Page 39 of Hard Knock Hero

“Me too,” she whispered.

“My turn to share something, huh?”

She nodded.

“I’ve been thinking all day about kissing you. Can’t get it out of my head.”

Jessi’s breath hitched, and her pupils nearly swallowed the blue of her irises.

Holding her gaze, I slowly brought her hand to my mouth. Paused. Then pressed my lips to one knuckle. I raised my eyebrows in a question, and she gave an almost imperceptible nod.

I pulled my other hand out of its glove and did the same to hers. Now I was holding both her hands, skin to skin, but I kept pressing kisses to just the first one. To the back of it. To each fingertip. Her skin was starting to warm, although it was still cool against my lips. Smooth and soft. Jessi opened her hand and let me kiss her palm, and she made a tiny sound of pleasure.

Oh, I wanted more of that.

I had never kissed a woman’s hand like this before. Never felt the urge to. But with Jessi, even the smallest thing was heightened.

I sucked the tip of her index finger into my mouth, and she gasped, her eyes bright with dark blue fire.

“Aiden.”

“It drives me crazy when you say my name like that,” I rumbled. My tongue licked between two of her knuckles, and she groaned. She pulled her other hand from my grasp and brought it to my face. Her fingers stroked along my cheek.

My self control was loosening at the edges. My veins roared with heat. Before I knew it, my arm had circled around her, gathering her against me. We were still sitting on the icy rock, snow all around us. Her breaths came fast and shallow. Warm on my cheek. Her fingers moved along my beard to my jaw. This moment was cold and warm, ice and fire.

My hungry lips found hers.

For a second, it was a perfect combination. Jessi and me, the two of us coming together in a blend of want and need and fiery chemistry. Her hands moved to my chest over my coat.

Perfect.

Then she pushed.

I broke away from her. The fire in Jessi’s eyes had been doused by uncertainty. Maybe even fear. She stood, arms crossing over her middle, and walked a few feet away. Turning her back to me.

Shit. I’d messed up.

When I’d started this trip, I had craved nothing more than solitude. Time to myself, alone. But now, even this small distance between me and Jessi was like a vast, empty canyon.

I was here by myself, and suddenly, I didn’t like the cold.

CHAPTERTWELVE

Jessi

“I’m sorry,”Aiden said. “That was out of line.”

But it wasn’t, I thought.I wanted you to kiss me.

Yet I kept wading out into the deeper snow of the clearing. I touched my cheeks, my mouth, scarcely able to believe what had just happened.

Aiden’s lips had felt so warm. So soft and gentle. First, on my hand. The way he’d kissed my fingertips and my palm had sent liquid fuel into my veins. Histonguebetween myknuckles? How had that felt so good? I’d wanted that to keep going. More of his mouth on my skin. More of his warmth and attention.More.

And then, his lips on mine. A spark that had ignited every part of me. His mouth had stayed sweetly closed. Not demanding too much too soon. The scratch of his whiskers on my cheek had been the perfect amount of friction. But he’d felt sobigup against me. His muscular chest. The power in his arms as they’d held me.

I’d pushed him away.

“It won’t happen again,” Aiden said. I turned around. He was standing by the rock. He’d pulled off his knit cap and had it in his hand, hair unruly. “I know you’ve been through a lot. I promise, you have nothing to fear from me.”

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