Page 65 of Outlaw Ridge: Griff
They were moving.
Lily barely noticed it at first. Just the subtle shifting of steps, the way Griff’s hands stayed firm on her waist as he slowly backed her up. The kiss never broke, not even when they bumped against the wall in the hallway. Her back hit the drywallwith a soft thud, and Griff’s mouth only moved more urgently against hers, his body pressing into hers with deliberate control that nearly unraveled her.
She let him guide her, her hands gripping his arms as he navigated them toward the bedroom. They bumped into the edge of a doorway, the corner of a table, but neither of them cared. The path didn’t matter. Only the destination.
By the time they reached the bedroom, the need burning inside her had twisted into something urgent. Desperate.
Griff reached for her holster first, unbuckling it with ease and setting it aside. Then came his shirt, and she helped push it off his shoulders, letting her fingers trail across the bare skin of his chest. She leaned in and kissed him there, right over his heart, tasting salt and heat, her lips skimming along the curve of muscle and scar.
His hands found the hem of her top, lifting it in one smooth motion. Her skin tingled from the air and from his touch as he peeled it away, his mouth following the same path up her neck and jaw, reclaiming her lips like he couldn’t go another second without them.
She wasn’t sure who moved next—him or her—but they were on the bed, tangled together, heat and breath and skin.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lily knew this was going to complicate things. Working together. Investigating a murder. Living under the same roof, even temporarily.
But right now?
She didn’t care.
Because everything else had burned down. And this, whateverthiswas, felt like the one thing still standing.
The room felt suspended in time, wrapped in shadows and golden light filtering in from the bathroom. Lily barely noticed any of it, just the heat of Griff’s mouth as he kissed his way down her body, unhurried, reverent. Each brush of his lips left a trailof fire in its wake, and when his hands slid over her hips, easing her jeans and panties away, her breath hitched.
Then he kissed her again, lower this time, and her world tilted.
Her fingers threaded into his hair, needing something to hold on to as sensation crashed over her like a tide. She couldn’t stop the sound that escaped her, couldn’t think past the rush of heat curling deep inside her.
“Now,” she whispered, barely recognizing her own voice.
He looked up at her, his eyes dark and full of something that made her pulse stutter—fierce tenderness and need all wrapped into one.
She sat up, her hands finding the waistband of his jeans, and he didn’t stop her. Together, they made quick work of boots, denim, and layers shed until there was nothing between them but the hum of something electric.
Lily’s gaze swept over him. Shoulders, chest, the strength carved into every line of his body. All those muscles. All that heat. He looked like a warrior and moved like one too, every part of him honed and purposeful.
But when he touched her, when he kissed her again, there was nothing guarded in him. Nothing cold. Only want. Only warmth.
They came together slowly, every movement filled with aching intensity, like they’d both been holding this back for far too long. And when their bodies finally met, it wasn’t chaos—it was connection. Something deeper than lust, more dangerous than comfort.
Lily knew it—felt it in every heartbeat, in every breathless kiss.
This wasn’t just heat.
It was the beginning of something that would change everything.
Griff moved away from her, just slightly, and Lily let out a low curse, her body still thrumming with urgency. But then she saw him reach toward the nightstand drawer, and understanding replaced the frustration.
She watched as he pulled out a condom, the simple act somehow making her heart trip harder.
Careful. Considerate. Even now, with everything between them crackling and alive, he was still thinking clearly. Still putting her first.
It only made her want him more.
When he returned to her, she rose up and caught his mouth with hers, slow and deep. Then she pushed him gently back, her hands guiding him until he was where she wanted him—over her, his body covering hers like a promise.
Their eyes met, and in that quiet beat of stillness, something passed between them. Trust. Desire. The raw, unspoken thing that had been growing ever since the case threw them together.
And then he moved, sliding into her, and her breath caught in her throat.
