“Mmm,” she murmured in her sleep.
Yeah. Mmm. He loved how she made him feel, and he kissed the back of her neck, then an inch lower, making his way to her shoulder, nudging the covers out of the way as he went. She was hot, and sweet, and still sleepy enough to drop some of her guardedness. That, or somewhere along the way, through all of the crazy long hours they’d spent together, she’d come to trust him.
He’d take that, because for some reason, this woman mattered. Having her trust him mattered. He could hear the storm still beating the hell out of the building, but also knew there was nothing they could do about it, about anything, until daylight.
Right now, right here, it was just them. “Lizzy.”
“Mmm,” she said again with a soft sigh, still out cold.
He shifted to get even closer, and so did she, and her silk-covered breast filled his hand. Her nipple hardened through her bra against his palm, and she made that “mmm” again, and then—
Went utterly still.
“Jase?” she whispered.
There she was. “Expecting someone else?” He lightly sank his teeth into her shoulder, then kissed the spot.
“Oh, God.”
He really hoped that was oh, God, you feel so good and not an oh, God, this isn’t happening, but then she sat straight up, cracking him in the chin as she did.
“Ow,” he said.
“Is it morning?”
“No. It’s only…” He peered at his watch. “Two. Come here.” Instead of waiting, he reached up, slid his arms around her sweet bod and tugged her back in.
“Oh,” she breathed, rocking her ass into him, wrenching a groan from his chest. “We’re not dressed.”
“We are not,” he said.
“The danger of hypothermia is gone,” she whispered.
“Yes, since I’m hot as hell.” He grazed his thumb over her nipple. “And, God, Lizzy, so are you. So damn hot.”
She turned her head and peered through the dark up at him. She didn’t shove him away or try to move. She reached up and touched his face, open to him in a way she hadn’t shown before now.
Not realizing how much he’d needed that from her, he let out a breath and felt the last of his blood drain from his brain, heading south for the winter.
“We slept together,” she murmured.
There was a blue glow to the night, washing over her face, casting them in contrasting shadows even as it highlighted the shine of her eyes, the curve of a breast, the arch of her hips. He skimmed his hand down her side, over her thigh and back up again, stopping short of her panties, letting just the tips of his fingers play beneath the silky material. He’d once felt things for her that he didn’t understand. He still felt those things, only he understood them now, not that that made them any less terrifying. “Not slept slept.”
“The rules of hyperthermia don’t say anything about not having sex.”
“No.”
“I’ve always been one for following the rules.” And she wriggled again.
He groaned, but no words came out of his mouth because, with no blood left in his brain, he couldn’t talk. Could only feel as she pulled his head down to hers, her mouth sweet and eager.
God, he wanted this, wanted to connect as he hadn’t managed to do all those years ago, as he hadn’t managed to do at all lately because these days, thanks to his profession, his life was always on the edge.
No softness.
But here she was, warm and naked and very, very soft. It made him ache, ache to change the way he’d been dreading the future, ache to have hope instead. Hope that he could find peace, happiness.
Love.
It’d been a damn long time for him, and that it was Lizzy, the girl who’d once stolen his heart without even knowing it, made it all the sweeter. Lizzy all grown-up and dancing a hand down his thigh, squeezing the muscles there as she rocked that sweet ass into him.
She was killing him. Killing him. He unhooked her bra at the same time that he dipped his head and kissed her shoulder again, skimming his hand up to cup her now bare breasts.
A low, hungry sound escaped her as she clutched his wrist as if to hold his hand to her.
He didn’t need the encouragement. Her breasts were perfect handfuls and he could spend all day touching them.
“I’ve always wondered,” she murmured.
“Wondered what?”
She hesitated. “If you’re as good at the rest of this as you are at the kissing.”
He huffed out a low laugh against her skin as he rasped his thumbs over her nipples, back and forth, making her stretch and let out a shuddery moan, shifting her hips restlessly. “I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Thank you—” She broke off with a soft gasp as he hooked a finger in the edge of her panties.