Page 46 of The Spark Between Us

He took another bite and threw up his hands. “I concede,” he said around a mouthful of brownie. “You win. These are amazing.”

That thought made me happy because I felt pretty stolid in my brownie-making skills, and I liked the affirmation. But then...oh shit. I didn’t want him to feel obligated to kiss me. It was like something out of a high-school spin the bottle party. I felt ridiculous.

I started waving my hands. “But forget about the whole wager thing. That was just a joke. You don’t have to—”

“Yes, I do.” His eyes clouded with heat, the barest smile on his lips replaced with serious intention. “A bet’s a bet.”

His hands cupped my face as he leaned in closer, and I felt the air leave my lungs in a whoosh. I inhaled roughly, taking in the scent of woodsy aftershave and fresh soap, watching the fire in his eyes until they blurred in my vision.

The heat from his hands and the way he brushed the pad of his thumb over my cheek caused my eyes to drift closed. His lips brushed softly against mine, like a whisper. My breath hitched, his fingertips licking my skin like flames from a torch.

The first graze of his lips was just an exploration, light and slow and tender.

I wanted more, but I didn’t want to rush. If I was getting one kiss, I wanted it to be everything. Sliding my hands up the hard planes of his chest, I rested them on his shoulders and leaned into his body. His lean muscles seemed to absorb my softer curves like they were meant to meld with them.

He tilted my head to a new angle and covered my mouth with his, still gentle, dragging lips over every inch of mine and setting every nerve ending on fire. So much better than I’d ever imagined in the idle moments when my gaze fell on his lips and I wondered how they would taste.

They tasted like sweet sin and chocolate decadence that had nothing to do with the brownies. When he tugged my bottom lip with his teeth, I went limp like a noodle.

His hand went to the band holding my hair and pulled until the strands came loose, dancing over my shoulders. He ran his hands through them before wrapping the strands around his fist, tipping my head back, and groaning into the kiss.

I couldn’t have pulled away if I wanted to, entirely dragged under by the current of his lips and his body pressed against mine. I wanted to drown in it. Every kiss delved deeper and unearthed new levels of pleasure rippling beneath my skin until my entire body was on fire.

Opening against his mouth, I felt the glorious sweep of his tongue against mine. With languid intensity, my body begged me to say yes to everything and anything he wanted.

Each time his lips, his hands, his body shifted, I fell deeper under his spell. I couldn’t push away the intensity of desire I had for him. More, just...more.

I wanted it and he kept giving.

Our mouths fused perfectly. To hell with the plate of brownies—I could live on his kiss for a century.

As he moved his hands along the ridge of my jaw, butterflies exploded within my chest at the unexpected delight of his calloused fingers moving along my skin. I wanted hours, days of this, and I tried to give him every indication of that by matching his tongue stroke for stroke and curling my fingers around his neck.

Spinning to push me against the refrigerator, he pressed harder against me. His kiss tore through my body like lightning as his mouth ravaged mine, taking and giving and delighting me with every brush of his tongue.

I felt no inhibitions. It was crazy—just one kiss, and I couldn’t get enough. I tightened my grip on his neck, digging my nails into his skin. He groaned against my mouth.

When his lips traveled over my cheek, and I felt his breath on the skin below my ear, a moan escaped my lips. “Sarah...” he growled, sending a quiver over my neck and through my core.

His mouth returned to mine, and I pressed into him, feeling his arousal hard against me. It was crazy how good he felt. Crazy how powerless I felt to stop.

When he pulled away, I felt the loss like an epic black hole in the universe. Our eyes met, and I saw the hazy agreement that neither of us had expected a kiss to feel like that. We were both breathless.

But we’d agreed to one kiss.

One very long, very intense, everything kiss.

“You really know how to pay a debt,” I gasped, slumping against him. Braden held me up and gently guided me to the couch I’d been sitting on before. He took the seat across from me, clearly putting distance between us, which was the only thing that prevented me from jumping him.

“It was hardly a sacrifice.” He smiled. I liked how it looked on him.

“Nor for me.”

He ran a hand over his face. “But...it can’t happen again.”

The words tore through me like a sharp blade. I tried to control the muscles in my face, but I knew I couldn’t hide the hurt and disappointment. Of course he saw it. “Right. Of course,” I agreed.

I’d asked for a kiss and he’d obliged, but he couldn’t be clearer about where we stood. He was paying back a bet.

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