Tempted to say no, his act at the restaurant warned he wouldn’t give me a choice. Standing back, I opened the door wider. He entered and a burst of his habitual scent,Dior Sauvage, filled the air around me. It took added willpower not to sniff him like a bitch in heat after his denial of my orgasm left me weak and wanton.
Get a grip, Skye.
Shutting the door, I led him to what I thought would be the most neutral ground in the house. The kitchen, praying I didn’t stumble on the way. Because where this man was concerned, my pussy was bound to be biased toward his arrival, unlike my head. I moved to the sink, intent on standing. His presence, however, seemed to dwarf my kitchen and that idea of neutrality went out the door along with my need to remain unaffected. Who was I kidding?
He remained at the arched entrance for a bit then took a step forward. It was strange to have him here, in my town, in my kitchen. His eyes grazed the length of my body, studying me. My skin ignited with the untouched contact, leaving me acutely conscious of my scant clothing. For a moment, I couldn’t decipher his expression before hunger, lust, ache, desire and love clashed with each other, vying to take precedence. I swallowed and his gaze immediately dropped to my throat, making me bite my tongue against the whimper testing my voice box.
As if he read my uncertainty, he rubbed the pad of his thumb over his bottom lip, drawing my gaze to a fullness I might’ve kissed twice but never forgot. My head buzzed with a barrage of senseless words as I tried to figure out what to say.
Then he gave me a breather. “When did you marry?” He tipped his chin at the band around my ring finger.
Inhaling deep calming breaths, I toyed with the gold circle, my thoughts straying. How did I tell him it was just a ploy to field off unwelcome attention from the opposite sex? That it was my safety net. Caleb asked about it once and when I showed reluctance to talk about it, he didn’t push. I didn’t expect the same courtesy from this man.
“What’s your last name now?” he asked when I didn’t speak.
“Didn’t change it,” I pushed away from the counter and reached for a mug. Anything to keep busy. “Coffee?” I offered.
“Six years and you think I want coffee, Blue?”
A nostalgic pang bounced through me. God, how I’d missed that name. I fumbled with the coffee pot before his hand snuck around and covered mine. Conscious of his warm touch, I forced myself to breathe evenly then he opened his mouth.
“Easy, baby.”
Why did he have to sound so damn delicious? I gripped my bottom lip between my teeth trying to stave off the shiver stealing through me. When he appeared at the restaurant, it had taken extreme willpower not to launch myself into his arms. This close, I feared my legs wouldn’t keep me upright for long if he didn’t leave soon.
He guided the handle until the dark liquid poured into my mug. His controlled breathing was a gentle whisper in my ear, unlike mine. He let go of my hand and I set the pot down.
“Where’s Griffin’s father, Blue?”
I begged my tingling body to calm down. “Happily married.” I sipped the hot drink, turning away to look out the window. No one knew me like Shay did. He could read me like a book, could see my lies with just a glance.
“You fucked a married man,” he said, his voice a husky accusation.
“He wasn’t when we did,” I replied without thinking. He was bound to figure it out sooner or later. A part of me wanted to help him out while the other decided I couldn’t break up his marriage.
“You didn’t tell him?” His warm breath tickled the exposed skin on my neck.
I froze, my senses heightened by his proximity. Every inch of me on fire and he wasn’t even touching me. I gulped down a sip of the hot coffee, wincing at the burn on my tongue. “No,” the word filtered out on a choke then I felt him move and I stopped breathing altogether.
My gaze dropped to his strong hands, resting on the sink on either side of me, long fingers that had touched me so intimately just moments ago. I implored my body not to shudder under its memory. His chest now flush against my back prevented my escape. My heart was still hammering from finding him on my doorstep, now I feared he could hear the telltale pound resonating in my ears.
“Why not?” he whispered against my nape.
“Please.” I gripped my mug tighter, my mind asking him to stop, my body pleading for him to take me right here, right now, to finish what he’d started at the restaurant.
One of his hands moved to slide around my stomach, pressing me tighter to his body. My skin burned with his touch once more. “I’ve entertained this fantasy so many times. Me coming home to our lonely house in Rocky Mountain and finding you there. Cooking in the kitchen, your sweet smile in place that turns sexy the second I slip one hand around your waist, tilt your chin up with the other and cover your mouth with mine.”
His words were filled with so much longing, I didn’t trust my voice not to crack, so I kept quiet. How many times had I imagined the same thing—not that exact fantasy but so many of us as the perfect married couple sharing a perfect home with our perfect child.
“I’ve missed you, Blue, so fucking much, it still hurts.”
“I missed you too,” the automatic response was out before I could stop myself. I wasn’t sure if my words gave him the permission he was asking. With his hands on my hips, slowly he turned me around to face him. I should’ve protested, I didn’t. Not when he took the mug from my hand and set it aside. Not when he cupped my chin lightly and tilted, forcing my eyes to meet his. Not when his head lowered, and his lips covered mine. And not when my hands drifted of their own accord to circle his neck.
It started slow, like two strangers discovering each other for the first time, our lips melding in a hesitant exploration before it morphed into the perfect union. His soft growl filled my mouth and I sighed. His calloused hands burned the skin at my lower back, pressing me into his rigid hard on. Everything I’d imagined about our reunion was unfolding in this kiss, yet some inner niggle was resisting it. This wasn’t happening. This was some dream I was trapped in, and any second now, I’d wake up to Griffin jumping on me like he did most mornings.
But the tip of Shay’s warm tongue tracing my ear, scored goosebumps through my body and had reality slapping me in the face, making my heart pound against my ribs. I remembered why this was wrong. Why we couldn’t be anything more in the eyes of society. How an invisible line remained between us. So solid, I wouldn’t dare to publicly cross it again. Our secret would always stay just that. If that wasn’t enough to give me strength, then Ryleigh’s threat certainly would.
“We can’t.” I jerked out of Shay’s embrace, trying to even my harsh breathing. Failing miserably, I turned my back on him.
