Page 21 of Passion Restored

“Tell me to stop,” Owen whispered. He moved even closer, resting his hand on her hip. Her heart raced, and she tried to say no, tried to remember that she shouldn’t do this.

She didn’t tell him to stop.

He leaned forward, taking her mouth with his, and she let him. Let him have her, let him kiss her, let him do what she knew she shouldn’t.

And she kissed him back.

It wasn’t a soft kiss, wasn’t one from fairy tales with fair maidens and handsome princes. Instead, it was a meeting of mouths, heavy breathing, teeth, and tongues fighting for control. He gripped her hip with one hand and dug the fingers of his other hand into her hair, pulling her impossibly closer.

She’d imagined his mouth on her lips, on her skin before, and yet those dreams had nothing on the real man. She wrapped her arms around him, needing him on her, in her, with her. When she found herself rocking against the hard length of him, she didn’t stop. Instead, she just kissed him harder.

Owen’s mouth was like nothing she’d had before, and she knew if she didn’t stop soon she’d have sex with him right in his kitchen and not even care.

So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that it was Owen who stopped the kiss, pulling away with ragged breaths before resting his forehead on hers.

“Holy shit,” he panted.

She couldn’t say anything, could barely breathe herself.

“Don’t say you regret that. Don’t say we shouldn’t have done it,” Owen pleaded quickly. “If you don’t know what to say, just don’t say anything at all. But know that holy hell, woman, that kiss? That kiss was fucking everything. So if you’re unsure about what to do next, you can walk away without saying a word. I totally get that because this was kind of a surprise. But, Liz? You walk away now without saying anything, you’re telling me that I can find you again. Soon. So you make the choice. Just know that I want you. I fucking want you. But I won’t take you, won’t let you take me unless you want it. Got it?”

She swallowed hard, her breath finally calming.

And because she couldn’t get him out of her head, couldn’t stop thinking about what they’d just done, she turned and walked away.

But she didn’t say anything.

That meant only one thing.

She wanted him to follow her. Wanted this to happen again.

She just hoped that she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life.

Again.

****

“You’re an idiot.”

Owen glared at Murphy but didn’t say anything. Instead, he took a sip of his beer and did his best to ignore his younger brother. They were supposed to be having a guys night in, where they didn’t have to talk about anything important, and they could just watch whatever game was on TV, drink beer, eat things too greasy for men their age, and goof around.

Apparently, Murphy had other ideas.

“You’re a little bit of an idiot,” Jake put in from his side, and Owen held himself back from punching the guy. After all, his collarbone still hurt, and he didn’t want to be called something worse than an idiot.

“So he tripped over his own two feet in the middle of his lawn while his hot neighbor watched, that doesn’t make him that much of an idiot,” Graham defended. Though Owen wasn’t sure if that statement was truly a defense at all.

“I don’t know why I told you guys that story,” Owen grumbled.

“Because I caught the new bruise on your side when you reached up for the crackers,” Murphy said. “I mean, seriously, if you’re going to bruise yourself the minute we leave you alone, maybe you should come back and stay with one of us.”

Owen flipped them off and took another sip of his beer. “Shut up. I invited you guys over to watch the game, not piss me off.”

“Pissing you off is a side benefit we all enjoy,” Jake added lazily.

“And you still haven’t told us what happened after Liz nursed you back to health after your fall.” Owen glared at Graham for that statement and did his best to keep his expression neutral.

“You totally got some,” Murphy said with a grin. “Maybe not all of it, but you got some of it.”

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