Page 115 of Ignite

We both heard the helicopter overhead and cheered as it dumped a load of water between us and the flames. My friends had come through, giving us a fighting chance.

“Do you think they saw us?” Ethan asked, his knees pushing mine apart while one hand cupped my face and the other found its way up and under my shirt.

“Have I ever told you that you talk too much?”

We’d kissed to scare away a drunken suitor.

We’d kissed before, during and after our one-night stand.

We’d kissed when facing death.

Now, we kissed for life and our future. Clothes were irrelevant as we ground together, his gym top quickly giving way while my flannel shirt opened into a blanket and exposing my yoga top sans bra.

We shouldn’t.

We had friends out there still fighting to save our town and each other.

Yet, when I reached down and stroked Ethan’s bulge through the jeans, it seemed right. We’d survived death and needed to connect physically. As his tongue plunged deeper with each stroke, I moaned his name. Linking my legs around his hips until my hand became an obstruction and its only useful purpose would be to remove his jeans.

“Careful not to kick them off the edge.”

“Afraid of skinny dipping?” I teased, scratching my nails down his chest.How on earth did we survive?At least we’d have the rest of our lives to ponder the miracle of wind.

“Not as much as I am of your friends turning up to save you from the fire only to beat my naked ass.”

“Just think, if they’d dumped the water on your ass instead of the fire, it would still be the hottest thing around.”

“Rylee?”

His banter stopped as he kissed his way up my bare chest.

“Hmm.” Serious eyes met mine as he pressed closer, helping me out of my cargo pants. I was all for conversation, but at the right place, and right time. Nothing he could say right now could be more perfect than making love.

“I love you.”

With the last of his words, he pressed against my opening. He paused before continuing, “I love you and this isn’t just a lazy afternoon fling. If you open your legs, I’m not leaving, ever. Understand?”

“We fight all the time,” I laughed, loving the way he could tease me, even now.

“We just need to learn to fast forward to the make-up sex.”

“Half the time, you don’t even like me.”

“But one hundred percent of the time, I love you. I love your passion and your integrity. I love the way you make me laugh at myself and the way you make the world a better place just by being you.”

I flexed my hips, slightly upwards, moaning when Ethan pulled away. Keeping his erection perfectly positioned to tantalize but not to satisfy.

“I love you. I knew it last night when I turned up to your place. I knew it when I left the flowers, figuring you deserved to be with the guy who makes you happy.”

“Then, damn it, make me happy.”

This time, my legs clenched, and hips raised. I felt Ethan fill me, his arms giving way until we were chest to chest.

Slowly, he drew in and out, in time with kisses. All the while, Ethan showered me in words of love. He gave me his heart, not even caring whether I felt the same.

I did.

I had for weeks.

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