Read Into the Fire for Free Online

she replied, keeping her voice
light, “we’re both adults, and we made our choices.”
    He dipped his head in assent. “Maybe,
but that’s no way to treat a friend. To be honest, you scared the
hell out of me then.”
    Charly was shocked
speechless. She’d scared  him ?
    “ All I can say in my defense
was I was young and dumb and wanted to see the world.” He paused,
as if weighing his words, then stood and pushed away from the
table, standing only inches from her, the heat of his body
blanketing her. “I want you back, Charly, and I’ll do whatever it
takes to make it happen.”
    Charly sat in silence for a long
moment, then raised her eyes to his. “I won’t deny wanting you,
Nate, but that’s all it would be: sex, friends with benefits. I’m
not looking for anything long-term, and you deserve to know it up
front.”
    He grunted in response, as if he
didn’t believe her.
    “ Dammit,
Nate, I mean it. I’ll enjoy the hell out of the sex, but
it  will  end there.”
    *
    Nate scooped a hand through his hair.
Had he really hurt her so badly when he’d left? Or, did he think
his role in her past had been greater than the reality? It didn’t
really matter in the long run. Charly would be his, heart and soul.
He relished the challenge.
    “ Just sex, huh? I guess
that’ll have to be good enough ... for now.” He turned her chair
around, dropped to his knees and planted his hands on the arms of
her chair, then leaned into her, his eyes locked on hers as he
inhaled deeply. “You’ve always smelled so damned good, woman. Like
you were made for me to savor one bite at a time.”
    Her breath caught in response to his
words, her nipples hard little points against her
blouse.
    He dropped his head and blew a breath
across them, still maintaining a cushion of space between his face
and her body. He wanted her just as entranced as she’d been back
then, begging for his touch even as she held all the power. He
wanted to incite her beyond reason and then deliver them both to
ecstasy.
    “ What the fuck do you think
you’re doing, Nate?” Her voice was a bit thready but laden with a
steel resolve he’d never heard before.
    “ Friends with benefits,
right?” He blew across her left breast again. When she
involuntarily surged toward him, he tightened his hands into a
death grip on the arms of the chair; otherwise, his arms would have
grabbed her of their own volition, with or without his
consent.
    “ Then get on with it,
dammit,” she ground out.
    He smiled in response. “A little
testy, aren’t you? I’m just getting reacquainted.”
    “ I’ll show you
reacquainted.” She wound her hands into his hair and lifted his
face; her kiss scorched his lips.
    Nate let her control the embrace,
although everything within him itched to lift her onto the kitchen
table and feast. His shorts felt two sizes too small, and his cock
was about to burst through the zipper, but he’d wait. This was
about regaining her trust. This was about winning
Charly.
    *
    As Nate’s taste swept over her,
Charly’s heart thundered over the alarms, which started clamoring
the second he caged her against the kitchen chair. No, she’d heard
the warning too late; now, all she wanted was him: his lips, his
tongue, his cock. She wanted it fast and hard. She wanted it
now.
    Sucking his bottom lip between her
teeth, she nipped hard and slipped her hand between his legs. His
erection was iron in her fingers. She traced him through the fabric
of his shorts and reveled in the familiar sensation. Eight years
vanished as if, only yesterday, she’d last fondled him, tasted him,
anticipated his touch.
    Her breath stuttered as his hips
jerked and he surged into her hand. Jesus, it was like coming home
again.
    She swept her tongue into his mouth,
and, as if that were the invitation he’d been waiting for, he
pinned her against the chair. Taking command of the kiss, his lips
and tongue boldly plundered, as if he had every right. As she
melted against