Shoe Strings

do
not to burrow into the soft cashmere of his sweater and sniff him like a
dog.   She turned off the mixer, took
a deep breath, and turned to face him, willing herself to relax.
    Bryce held up a half-filled wine glass.   She accepted it with a nod and, although
she’d wanted to down the glass in one gulp, took a delicate sip and set it to
rest on the counter.   “Ummm, that’s
nice.”
    His blue eyes were dark and piercing, his expression
serious.   “You look beautiful, Kerri
Ann.”
    Her pulse jumped, her knees nearly buckled, and just as she
opened her mouth to tell him how handsome he looked, the buzzer to the oven
went off.   It was just as well, for
she felt herself being pulled toward Bryce like a magnet.   “I’d better get that.”
    “Pork tenderloin?” he asked.   “I love your Grandma’s recipe.”
    “I know.”   She
reached into the oven with the looped potholders Ty had made as a Boy
Scout.   When she tried to look
seductively over her shoulder at Bryce, her hand slipped off the dish’s handle
and her pinkie brushed against the oven wall.   “Damn it.”
    She dropped the dish onto the oven rack with a clatter and
brought her finger to her mouth.   Bryce was beside her in an instant.   “Let me see.”
    She pulled it out of her mouth and shook her hand in the air
a few times before letting him lead her to the sink.   He turned on the cold water and held her
hand underneath the spray until most of the sting had passed.   He patted her hand dry with a kitchen
towel and brought her hand up to the light to look at the burn.   She could feel his breath on her
skin.  
    “I don’t think it’ll blister.”   He moved his eyes to hers.   There was something there in his look
and she could feel herself being pulled toward him again.   With her hand in his, he gently brushed
his lips against the red mark on her finger.   All the breath left her chest with a
whimper.  
    “Bryce.”   She
leaned up on tiptoe and brought her mouth to his.   The feel of his lips on her hand sparked
a need she was helpless to answer.   With only one kiss, her need became an inferno.   She was engulfed in the flame, the hot,
molten fire that brewed to boiling the instant they touched.   He pushed her back to the counter in
what could only be described as a dance move and savaged her mouth as she
savaged his.   They were voracious,
lapping at each other as if all of life’s secrets could be found in the other.    
    More, she thought.   Take more, take it all.   And
he did.   His hands splayed in her
hair as his lips cruised over her face, along her jaw to nip at her neck and
ear.   The sheer force of his body
against hers was the only thing that kept her from sliding boneless to the
floor.   She let her hands creep
under his sweater to grip the smooth skin of his back.   He felt so warm, so right under her
hands.   She wanted to feel his skin
and his weight on her, along every inch of her body.
    “Kerri Ann.”   His
lips cruised down the path of his hands as they unbuttoned her blouse.  
    What was once a whimper became a moan as he flicked open her
bra and feasted.   Oh yes.   There wasn’t a thought in her head that
didn’t center on Bryce, the rough feel of his hands, the incredible sensations
he caused with his tongue.   She
arched and allowed her fingers the pleasure of memorizing the texture of his
hair.   It felt like silk in her
hands.  
    It was so hot in the kitchen her head swirled.   But it was more than the heat he’d
created.   Even the silky strands of
his hair felt warm.   She opened her
eyes to slits and saw she’d left the oven door open.   She straightened and was more than a
little surprised to find herself unsteady and dizzy.   “Bryce…the oven.”   She tried to move away and he held her
still; his clever mouth made standing an almost insurmountable feat.   “Bryce…”
    “I’ll get it.” He stood back, let his eyes drift over her
open shirt.   “Don’t you move, Kerri
Ann.   Not one single muscle.”   The tone of his voice, the edge of anger
that sprang into his command, had the blood pooling low in her belly.  
    She nodded.   “Hurry.”
    He set the dish on the stovetop and had the oven off and
closed in seconds.   She braced for
his assault when he turned back, but to her amazement he stood where he was and
just looked at her.   She could see
so much in his eyes, the desire, the longing, the hint of fear she too felt