Page 49 of Falling for a Grumpy Hero

I knew I had to stop. If we ever crossed that line, I needed to mean it, but I couldn’t bring myself to break it off just yet. It felt too good to finally have her heat so close to my touch-starved body, to hear her heavy breathing in my ears, and to feel her grinding against me.

I had to stop, and I would. Just maybe… not quite yet.

25

LILA

Ford’s throaty moans vibrated in his chest. Pressed together the way we were, I could feel those vibrations as soon as they started and holy heck, I love it. The sounds were so hot that I was grinding against him, slower than I wanted but hard enough that sparks of pleasure raced through me.

My cheeks were on fire, my breaths coming out in pants between passionate kisses. Every time he pulled away, I thought he was putting an end to it, but he’d look into my eyes and his mouth would crash back to mine like he just couldn’t help himself.

I’d never felt so desired, and if the slickness between my legs was anything to go by, I’d never desired the way I did right now either. My heart skipped and jumped in my chest, the entire world reduced to nothing but background noise as he finally kissed me like he meant it.

Every inch of him was hard against me, his muscles steeped in purpose and his strong arms holding me tight. His hands roamed up and down my sides, hot and strong as they squeezed my hips and my thighs while I clutched his shoulders and whispered his name.

A low groan escaped him, his tongue stroking mine as his hips started rolling, the hard length of him growing even firmer between my legs. Like fuel to the fire, knowing that he wanted me as much as I wanted him fanned the flames within, and an image of his bed was suddenly front and center in my mind.

Just when I started thinking that was where this was going to end, we broke apart, both of us breathless. He ran his fingers around my ears, tucking back hair but also just looking like he hadn’t gotten enough of touching me just yet.

“I need to take you home now,” he said raggedly. “Before the storm gets any worse again.”

Rain was still pattering against the roof, but it didn’t seem to have intensified while we’d been kissing. Part of me wished that it had. That I had no choice but to spend the night again, but on the other hand, Ford clearly wasn’t ready for more and I didn’t know if I was either—not without knowing if he was too damaged to really let me in.

We were still face to face though, and as I looked into his eyes, my throat dry and my panties wet, I felt like everything I’d thought I knew about love and attraction might’ve been wrong all this time. “Yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea.”

The corners of his eyes tilted up into the merest hint of a smile, those blue eyes radiating heat and something much softer. He dipped his chin into a nod, then claimed my mouth for another kiss, quick and smoldering with all sorts of pent-up emotions.

His tongue swept into my mouth and I groaned, sighing as I broke away from him this time. “If you really want to take me home before the storm gets worse, we should leave now.”

It was the very last thing I wanted, but I saw the determination in his eyes. He wasn’t going to let this go any further, so I scooted off him, stood up, and took his hand when he offered it to me as he did the same thing. He led me down the passage back to the guest room and I quickly grabbed my stuff, my heart hammering and my body on fire, but this was what had to happen.

Ford’s restraint was admirable, and honestly, it was pretty sexy too. The fact that he could stop when things had gotten as hot and heavy as they had? It was yet another sign of how strong he was. I respected that too much to push him.

Besides, I had my own bit of thinking to do. Quiet, he took my hand again when we headed to his truck. I smiled as he opened the door for me.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

Those dark, turbulent blue eyes caught mine. The expression in them was unreadable. “You’re welcome, Lila.”

The way he said my name made me shiver, reminding me of hearing it whispered into my mouth while we’d been kissing, and he must’ve noticed it because his lips hooked into a smirk. He held my gaze for another moment, then hooked his arm around my hips and hauled me closer, pressing his soft lips to mine one more time.

“Okay,” he murmured, though I wasn’t sure if he was speaking to me or to himself. “Enough now. Let’s get you home.”

My eyebrows swept up and I felt a coy smile spreading across my lips. “You should probably stop kissing me, then.”

“I probably should.” For the first time since I’d met him, his face came alive with amusement and it was a beautiful sight to behold. Every bit of tension eased out of his features and those blue eyes sparkled with restrained laughter. “I’m going to do that now.”

“Are you?”

“Nah.” He pumped those dark eyebrows at me and laid another mind-blowing kiss on my mouth before he groaned and broke away from me. Rubbing a palm over the back of his head, he shook it and walked around the truck, opening the back door for Rook to jump in.

I climbed into the passenger seat, my insides all aflutter with nerves, attraction, and excitement. Ford fell into a thoughtful silence as he eased away from his house, making the drive to my apartment pretty nerve-wracking.

It felt like, at any moment, the tension could snap and this blissful feeling would be gone. That he would tell me that this could never happen again. That he would snarl at me to get out or bark about how it never should’ve happened to begin with, but none of those words ever came.

Eventually, I couldn’t take the silence anymore and I shifted in my seat to face him. Both of his hands were wrapped around the steering wheel, his eyes never straying from the road. His profile was as sharp as ever, but not as tight.

Those lips even finally curved into another smile. “What are you staring at?”