Page 138 of Mission Shift

I cradled her face, resting my thumbs just beneath her cheekbones. “You’re freezing.”

“No. Not all,” she said, her lips curving up into a slight grin.

God, she was beautiful—fierce, with fire behind those icy blues.

I closed the space between us and kissed her, dropping my hands to her waist and tugging her firmly against me.

I kissed her gently—testing, using just enough pressure to show her I wanted her but not enough to scare her off or make her think I was assuming anything. Her lips parted, and I tasted rain and wine.

After a second, I eased back, not wanting to pressure her, but fuck, I was quickly moving past the point of no return. Her eyelids were heavy with desire.

She slid her hands up my arms, gliding her palms over my soaked cotton shirt to my neck. After that, she didn’t hesitate, pulling me down to her in a demanding kiss and claiming what was hers for the taking. Her mouth opened for me, and she started kissing me hungrily, her tongue tangling with mine in a way that stole every thought from my head.

I kissed her deeper, and she rose onto her toes to meet me. I caught her by the ass and yanked her up. She wrapped her legs around my hips. The center of her pressed against my cock, the wet clothes clinging to our skin the only thing between us.

She gasped when I backed her into the wall beside the door, anchoring her there.

I slid a hand up her back and behind her neck, tangling my fingers in the damp hair at her nape as I tilted her head, dragging my lips to the corner of her mouth, then her temple, then down to the soft skin just below her ear.

She shivered.

But not from cold.

Her hands gripped the hem of my shirt, then slid under it, palms pressing to my ribs like she needed to feel skin to ground herself.

I kissed her again—more slowly now, letting her lead, letting her know I would match her pace.

She rocked against me, her body instinctively finding the spot that made me curse under my breath. The pressure of my jeans was binding my dick. I had to get out of these clothes before I lost my fucking mind. But I also needed to step back and make sure she wanted more after everything she’d been through.

I tore my mouth from hers and moved my lips to her throat, brushing her skin with kisses that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with reverence. Right now, I didn’t want to take; I wanted to give, to show her what it was like to be touched by someone who saw her not as a weapon or a body to fuck but as a woman worth worshiping.

I pulled back and rested my forehead against hers. Our breaths were coming hard and fast now. My fingers tightened in her hair just enough to tell her I wasn’t going anywhere.

Not unless she asked me to.

And when her hand wrapped around my throat and forced my lips back to hers so she could kiss me with a raw intensity—it was clear there was no fear in her, only need. She wouldn’t stop me.

Not this time.

Chapter thirty-nine

Braxton didn’t break the kiss as one of his hands roamed down my back and gripped my ass, the other still bracing me against the wall. Then he turned and carried me across the room before plopping me down on the edge of the bathroom vanity.

“Stay put,” he ordered.

He turned, opened the glass shower door, and flipped the water on. The door fell shut, and his attention turned right back to me.

His shirt was soaked with rainwater and it dripped onto the bathroom tile as he stepped between my knees and kissed me again—soft this time. Sweet. Just his mouth moving against mine as if this was all he ever wanted to do.

His hands trailed down my arms to the hem of my sweater. He began peeling it off slowly. The wet fabric clung stubbornly to my skin, but when I moved to help, he shook his head.

“I’ve got this.”

Once the sweater was gone, he pressed a kiss just below my collarbone and gently eased my bra straps off my shoulders. Then he looped his arms around my back, his warm breath brushing against my skin. The clasp snapped, and he caught it in his hand, tossing it behind me on the counter.

He pulled back, and his eyes darkened with desire as he took a moment to appreciate me sitting there fully exposed before him.

That lazy smile spread across his face—the one that always messed with my head and ignited a fire low in my belly. It wasn’t cocky, wasn’t smug—just warm and hungry, like he already knew every inch of my body and wanted to memorize it all over again.

---