Page 13 of Smoke

There was no swagger in the words and no assumption that sleeping together meant I had already come back. He was telling me what he wanted and leaving the answer with me.

"I don't know if I'm ready to promise you one."

"I know."

"But I want one too."

Something shifted in his face before he squeezed my fingers once and let go. For a man who had always seemed larger when he was taking control, restraint looked surprisingly good on him.

I stood and went around the table, stepped between his knees and kissed him.

There was no nostalgia to hide behind this time and no need to prove attraction had survived the divorce. We had already settled that. This kiss carried the conversation with it, which made wanting him feel more dangerous because now there was something on the other side of the sex.

Smoke wrapped one arm around my waist and kissed me slowly until I slid my fingers into his hair and pressed closer. The kiss deepened, his mouth turning hungrier as he stood and took me with him.

My hands went beneath his shirt, and when I dragged the fabric upward, Smoke pulled it over his head.

"Five years is a lot to miss," I said.

His hand settled around my waist. "Works both ways."

The reminder went through me. There were pieces of me he didn't know anymore either, and this wasn't about pretending the years apart had never happened.

I pulled off my shirt, and Smoke's gaze moved over me slowly. "Fuck, you're beautiful."

Heat spread beneath my skin. "I like the way you look at me."

"Always looked at you like that."

"Not like this, you didn't."

"Time can make a man appreciate what he's been missing, that's all."

He reached for me, palms moving over my waist and higher until his thumbs brushed beneath my breasts. My bra followed my shirt to the floor, and Smoke bent to kiss below my throat before taking one nipple into his mouth.

I gripped his shoulders and asked for harder when the slow pull wasn't enough. His hand traveled down my stomach, and he looked up before sliding it beneath my jeans. His fingers found me already wet, drawing a rough sound from him that made me smile. "You sound surprised."

"Trying not to rush."

"You don't have to."

The look he gave me made my pulse jump. "Careful what you wish for."

Smoke kissed me harder while his fingers worked over my clit and then inside me, remembering what I used to like while paying attention to every response that told him what I wanted now. The combination had my forehead against his shoulder within minutes.

"Bedroom."

We made it as far as the hallway before he caught me against the wall and kissed me again. I laughed into his mouth, and by then there was nothing uncertain left in the moment.

This felt nothing like the first time after the divorce. That had been discovery wrapped around memory. This was a choice made after saying out loud that we wanted another chance.

Smoke pushed my jeans down, and I stepped out of them before opening his belt. The moment his jeans were out of the way, he lifted me and I wrapped my legs around his waist, feeling how hard he was against me.

"You'd better get us to the bedroom faster than this." Smoke called me bossy as fuck, and when I pointed out that he'd already admitted that he liked it, the only answer I got was a rough, satisfied "Yeah."

I sat on the edge of the mattress while he took his clothes off and came back to stand between my knees. I put my hands on his hips and took him into my mouth before he could bend down to kiss me.

His breath caught sharply. "Jesus, Beth." I wrapped one hand around the base and took him deeper, remembering enough to know what made his thighs tighten beneath my hands. Smoke's fingers settled in my hair without controlling the pace, and I worked him until his breathing went rough and uneven.