“Andyou’re so warm,”Imurmured.Icouldn’t stay pressed against his muscular torso all night, though.WhenIpulled away, it was with reluctance—untilIglanced up at him.
Hiseyes gleamed with a brighter glow.Orperhaps that was a play with the moonlight above, which twinkled in reflections on the water.
“Feelingbetter?” he asked.
Ithought of replying with something snarky, such as how his body could be used to heal any number of conditions, but my mouth didn’t cooperate.Thatwas for the best sinceIdidn’t want my mouth to break whatever spell drew me to him.Instead,Isimply nodded and finally replied, “much.”
“Good.”Hereached up and pushed a blond curl off my cheek and then trailed his fingers along it.
Hisgaze lowered to my lips, andIfroze.Althoughwe’d stolen some time together the last few days, we hadn’t kissed since we were in the mountains.Eachnight whenIwent to bed,Ithought of him and how things could be different if he were with me.Afantasy that wasn’t likely to come true.
Butmaybe tonight…
“CanIkiss you?” he asked in a low, almost pained tone.
“Ye-yes,”Istammered.ThenItook a deep breath, exhaled, and tried again. “Kissme,Valen.”
Imoved up to my tiptoes, and when he bent toward me, it felt like slow motion.
Finally, our lips touched.Weexplored each other languidly at first, but then desire took over.Ourmouths crashed together hard as we grasped for each other.Hishands roamed over my back and down to my butt.
Whenwe broke apart, gasping for breath,Ipaused to sort through my scrambled mind.Iwanted him.Ididn’t want the night to end.Andhe appeared to want the same thing.
“Doyou want to go to my place with me?”Thewords sounded strange coming out of my mouth because that wasn’t an invitationI’dextended to any man sinceI’dmoved into the house withPaige.I’dhad a couple of short-term lovers, few and far between, that had fizzled out quickly, but not in my place.
“Morethan anything.”Valen’svoice came out in a strangled tone.
“Let’sgo.”
Duringthe drive back to my place, we stole heated glances at each other.Ata red light, he leaned over to kiss me.Thecar behind us beeped, breaking us apart.
Ilaughed. “We’remaking out like teenagers.”
Hegrinned. “I’lltry to keep my hands to myself for the rest of the way.”Thenhe flashed me a smoldering glance. “Butyou don’t make it easy looking so hot and tempting like that.”
Heatunfurled deep inside my core.Hotand tempting?Thatwasn’t somethingIheard often.ComingfromValen, it sounded damn good.
Afew minutes later, we pulled into my driveway and then walked up to the front door of my weathered bungalow.AfterIopened it,Iturned on the lights.Awave of self-consciousness washed over me.
Paige’stoys were strewn across the living room, and the contents of her school backpack were spread haphazardly across the floor.Ishould have taken more time to tidy up but rushed to get myself ready as well beforeValenpicked me up.Afterseeing how tidy his cabin had been, he must have thoughtIwas a slob.
“Sorryabout the mess.”Igestured around us. “Paigecan be quite a tornado with her belongings sometimes.”Itwisted a ringlet and released a nervous laugh.
“Don’tworry about it.”Valenstepped inside and looked around. “Itlooks like a home well-lived in.Likea happy family lives here.”
Hiswords warmed me and put me at ease. “Shewas an extra force of nature tonight as she was looking for some things she wanted to bring to her father’s.”
Valennodded. “Arethey close?”
Igrimaced. “Hardto say.Thornehadn’t been much of a father toPaigeuntil he moved into the area last fall.Idon’t know why he had a change of heart because he certainly won’t confide in me, butIthink it had something to do with his father passing away.Maybeit woke something up in him.”
Valenstudied me. “Youtwo aren’t on good terms?”
Isnorted. “Notat all.Wemore tolerate each other since our divorce.”
“Ifyou don’t mind me asking, what happened?”
Bumblingbroomsticks, why didIbring up this topic?Thelast thingIwanted to do was have my worst memories ruin an otherwise promising night withValen.Isighed.IfIgot it off my chest, perhaps we could move on.
