Page 47 of The SEAL's Duchess
Her head lifted, despite the flush rising in her throat. “Like what?”
“Like you trust me. Like you…” He broke off, the words too dangerous.
“Maybe I do,” she whispered.
The world narrowed to her breath and the slow drip of water from the tap.
The thread snapped.
He lifted his hand, cradled her jaw, thumb dragging across her cheekbone. The first kiss landed hard—relief, frustration, days of pent-up want poured into one reckless crash of mouths.
Her gasp let him in, and the taste of her wrecked him.
Ryder meant to ease back, to keep it controlled, but she rose into him instead, lips parting under his, and restraint shattered.
The second kiss wasn’t careful. It was teeth and heat, her fingers fisting in his shirt, yanking him closer until his body pinned hers to the counter. He groaned into her mouth, one hand sliding into her hair, tilting her head so he could take her deeper, slower, until she whimpered.
The sound went straight through him, tightening every muscle, making his body throb with the need to pull her tighter and lose himself in her.
Her hips moved, arching toward him—matching his hungry recklessness. He slid his palm down to her waist, gripping hard, thumb brushing under the line of her blouse as if he had the right to touch more.
His world shrank to the slide of her mouth, the desperate clutch of her fingers, the rush of their breath colliding.
A laugh carried faintly from the dining room. Family. Just a door away. Instead of cooling him, the risk spiked the heat higher, danger thrumming in his blood as his mouth dragged across hers, slower, rougher, savoring every second he claimed.
A chair scraped loud in the next room.
Ivy broke free with a sharp inhale, her pulse visible in the sweep of her throat. Her hands spread wide on his chest. Her eyes shone, wide and blown, her lips swollen from his. “Ryder…”
He traced her lower lip with his thumb. “I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do.”
Her breath shook. “It’s not fair on you.” Her voice was raw, the words torn from somewhere deep as if her barriers were finally breaking.
Before he could answer, she caught his hand, brought it to her mouth, pressed her lips to his knuckles.
“Ivy…” His voice broke on her name. He couldn’t reconcile this—the way she kissed him back, the way shewantedhim—with the way she was already pulling away.
She shook her head, eyes shining. “This can’t work, can it? I can’t do this to you.”
She pushed against him, breaking free, heading for the hall. The door slammed shut behind her with a bang.
Ryder stood frozen, his body still humming with the taste of her, the velvet of her skin. The abrupt shift from desperate heat to cold emptiness left him reeling.What the hell just happened?One moment she was kissing him back like her life depended on it, the next she was running.
The sound of the front door closing echoed through the house. Outside, the snowfall had become heavier. The roads would be slick, visibility poor.
She shouldn’t be driving alone in this weather, not when she was clearly upset.
Looking out the window, he glimpsed taillights disappearing into the swirling white.Fuck. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.
The kitchen door swung open. Sarah scanned the room. “Everything okay in here? Sounded like—” She stopped short. “Where’s Ivy?”
21
Ivy snatchedher coat and purse from the hook.
She had to get out before she caved—before she admitted how much she wanted Ryder.
The door lock stuck. She wrestled with it, breath quick and shallow, until it finally gave. The night hit her—a shock of cold so clean it burned the air from her lungs.
