Braydon(57)

Their tongues slid together while their bodies melded against one another. The kiss blazed out of control, a firestorm of passion and desperation that engulfed them both on impact. The only reason she managed to pull away was because she needed to tell Braydon to turn off his truck.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice raspy with a mirroring need.

“Positive.”

Braydon kept his eyes on her, but he didn’t move away. That was when Jessie realized he was as unsure of this as she was. Rather than wait all night, Jessie took matters into her own hands. She sidestepped Braydon, descended the stairs, and made her way to his truck. Less than a minute later, she was standing beside him again, only this time he was the one to pull her against him.

Things were a blur from that moment on. At least until they were safely inside, his keys deposited on the table near the door and their lips once again fused together.

“Jessie . . . Baby . . .”

Jessie couldn’t speak because her heart was lodged in her throat. This was the moment she had been waiting for, the opportunity to have this man all to herself. At least once. She didn’t even want to hope for more at this point. She just wanted to forget about tomorrow or the next day. The only thing that mattered was the way Braydon was kissing her, touching her, keeping her close.

When his hand slid down to her bare thigh, Jessie sighed into his mouth. His callused hands sent chills racing along her skin. “Braydon,” she pleaded.

“Jess, it’s been so damn long,” he growled.

It had been. Too long.

Pulling away, Jessie grabbed his arm with one hand and her shoe with the other. She hopped on one foot and then the opposite until she was barefoot, but then she was in Braydon’s arms again. The man plundered her mouth, his hands firm and hot against her skin, his body hard beneath her palms.

When she began pulling his shirt from the waistband of his jeans, he didn’t back up. His hands moved down to help her until finally she was touching hot, smooth skin. She caressed the angles and planes of his broad chest while she plunged her tongue into his mouth. During the fury to get closer, their teeth clashed together, but neither of them cared. This was the moment she’d been waiting for. This was the moment she’d dreamed about for longer than she cared to admit.

Braydon’s thick fingers found the button on her shorts, and he deftly released it, then lowered the zipper before the denim slid down her legs and pooled at her ankles. Her shirt was the next thing to disappear, and standing there in her bra and panties, Jessie was anxious to get Braydon just as naked. If not more.

But he wasn’t having any of it because his hands gripped her wrists, subduing her quest to unbutton his jeans. When she stilled, he released her and his hands slid up her arms, around to her back, and then down until he was cupping her ass. The muscles in his arms flexed and strained as he lifted her. Jessie clung to his neck and allowed him to pick her up, her legs immediately wrapping around him.

The hard ridge of his erection ground intimately against her, but it was clear he had something else in mind, because Braydon began moving. She never stopped kissing him. Knocking his hat to the floor, she cupped his head, unable to slide her fingers through his hair because it was even shorter than it used to be. But she didn’t let go until he was lowering her to her bed.

Time stood still as he stared down at her.

Neither of them spoke. For that, she was grateful. There was no telling what might come out of her mouth, and the last thing she wanted was for either of them to stop this.

Oh, mother of all things glorious. The man was beautiful. Tall, dark, and sleekly muscled. Jessie was pretty sure he had gotten even bigger since he left. Whatever it was, it looked good on Braydon.

Much to her disappointment, he didn’t lose the jeans, but he did join her, his body moving atop hers. When she tried to pull him closer, he kept his weight balanced on his arms. Jessie practically molded her body to his, lifting her shoulders up off the bed as she held on to him, their mouths meeting again.

Although the underlying tone spoke of something much deeper, this wasn’t a sweet joining. There wasn’t going to be anything gentle about their lovemaking. Not this time.

“Jess,” Braydon said, lifting his mouth from hers. “It’s been a long time for me.”

Jessie stared blankly at him. But . . . She’d thought . . . “You haven’t . . . ?”

“I haven’t been with anyone since you.”

Why did she believe him? She wasn’t sure why, but she did. And that made her heart swell to twice its usual size.

“What does that mean?” she asked seriously.

The sexy smirk that tipped Braydon’s lips made her smile.

“It means this first time probably won’t last long.”

“I’m okay with that,” she told him, grinning. “We’ve got all night.”

That was when she released him and slid her hands down between them. His position didn’t allow him to stop her when she reached for the button on his jeans again. While she watched his face, she unhooked the button, slid down the zipper, and then eased her hand inside until she felt the smooth length of him against her palm.

“Fuck, Jess,” Braydon hissed. “Baby . . .”

“You’ve got too many clothes on,” she told him. Since she wasn’t going to be able to undress him from her position beneath him, he was going to have to help.