Page 42 of Five Alarm Love
Horror dawned when she realized what she had said.Lou had undermined what he valued most in his life.She had attacked the person he was.Oh, God.Maybe she could take the words back.“Never mind.It’s been a long day.Things are coming out wrong.I don’t want to say anything else.”
“Why not?”
She fought to form the words.“Because I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Lou.”He was a breath away.
“Yeah?”
“I’m not talking about anything public.I’m not talking about filming things.I’m not talking social media.This conversation right here?It’s about you and me.We’ve been through thick and thin together.Leaned on each other for help.Lifted each other up.All I’m asking is, what if there’s more for us?”
Her heart hammered in her chest.The risk of pain versus the risk of… something good… tempted her.“I don’t know.”Even as she said the words, she leaned toward him like he was the anchor off the side of a fishing boat.The weight and the current pulled her toward the churning water.
The scent of woodsmoke and aftershave swirled around him.
What he was suggesting was akin to watching a fall wildfire blaze out of control.The act would be final, irreparable, and risky.Things would never be the same after the flame.Someone could get burned.
She tilted her head up.Somehow, she had ended up a hair’s breadth away from him.
His rapid breath feathered over her, warm and familiar.“Lou,” he said on an exhale.
She needed that heat like she needed oxygen.“I don’t—” Unable to stop herself, she brushed her lips over his.Once.Twice.
Something deep down sparked to flame and crackled to life.
Blazed through her heart.
Then consumed everything in its path.
Tuli.Her friend.How was this possible?
He gave a shuddering breath, lifted her chin with his fingertip, and returned the kiss.Pressed to her lips, his trembled.His kisses drifting over her sent heated waves through her body.
Twenty-six years.She had waited her whole life for this moment.
A moment that had changed everything.
Tuli was familiar, but these fiery sensations were all new.She tilted her head up to better connect with him.He gave a low chuckle that was all Tuli and all satisfaction as he nipped at her lower lip until a small moan escaped her.She gripped his shirt fabric in her quaking fingers, bringing him closer.
No, these weren’t completely new sensations.
What was new was the acknowledgment of her feelings.A willingness to experience them and take a risk of being burned.
With a sigh, she swayed into him, and he wrapped his arms around her, supporting her, surrounding her.Completing the circle that was Tuli and Lou.
He slid a hand up her spine, cupping her neck in a strong and callused but gentle grip.Another few strokes of his lips, and the warm moisture of his tongue swept over the seam of her mouth until her lips parted.
As surely as flame and dry tinder responded to a steady breeze, Lou couldn’t stop herself from igniting for him.
The tentative but hungry sweep of his tongue against hers sparked electricity down her arms.Her knees softened.
But Tuli held her steady and supported her, even as he kissed her over and over.His growls rumbled into her bones.Eddies of pleasure swept through her entire body.
“Well, well.Things make a lot more sense now.”A deep, loud voice carried over to her.
Chapter Fourteen
Tuli’s first thoughtwith Lou in his arms was,Why in the name of the Northern Lights had he waited this long?
