Unbreak My Heart (Rough Riders Legacy #1)

That earned me a smile.

And I shamelessly caressed the bow of her upper lip with my thumb, as if I could make the touch erotic enough that she’d let me use my tongue next time. When her breath caught, I groaned.

“Boone. What are we doing?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m about to kiss you.” I shifted the position of my hand, lightly resting it on her throat. “Are you gonna run?”

Sierra’s eyes were affixed to my mouth. “Not right this second. But I reserve the right to freak out afterward. So you’d better make this good.”

Of course she’d throw down a challenge. Such a fucking temptation to smash my lips to hers and devour her. Give her a preview of how explosive it’d be when we finally sated this hunger with more than just hot, grinding kisses.

And yet…that’s what she’d expect. I didn’t have to prove there was heat and passion between us. It’d been there when neither of us really knew what to do with it. Sierra needed a reminder of the other side of me, the tender side I’d only ever shown to her.

I pushed her hair back before I framed her beautiful face in my hands. I nuzzled her cheeks, letting the scruff on the edge of my jaw brush the corners of her lips.

Her soft, surprised moan flowed into my ear like a smooth shot of whiskey.

That. Right there. I craved more of that.

I took my time aligning our mouths. Kissing the divot in her chin before I began to lightly tease my lips across hers. Each pass a little longer until the pressure of my mouth on hers was constant. No tongue, just languid dedication to relearning the shape of her mouth beneath mine. Even as my head spun with the incredible intimacy of this—the tightening of her fists in my shirt, her soft sigh gusting across my lips, the tiny squeak when I used my teeth—I committed every reaction to memory just in case this was all I ever had from her. I’d keep it with all the other memories I had of her, of us. She had no idea of the power those memories held for me.

We swayed together, the pace set by our bodies’ rhythms, not the music.

So addictive, this druggingly sweet exploration. The whisper-soft glide of my lips, taking in little sips of her breath from hers as she exhaled.

My tongue followed the seam of her lips. On the second pass, I pushed in deeper, my tongue connecting with her teeth. On the third pass, she opened her mouth fully and it was ON.

Lust told sweetness to take a fucking hike and poof—it was gone.

Desire ruled—until passion overtook common sense and then all barriers between us fell away as if they’d never existed.

Twisting my hands in her hair, I held on, feeling her fingernails digging into my shoulder blades as she clung to me because we were spiraling, spinning. Locked together and completely consumed by the hot, wet, greedy, balls-to-the-wall kiss. Kissing like we were already naked and about to hit the fucking sheets.

Soon. Fuck. Me. Please let it be soon. Because this is perfection.

Anything that intense can’t last. It shouldn’t last or it loses the impact.

Sierra sensed it at the same time.

The kiss ended.

But I felt like we’d finally begun.

“Boone,” she panted against my throat.

“I know, baby,” I whispered in her hair. “Me too.”

“Then you know I have to go.”

Jesus Christ on a jumbo jet. She had to…go? After that?

Dude. It’s not like she didn’t warn you.

I counted to ten. Then I managed, “You’re freaking out?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I thought I was ready. For you. For this.”

“You’re not?”

“I need some time to think.”

“Sierra. Christ, woman, you’re scaring me. Are you having second thoughts?”

That’s when she looked at me. “The truth?”

“Always.”

“You walked back into my life less than two weeks ago. We’ve been together half a dozen times. This is the first time we’ve had any intimate contact. And that? That was life changing. I’m pretty sure if I was already on fire and you asked me if I wanted more gasoline I’d say ‘yes please’ just to get me some more of that.”

“That’s the most flattering thing you’ve ever said to me.”

She poked me in the chest. “It wasn’t meant to be, jackass. I’m getting caught up in the whirlwind of you and when it stops and spits me out, I won’t know where—or who—I am.”

“I am not going anywhere this time.” I kissed her forehead. Her cheeks. Her mouth. “Don’t run. Please.”

“I’m not running, but this…reminded me of the last time we kissed. It reminded me that you have the power to break me.”