Chapter 13
After the helicopter touched down in Sheraton Beach, Blaze drove Johanna home with him. Minutes later, he ushered her inside his beach house and quietly closed the door behind them.
Outside, the ocean rolled toward shore in steady waves, the sound filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Inside, only a single pendant light glowed above the kitchen island, casting pools of amber light across the quartz countertops while the far corners of the room disappeared into shadows.
Johanna should have been thinking about the incredible evening they'd just shared. Instead, all she could think about was the man standing a few feet away, looking at her as if he couldn't quite believe she was there.
For several seconds, neither of them moved. The silence wasn't awkward. It felt full, weighted with things neither of them needed to say.
Then Blaze stepped closer.
His hand settled against her waist. The simple touch sent warmth spreading through her chest.
Lord.
She'd always reacted to him this way.
Blaze's gaze traveled slowly across her face, taking his time, studying her as if he were committing every detail to memory.
Johanna felt the look all the way to her toes.
"You know what this scene reminds me of?" he asked.
A smile appeared before she said, "The night my parents drove to Philadelphia for dinner."
"Exactly." His grin widened.
Johanna laughed.
"I was convinced your daddy was gonna come home early and kill me."
"He would've."
Blaze nodded. "No doubt."
The memory unfolded between them effortlessly.
She could still see that night as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.
A nervous teenage Blaze sneaking through the back door.
The two of them standing in a kitchen not unlike this one, lingering beside the counter for hours because neither of them wanted the evening to end.
Back then, everything had felt monumental. Every touch. Every kiss.
Especially the kisses.
The butterflies had been relentless. The anticipation almost unbearable. Somehow, standing together all these years later, Blaze still had the ability to make her feel exactly the same way.
Now it was worse.
Because she knew what it felt like to lose him. And what it felt like to get him back.
Blaze reached up and caught a curl that had fallen across her cheek. His fingers slid gently through her hair before tucking it behind her ear. The gesture should have been simple. Instead, it felt achingly tender.
Johanna's breath caught.
His hand lingered, and his thumb brushed her cheek.
The rough pad of his finger contrasted with the softness of the touch, and something inside her melted.
Then there was that look.
The one that always made her feel known.
Not because Blaze was trying to charm her. Because he genuinely saw her.
Especially the pieces she tried so hard to hide.
His gaze dropped briefly to her mouth before returning to her eyes. Slowly, he stepped closer. Close enough that her pulse immediately stumbled.
"Jo," he murmured.
Just her name and nothing more. But the way he said it wrapped around her heart.
When he finally kissed her, the tenderness of it nearly undid her. There was no urgency. Just warmth, affection, and years of history woven into something so simple it stole her breath.
Johanna sighed softly and lifted her hands to his shoulders. The broad, familiar shape of him grounded her instantly. Blaze's arms came around her, feeling steady and safe. The kiss deepened slowly, naturally, as though they were rediscovering something that had belonged to them all along.
Standing there in the quiet kitchen with the ocean rolling beyond the windows, Johanna realized she wasn't thinking about the past anymore. For the first time in years, the future didn't feel uncertain.
It looked a lot like Blaze.
Blaze’s large, calloused hands clamped around her waist, lifting her off the kitchen floor as if she weighed nothing at all.
He deposited her onto the cool, polished granite of the island, immediately crowding into her space and pulling her hips flush to the edge until she was intimately bracketed by his solid frame.
"Rest your legs over my shoulders," he murmured, a low, gravelly command that brooked no argument as he slipped her panties off.
Johanna obeyed, heels resting on his back as she looked at him. His eyes burned with a hunger that sent a shiver through her. The intensity in his gaze stripped away the years, yet the man standing before her was infinitely more dangerous than the boy she’d once known.
When he dipped his head, she instinctively braced her hands flat against the granite.
His tongue took a long, hot glide against her sensitive center, and Johanna’s vision actually blurred.
The contrast of the cold stone beneath her palms and the searing intensity of his mouth was intoxicating.She couldn’t remember the last time she had experienced such pleasure.
"I want to taste every inch of you," he confessed against her damp skin, his breath a wicked caress.
Johanna gasped, her body tensing for a fleeting second as the rough, masculine stubble of his jaw rasped delightfully against her inner thighs.
In a heartbeat, every lingering ounce of shyness evaporated.
She stopped caring about how she looked or the chaotic mess of her hair.
She focused on the way his tongue ravaged her, made her feel like the most gorgeous woman on earth.
Blaze paused, glancing up through his dark lashes to pin her with a fiercely possessive stare, letting her see exactly what he was about to do before he lowered his mouth once more.
Just the sight of him, dark, focused, and utterly consumed by her, transported her back to when they first started dating, yet this was entirely different.
This was a man who knew exactly what he wanted.
He parted her folds gently with his strong fingers, and then completely devoured her clit. His mouth was warm and steady, his hot breath teasing her swollen flesh and pushing her terrifyingly close to the edge.
"Braxton!" she cried out, using his given name as she writhed under the onslaught of his lashing, suckling tongue.
"God, I forgot how sweet you taste," he rasped, the vibration of his voice humming directly against her skin.
Johanna abandoned all pretense of control, moaning shamelessly into the quiet kitchen.
She thrashed her hips, instinctively trying to match the driving rhythm of his velvety tongue.
When the pleasure became too sharp, too blinding, she tried to draw back, but his large hands gripped her thighs, anchoring her in place.
