“Come on, hotshots.” Dex claps his hands. “Let’s make a video.” I know hethinkshe’s being harmless, just giving me a hard time, joking around like we’ve always done. But this involves Loren now. Which is different.
“Enough,” I grit out.
“Dude.” He quirks a brow. “I know it’s been a while, but please don’t tell me you forgot how to kiss a woman.”
“I’m not taking the bait, man,” I tell him. “Not this time. Loren’s already had to put up with?—”
“Dex has a point,” she interjects, cutting me off. I peer down at her, my insides scraped raw by the instinct to protect her. “We need this to look as real as possible,” she adds softly.
Real. Everything I do with her, for her, is real.
“Are you sure?”
She gives me a small nod.
“All right.” I turn to Sayla, my pulse picking up with the prospect of kissing Loren again. On video this time. “Let us know when you’re ready, because we’re only doing this once.”
Sayla lifts her phone. Finds her shot. Bobs her head. “Okay. Go.”
I snake an arm around Loren’s waist, tugging her to me until our bodies are flush against each other. When I tilt my chin, a question in my eyes, her gaze dips to my mouth, and she sucks in a breath. I take that as wordless permission.
No going back now.
I gently push her hair off her cheek, letting my palm cradle her face. Her lids shutter closed, and she leans into my hand. Then I slowly lower my mouth.
Our kiss is whisper-soft at first. The self-restraint, agonizing. When my fingers find her jaw, tenderly tipping it for better access, Loren increases the pressure. Playing along, answering my every move.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Dex crows. “Kiss that wife of yours!”
But I’m not just kissing Loren. I’m dissolving into her. Coming completely undone with her in my arms. Still, Loren trusts me. I have to remember that. So my other hand grips her waist, digging in.
Holding back.
Still. Maintaining control is … a challenge.
Sayla must have enough footage by now. So I make a move to end the kiss with a one last torturous nip, but Loren whispers, “Not yet.”
My heart’s a battering ram. “What?”
Instead of answering, she rises on her toes, sliding her mouth back to mine. Our breath mingles, and my blood races through me at a speed that could carve the Grand Canyon out of solid rock.
“Yeah, buddy!” Dex hoots. “Ten out of ten. No notes!”
That’s it. I don’t want to stop. I have to. So I bite back the groan threatening to rip out of me, and break away. Loren presses a hand to her throat and takes a small step backward.
I already miss her.
I knew kissing Loren was a risk, but I had zero concept of the catastrophe waiting for me on the other side. This wasn’t just a quick peck, like we did for that picture. Sayla just recorded a genuine kiss between me and the woman I love.
Two of us participated.
Only one of us meant it.
“That was good,” Sayla says, checking the video.
Good?
Right. More like tragic. Because now I know exactly what I’ve been missing. And from now on, I’ll be addicted to the taste of Loren Cane. I swipe the back of my hand across my mouth, and the skin there feels hot. Like I’ve been branded.