“Well?” she asked impatiently. “Tell me something, Enzo!”
“It’s our security drone, apparently. Routine security sweep.”
All the tension seemed to drain from her body instantly. Her shoulders dropped and her legs wobbled as a slow exhale escaped her. “Yeah. Okay. Good. That’s really good.” Her gaze was unfocused, and she kept nodding.
“Ren.” Her name came out in a sharp, clipped tone meant to get her attention. “Look at me.”
She kept shaking her head. “I’m fine, Enzo. Better than fine,” she insisted. “Just a bit of a roller coaster.”
My lips twitched. “You hate roller coasters.”
She pulled those full lips into her mouth, brows raised. “Iusedto hate roller coasters. For all you know, I could love them now. I could be a roller-coaster junkie.”
“Yep,” I agreed. “You could.” Another long pause settled between us as my hands slid up and down her chilled arms. “Do you love roller coasters now, Ren?”
Her nostrils flared, and I knew the answer before she voiced it. “No. I hate those damn death traps.”
A loud laugh exploded out of me.
“That’s not the point.”
“I know,” I assured her and pulled her closer until our bodies were flush together. It wasn’t a seductive hug, just a comforting gesture during a time of high stress. That was the goal, but there had never been a woman like Ren, at least not for me. “I miss hugging you, Ren.”
Her breath hitched, but she didn’t pull away. A shaky breath escaped, and her grip tightened imperceptibly around my waist. She said nothing, but the way she held me told me everything I needed to know.
She missed hugging me too.
“I know you feel it too,” I whispered into her hair, not expecting her to say anything.
A low breath stuttered out of her, hot and sharp against my chest. Still, she said nothing. But her hands began to move in slow strokes up and down my back.
I couldn’t pinpoint when it happened, but suddenly the air between us changed. It grew thicker and more charged. I pulled back first to look at her, but an eternity passed before she pulled her face from my chest to look up at me, those big blue eyes dark and searching. For what, I had no fucking clue. “Ren.”
She licked her lips, and that was it, my control snapped. My mouth slammed down against hers, savoring the taste of her mouth after too many fucking years. She tasted sweet, as always, but the hint of red wine on her tongue made me deepen the kiss until she was bent over my arm, with one hand sliding under my shirt and the other fisting the fabric as if it was the only thing keeping her on solid ground.
A soft moan escaped when one hand slid down her back to grip her ass. My whole fucking body released a shudder. She was still so soft, so lush, and so beautiful I wanted to push her down onto her bed and show her all the ways I’d dreamt of her over the years.
But her tongue slid along mine, and it was all I could focus on—the taste of her on my tongue and the feel of her under my palms. She still tasted exactly how I remembered, and it took every ounce of willpower to keep my hands on her beautiful, round ass.
The kiss was never-ending. It was a brutal reminder of how much I once loved this woman, of how intoxicated she’d always made me. Dizzy with lust, wild with need, and insatiable in my desire for her. The longer the kiss went on, the more intense it became. The more it consumed me.
Fully.
Completely.
Fucking totally.
Ren had once been my everything, and this kiss proved that neither time nor distance had changed that. Everything made sense when she was at my side. Or under my touch. Her mouth moved against mine like she was also remembering exactly how perfectly we’d always fit together.
It was like no time at all had passed.
Except that a lot of fucking time had passed, and that was the reason I was here in Lucky. That was the reason she was here in my house. Caring for Matteo.
As if she could read my thoughts, it was Ren who pulled back first. Her eyes were wide, her lips were swollen, and her breaths came out in short, choppy gasps. She lifted her fingertips to her mouth in shock even before she locked her gaze with mine.
I leaned in again but only enough to let her feel the heat of me without actually touching her because I knew if I touched her again, that silky nightgown would end up in shreds on the floor.
“What was—” she started and covered her lips again, eyes sliding closed as if she was reliving the kiss already. Then she took a deep breath and tried again. “What wasthat?”
