For a heart-stopping moment, there was just the heat of him, holding her, tasting her. The erotic slide of his tongue against hers sent sparks of awareness dazzling through her body like tiny flames, awakening and dying and starting up again.
She leaned into him, the sound of the party nothing more than a buzz in her ears. How could she hear more, when her own heartbeat was crashing so loudly it drowned out everything else?
The black leather jacket he wore felt cold and slick beneath her hands as she clung to his shoulders. Reaching up, she threaded her fingers through his hair, holding his mouth to hers, reveling in the sensations rushing inside.
He moved her backward until she was pressed against the back wall of the inn. The thick, cold logs sent chills down her spine even as the heat Sam engendered swamped them both. Years fell back, pain slipped away and all she was left with was the amazing sensations she’d only experienced with Sam. Anger fell beneath layers of passion and she knew it would be back, stronger than ever. Anger at him. At herself.
But right at the moment, she didn’t care.
It was crazy. A party attended by crowds of people was going on not a hundred yards from them. They were out in the open, where anyone could stumble across them. And yet, all she could think was, yes. More.
His hands slid beneath the hem of her sweater to stroke across her abdomen and the chill of his touch warred with the heat—and lost. Lacy pushed herself into him, moving as close as she could and still it wasn’t enough to feed the raw need pulsing within.
He tore his mouth from hers and they stared at each other, breaths coming fast and harsh, clouds of vapor pushing into the air between them. His gaze moved over her face. His eyes were shadowed in the dim light and still they seemed to shine a brilliant green.
A moment later, raucous laughter and a girl’s flirty squeal shattered the spell holding them in a silent grip. Sam stepped back from her with a muttered curse just as a young couple ran around the side of the inn.
They came to a sliding stop on the snowy path. “Oh hey, man. Sorry. We were just looking...um...”
Clearly the young couple had been looking for the same privacy she and Sam were just enjoying.
Sam stuffed both hands into his jeans pockets. “It’s fine. Enjoy the party.”
“Yeah,” the boy said and shot his girlfriend a quick grin. “We are.”
They left as quickly as they’d appeared.
“Well, that was embarrassing.” Lacy blew out a long breath, straightened her sweater and stepped back from Sam so she wouldn’t be tempted to leap at him again.
“Lousy timing,” he mumbled, his gaze locked on her.
“I think it was pretty good timing,” she said, though her body disagreed. Another minute or two of Sam’s kisses and she might have forgotten everything. Might have just given in to the need still clamoring inside her. Oh, there was no might about it, she admitted silently.
She’d wanted to be touched, kissed, loved. She’d wanted Sam as she had always wanted him. Knowing better didn’t seem to help. Lacy had nearly drowned in the sea of her own anger and misery when Sam first left. To survive, she’d clawed her way out then closed and locked the door on those feelings, good and bad. She had had to forget—or at least try to forget, just how much she loved Sam.
Life would be a lot easier right now, she thought, if she’d only been able to hold on to that anger. Instead, it was the heat of lost love she felt, not the ice of pain.
“Lacy...”
“Don’t,” she said, holding up one hand and shaking her head. Talking to him was almost as dangerous to her as kissing him. His voice alone was a kind of music to her, that seemed to seep into her heart and soul whether she wanted it to or not. “Just...don’t say anything.”
“I want you.”
“Damn it,” she snapped, walking now, with long strides, moving toward the light and sound of the party, “I asked you not to say anything.” Especially that.
“Not saying it doesn’t change anything.” He followed her, his much longer legs outpacing hers easily.
She whipped her head up to look at him. “This was a kiss, Sam. Just a kiss.” It had been more and she knew it but damned if she’d admit it to him. Heck, she wasn’t entirely comfortable admitting it to herself. “We were both strung a little tight and the tension snapped. That’s all.”
If that were true, she told herself, she’d be feeling a heck of a lot better right now. Instead, she was wound tighter than ever. It was a wonder her body wasn’t throwing off sparks with every slam of her heartbeat.