Read Online Sweet Heat by Elena Brown - Free Book Online

cityscapes.
    Suzanne exclaimed over the woman’s talent as she held up one that echoed the view in front of them almost exactly, with the lights of the city twinkling against the dark sky. She couldn’t decide which she liked more, that one or a nearly identical one… except during the day, with the Highline in the foreground and the Statue of Liberty in the distance.
    Her breath trembled in her lungs as she tipped her face up to laugh at something Brandon said and felt his breath tickle against her exposed throat. She swallowed heavily, and the air between them grew charged.
    From up ahead, she heard the faint strains of a guitar. A slow smile spread across Brandon’s face, crinkling the corners of his bright blue eyes.
    “C’mon.” He took her hand and tugged her along, until they drew even with the musician. A young Asian man with a beat up old acoustic guitar was seated on the ground, strumming and singing along. He had a strong, clear tenor. A small crowd had gathered around him as he played the opening chords to Santana’s ‘Smooth’.
    Brandon turned toward her, pulling her against his chest. To her surprise, he slid his arm around her waist. “Dance with me.”
    Joy sparkled in her veins like champagne as she slid her free hand up to Brandon’s shoulder and began to move with him. Suzanne loved to dance. The only enjoyable part of many of her father’s parties was that dancing was something that was expected… even if it was the more sedate kind, to classical quartets.
    But this, her body swaying and her blood pumping, this she really loved. And Brandon knew how to move too! He spun her effortlessly, his big body confident and fluid in his steps. His hand splayed against her back, pressing her in close as their hips twisted in rhythm. Her breasts brushed his chest, arousal heating her blood at being held so intimately.
    When the song came to an end, she was breathing heavily, and not just from the dancing. Her whole body felt flushed, her heart throbbing in every cell.
    The crowd applauded, and it was only then that she realized several other couples had joined them.
    “You’re a good dancer,” she murmured to Brandon, catching her breath.
    “Ma insisted we all learn.” He gave her a boyish grin, his lashes sweeping down, and Suzanne realized he was a little embarrassed. “She said a woman appreciates a man who can dance.”
    She chuckled, wrapping her arms around his neck as the musician began strumming the chords to John Legend’s ‘All of Me’. Suzanne loved the song.
    “Your mom is a smart woman.”
    Brandon’s hand slid around her waist as they began to move again, slower this time. He bent closer, his hair sliding over his forehead and brushing her cheek as he spoke low in her ear. “I’ll have to remember to thank her.”
    Suzanne shivered, her nipples peaking and her belly going tight at the rough velvet of his voice.
    They danced through the rest of the song in silence, her temple resting against his cheek. She swore the rhythm of their breath and heartbeats almost seemed to sync. As the young musician crooned Legend’s words, “Love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections,” Brandon’s big hands caressed her back and sides languidly.
    In the dark sky above them, the moon began to dip toward the horizon. She sighed at the reminder that the night was slipping away.
    As if he could read her mind, or maybe just caught her glance, Brandon pulled back when the song finished.
    “It’s getting late. I’d better get you home.”
    Words similar to the ones she’d spoken earlier in the week to Antoine — about being able to get home on her own ― lay on her tongue unspoken. Instead, she smiled at Brandon.
    “Okay.”
     
    They rode the A back to her neighborhood in near silence. On the subway, Suzanne settled against his side, and Brandon wrapped his arm around her. His fingers played idly with a few loose curls.
    She laid her head on his shoulder and breathed