Page 46 of Home Ice

I've been kissed before. Mostly by Tyler. But nothing I've ever had before was this kind of kissing. Those kisses didn't make my lips feel like I'd just eaten a bag full of ghost pepper tortilla chips. Burning and tingling and numb. Those kisses didn't make my body feel like it could shoot off this counter at any second if I don't hang on to something.

The something I choose to hang on to is Brant. I mirror his motions, gripping the back of his hair in my fist, and he lets out a long, low groan that rattles my lips as I pull tight. He moves his free hand to my thigh. His fingers trace the seam of my leggings, but my muscles go taut like he slipped them inside me.

My job… My deal to stay here for a year… Am I ruining everything for just one kiss?

My eyes pop open, and I notice that even his closed eyes are sexy. His hand slides further up my thigh, and I gasp. He goes motionless at my sound, and then his eyes open slowly, like he's waking from a dream. Maybe that's what this is? Maybe my ankle was so bad they had to rush me into surgery. Do people have sex dreams under anesthesia? Do I want this to be a dream?

"Sorry." He pulls back from my lips just enough to let the word escape, but it feels like there's an ice rink between us. "I guess we should talk first."

The whine that passes my lips deflates me. I should have known. I did know, before I stupidly let my guard down, thinking this time could be different. He was caught up in the moment, but now he's come to his senses. He's one of the league's best goalies. He's probably on all kinds of sexiest man lists. And I'm me.

"Do you want this?" His usually angular face is soft now, like he wants to let me down easy. Of course he does. I've only known him for a month, but I know he's not the type to just come out and tell a girl he wants nothing to do with her.

So I take the hint and give him the way out he's looking for. "It's fine. I know you just want to be friends. And I have my job to think about. I understand that it doesn't make sense for us to?—"

"Lily." He runs a hand down his face as he takes a step back, and I'm struck by the temperature difference. I assume this is the point where I slide off the counter, and we forget this ever happened. But there's no way I'll ever forget this. And the way my body is still quivering, I don't trust that my good leg will support me if I try to stand.

"Brant, it's okay. I know nothing was ever going to happen between us, no matter how I feel. And I accept that. You don't have to worry about me. Honest."

"Will you please answer me without all the extra bullshit? When I kissed you, did you want that?"

I can barely hold his gaze for more than a second before I have to look away. "Of course, I did. But I know this can't work."

"You want this?" He rests his palms on my legs and rubs circles on my inner thighs with his thumbs. Each circle moves higher until he's just inches away from my center. "This?"

"Brant."

He leans forward and kisses me below my ear. His stubble rubs against me and sends a flurry of electric pinpricks down my body. His lips follow them. To my lips. To my chin. To my neck. "You want this?"

I try to answer, but the only thing that comes out is a rushed and shaking breath.

He moves to the spot where my neck meets my shoulder. "This?" The word reverberates against my skin, and his lips tickle. And everything he does spreads more warmth through me.

He kisses me in the hollow of my neck and down a line in the center of my chest, stopping between my breasts. "Has anyone ever told you how amazing your breasts are?"

Only Em. One drunken night she confessed that she was jealous her boobs aren't as nice as mine. But I'm pretty sure that's not what he's talking about.

He raises a hand to my breast and cups it. His thumb finds my nipple and traces around it. An entire power plant worth of electricity flows immediately to the center of my legs. The only thought running through my mind is that this can't be real.

But Brant is apparently not aware that he's imaginary because he moves his mouth lower. Even through the fabric of my shirt, his lips are doing things to me that they shouldn't be allowed to. No kiss should be this hot. It's just lips. Just lips. Oh my god! He lifts my shirt to my belly button and kisses there. This isn't even sex, but it's the best sex I've ever had. Sorry Tyler, but I'm so very not sorry.

He takes his hand from my breast. I try to pull it back up, but when he teases a finger under the waistband of my leggings, I stop trying. "Do you want this?" He looks up at me, and my back arches from just that look. It is so insanely hot and sexual, and fuck yes. I have never wanted anything more than I want this.

I nod, and he slips both hands under my waistband.

"If we do this, it won't be a one-time thing for me. Once I taste you, I'm going to want more. So you need to really think. Do you want me to take these off you?"

Did I really think I could just be friends with this man? This man who makes me feel like I'm the center of his planet and my gravity draws him always closer? I nod. Too enthusiastically. I bang the back of my head against the cabinet. I'm sure it hurts, but I can't tell right now. There is a time for concussion protocol, and this is definitely not it.

"Tell me, Lily."

"Yes." Nothing else matters to me right now except him. I'll deal with the consequences later.

His fingers twitch against my incredibly sensitive skin. This is it. But then he stops. His fingers burn like smoldering fuses on my skin. "Yes?"

I let out a groan that causes him to smile. "Yes. Please, yes."

"Oh, I like hearing you beg. Maybe I should make you get on your knees."

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