Seized by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 1): Blue Ryder (10 page)

She held her breath, trying to grasp her fraying resolve and come back down to earth, trying to make a decision she didn’t want to make. Her heart was pleading for more. Her head was teetering between doing what she knew she should and ending this right here and now and doing what she so desperately wanted and what felt so very right that it couldn’t be wrong. She searched his eyes for answers he couldn’t possibly have, and her heart overruled her head.

“Kiss me, Blue. Touch me.”

He hesitated for only a second before a flash of unbridled passion burned in his eyes and their mouths crashed together, shattering their last bit of restraint. His hand slid up her shirt, and they both groaned at the skin-to-skin contact. She arched against him, wrapping one leg around his as their hips rocked together. And then her shirt was off and his mouth—his hot, wet, talented mouth—was on her breast, and thoughts she’d been trying to hold back came streaming out.

“
Ohgodyes. More. Right there. Blue
.”

She was lost in a storm of sensations and aching for more as he tore off her bra and teased and taunted her nipples, filling his palms with her breasts as he rained kisses over her ribs and across her stomach. He gripped her rib cage, dragging his tongue over her taut stomach and around her belly button. His thumb followed, stroking slow, wet circles around and around as he kissed along the waist of her pants, driving her out of her mind. She pressed her hips against him, giving him permission to take more of her, and instead of taking what she offered, he kissed his way back up her stomach, loving her breasts again. His eyes, nearly black with desire, hypnotized her with their possessive gaze. Her breathing was ragged as he took her in another mind-numbing kiss.

He reached behind him and pulled off his shirt. Her mouth went dry at the sight of all those muscles perched above her. And when he lowered his chest to hers, the feel of him against her stole all remaining thoughts. She crashed her mouth to his chest, licking and sucking, tasting and taking. His nipple pebbled beneath her tongue, earning a guttural groan from deep inside him. There was no restraining the white-hot need coursing through her as her hands stroked over his hard flesh, and he came down upon her again, pressing his eager arousal against her wet center. Even through their clothes she could feel his heat penetrating her skin. She shouldn’t do this. Couldn’t do this. She had to stop.

But he felt
oh so good
!

He gripped her hips, gyrating against her, and—
oh my
—she felt the full girth of his arousal and spread her jeans-clad legs wide, wanting to feel more of the tantalizing friction and heat consuming them. He lifted her knee and ground into her as he sucked on her neck, then took her in another heated kiss.

She loved the way he was careful with her, making sure he had the green light, and then he took control. This wild, unbridled man could have whatever he wanted. She loved the way he claimed her mouth as if he were branding her as his—and Lord, did she want to be
his
.

She was on a bullet train and she wanted to ride it all the way to heaven.

“Blue.
God, Blue
.”

“Too much?” He pulled back. He was so thoughtful it made her want to give even more of herself to him.

“No.” She pulled his mouth to hers. “Maybe,” she said between kisses. “No,” she corrected herself. “Definitely not.”

“You’re gonna give me whiplash.”

He stopped kissing her, both of them breathless. “Lizzie, we can stop. I don’t want you to regret this.”

She felt another pang of guilt about hiding the
Naked Baker
, and she couldn’t be sure if that guilt would lead to regret or not, but she wanted Blue more than she wanted to figure it out right now, so she answered with hope.

“I’m not going to.” She pulled him into another kiss and moved his hand to the button of her jeans. He made quick work of unbuttoning and unzipping them.

When his big hand pushed beneath her panties, her head tipped back with the delicious sensation of being touched by
him
. How many times had she pretended her own hand was his? How many nights had she suppressed the urge to accept his offer of a date only to go home and fantasize about him—about
this
?

He kissed her neck, her cheek, then took her earlobe into his mouth and swirled his tongue over it as his fingers played over the damp flesh between her legs. She arched up, and he took the invitation, dipping his fingers into her.

“Oh, yes…”

He was as good with his hands as he was with his mouth, teasing all the right places as he stroked and kissed and took her right up to the edge. She trapped her lower lip between her teeth and slammed her eyes shut to keep from crying out.

