Was there anything sexier than a woman who knew what she wanted?
And Hannah wanted him.
Thank God.
Ryan drew her in slowly, sliding one arm around to stroke up her spine and into her hair as he laid his lips over hers in a slow, simmering kiss. Without hesitation, she melted into him on a sigh that fired his blood. Whatever uncertainty or worry she’d been wrestling with, she’d made peace with it. Still, he had to let her set the pace, had to retain enough control to pull back if she changed her mind.
He tugged her more firmly against him, drinking in her ready, enthusiastic response and calculating routes to more comfortable horizontal surfaces. The bed was too far. Sofa was closer, and Percy wasn’t due back for at least another hour.
Dragging his mouth from hers, he trailed kisses along her jaw, down her throat as she tipped her head back to give him access. Her little purr of pleasure had him going harder still, as her hands fisted in his shirt.
“Duke, stay.” Ryan didn’t wait to see if the dog followed his command before tugging Hannah toward the living room.
They tumbled onto the couch in a tangle of limbs and a fevered meeting of mouths. On the bottom, he shifted, gripping her legs and positioning her until she straddled him. The moment her center settled over his erection, she moaned low in her throat and rolled her hips. The breath backed up in his lungs and he started questioning his noble intentions of letting her take the lead.
Needing skin, he slid his hands beneath the hem of her sweater to skate up her back. So soft. He wanted to spend hours exploring the contours of her body, the contrast of her silken skin against his callused fingers. Hannah arched into his touch and broke the kiss to tug her sweater up and over her head, tossing it to the side.
His hands dug into her thighs as he took in the pretty red satin cupping her breasts like a gift. “Christ, you’re beautiful.”
Her nipples pearled against the fabric, and he reared up, taking one into his mouth.
“Oh, God.” Arm locked around his head, she began to rock against him, mimicking the rhythm of his mouth.
Nuzzling, he managed to nudge the fabric aside until he closed his lips over her, swirling his tongue around the taut bud. Her whimper of pleasure had his cock jumping, and he arched against her. Her hands scrabbled at his shirt. With one hand, he reached back to yank it off, pitching it in the direction of the tree just as she slipped off her bra.
With a reverent curse, he kissed her again, cupping her breasts in both hands as she continued to rock against him. She was soft and warm and perfect in his palms, and the sounds she made as he rolled her nipples had his last shreds of control draining right out of his head. He needed her naked and mindless. Needed to bury himself inside her. But first he wanted her to fly apart for him.
His hand was at her zipper when Duke barked, the sound of it echoing from the foyer.
Hannah squeaked, jolting so hard, she fell right off him onto the floor.
“Shit, are you okay?”
“I’m—”
They both froze at the sound of the garage door.
“Percy!” Eyes going wide, Hannah scrambled for her bra.
Ryan tossed her the sweater and looked around for his shirt. He plucked it off the Christmas tree and yanked it on as the kitchen door opened. Hannah pulled on her sweater and hurled herself toward one end of the sofa, smoothing her hair as she went. Ryan flopped on the other end, adopting what he hoped was a relaxed posture just as Percy strolled in.
The old man had a spring in his step, and his gait was steadier than it had been when Ryan arrived last week. “Evenin’, you two.”
“You’re home early.” Ryan hoped that didn’t sound like the accusation it was.
“We decided not to go to the show. Missed the beginning, and Betty’s got an early start tomorrow.”
“How was dinner?” Hannah’s voice was too bright and cheery to be real.
A muscle twitched in Percy’s jaw as his gaze slid back and forth between them. “It was good. We did a lot of talking about old times.”
“Great. I’m gonna go check on the chili.” She popped up like a jack-in-the-box and headed into the kitchen.
Percy watched her disappear. “Good night?”
“It’s been fine. Why?”
“Your shirt’s on inside out.”
Well, hell.
Percy grinned. “Good for you, son.” Calling to the dog, he raised his voice. “Duke and I are just gonna go upstairs and read a while. Y’all enjoy your chili.”
Hannah didn’t make a peep from the kitchen.
Ryan took the time to right his shirt before seeking her out. She was staring into the open fridge.
“Are we missing the sour cream?” he asked.
“I was contemplating whether I could crawl in here to die of mortification.”
Ryan rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, as if that would dissipate the lingering sting of embarrassment, and moved to pull bowls from the cabinets and utensils from the drawer. “It’s not that bad. And I officially owe Duke a bone or something for the heads-up.”
“I’m bringing him a dozen of the peanut butter dog biscuits Carolanne carries at Sweet Magnolias.”
“Seems fair. Dinner and a movie instead?”
“Sounds…well, not perfect, but very, very good.”
He’d take the not perfect. And maybe it was for the best. His time with her had an expiration date, and they didn’t have the luxury of spending all of it in bed. Maybe he needed to take this as a sign and establish a little distance. Slowly dial it back toward friends.
So their night home alone turned way more PG, as they finished the chili and curled up together to watch Christmas In Connecticut. Not at all his kind of movie, and not what he’d planned for the night, but he enjoyed himself anyway, loving the way she felt tucked up against him where he could play with the silk of her hair. The quiet was every bit as appealing as the heat. And wasn’t that a surprise?
Once the movie was over, she rose and stretched. “I need to be getting home. I’m on early shift tomorrow.”
Ryan drove her home. As they stopped under her porch light, he pulled her into his arms, lacing his hands at the small of her back. “Sorry Percy has continued his streak of shit timing.”
Hannah’s mouth quirked in a rueful smile. “Could’ve been worse. If we’d been upstairs, I doubt we’d have heard the dog.”
The blood that had made its way back to his brain promptly drained south again at the thought of what they could have been doing. “Better make that two dozen biscuits.”
She was still laughing when he kissed her. The sweet, spicy taste of her seeped into him as her arms twined around his shoulders. He could do this every night. Surprised by the certainty of it, he pulled back.
Hannah smiled. “Thanks for a…memorable night.”
“Back atcha. See you tomorrow?”
“Definitely. I get off at two.” She hesitated. “Ryan?”
“Yeah?”
“You know how you wished for me to get to a place where I’m comfortable being behind the wheel, just because I feel like it?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know if I’m there yet, but would you drive with me tomorrow?”
This was a trust she’d offered no one else. It was another kind of intimacy—one that, in some ways, went deeper than the physical. Fear was a harder thing to share than pleasure. That she’d share hers with him, ask him to be there for this step, was humbling. Pride and something warmer slid through his chest, and he took a beat, accepted he was already past the point of pulling back, of returning to just friends.