Breathing His Air by Debra Kayn

she could manage is to look at him and blink. Why wasn’t he hiding?
    His mouth hardened, and he put the Tequila bottle to her lips. “Tonight, you’ll drink without a glass, babe.”
    The liquid hit her throat. Warmth ensnared her chest and relieved the pressure. She stared as he took a drink. His lips softened, forming perfectly around the bottle. He had a gorgeous mouth. Not too thin, and she liked it when he smiled.
    Impressed, she took the tequila from him and matched him swallow for swallow, wanting to go wherever he planned to go. Each turn blocked out the horror from outside earlier and left her content to sit on his lap.
    “Better?” He swiped his thumb at the corner of her mouth, catching a dribble as she drank, and then he licked his own finger.
    A delightful shiver rolled over her back. “Much.”
    Wonderful, in fact. Give her ten more minutes, and she’d forget entirely about sitting on his hard, thick, sculpted thighs. Thighs she couldn’t help noticing all the time, because he wore his black Levi’s worn and tight to his legs. Thighs that, at this moment, she squeezed and wasn’t surprised at how rock-hard and warm they were under her fingers.
    “Babe?” Rain laid his hand over hers, stopping her from going any higher on his leg. “It’s the booze talking.”
    She wiggled around and straddled his thighs to face him. “I think you like me. Under all that snarling, you really do like me.”
    “Snarling?”
    She leaned forward. “Oh, yeah, loud and mean.”
    “You haven’t seen mean,” he muttered.
    He gave one of those half chuckle/half snorts that men do when they want to hide the fact they’re laughing. She found the act adorable on him, because no man had ever directed that snortle toward her before. And it made her feel nice and comfortable sitting on Rain’s lap.
    “Are you going to show me your mean side tonight?”
    “Booze talking,” he whispered.
    She slipped her hands over his shoulders and played with the hair at his nape. So thick and soft, his hair was beautiful. “You called me your woman.”
    “Shit.”
    “I like when you call me that too, even if I don’t understand what it means. Well, I do, but I don’t like it … that’s what I tell you.” She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his. “You’re bossy when you say” — she lowered her voice — “you’re my woman, babe.”
    He growled. “Gonna get bossier.”
    “Mm. See? You snarled.” She laid her cheek against his and closed her eyes. “Do it again.”
    “What?”
    “Growl.”
    She stood in front of him. He’d moved so fast, she missed how he did it, but there she was, standing on her feet, missing him and wanting his warmth back. She craved the warmth. The warmth meant everything was okay.
    “Tori.” He stopped her from reaching for the tequila bottle.
    “Tonight I like you too, Rain.” She stepped forward and pressed her breasts against him, extracting the bottle from his fingers. “Tomorrow you can be mean.”
    She walked around him, opened the door, stopped, and gazed over her shoulder. “Say it one more time. Please.”
    He stared intently into her eyes and nodded. “You’re my woman, babe.”
    The fuzzy warmth multiplied in her stomach, and she quivered in pleasure. “I really, really, really like that.”
    She walked down the hallway and into the bar. Everyone seemed to look at her, and she wanted to share her good mood. They could all be secure knowing everything was okay. Rain made everything all right and trouble go away.
    Taylor approached her. “Tori?”
    She hugged her new friend. “It’s okay. Rain is here.”
    Taylor leaned back without letting her go. “Girl, you’re sick whiskey dick.”
    She nodded and smiled. “I’m warm.”
    Not only was her body warm, but her thoughts were warm and the room was warm. She leaned into Taylor. She was warm too.
    “Oh, geez … ” Taylor pulled her hand and led her to a table. “Sit here. I’ll get you a