Page 20 of Brooke
The end of the night kiss.
Because there certainly was going to be one if she had anything to say about it. Strategically, she walked about a half block away, Axel easily matching her strides, before she turned, hoping it would give them a little privacy from anyone leaving the restaurant.
She smiled at him as the cool, dark Parisian night enveloped them, the soft glow from the lampposts casting long shadows on the sidewalk. “I was thinking,” she whispered, “and I don’t want to. Axel, I had the best time tonight.”
Perhaps the best night, her heart softly confessed.
The soft light caught the blond of his hair and the strong planes of his face, making him even more masculine and hard to resist. “Me as well, Brooke. And while part of me wishes tocontinue our adventure tonight, I feel we should part now, knowing we will have another one soon. Because I’m tempted to cancel my long weekend away and take you home to my bed and further explore how we feel about each other. But I’m not sure you’re ready for what I wish there. Yet.”
Her lungs felt like they’d silently collapsed under her ribs. She could not breathe. “And what is that?” she rasped.
The blue of his eyes blazed. “A total and complete sharing of every part of you, body, mind, and soul. With me sharing the same. A giving and receiving of absolute pleasure with no limits. I want you to be able to watch me make love to you and to feel no self-analysis when you call out my name.”
Her knees were trembling now, and she slapped her hand onto his chest to stay upright, terribly glad she’d made them walk a distance from the restaurant. Because this wasn’t the goodnight kiss she’d imagined.
“Is that all?” she asked, hearing the squeak in her usually strong voice.
His large hand wrapped around her waist to hold her up against his hot, strong body. Her insides turned tight and liquid all at once, stealing her breath. “That is all I can fathom at the moment, but as I am open to all adventures between us, I allow that there could be more.”
An almost rakish smile played over his gorgeous mouth, tempting her to touch it. “At least tell me if you plan to kiss me tonight?” she whispered.
His head slowly descended, and he slid aside a strand of hair that had fallen across her cheek. “I had hoped to taste your lips all night during dinner, the only thought I allowed to distract me, because it was about you. Thank you for not making me wrestle with myself and let you go without making it come to pass.”
She rose up in her heels and cupped the back of his broad neck, bringing his mouth to hers. Those full lips branded her with a fire she would happily dance around. They savoredeach other slowly while she learned the shape of his granite jaw as she drew him closer still. She let her eyes close, adrift in a sea of wild sensation. Her heart sprinted as if it would never tire as he held her to his tall, unshakeable frame. The short hair at his nape where she held on enlivened her fingertips. A purrlike sound emerged from her, one she’d never heard herself utter.
When he finally broke the kiss, they both leaned their foreheads together, breathing hard, unwilling to let go of each other. In fact, her hands were gripping him tightly to her, as he did the same with her.
“I must go now, Brooke,” he said urgently, kissing her softly one more time before gently untangling them.
The look he gave her was filled with searing heat, his longing for her stamped in a primal display of tense muscles and locked jaw. Then he was stalking to the curb and hailing a taxi. When it pulled up, he opened the door and helped her in.
“Sleep well. I will be in touch tomorrow.”
He closed the door before she could decide whether she should throw caution to the wind completely and go home with him. Let him cancel his trip. She’d never had a one-night stand, so why not try it now, as another adventure?
And yet, she knew it wouldn’t have been that.
Turning around, she watched him as the car pulled away. The soft lamplight showed that his eyes were closed. He was savoring the moment again, and this time it was with her on his lips.
She touched her mouth, a part of herself she touched every day when she put lipstick on. Nothing about it felt the same. She really did feel branded by his kiss, his touch.
And for the first time in her life, she wasn’t battling fear.
Her inner adventurer only wanted more.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Kyle walked back into the kitchen filled with the rich assortment of flowers that had arrived for Brooke moments ago—wrapped in colorful fabric no less.
He’d bought flowers for women before, so he knew a gift designed to wow the intended party. Which only raised his suspicions.
“Who are those from?” Madison asked, dragging her focus away from her mad scientist mode at the stove with Pierre on her shoulder. She was still working on her duck with cherries recipe, her current culinary nemesis, which she swore she couldn’t work on at Nanine’s.
He suspected she didn’t want to look like she wasn’t getting it in front of her new staff. Personally, he was glad she was still hanging around the house so much. He didn’t want to hope it was because of him. Not something he should be thinking about…
He plucked out the card, his gut tightening. “The stationery has Axel’s initials on the envelope.”