“Let go, Lizzie.” His seductive whisper slid over her neck and wound around her, pulling tight across her skin and making her feel like she might burst. “Let me hear my name come off your lips.”

He circled his thumb over her clit as he pushed his fingers in deeper. She rocked against his hand, writhing in pleasure as he took her breast in his mouth. Electric heat prickled up her limbs. She fisted her hands in the cushions as she lost all control, crying out his name over and over again as the climax tore through her. Her hips bucked off the couch as he sealed his lips over hers, swallowing her moans and pleas and whatever else was streaming from her lungs. Then his cheek was pressed to hers and his hot breath washed over her skin.

“You are so fucking hot, so damn gorgeous, when you come.” He kissed her again, softer this time, as she came down from the peak, aftershocks still rolling through her body. She breathed deeply, trying to calm the inner vixen he’d unleashed. Nothing would dissuade the storm of desire brewing inside her. He’d unearthed feelings she’d never felt before, and she wanted more, more, more.

She tried to blink away the lustful haze in her brain and reached for him, needing to kiss him again and wanting so much more.

“That was…incredible.” She closed her eyes, reveling in the sweet kisses he lavished over her cheeks, mouth, forehead, and neck. When she finally opened her eyes, the look in Blue’s was so caring that she had to close hers against the emotions she saw there, for fear of her own tumbling out.

He pressed another kiss to her lips. “Spend the day with me.”

She opened her eyes, reality creeping back in. This was her moment of decision. She knew she should end it here. Take what he’d given and go back to her secret life. But how could she do that when the man she’d wanted for so long was looking at her like she was truly all he ever wanted? She hadn’t counted on this, even though she’d known the dangers of allowing herself to go out with Blue. She hadn’t counted on feeling as if every moment sucked her deeper into him. Reality waited outside these cabin walls. Monday would bring the need to film her webcast. Tuesday, the commitment of editing…She stopped those thoughts by sealing them beneath a hard, painful swallow.

Reality, it turned out, was no match for her heart.

“Okay.”

***

BLUE COULD HARDLY believe his luck. After a year of asking Lizzie out, not only was he blessed with the most amazing night, but now he was given the gift of another day with her. And that’s how it felt, like a gift. How could an afternoon that had yet to come feel so special? He didn’t need to pick that apart, because he already knew the answer. He’d been falling for her every time he saw her. Falling harder every time she turned him down. He’d seen the way Lizzie looked at him, and he knew it took a strong woman to fight the attraction that had simmered between them for so long—and that strength was just one of the things he admired about her, even if he still didn’t understand why she’d fought it for such a long time.

“Okay? You’re not going to fight me on it? Or give me stipulations?”

“Only one,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “I need to go home and shower.”

“Damn. I thought I’d convince you to shower with me.” He pressed his lips to hers again. He’d never get enough of her lips, and seeing them pinked up, swollen from their intense kisses, her skin flushed from the heat between them, made her even more alluring.

“If we get naked, we won’t be doing anything today but
naked
things.” She giggled, and he raised his brows.

“And that’s a problem because…?” He was teasing, but her eyes turned serious.

“Because, we’re not there yet.”

“Agreed. We
are
still partially dressed, but we could be there pretty quickly.”

She rolled her eyes.

“We moved too quickly. I’m sorry, Lizzie.” He reached for her shirt and bra and helped her dress.

“No, we didn’t. You’re so careful with me. I appreciate that. But it makes it easy to forget…”

He rose to his feet and brought her up against him. “Forget?” He searched her eyes, and she had an
oh shit
look in them that made his gut clench tight. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just easy to forget that my life is complicated.”

“You keep telling me that, but I just don’t see it. So you run a business? So do I.” He brushed her hair from her face and kissed her again. “Lizzie, we both have busy lives. So what? I love being with you, and you seem to enjoy being with me.”

“Too much. That’s the problem.” She was clutching his waist like she had last night. He could feel her desire in the firmness of her grip, which was in stark contrast to the worry in her eyes. He wished he knew why she was holding back. He didn’t want to just be with her. He wanted to know everything about her, to care for her, for her to be his and for him to be hers.

