“That’s it,” Blaze growled. “Relax and let me make you feel good.”
A second finger followed, stretching her slowly while his thumb circled firmly over her clit. The combination shattered what little coherent thought Johanna had left.
The sounds escaping her no longer sounded like her own. They were soft, breathless, and increasingly desperate, each one revealing just how completely Blaze had stripped away her ability to hide what she was feeling.
His gaze never left her. Dark and intent, it tracked every reaction while he continued stroking her with a confidence that felt too impossible to resist.
"The way you’re squeezing the hell outta my fingers, I can’t wait to be inside you again," he rasped.
The praise sent another rush of sensation through her.
Pressure built steadily inside her, tightening with every movement, every whispered word, every heated look Blaze sent her way. Johanna could feel herself slipping closer to the edge, her body responding faster than her mind could keep pace.
“That’s it, baby,” he coaxed. “Come for me.”
The intensity overwhelmed her. One moment she was struggling to hold herself together. The next, everything unraveled until suddenly pleasure detonated through her body so hard she cried out, “Blaze!”
Johanna climaxed around his fingers, shaking uncontrollably while his words, low and steady, grounding hereven as she came apart. “That’s it… baby. That’s it.”
His thumb circled her clit, leaving her clinging to him while the world narrowed to the sound of his voice. “I got you.”
The gentle strokes remained steady, anchoring her until her heartbeat slowed and breathing finally returned to normal. When Johanna opened her eyes, the look on Blaze’s face made her pulse trip over itself.
Desire was there, that raw, consuming hunger she'd always recognized in him, but there was something else woven through it now. Something softer. Deeper.
Something that looked dangerously close to reverence.
Her stomach tightened.
“Where’s your bedroom?”
The question sent a fresh rush of heat through her.
Johanna barely had time to point down the short hallway that branched off the living room before Blaze swept her into his arms.
A startled laugh escaped her as she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Blaze—”
“Jo,” he murmured.
The deep rumble of his voice vibrated straight through her.
He carried her down the hallway with long, determined strides, passing the narrow linen cabinet tucked between the bathroom and guest room.
Johanna's pulse hammered harder with every step. When they reached her bedroom, Blaze nudged the door open with his shoulder and stepped inside.
Moonlight filtered through sheer curtains, casting soft silver light across the room. A white quilt covered the bed beneath the windows, and a weathered dresser sat against the far wall beside a bookshelf crowded with novels and framed family photographs. The familiar space had always been her refuge.
Tonight, however, it no longer felt like a place to hide.
Not with Blaze standing in the middle of it.
Not with years of memories and unanswered feelings suddenly crowding the room alongside him.
For the first time, Johanna felt exposed inside the very space where she'd spent years convincing herself she was over him.
He crossed the room without hesitation and gently lowered her onto the edge of the bed. For a moment neither of them moved.
