Page 72 of Forbidden Vows

“What? When?” Now, my heart is sinking into the sexy black heels he bought for me in Italy.

The Electric Slide ends. Always and Forever begins.

“After this song,” he says.

“What?” His words hit me like a ball of ice. I go all cold inside. I cross my arms over my chest, hugging myself. “I thought we had one last night together.”

He holds his hand out to me. “Dance with me?”

My voice trembles. “Okay…” As he leads me onto the dancefloor, emotions swirl like a tornado. I don’t know why his abrupt leaving has shaken me, but it does. I’d envisioned us at his hotel, wrapped in one another’s arms.

Deep down, I secretly hoped we’d have one last night together.

My thoughts calm as he slips his arms around my waist. I wrap mine around his neck, and together, we sway to the slow, soft melody as the band plays. I rest my cheek against his chest, inhaling his scent, feeling his warmth, and taking in every ounce of him I can before we’re torn apart. His chin rests on the top of my head. I love it when he does that. Sometimes, he buries his face in my hair, and I can feel him inhale, smelling me.

“What do you think about sneaking into the back of the church?”

I glance up at him.

His eyes glimmer with mischief. “One more time. Just for the hell of it.”

This is a bad idea. A terrible idea. But my vagina tingles ferociously at the very horrible idea.

“It’s only going to make our goodbye that much harder.”

I can’t believe he’s leaving. I want to say yes to going to the back of the church with him for many reasons, but the strongest urge is to keep him here a little longer.

With me.

He’s kissing my neck, his lips brushing over my earlobe. “Please, cutie.”

It's not fair. I love it when he calls me that. I melt against him, losing all my strength and determination, and I agree. “Okay. One time.”

“For old time’s sake.”

“Right,” I nod against his chest as we sway, knowing it’s not for old time’s sake.

We both know this is our last goodbye. We both know this is for the best.

The mood feels light as we sneak out the back of the reception

The dark church is silent, the scent of incense absent today, but nothing else has changed. He pulls me into the very same alcove, and it’s as if we never left. Only today, I wear couture in an appropriate color; Target clearance wedding attire is a distant memory.

And today, instead of being filled with doubts about doing this because Blaze and I are stepsiblings, I only fear the breaking of our hearts in this passionate goodbye.

His mouth is already on mine, his tongue invading, his hands gripping me as though I belong to him. As I always have and always will. The feeling tugs at my heart, making me wonder if I’ve made a mistake coming back here. His fingers sneak up my dress, tracing a searing path up my thigh. His fingers toy with the waistband of my panties, and I'm a mess of contradictions.

I shouldn’t.

But my body screams yes, my traitorous hands gripping his shoulders, pulling him closer even as my mind wars against this. He drags his touch down my leg, his breath scorching my skin as he removes my panties, just like last time.

“For old times’ sake,” he says with a wink, tucking them into his pocket.

"Blaze," I plead, a final desperate attempt to cling to sanity. "We can't do this..."

"Shh," he hushes me, his breath hot against my ear, burning me up inside. "Just feel. Don't think."

“Same as you said last time,” I smile.

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