The breath she took was a shudder, a surrender. It wasn't a word, but it was all the answer Keith needed.
His hand slipped from her cheek to the back of her neck, his thumb finding the soft skin beneath her hairline, tilting her face up to his. He didn't rush. His eyes, dark and deep, watched hers, a silent, profound acknowledgment of the dam breaking between them.
This second kiss was different. It wasn't the slow, testing question of the first; it was a hungry, undeniable answer. She met it, moving into him until the cool air between them was gone. The fear she’d been clinging to dissolved like smoke, replaced by an overwhelming, heady warmth. Her hands, which had been frozen at her sides, moved, hesitantly at first, then with fierce purpose, clutching the front of his dark coat, pulli
