Breaking the Silence by Katie Allen

smelled.
    Jenny hesitated, slowed. She stopped two steps from the bottom. No man had ever looked at her like that. His eyes burned with white-blue heat, so piercing and hot that she was surprised he didn’t leave smoking holes in her skin. She forgot to breathe, every cell of her body focused on him.
    Rosie whined and Will glanced down, breaking the burning contact. He unclipped the leash from her collar and shrugged out of his coat, tossing both across a delicate chair. He stalked toward Jenny, who was still immobile on the stair, all her half-made plans of offering coffee or pouring him a drink or even making civilized conversation completely forgotten. It was all she could do just to stand there, clinging to the curve of the banister, watching him get closer and closer.
    Jenny was actually taller than him with the boost of two stairs. It was a change from the usual chest-level view she had of him, although he still overwhelmed her with his size. He stopped, so close that she could see each separate eyelash, the edge of his teeth behind his slightly parted lips, the tiny muscle flicking over his temple. He moved his hands to her sides and gripped the fabric of her sweater, fisting his hands against her waist. Jenny could feel the heated pressure of each separate finger through the soft knit and realized that she was more turned on by that than actually having sex with either of her two previous boyfriends.
    Will’s eyes locked on the small section of almost-cleavage that her sweater revealed. Her breathing was short and fast, raising and lowering the mounds of her breasts. He lowered his head until his forehead pressed against her breastbone. His fists slowly stretched the neck of her sweater down, uncovering the rounded tops of her breasts and the scalloped edge of her black bra. Will burrowed his face in the revealed skin, pressing between her breasts.
    Jenny jumped at the touch of his nose and cheeks, still chilled from the outdoor air. She could feel his long eyelashes brushing against her as he closed his eyes and the hot pants of his breath on her skin. Her nipples tightened from the contrast of cold and heat. The feel of his breath and skin and lashes buzzed at her nerve endings until her entire awareness was focused between her breasts. He hadn’t even kissed her yet, Jenny realized with dazed wonder, and she was already liquid and melting.
    He had been imagining this all evening, ever since he saw Jenny and the hint of her cleavage, but he was unprepared by the tidal wave of sensations that overwhelmed him. Her skin, in the hidden depths between her breasts, was warm and damp and so soft. It startled him, how soft it was. Jenny shifted and Will’s hands tightened on her sweater, pressing against her sides to stop her from moving away, but she was just bringing her hands to his head, cradling his skull with her fingers to bring him even closer.
    Will felt a hot prickling run through his sinuses and he was horrified that tears were so close he could taste them at the back of his throat. The thought of crying in front of Jenny made him pull his face away from her but he was immediately swamped by a feeling of loss. Desperate to regain their connection, he pressed toward her again, this time higher, brushing against her with his lips and cheeks, nuzzling into the dip above her collarbone.
    As he tried to get even closer, Will’s foot bumped the base of the stair. He climbed up, only one step below Jenny now, never pausing in his exploration of her.
    God, she felt amazing—better than he could have ever imagined. He brushed against her neck, under her jaw, next to her ear—the smell and taste of her was driving Will crazy. He moved his lips across her cheek, feeling a rush of heat when she turned her head, seeking his mouth with hers. This, his first kiss, he wanted more than anything he could remember.
    Their lips touched, barely clung. Will felt the heat of their mouths mingling and then he was kissing