Blaze lifted one hand carefully before brushing his knuckles along her jaw.
The tenderness of the touch wrecked her instantly.
Warm fingers against suddenly fragile emotions.
Johanna inhaled sharply.
Blaze’s gaze dropped to her mouth.
“Tell me to stop.”
His voice sounded rougher now, lower than before, like restraint actually cost him something.
That realization did uncontrollable things to her.
Because Blaze wasn’t careless with her heart. He wasn’t pushing or manipulating this moment.
He was choosing control.
And somehow that felt even more intimate.
Johanna should have stepped back. She should have remembered every lonely night after he left. Instead, her fingers curled lightly into the front of his jacket.
Blaze’s eyes darkened instantly. That tiny movement was all the permission he needed.
The kiss began slowly. Carefully. Like both of them understood exactly how much chemistry still existed between them. His mouth brushed hers once, soft and testing.
Then again, and again.
And Lord…
Johanna felt it everywhere.
The ache of finally touching someone her heart never trulyreleased. A quiet sound escaped her before she could stop it.
Blaze’s hand slid gently into her hair as the kiss deepened. It was the kind of kiss that said,I remember you.
Johanna melted against him before common sense could intervene because this—this right here—was what ruined her for everyone else.
Blaze kissed like a man completely certain about what he wanted. And somehow, even after all these years… what he wanted was still her.
The realization split something open inside her chest.
Blaze pulled back, barely creating distance between them. His forehead rested briefly against hers while both of them struggled to steady their breathing.
“Damn, Jo,” he murmured.
The rough emotion in his voice nearly destroyed what remained of her composure.
Johanna kept her eyes closed because opening them suddenly felt too risky.
Nothing about this felt casual. Nothing about Blaze hadeverbeen casual.
The ocean crashed below them while wind tangled softly through her curls. And standing there in his arms, Johanna realized one terrifying truth.
She had not survived Blaze Carter nearly as well as she thought she had.
* * *
