Page 45 of Grant’s Heat

So maybe it wasn’t enough.

With a slight turn of my head, our lips finally met. The paradise I’d longed for. The place I’d dreamed about and thought I’d never have.

An inch of motion became an infinity of pleasure.

One kiss. Then after that, I would stop. Give her the space to still change her mind. To understand it was the alcohol making her brave and not real desire. To recognize she probably wasn’t ready to cross this bridge, because it was a bridge made of crazy decisions. We had something good here already. It was insanity to mess it up with a moment of unthinking lust.

But shit—this moment.

I changed the angle of my chin until my lips explored nirvana even deeper. The soft, silky skin of her cheek burned hotter beneath my mouth.

“Blaze,” I murmured, not wanting to move away. The nickname never seemed more appropriate than at this moment, as I reveled in the pulsing heat of her silky curves.

“More.”

Even if she issued that exact plea.

“Mmmm. I don’t know, baby. I think we should stop.”

“Huh?” she blurted. “Why?”

“Because it’ll be easier to put on the brakes now. Before we do something we’ll both regret.”

“No.” She reached forward and gripped the front of my shirt. “No, Grant. Please. I need more. I’m not above begging for it right now.” She dropped her head, but not fast enough to hide her wobbling chin. “Please,” she repeated, this time in a shuddering whisper. “Grant…do you have any idea how lonely I’ve been?”

I leaned back. I didn’t want to, but I had to. With brutal focus, I studied her expression—and almost wished I hadn’t. I couldn’t assign just one word to what I saw on her face, especially in her eyes. Loneliness? Yes, she’d just admitted that. But there was much more beyond that. Need? Possibly. But that still wasn’t enough.

In the end, desperation seemed to be the most accurate descriptor for what I observed…and felt. Her desolate pain gutted me. Carved out a new place of pain inside me. I could not endure looking at her like this for much longer—not when I had the power to take it away for her. Maybe not all of it. But at this point, some was better than none.

“Oh, baby. My beautiful baby.”

I pressed my forehead to hers, needing another moment to check everything out. My eagerness. Her readiness. Synching up the two in tandem. Holy God, I was never more concerned about fucking something up so completely—which led to me pulling back again and looking directly into her captivating eyes.

Finally I felt steady enough to speak again. “Rio…”

“Hmmm? What is it?” She looked up, watching me get back to my feet with a stare that could only be interpreted as panic. “Grant? Talk to me. Are you changing your mind again?”

“No. Really. Shit.”

“Then what is it? Where are you going?”

Surprisingly, I was able to shoot her a little laugh. “If we’re going any further, baby, then it damn well won’t be on your sofa.”

“Oh.” She grinned too, and the beautiful look remained as she put her hand into my outstretched one.

As I tugged her up next to me, I added, “And baby, I’ll need you to steer this ship. At least for now.”

My own words ensured the continuation of my grin. If things between us ever progressed further than this experience, she would understand how rare it was that I handed over control this way.

“Well, I definitely think this is going to make our lives more complicated. But I also know I don’t give a single fuck about that right now.”

I laughed—or tried to—but the noise sounded more like an injured animal than anything else.

“Listen to me,” she ordered in a sultry rasp I hadn’t heard from her before. If I had, I seriously would’ve remembered the occasion. “I’ve been walking around here like a zombie for months. Most mornings, I don’t even want to get out of bed.”

A few beats passed. The woman just kept staring at me. My reaction wasn’t much more refined. In the space of a few simple minutes, everything had changed between us. Now, it was like we saw each other for the first time. Or perhaps we’d finally allowed ourselves to see. And holy hell, it was amazing. Goddammit, she was so stunning.

“So…what do you need now, baby?” I issued the question from the depths of my gut…the core of my soul. “What can I do for you?”