Chapter 7 #2
“You gotta stop saying my name like that,” he said quietly.
Her pulse stumbled hard. “Like what?”
Blaze stared at her for one long dangerous second.
Then his hand slid gently into the back of her hair.
And when he kissed her this time, nothing about it felt soft.
The emotion from the overlook still existed beneath the surface, but this kiss carried hunger. Need too. Years of restraint collapsing all at once beneath moonlight and crashing waves.
Johanna gasped softly as Blaze pulled her closer against him. The solid heat of his body nearly melted her where she stood.
Oh damn! This man kissed like he intended to cause permanent emotional damage.
His mouth moved against hers slow and deep while waves crashed nearby and distant firelight flickered behind them. Johanna clutched the front of his shirt instinctively, and Blaze groaned quietly against her mouth at the feeling. That sound shattered what little composure she still possessed.
Because Blaze always looked so controlled. So steady. Apparently kissing her still affected him too. The realization sent desire swirling inside her.
Blaze finally pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers while both of them struggled to breathe normally again.
“Damn, Jo,” he murmured roughly.
Good.
Because her heart was still trying to figure out what just happened.
* * *
Blaze had kissed women before. More than a few. But none of them had ever affected him like this.
None of them had ever made him feel like every ounce of control he possessed was hanging on by sheer discipline alone.
Johanna stood wrapped in his arms beneath moonlight and ocean wind, breathing unevenly while her fingers still twisted tightly in the front of his sweatshirt.
Her body fit against his like something his hands remembered instinctively, and Blaze felt dangerously close to losing what remained of his composure.
Shit!
He’d forgotten how responsive she was.
Forgotten the way she softened against him the second she stopped overthinking everything. He remembered her sass, her sharp mouth, and that stubborn pride she carried like armor, but standing here now reminded him how warm and affectionate Johanna became once she trusted what she was feeling.
That realization hit hard.
Because Johanna was fighting this with everything she had. Fighting him.
And Blaze respected that. He truly did.
But standing here with her mouth still swollen from kissing him and her body pressed against his, respect was becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
Blaze kept one hand low against her waist, his thumb brushing over the strip of soft skin exposed between her sweater and jeans while he forced himself to breathe like a civilized man.
Not easy. Not even a little bit.
Johanna finally looked up at him. Her eyes looked glossy beneath the moonlight, her lips kiss-swollen and slightly parted while cool ocean wind tangled through the curls framing her face.
Beautiful didn’t feel like a strong enough word anymore.
That woman standing in his arms could ruin a man’s judgment with one look.
And God help him… Blaze wanted another kiss.
He wanted to pull her closer and taste her again until she forgot every reason she’d spent years resisting him.
But he also understood one thing with complete certainty. If he pushed too hard tonight, Johanna would run.
Not because she didn’t want him.
Blaze could feel how much she wanted him. He saw it every time she leaned toward him without realizing it and heard it in the soft catch of her breath whenever he touched her.
No.
Johanna’s issue had never been a lack of love. Fear was the real problem. Fear that loving him again would hurt just as badly the second time around.
Blaze brushed his thumb gently across her jaw again, keeping the touch gentle and deliberate.
Johanna’s lashes fluttered briefly closed before she gazed at him again.
And damn if that didn’t hit him somewhere primitive.
“You keep looking at me like that,” he said quietly, his voice roughened from kissing her, “and I’m gonna forget how to behave.”
A soft breath escaped her lips.
“What makes you think you’re behaving now?”
Blaze laughed low in his throat.
There she was. That quick smart sass he missed more than he’d ever admitted out loud.
Then Johanna started laughing.
Not nervous laughter. A real laugh. Warm and bright. Completely unguarded.
And suddenly she was looking at him the way she used to before life complicated everything between them.
Something inside Blaze’s chest tightened painfully hard.
Mine.
The thought arrived without permission, fierce with possessiveness and protectiveness. It stopped him cold because beneath all of it was a truth he could no longer ignore.
He loved this woman.
He always had.
Blaze studied her quietly beneath the moonlight while the ocean rolled beside them.
“You know what I missed most?” he asked softly.
Suspicion flickered across Johanna’s face. “That sounds dangerous.”
“It probably is.”
Music drifted faintly from the bonfire farther down the beach while waves crashed steadily against the shoreline. Even with people nearby, the darkness surrounding them felt strangely private.
Blaze stepped closer until barely any space remained between them.
“I missed making you laugh.”
Her expression changed instantly.
Good.
Because Blaze needed her to understand something. This wasn’t just about attraction, unfinished chemistry or old memories wrapped in small-town nostalgia.
He missed her.
All of her.
The woman who stole fries off his plate and argued with him over NBA basketball for absolutely no reason.
The woman who danced barefoot on the front porch while singing songs off-key and somehow made ordinary moments feel important.
The woman who used to sit beside him on the beach and talk about all the places they were going to see someday.
Johanna swallowed. “You remember strange things.”
Blaze held her gaze steadily. “I remember everything about you.”
Her breath caught again. He watched emotion move visibly across her face after that.
Longing. Fear.
Everything battled at once behind those beautiful brown eyes.
And Blaze knew then Johanna was closer to giving in than she realized.
Not because he pressured her, but because somewhere beneath all those careful emotional walls… she missed this too.
Blaze tucked one loose curl gently behind her ear, and the intimate little gesture made her eyes close briefly again.
Shit!
He needed control. One more soft sound from her and he was going to forget they were in public.
“You cold?” he asked quietly.
Johanna shook her head once. “No.”
Liar.
The wind coming off the water had turned colder now, pushing sharp February air across the shoreline. Without hesitation, Blaze pulled off his black hoodie and draped it around her shoulders.
Johanna looked at his fitted black thermal shirt before lifting her eyes back to his.
“You’re gonna freeze.”
Blaze shrugged easily. “I run hot.”
The corner of her mouth lifted.
Small and dangerously cute. His chest tightened again. That possessive instinct surprised him a little. Blaze wasn’t controlling by nature. Jealousy usually felt pointless to him.
But something about Johanna woke up every protective instinct he possessed all at once. Always had.
Even when they were teenagers, he found himself watching for anything that upset her, anything that made her uncomfortable, anything that threatened her peace.
He spent years trying not to think about her after he left Sheraton Beach.
Spent even more years trying not to compare every other woman to her.
Failed every single time.
Laughter carried loudly from the bonfire farther down the beach, pulling reality back around them.
Johanna glanced toward the lights. “We should probably go back.”
Blaze didn’t move immediately.
The truth was, he liked having her out here away from everybody else. He liked not sharing her attention. Liked the way she softened when it was just the two of them.
Still, he also knew Johanna well enough to recognize when she was close to overthinking herself into retreat again.
So instead of arguing, Blaze reached for her hand.
Simple. Natural.
Johanna looked down at their joined fingers before lifting her gaze back to him.
“You always do things like that without asking.”
Blaze intertwined their fingers. “Would you rather I let go?”
Johanna opened her mouth. Then closed it again. Because the answer was, no. And they both knew it.
A slow smile spread across Blaze’s face before he lifted her hand and brushed his mouth lightly across her knuckles.
Johanna looked genuinely offended by how much that affected her.
Which only made him grin wider.
“You’re annoying,” she muttered.
“And you still like me anyway.”
Her eyes narrowed. But she didn’t deny it. That alone nearly made him feel ten feet tall.
As they walked back toward the bonfire, Blaze kept her hand in his like it belonged there.
Like she belonged there, walking beside him.
And for the first time in years… that possibility no longer felt impossible.