Souvenirs by Mia Kay

she could see his face, and ignored his quaking knees. “I woke this morning, looked in the mirror, and told myself I was not going to touch you today. I was going to stay close to you, talk to you, get to know you, let you get to know me, but I was not under any circumstances going to hold your hand, kiss you, touch you.” His hands tightened on her in evidence of his lack of willpower.
    He kissed her, warming her lips, teasing and testing their softness, growing hungrier as she joined in the play. Ben curved her against him, craving the softness she offered.
    Her hands left his waist, letting the cold in, only to banish it when she ran one hand up his chest and curved the other around his neck, grazing the skin under his collar. She stopped trembling and her soft hands became more confident. His breath came in gulps as she tempted his tongue into her mouth, drawing against it as her groan shook him all the way to his fingertips.
    Leaving her lips, Ben trailed his mouth along her jaw and down her neck, savoring the taste and texture of her skin and her whimpers of pleasure. The path back to her ear was just as torturous.
    “Christ, Grace. You scare the hell out of me.”
    She pulled away, need glazing her eyes as she shared his labored breaths. He couldn’t resist rolling his hips against her, proving exactly what she did to him. Her corresponding moan almost unwound his good intentions. He gave her one more thorough kiss. “We might as well be frightened together, don’t you think?”
    “Okay,” she whispered. A slow smile spread across her face.
    “Thank God.” He stepped behind her so they could watch it rain. Anchoring his arms around her waist, he resisted the temptation to push her against a tree, and . . . Careful, Ben. You can’t continue down that trail . “What’s your safe word?”
    She looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide. The thoughts filling his head tightened his skin. Wrong, so, so wrong. “You know what I mean.”
    “Sod off, Bennett.” Her laughter ruined her attempted impersonation. “That’ll make you disappear like a demon dipped in holy water.”
    “Brilliant. No more thoughts of scarpering unless you can’t stand the sight of me.”
    As the rain fell, her shivers stopped. Her hips relaxed before her spine sagged. Her head dropped to his shoulder and curved into his neck. The rain dripped from the leaves while the lightning created a fabulous show across the darkened sky. The moisture called forward a musky, not unpleasant, smell of wet vegetation and dirt. Tucked away as they were, he could pretend they were the only two people in Vienna.
    “What’s your Christian name, Idgie?”
    She shook her head, her hair tickling his chin.
    “Gra-ace.”
    “It won’t help to whine, sweetheart,” she said.
    “A hint?”
    “Let’s just say you’re not the only person named after a fictional character.” She pressed a kiss to his jaw. “It’s stopped raining. We’d better make a run for the bus.”
    Once on board, they found seats facing the Cains. Nora shivered in Adam’s arms, and Ben battled the seat belt to pull Grace closer. “I could ask them to shut off the air,” he offered.
    She shook her head, pulling her hair loose. “No sense for everyone else to suffer.”
    Her hair smelled like apples and her skin held the scent of rain. Her nipples were stiff again, and her makeup was gone. Wet hair, clean skin, as if she’d freshly showered. Trembling, like she needed him to warm her. Ben unhooked her seat belt and pulled her close. Her sigh both chilled his skin and heated it.
    Sunny came to his side, standing in the aisle. “Grace, we’re joining the Greers and their group tonight. Would you like to go with us?”
    Grace snuggled deeper into his side and pulled his arm tighter around her shoulders. “I’ll be up to shower and change, but I think Ben and I are going to dinner.”
    Sunny patted his shoulder as she walked away. “You make sure she’s warm.”
    Adam stared