It was as though that year of distance just disappeared. The unsent text messages. The unspoken words and lost touches… All of it just gone. And she was in her husband’s arms. The man she’d loved since she was a teenager.
His mouth skimmed down her cheek, then her neck. Every kiss like fire against her skin, leaving a burning trail.
When his head reached her chest, her breath caught. Then he was cupping her breast before his lips wrapped around her pebbled nipple through her shirt.
She opened her mouth to cry out, but the air was so thick, no sound came out. She latched onto his hair, tugging and pulling, trying to keep herself still even though her entire body wanted to move and writhe against him.
When his teeth grazed the bud, she threw her head back and gasped. He’d always known exactly how to touch her to make her wild.
She wrapped her legs around him and hauled his hips closer. She was so deep in her lust for Colt that she didn’t feel the cool air against her chest until he switched to her other breast, this time taking her bare nipple between his lips.
And suddenly she was lost, unsure how to find her way back to reality. How to touch her feet to the ground again or see anything outside of her husband.
She was just reaching for the button of his jeans when he lifted his head and touched his forehead to hers.
“Indie…we should stop.”
Everything was such a haze that she had to play his words over in her head a couple of times to make sense of them. “Stop?”
“I don’t want to rush this. I want you, all of you, body and soul. And I want to do that properly. Slowly. I want to earn back your trust.”
Even though he was right there, not having his mouth on her skin felt like a bucket of cold water on her head. And bit by bit, reality began to slip back in.
Oh God… She’d just made out with Colt. She’d gone on and on about how they were separated…and the second time seeing him, she was ready to jump back into bed with the man.
What was wrong with her?
She pushed against his chest and he stepped back. His eyes stayed on her as she slid off the counter and made sure her shirt covered her body. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. I’m s—”
“Don’t say you’re sorry. I’m sure as hell not. I love you, Cricket. And touching you, making love to you, is the most natural thing in the world.”
She met his intense black gaze and almost couldn’t breathe.
“You’re my wife,” he said slowly, like she needed measured words to understand. “And wewillwork our way back to where we were. Eventually.”
She couldn’t respond. She didn’t have words. Because he’d said it like a vow. Like she was still his and that was all there was to it.
He scanned the room. “Are you okay?”
Okay? Was hot and bothered with a pulsing need in her bellyokay?
“Yes,” she lied.
“Do you want me to stay?”
She forced herself to shake her head. They both knew exactly what would happen if he did that. And he was right. They couldn’t just fall into old ways. They had to be better.
He stepped forward, causing her heart to crash against her ribs. Slowly, he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, one that made a million butterflies take off in her belly.
“Lock up after me.” The words were soft, then he crossed to the door. He spared her one more intense glance over his shoulder before he stepped out.
Her knees suddenly felt so weak that she almost slid to the floor.
She didn’t. She forced her knees to lock and followed his path to the door, where she flicked the lock. Then she pressed her temple to the wood, wondering what the hell she was going to do next.
CHAPTER 6
“Youkissed?”