He refused to let up. Blaze attacked the task with the same focus he brought to a fire scene, single-minded and impossible to stop.
"Yes," she moaned, her fingers sliding frantically across his head. It was sensory overload, too much to bear, yet nowhere near enough.
Blaze found that single, desperately sensitive bundle of nerves and drew it fully into his mouth. Johanna’s back bowed off the island, her spine arching like a drawn bow. "Blaze, please, I’m about to—"
"That’s it, sweetheart," he coaxed between wet, greedy pulls. He slid one thick finger, and then a second, deep inside her. He began to stroke her, establishing a wicked internal rhythm while his mouth continued its relentless assault.
A low, feral purr echoed in the room, and it took Johanna a breathless second to realize the sound was ripping from her own throat.
Blaze pressed his thumb firmly against her most sensitive spot, bearing down just as his fingers curled inside her.
Johanna stiffened, seizing so fast and hard that the climax practically shattered her.
"Blaze!" she screamed, pleasure detonated through her, stealing the breath from her lungs.
She collapsed backward onto the countertop, her chest heaving as she fought to drag oxygen back into her lungs.
When her heart finally stopped hammering against her ribs, she fluttered her eyes open.
Blaze was standing between her thighs, watching her with a primal, deeply satisfied hunger that made her pulse spike all over again.
"You don’t play fair," she breathed, her voice a husky whisper.
A wicked smirk touched his lips as he swiped his thumb across his mouth. "There’d be no fun if I did."
He unhooked her trembling legs from his shoulders and effortlessly scooped her into his arms, cradling her against his chest.
Johanna wrapped her arms around him, feathering soft, exhausted kisses along his jawline as he carried her down the hall with long, purposeful strides. "Where are you taking me?"
Blaze shot her a grin that made her stomach flutter despite everything they had already done. "You’ll see."
He kicked open the bedroom door, stepped into the moonlit room, and let her slide down his body until her bare feet hit the floor.
Blaze set her gently on her feet beside the bed.
He didn't immediately reach for her. Instead, he stood there looking at her, and the simple act of being seen made her breath catch.
When they were teenagers, everything between them had been fueled by urgency. They'd stolen moments whenever they could, always aware that a parent might walk in or a curfew was ticking down. Back then, every touch had felt rushed, as though time was working against them.
Tonight felt different.
Blaze wasn't hurrying her. He simply stood there, his gaze moving over her face with quiet appreciation, as though she was the most fascinating thing he'd seen all night.
His hand lifted and he brushed a loose curl behind her ear. The tenderness of the gesture squeezed unexpectedly at her heart. For the first time, Johanna realized the biggest difference between the boy she'd loved and the man standing in front of her now.
The boy had wanted her.
This man cherished her.
He captured her mouth with his. Lips locked in a bruising, desperate kiss, they stripped away the remaining barriers of their clothes, leaving them in a tangled pile on the rug.
Falling back onto the mattress together, they laughed and continued kissing until Blaze rolled on protection and trapped her beneath him. Johanna sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes locked onto hers, burning with raw need, as he pushed inside with one long, heavy thrust.
He groaned, a harsh curse slipping past his lips as his eyes fluttered shut. "Let’s take it slow," he commanded. His jaw clenched as though every ounce of control was costing him.
He leaned down, capturing her mouth in a deep, consuming kiss to distract her as her body adjusted. Slowly, the tension melted from her muscles, replaced by a desperate ache. Sensing her surrender, Blaze began to rock his hips, pulling back almost entirely before sinking deep once more.
Within seconds, the bedroom echoed with the slap of their bodies and the heavy chorus of their moans. Johanna’s hands skated over his sweat-slicked skin, tracing the contours of his back. It was a sensual dance, and Blaze moved with the confidence of a man who knew exactly how to worship a woman.
"Blaze..." she whimpered, tossing her head against the pillows.
It was glorious. Every deep, gliding thrust left her feeling delirious.
Having her legs wrapped tightly around his waist felt so incredibly right.
This was worlds away from their rushed, clumsy first time in high school.
This was elevated, perfected by time and longing.
Even the harsh rhythm of their breathing synced in the dark.
"More," she pleaded, her nails biting into his shoulders.
Taking her demand, he shifted his angle, driving in with long, delicious strokes that rubbed directly against her G-spot.
Johanna tilted her pelvis, chasing the friction, desperate to meet him thrust for thrust. Her legs were quivering against his flanks.
The tension was coiling tight in her belly again, building toward an impossible peak.
"That’s it, baby," he rasped, his voice a feral growl right against her ear, sending shivers down her spine. He rolled his hips, burying himself to the hilt.
"Blaze... please!" she begged, thrashing beneath him.
" Let go for me, Jo." He rose up on his forearms, staring down at her flushed face as he increased the tempo, driving into her with unwavering, piston-like power.
Johanna soared, crying out his name as a second, violent orgasm tore through her body, clenching around him like a velvet fist.
Above her, Blaze stiffened. With a harsh, guttural roar, he drove in one final time, pouring his release into her before collapsing. He lay heavy and weak against her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
Trembling with the lingering aftershocks, Johanna wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. She loved the heavy, comforting weight of him pressing her into the mattress, the warmth of his ragged breaths against her collarbone, and the frantic pounding of his heart syncing with her own.
Blaze held her fiercely, his arms a protective cage around her exhausted body. As Johanna’s eyes grew heavy and the edges of sleep began to pull at her consciousness, a sobering reality settled over her heart: one night with Blaze Braxton was never, ever going to be enough.