Free Grounded By You by Ivy Sinclair Page A

more than she could ever tell him.
    Millie reached a hesitant hand up and brushed a stray piece of hair off of his forehead. When he turned his cheek into her hand and closed his eyes, she knew that everything she thought was happening the previous summer was real. A year ago, she ran from those feelings because she was too scared to deal with them. Now, she was afraid that if she did run away, she’d regret it the rest of her life.
    His lips pressed gently against the palm of her hand sending a tiny chill down her spine. Then his eyes opened, and his gaze blazed down on her. Goosebumps broke out across her arms as she read the emotions that she saw there. Desire. Passion. Maybe something more.
    His arm pulled her closer to him, and she could feel the heat from his body through her clothes. Her breath hitched as his fingers swept down her cheek and traced the outline of her lips.
    “You had a lip gloss that you’d wear on the nights when you’d help me in the dining room. It smelled like peaches and mangos, and it made your lips shine in the candlelight. I noticed them every time you’d smile at me,” Sam said. His voice was low and husky. “I must have wondered a million times what it would be like to kiss them. I watched you hoping that one day, you’d look at me in a way that told me you wanted me to kiss you.”
    Millie flushed at Sam’s words. She tried to look away, but Sam’s hand cupped her chin and brought her eyes back to his. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you want me to kiss you right now.”
    Her breath became shallower at the intensity of his tone. She understood what he was asking and why he was asking. She was the one who ran away from him. She was the one who rejected him and everything that he had given her over the course of the summer. Sam wasn’t a taker, and she always knew that.
    He was asking her permission to take this though.
    She slid her arms up around his neck. “I’ll go find the lip gloss if you want,” she said with a shy grin. When Sam’s head lowered, his lips claimed her s with a low growl, and the rest of Millie’s thoughts were swept away.

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    When Sam decided to take refuge at Millie’s apartment, he never imagined that he would find himself with Millie in his arms and she would willingly be offering her lips to him. It seemed like a dream, and if it was, he didn’t want to wake from it anytime soon.
    There was something vulnerable about her as she told him about her work. It was as if she laid herself bare in front of him, and he never felt as close to her as he did in those moments. When she began to cry, he didn’t hesitate to comfort her. Then her apology was like a salve on a wound that had refused to heal. Something new grew up between them. That’s what gave him the courage to touch her in a way that he had only imagined.
    When she responded to him, the thread that held him back all that time was finally cut, and he didn’t hesitate to act. Her lips were soft and they met his with a fervor that he thought matched his own. He traced the ridge of her mouth where his fingers had so recently been. His lips parted slightly, and his tongue darted inside to find hers waiting. He heard a small sigh in the back of her throat.
    His hand swept up her back and into her long hair. He gripped the base of her neck and pulled her closer. He felt like a man drowning. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of her and every caress, every dance of their tongues made him want her more. He felt her body pressing up against him. His other hand melted down her side to rest on her hip.
    Sam was sure that she felt his body’s immediate reaction to her, but she didn’t shy away from him. In fact, her fingers twirled through his hair and seemed intent on drawing him closer. He was so engrossed in exploring her mouth that at first the jangling noise didn’t register in his mind.
    Millie groaned and pulled away from him turning her head toward the kitchen