“Why?”

“Because my life isn’t about going out with a great guy.” Her voice escalated. “Or sleeping on his couch, comfortable and safe against him, or making out in the morning and wanting to laze the day away in his arms.”

“Whoa.” The harsh regret in her voice startled him. He held her against his chest, feeling her heart beating fast and hard. “You’re really upset.” He tipped her chin up and looked into her confused eyes. “Talk to me.”

She swallowed hard, as if she could contain whatever was creating distance between them, and silently shook her head.

“Do you want me to take you home? We don’t have to spend the day together.” The last thing he wanted was to cause her pain of any kind. Even if he didn’t understand why she needed space, he’d give it to her. He’d give her anything she needed.

“No.” She clung to his arms. “More than anything else, I want to spend the day with you.”

“Well, that makes me happy, but we’ll go back to only kissing.”
Even if it kills me
. “I never want you to regret being close to me.”

She pressed her cheek to his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I will never,
ever
regret being close to you.” She gazed up at him and smiled, but he swore he saw something else there. Maybe not regret, but something curious. “I’ve never felt so much for someone so fast, and I’m sure it’s because we were friends for so long before we decided to become more. I’ve never had that type of foundation with anyone else I’ve gone out with. I feel so comfortable with you. It’s easy to skip all those early, awkward moments. And that’s amazing, but scary, too.”

Fear, that had to be the flicker he’d seen in her eyes a moment ago.

“You’re scared.” He breathed a little easier. This he could handle. This he understood. Sarah Jane had left him scared of letting anyone too close, and Lizzie had touched something in him that made him willing to push past that fear for the first time in more than a decade. “I’m scared, too.”

They held each other for a long while, and Blue knew they were each contemplating their fears and the goodness of what they felt. When Lizzie’s breathing calmed and she took a step back, they left the cabin to take her home, so she could shower and change as Blue had promised—but hopefully not change her mind.

In the truck Lizzie moved beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. It already felt like
her
spot, and as he drove to her house, he found himself opening up to her.

“I haven’t been in a relationship in a very long time, and I’m not sure what the rules are. Or how fast we should go, or any of that. All I know is that for the first time since I was in college, I want a relationship, and I want it with you. I want to figure out the complicated things, and I want to know what scares you.” He stopped at a red light and gazed into her eyes. “I want to be the guy you can count on. The person you trust with your secrets and the guy you let in here.” He pressed a kiss over her heart.

“You make it all sound so easy.” She fidgeted with the edge of her shirt.

“It’s not going to be easy, but we both know that nothing worth anything is easy. I want happy, not easy, and I know we can have that together.”

AFTER BLUE DROPPED Lizzie off at her house with more heart-stopping kisses, she showered and dressed as quickly as she could, thinking about the things he’d said. He wanted a relationship with her, and just as she’d feared, going out with Blue had unearthed the feelings that had been seeding and growing over the past year. And overnight they’d bloomed into something beautiful and desirable. But looming above her, dark clouds threatened, clouds that only she could see.

She couldn’t figure that out right now. Blue was coming back in less than an hour, and she still had to check the
Naked Baker
email, review stats on last night’s show, and figure out what she was going to bake for tomorrow’s program.

She pulled up her email and readied herself for the onslaught of lewd and suggestive messages that had become the bane of her existence.

One hundred and seventy-seven new emails.

Fun.

Not.

She riffled through them, scanning for anything important. Sometimes viewers sent in baking ideas, and she was thankful for the ones that weren’t looking for crotch-shaped cakes or penis cookies, although those
were
interesting to bake. It had taken her a while to get past her own hang-ups on inappropriately shaped food, but once she got into her
Naked Baker
mind-set, just about anything went. The sexier the shows, the longer viewers watched, and the longer they watched, the more money she earned.
Oh, the joys of monetizing videos
. Not to mention that her website was also completely monetized. There were months when she raked in more than ten grand, making up for slower months, when she made just a few thousand dollars. Of course, being the good girl Lizzie was, she reported the income to the IRS and paid her taxes diligently. She wasn’t about to be caught with her pants down, so to speak.