it, chasing the warmth and the promise in his touch.

His tongue slipped in, tasting her, gently again.

Oh fuck that.

She didn’t need it gentle. She just needed to feel.

Feel something more than what she’d been. Anything more than what was happening in her life.

His hands went to her face, held her head in place, his mouth now devouring her like she was an eight course meal and he was making room for more.

Call the server over because nothing was getting in her way.