Need You for Always (Heroes of St. Helena)(67)

Being around that kind of intense focus and emotional connection was addicting. Made him crave things he couldn’t have. Do things he shouldn’t do. Like slip his hands around her hips to slowly draw her between his parted knees.

“Next bite, Emi.” He skimmed his thumbs over the waistband of her skirt—he couldn’t help it—while he slowly opened his mouth and patiently waited for the entrée course. But instead of a bite of lamb burger he got something a whole lot better.

A kiss. A sweet and gentle brush of the lips that was meant to soothe. And he needed soothing, so completely that he couldn’t help but kiss her back. And of course, when it came to Emerson, kissing her led to touching her, and touching led to sex.

Only she’d come here for help with her menu. Sadly, not sex. Otherwise she would have walked in the door naked with a box of extra-large, ribbed-for-her-pleasure condoms instead of an insanely short skirt that left no room for underwear and carrying a bag of groceries. Not that he needed the ribs—he knew how to operate his equipment.

Her breathy little moans were proof of that. So was the way she snuggled closer when he glided his palms down her thighs and around the back of her skirt to tease under the lower hem and the silky skin that lay just beneath. Not that he was checking to see if her evening’s preference was commando, thong, or a simple string, because he had promised to be just Dax.

Not Judge Show Me the Cupcakes. Or even Lethal Weapon Ranger. But Dax, the guy who made her world easier.

Except that, oh holy shit, she wasn’t wearing any underwear. That much was obvious by his single, solo flyby. But lack of lace didn’t equate to an offer. Just like a kiss didn’t mean sex. Especially this kiss.

Emerson came at him soft and pliant and so damn welcoming that the right thing to do would be pull back, clarify intentions, and make sure no one misunderstood.

Make sure they didn’t get distracted and walk into dangerous territory.

“What was that for?” he asked against her lips.

They were both breathing hard, but when he asked her the question, she began to sway gently back and forth on her feet. And he felt her head tilt down so that intent gaze of hers was on his chest, no longer his face. She was nervous, and he wished like hell he could see her so he could understand why. Because one look in her eyes and he’d know what she was feeling. He hoped to God it wasn’t what he was. Which was a whole lot of something.

The not knowing was killing him, so Dax reached for the blindfold. Once again she stopped him.

“Wait, not yet.” The shyness in her voice had him rerouting that hand to her cheek. She melted into it. “The kiss was my way of saying I like this Dax and thank you. For the ride on Sunday, helping me get my truck, which is perfect.” Her lashes moved against his palm as if she’d closed her eyes. The swaying slowed and her hands came to cover his. “And also for liking my Greek nachos even though there was green stuff all over it.”

“If that’s what happens when I eat green stuff, then green is my new favorite flavor,” he said and she smiled against his hand.

“Wait until you taste my cupcakes.” Palms flat against his pecs, she leaned closer, her cupcakes coming into complete contact with his chest.

His hands? Those went to her ass. “Is that your way of saying you want to skip right to dessert?”

She didn’t answer, but moments later he smelled the bitter sweetness of chocolate and some kind of liqueur.

“This is option one,” she said, teasing his lips with the frosting. “My double chocolate cupcake with ouzo-infused fudge frosting. It will make you go mmm.”

It made him go mmm all right. He wasn’t sure if it was the rich, silky flavor of the cupcake or the way she nestled herself between his legs when she fed it to him. But he’d give it a ten on the sexy-as-hell scale. It went to a solid fifteen when her thumb brushed his lower lip, then he heard her suck the frosting off.

“And this one.” Again with the reaching and brushing, and fun fact, being just Dax was f*cking great. Although Lethal Weapon Ranger had all sorts of cupcakes thrown his way, Regular Old Dax, the guy whose new favorite flavor was green, had the best two cupcakes on the planet pressed against him. Teaching him that he was a quality over quantity guy. Something he’d always assumed, but Emerson confirmed.

“This is my orange zest cupcake with a Greek Metaxa frosting. And,” she said, smearing the frosting on his lips, “it’s my favorite.”

Funny, that! It was his new favorite too. Even better than green. In fact, when her mouth came down on his to help him with the tasting, he decided then and there that he didn’t want this flavor on the menu. He wanted this one all to himself.

Bright and deliciously tart, the cupcake and its creator were a breath of fresh air in his war-torn world. He needed her like he needed his next breath. And breathing ranked pretty damn high on his list of survival skills. But this went beyond surviving, and she was nearly straddling him, negative the panties, and Rangers always led the way, but he wasn’t a Ranger right then, or else he’d lead them right into his bedroom.

The way she licked and nibbled off every speck of frosting from his lips made him want to return the favor. With every flavor of cupcake. And maybe they could even come up with a few new ones.

“Emi,” he said against her lips. “Are you sure?”

She mumbled something, but it was too hard to understand with her tongue down his throat, too much nipping and hands in the hair to be considered sweet and warm, but it was as big of a welcome as a guy could expect. And in case that wasn’t crystal f*cking clear enough, she slid onto his lap, straddling each one of those toned legs on either side of his thighs and locking round the back.