She felt her pulse spike and bit her lower lip.

He studied her. “Or maybe you want me to kiss you this time.”

She reached up and touched his mouth. His lips were somehow both soft and firm. And warm and—

His hand wrapped around her wrist, holding one of her fingers to his mouth so he could close his teeth over the tip. Sort of gently, sort of not. Sucking in a breath, she squirmed as heat bolted through her, and then went still when his tongue soothed the nip he’d just given her.

She actually shook with need. She wasn’t one to do this, to . . . yearn and ache, like maybe she’d pass out if he didn’t touch her. Mostly she rushed through her day for the simple pleasure of going to bed, which she did alone. Yes, she’d had relationships, even serious ones. But she had a problem with true intimacy that she could hide for only so long before she self-destructed and ruined the things that made her happy.

Ryland being her last example. The firefighter had told her he wanted more, he wanted her everything, and if she couldn’t give it to him, others would.

Apparently, that had been very true.

But this, a small voice inside her said, this isn’t like that. This, with Cam, wasn’t going anywhere. It couldn’t, so there was no pressure to think about the future, no pressure to make a promise to love someone when she wasn’t even sure she could. There were no what-ifs. There was no chance of hurting anyone, or worse, getting hurt. Buoyed by that realization, she stepped into Cam and ran her free hand up his chest.

“That doesn’t feel like a no,” he murmured.

“It isn’t.”

He stared at her for a single breath, and then pulled her into him and kissed her, a succulent, sensuous, delicious kiss with a lot of tongue that had her instantly forgetting about the stress of her job, her siblings, her life. Everything.

When they’d run out of air, they pulled back and stared at each other. “Still scary,” she whispered.

“Yeah.” He was breathing no steadier than she was, which was reassuring. If he’d been as confident about this as he appeared to be in every other aspect of his life, she might’ve had to hurt him.

By mutual silent agreement, they entered Emmitt’s house through the back door and into the kitchen, where Piper checked his vitals.

“Looks good,” she said, amazed to find her voice still husky, her body still humming. “And I brought a surprise.”

“Tell me it’s food,” Emmitt said.

“It’s food.” She pulled out the stuff from her duffel bag that she’d gotten on the way home. “How does breakfast for dinner sound?”

“Perfect,” Emmitt said.

Cam came up to her side. “What can I do?”