Page 65 of Yours to Keep

A wicked idea took shape in my mind, and I didn’t even question it. Honestly, I wanted her to be tempted too. I wasn’t at full sail anymore, but definitely at half mast, still very obviously catching wind. I wanted her and I wanted her to know it, but I also didn’t want to push if she didn’t want it.

When I walked into the living room wearing that towel and nothing else, she looked up from the couch and went very, very still, only her eyes moving to flick to my chest, then my shoulders, then lower before she dragged them back up to my face. “You’re doing that on purpose.”

“Maybe,” I said. “If you want me to⁠—”

Bree cut me off with a firm shake of her head. Then she was on her feet and closing the distance between us. Surprise ricocheted through me, but I went with it, catching her in my arms as she wrapped her hands around my shoulders and kissed me. It wasn’t careful or polite, all heat, and want, and the relief of not pretending anymore.

Her hands slid down my back, her nails biting into my skin just enough to make me groan into her mouth. I backed her up until she hit the wall, my body boxing her in without pinning her. “We don’t have to, Bree.”

She answered by tugging me closer and kissing me harder. Suddenly, nothing hurt anymore. Not my hands, my jaw, or even the knot that had been sitting in my chest for days. There was just her and the way she fit against me like she’d been built for it.

When I kissed her again, I slowed it down, letting it stretch so we could both feel it for every second we’d spent apart. She sighed into my mouth. The sound was soft, but it wrecked me so bad, I knew I was done for.

Whatever this was, I wasn’t walking away from it and I wasn’t letting her do it either.

CHAPTER 25

BREE

Since my biggest regret after that night we’d spent together in the hotel had been not taking my time with him the way I wanted to, I refused to make the same mistake. My heart was going nuts against my ribs, my body on edge as he kissed me like he wanted me to know how much he’d been wanting to do it again ever since.

And I did know.

Because I’d been having the same problem.

Try as I might, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what it had felt like to have his lips against mine. I hadn’t been able to forget the sensation of him moving inside me or how thoroughly he’d made me forget that the world outside even existed.

The man had put a spell on my body that night and it was one it had been desperate to fall under again ever since. So much so that I’d been dreaming about it. About him. Without fail, I’d woken up hot and bothered, and not a single one of my efforts had been good enough to relieve the pressure.

“God, Bree,” he whispered into my mouth as we stumbled together into my room, his torso hard and hot against me. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?”

“About as much as I want you?” I murmured, dipping my fingertips beneath the towel just above his ass.

He let out a dark, husky chuckle. “More. I guarantee it.”

The admission made my pulse trip and heat soak my panties, and I caught his cheek in one of my hands, breaking the kiss for just long enough that he could see me shake my head. “I doubt it, but it’s not just that either, is it?”

For a beat, he just stared back at me. Then he smiled and lowered his head closer to mine once more. “No, but we don’t have to talk about that right now.”

“Deal.” Our mouths crashed together again and I tugged at the knot holding the towel around his hips, instantly sending it to floor.

He let out a low groan, sending me a curious look as I gently pushed his shoulders. It wasn’t hard enough to make him fall backward onto the bed, but he sat down anyway, then lay back, his gaze still questioning on mine.

I held it intently. For now. Knowing that once I finally let myself look anywhere else, it was going to be a while before I even took a glimpse at his eyes again. Beautiful as they were.

“Just let me,” I said softly, not asking but not really telling either. It was up to him, and for a split second, he didn’t seem to be sure of how to respond, but then he nodded and my heart skipped a few beats in my chest. “Grab a pillow. You may want to make yourself comfortable for this. It could take a while.”

I heard him suck in a sharp but quiet breath. He shoved one of my pillows under his head and watched as I sat down between his ankles on the mattress. Pushing my hair behind my ears, I ran my gaze from his face to the strong column of his neck.

I traced the curve of it to his shoulders with my eyes before following with my fingertips, just grazing them across his skin. Sullivan’s gaze was so intense, it almost felt like a caress as he watched me, but I relished every inch of him that same way.

His broad chest, the lean bulges of muscle in his biceps, and the cords that ran along his forearms to his hands. Finally, I let myself look at his abs, that same stack that had made me all flustered in his office that day with the paper gown, and the memory brought a smile to my lips.

“This funny to you?” he asked, his voice a little more ragged and husky than usual. “Because it’s fucking killing me.”

“It’s not funny,” I replied quietly, glancing up at his face and realizing that his features were tighter now. Almost like he was angry, but I had a feeling it was restraint. My clit pulsed at the knowledge that this was affecting him the same way it was affecting me, but I breathed through the urge to just put us both out of our misery already. “I was remembering how I felt when you just suddenly stripped down in front of me.”

A slow smirk spread across his lips. “It might not have been my best moment. I didn’t think about how hard it would be to hide an erection while only wearing a paper fucking gown.”