But then she slipped.
“Oh!”
Her soft exclamation was all the warning he had before she fell sideways toward him. Instinct took over. He caught her, but the force of her coming down on him, complete with an elbow to his ribs, took him by surprise. Thankfully, he took the brunt of the impact, tucking her head safely against his shoulder as they ended up sprawled on the floor, with Evie lying on top of him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she attempted to push off him.
His arms tightened. “Don’t. Move.”
Evie froze.
“Just… give me a minute.” He drew in a careful breath, grateful that aside from a minor ache in his side, there were no shooting pains. Now he just had to figure out how to extract her from their tangle of limbs and keep her away from a piece of his anatomy which was more than happy with her position. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” She shifted, and he groaned. She froze again and slowly lifted her head.
One glance at her wide eyes was all it took to see she was well aware of the effect she was having on his body. The drop of her gaze to his lips and the darting of her tongue over her own was encouraging, sending another shot of courage through him. He hoped he wasn’t about to make a fool of himself, but he’d let one window close tonight and he truly didn’t want to lose another opportunity.
“Evie.” His voice came out rougher than he hoped. “You have a choice to make. Move now and go straight to bed. Or stay, with the full knowledge I would really like to kiss you. And that if you choose to stay, it’s very likely to happen.”
She didn’t move.
“Evie.”
“What?”
“Why aren’t you going anywhere?”
“Why would I?”
He closed his eyes and took as deep a breath as possible with her still on top of him, desperately hoping this wasn’t another vivid dream.
“You promised me a kiss,” she whispered.
“I did.”
“And you’re a man of your word, right?”
“I am.”
Her lips dusted across his cheek. “So, what’s stopping you?”
Brennan opened his eyes. She was so close, the warmth of her breath danced across his face. He reached up and stroked her cheek before weaving his fingers into her loose hair and cupping the back of her head. “Are you asking me to kiss you, Evie Morgan?”
“I am.”
CHAPTER 8
Brennan’s fingers,gentle against her head, eased her closer. His smile reached his eyes, taking Evie’s breath away even before a single touch from his lips. He tilted her head. A whisper of warmth dusted her cheek the moment before his lips touched there. Her breath hitched as he placed feather-light kisses ever so slowly closer to her lips. Anticipation rose. The butterflies woke from their brief hibernation, fluttering wildly in her stomach. His heart pounded under her hand, and hers matched its rhythm. The heat from his hand on her hip seared through her pajamas.
His gorgeous dark green gaze locked with hers for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was barely a second, and then finally!
It was worth the wait.
His lips were warm and soft. Pure heaven against her own. Firm yet tender. Sweet and perfect.
A meeting of lips that wasn’t just lips, but body, soul, and breath.
The absolute and utter disappearance of everything else in the world.
