Sandra didn’t mean to kiss Kody. When he’d told her she was beautiful and touched her, she’d lost all control. Kissing him had never been in the plans.

       Liar. It so was.

      She’d thought about it once or twice or more since she’d met him. She’d just never thought she’d act on it.

       Liar. You so did.

      “I’m sorry,” she said, quickly breaking off the kiss. And she was. She didn’t know what had come over her. She was so moved by his story. So moved by the emotion he stirred in her, she couldn’t hold back. It had been so long since she’d felt this way about anyone.

      She’d thought, after Alex and her failed marriage, that she would never feel that way about another man again. She was so burned out, so lonely, but then Kody had shared a piece of himself with her. She’d shared her vulnerability and he in turn had shared his own.

      It meant a lot.

      “Don’t be sorry,” Kody said and then he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her back. She rose to her knees and he rose to meet her. Their bodies pressed together. His kiss was tender at first, but then urgent.

      And she responded in kind to that urgency.

      That need that she had been trying so hard to ignore. She hoped that if they just shared this moment of release, she could move on. He’d be the first man she slept with since Alex, and Kody was the exact type of man to help her move past the pain that held her back. Still, the thought that Kody was the first since Alex scared her. Being intimate and vulnerable was overwhelming, but she wanted—needed—this moment. She wanted to move on, and she was glad that it was with Kody. She moved her hands down his back, slipping them under his shirt.

      “Sandra, are you sure?” His voice was husky.

      “I’m sure. I know that you can’t promise me anything and I can’t do that either, but I think we both need this.”

      Kody didn’t respond vocally, but kissed her again, making her blood sing with need. His hands were in her hair and then on her back as he pressed her down against the blanket on the floor, in front of the fire.

      The only sounds were crackling fire, the roaring rain and her pulse thundering in her ears as her body came alive under his touch. Sandra melted against his kisses and there was a frenzied need to be just skin to skin with him.

      To have no layers between them.

      Just warmth and touch.

      Human contact.

      A groan slipped past Kody’s lips as her hands slid inside the waistband of his jeans. She undid the button and the fly and then he pulled off her sweater. It was a joint effort. No words were needed. They both knew what they wanted.

      The only sounds between them were their hungry kisses.

      She knew what she wanted in this moment.

      And that was Kody.

      She wanted to feel every inch of him. Feel him buried deep inside her. His kisses left her lips, burning a path of flames down her neck, over her collarbone to her breasts. She arched her back. She was ready, so ready for this to happen. So ready for him to claim her and that it was Kody for this first time since Alex. Since her heart was broken.

      She wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him silently know she burned for him, just as she knew he burned for her.

      “Are you sure, Sandra?” he asked again.

      “Yes.” She kissed him, running her hands through his silky black hair. “So sure.”

      Kody didn’t kiss her, just held her locked in his gaze. She was lost deep in his eyes as he entered her. Sandra cried out, but not from pain, from the release she felt at trusting someone to be intimate with her again. The sense of vulnerability he made her feel.

      As if she didn’t have to hold back in this moment. It was freeing. It was hot and frenzied and exactly what she needed. For far too long she’d been holding back, trying to find the bits and pieces that Alex had stolen from her when he’d cheated on her, when he’d told her that she was a disappointment for not being able to carry a child.

      Kody didn’t expect any of that from her and it was freeing. So freeing it was heady. The feel of his strong hands on her body, on her hips, guiding her in a rhythm they both found pleasurable. She held on to his shoulders, not wanting to let him go, not wanting this moment to end.

      It didn’t take long, and she climaxed around him, crying out, and he joined her soon after. He rested his head on her shoulder for a moment, before rolling over on his back, trying to catch his breath, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

      “We should probably get dressed again, so we don’t freeze to death,” she said. Not that she wanted to get up. Her legs felt like jelly and her head was spinning. She pulled on her clothes and then grabbed the blanket.

      Kody tended the fire and threw on some more wood. He’d put on his jeans, but not his shirt. She arched an eyebrow in question.

      “It’s better for body heat.” He smiled and kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”

      Heat bloomed in her cheeks. “Thank you too. I hope... I hope this won’t be awkward at work. This can only be a one-time thing.”

      “I know and, no, it won’t be awkward.” He smiled and wrapped his arm around her. They lay back down on the hard floor. He let her use his shirt as a pillow, as her head was throbbing still, and he tucked the blanket around them. He spooned her from behind.

      “That feels nice,” she murmured.

      “Good,” he said gently. “Try to rest. Hopefully someone will find us in the morning. If not, we should be able to walk to your place and let people know we’re still alive.”

      “What about your little girl?” Sandra asked.

      “She’s with her grandma and grandpa. She’s safe.”

      “Good.”

      No more words were needed, and Sandra slipped into a peaceful sleep as she hadn’t had in a long, long time.