She looked up at him while he put his hand on her waist and turned her to face him. The intimate way he touched her and the hard energy of him lit her up inside. All she could do was melt in the clarity of his eyes.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
He said it with such certainty, and yet, how could he know? Was he that sure of himself? He didn’t try to convince her he wasn’t a bad guy. He had to realize she’d wonder, and yet he didn’t make excuses. She both respected him for that and built up her defenses. Her heart was still vulnerable. Maybe she’d always be vulnerable when it came to men. She had no tools to protect herself from falling in love. She needed to learn to develop them. Until then, men who posed any kind of threat to her had to be rejected.
While her mind reasoned that way, her body had other ideas. When he lifted his hand and brushed his fingers along her cheek, she flushed with desire. He turned her on that easily. A look. A touch. His nearness. This did not feel safe. She sensed the same in him, reluctance no match for the passion they generated.
Powerless against the spell of this mysterious love drug, she didn’t fight him when his fingers moved beneath her chin and he gently raised her head. She was a rapt observer as he lowered his mouth to hers. Maybe he was an observer, too, a puppet to the seductive strings that tugged them.
Soft and slow, he kissed her, withdrawing every once in a while as uncertainty gained momentum, only to fall into the spell again. The sultry play of kisses built to parting of mouths. He kissed her harder.
She slid her arms around his shoulders, dissolving into him as he pressed her body against the kitchen counter. A tiny part of her warned not to let this go any further, but the movement of his head as he took her mouth for another kiss sent her to a steamy land of temptation.
He lifted her and put her on the counter. She opened her legs and gripped his butt and tried to pull him against her. The only thing that mattered was the desire to feel his erection where she needed it most. She wanted to crawl inside his skin. Be one with him, with his strength, his mind. Everything.
He was almost there. To that place she yearned to go with him. If he’d just touch her more. Finally, he gave in and moved his hips closer.
Yes.
A shudder racked him and he dragged his mouth over her jaw to her neck, where he went still. She started to search for him with her mouth. But his lack of response gave her time to realize what was happening. What was about to happen.
She stiffened as Korbin stepped back, the gray of his eyes drilling her with a fevered stare. He was leaving the choice up to her.
Except she couldn’t decide what to do next. She was too confused.
It was enough to cool her passion. She slid off the countertop. How could she have no control when he kissed her? Why couldn’t she stop him?
Because she didn’t want him to stop....
When she gathered her wits, she asked, “What happened between you and your wife?” She had to know.
As she anticipated, that stiffened him and he stepped back, his passion calming with hers. Was it guilt she saw take him over?
But he seemed to understand why she asked. If this intimacy continued between them, she needed to arm herself with what she was up against.
“She died. A year ago.”
Died.