Page 38 of Breaking Blaze

Blaze let out a heavy breath and turned to Anna. He opened his mouth but stopped as Anna raised a hand.

She tipped her head and smiled at Blaze.

“Don’t say anything. I know you’ve been a busy man, I haven’t been blind—though I sometimes wish I’d been.” Blaze chuckled softly. “But you’re done with that now. You’re with me. Right?”

Blaze caught her face in his hands and pressed a soft, warm kiss to her forehead.

“Yeah, baby, I’m with you. But that isn’t going to stop me from feeling like shit every time we run into someone I’ve fucked before.”

Anna jerked at the bluntness of his response, the truth of his past stinging. She sighed, trying to pull her face from his grip. He held her in place, pressing another kiss to her nose.

“I know it’s a lot for you to deal with, baby, but I can promise you that none of those women meant a damn thing to me. They were placeholders for the woman I really wanted to be with.”

Her gut twisted, her heart slamming against her sternum, Anna asked, “Why a placeholder? Why not just be with who you wanted to be with?” And there was the question of the century, one she’d been wanting to ask since last night.

Silence met her words. She looked up, meeting his gaze, his eyes burning with emotions moving too quickly to name individually.

“I promise I’ll explain everything…but not tonight. Tonight, I want to show you how good it can be to be mine,” he rumbled, dropping his head to press a hard, quick kiss to her lips. “Give me tonight, Anna-mine.”

Trembling under the intensity of Blaze’s attentions, Anna could only nod.

The server, Paul, arrived then, and they ordered. Wine for Anna and a beer for Blaze. Pasta for Anna and slow roasted pork and potatoes for Blaze.

Their drinks before them, conversation moved easily. They might be on their first date, but they’d been friends long enough that just shooting the shit was as fluid as water. They ate, they talked, they laughed. It was just the two of them in their little corner. No one else existed. And Anna knew what true human connection felt like.

“Something happened at work today,” Blaze announced, excitement making his face light up.

“Oh? What?” Anna inquired, leaning forward, her breasts brushing against his bicep. As close as they were sitting, it wasn’t a surprise that their parts kept touching, not that Blaze gave any indication he noticed. Not like she did. Shit. Whenever they touched; the rough skin of his calloused thumb rubbing circles just above her knee. His leg sliding against hers just enough for her to feel the hardness of his muscles beneath those trousers. Leaning down to speak into her ear, his breath sliding against her exposed neck, his voice licking along her nerve endings. Little by little, Blaze was lighting her on fire, playing with her like a master cellist.

“Harris Construction was offered a contract to build luxury vacation homes for a developer. I’m having my lawyer take a look to make sure things are solid, but if they are, that’ll make us golden for the next five years at least.”

Pride surged through Anna. She yelped, throwing her arms around Blaze’s neck and planting her cheek against his shoulder, her mouth kissing his neck.

“Oh, my God, Blaze! That’s fantastic!” she murmured into the flesh of his neck, her lips skimming him as she spoke. Blaze’s big, hard body tensed, his chest expanding rapidly then holding.

A wave of something hot and decadent moved over her, pulsing out from him. She held her breath and attempted to move away, dropping her hands.

Blaze held her against him, his deep voice vibrating through her.

“If this is how I’ll be congratulated in the future, I need to make sure to tell you good news somewhere I can act on all the filthy thoughts I think when you touch me like this.” He groaned. What was only just wet before began to throb, her clit aching, her body thrumming, her nipples tingling.

With that, he dropped his arms and Anna retreated far enough away to grab a full breath.

“What does that mean for the company? I know you’ve been doing well, but I also know that property values dip in the fall and winter when vacationers head north away from hurricane season and cold water temps.”

Blaze nodded. “Yeah. The company is doing well, we have plenty of short term work. This new contract would allow us to hire more men, give our current crew more hours and better pay, and it’ll give AJ and I a chance to perhaps expand inland. Maybe take on work in Hudson. Lots of land up there to develop. Lot of it swampy, but land owners are investing in the stilted houses they see and hear about in the Outer Banks.”

Unable to suppress her smile of admiration, Anna grinned and laughed. “Blaze, I cannot tell you how proud I am of you and all you’ve accomplished in just four years. You’re a badass, baby!”

At her words, Blaze sucked in a sharp breath just before Anna realized what she’d done. She’d called him ‘baby’. Before, their friendship was all about silly nicknames and slapstick honorifics. Now, though, the endearment slipped out easily.

“I like that,” Blaze drawled, raising his hand to grip Anna’s head. “I’m your baby and you’re mine. Hearing you say that makes my cock hard.”

She raised her hands to press against his chest, whether to keep him at a distance or to feel his racing heartbeat, she didn’t know for sure. She only knew that in that moment, things were hotter and heavier than they ever had been in her life.

Bending down, Blaze stopped his mouth just close enough to hers to feel the heat of his lips. God, she wanted that mouth on hers so damn bad she was shaking with it.

“I want to kiss you so fucking bad,” he moaned, his voice rough, “but I know that once I get started, things will escalate quickly, and I don’t want to give the folks at Teo’s a show. Nah, baby, seeing you come on my hands, my face, and then my cock is all for me. No one else gets to see that.”

---