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ask you to hang back?”
    “Fully my decision. The focus tonight needed to be on them, not on me.” He blocked the path so I couldn’t race away. “The Gradskys know you’re gay?”
    “Kind of a hard secret to keep with London as my sister-in-law.” I said dryly. “But yeah, they know.”
    None of the yard lights were on around the buildings. Probably to keep guests from wandering. A tiny sliver of moon did little to slice through the darkness. I wondered if that darkness made it easier for Breck to take my hand.
    My heart jumped into my throat. It’d been so long since I’d had that simple connection it felt foreign.
    That’s because it’s not Mick’s hand.
    Breck’s hand was bigger. Rougher. Stronger from years of handling coarse ropes. He locked his fingers more tightly to mine. Mick’s hands had always been cold and clammy—and it bothered him enough that we rarely held hands. Even when we were home alone.
    Why are you thinking about that? Every comparison you make will add to your uncertainty. If you can’t follow through with simple handholding, let him know now.
    Fuck that. I could do this. I had to do this.
    And I’d take it far beyond handholding.
    As soon as we cleared the corner of the next building, I dropped Breck’s hand and pushed him against the bricks. “Take off your hat.”
    He removed his hat with his left hand and let it fall to his side, holding it lightly against his thigh. Automatically his right hand came up and he ran his fingers through his dark hair, trying to get rid of the mark the hat band had left.
    It shouldn’t have been a sexy move, but with him, it was. Because I knew even when it was dark, Breck retained his pride that he wanted to look good for me.
    “Aren’t you ditching your hat too?” he asked in a raspy tone.
    “Not yet. Keep your right hand by your side too.”
    “Fuck, Cres, I wanna touch you.”
    With me standing on the cement curb, we were eye to eye. Mouth to mouth. I flattened my palms beside his head and leaned in until we were groin to groin. “You’ll get your chance, just not right now.”
    A soft grunt escaped him and gusted across my lips when I rocked my pelvis into his.
    His cock was already hard.
    So was mine.
    I pressed my lips to his and held them there. Then I slowly started to move them. A little to the left. A little to the right, keeping up that easy glide until his lips were fuller. Softer. Wetter. I dipped my tongue in the seam, licking the inside edge of his upper lip and then his lower. Getting a taste of him.
    Like smoke and whiskey. Not the minty taste I associated with Mick.
    That’s good. Keep going.
    I convinced myself I was anticipating, not stalling. That I was treating this tease as a test to see if Breck could control his dominant nature and let me set the pace.
    Are you sure it’s not a test for you? To see if you freak out when you remember that the lips clinging to yours aren’t Mick’s?
    Stop.
    Breck deserved my full attention.
    When I allowed our tongues to touch, he growled, “Fucking kiss me already.”
    That’s all I needed. I dove into his mouth like I owned it.
    Greed overwhelmed me.
    Yes. Yes. This.
    Fuck. I needed so much more of this .
    My head spun as I went at that lush mouth from every angle. My hand cupped his jaw so I could open him up wider, get deeper. Our tongues stroked. Our lips pursed and pressed and glided and teased.
    Harsh panting breaths echoed around us and mingled together. Soft groans. The click of teeth. The sounds of passion.
    I could not get enough.
    I’d missed this urgency. Craved it.
    How had I survived without it? It hadn’t ever been this way with Mick. Not even in the beginning.
    It’d only ever been this way with Breck.
    Seemed I’d forgotten that too.
    I broke my mouth free, sliding across Breck’s smoothly shaven skin to drag my teeth down his jaw, nipping at his chin and the tender flesh of his neck.
    Breck let out a muttered, “Christ.” Then he tilted his head to the