Page 126 of Mountain Men Heroes

Ragged breaths tear from her parted lips.

“What’s holding you back?”

Her question was so softly spoken he barely heard it. But he did and couldn’t bring himself to lie.

“Your innocence and age. You don’t need a man like me. But as long as you’re on my mountain no one else can have you either.”

She looked completely taken aback by what he said. Good. She needed to know the truth.

“How old are you, Damon? Because from what I see you’re no older than thirty-five.”

“Try forty next April.”

She grinned. “And kissing? Is that off the table too, Damon? If you won’t fuck me, will you kiss me?” She wound the warm fingers of her other hand around his and drew the back of his hand over her lips. One at a time she pressed her sweet kisses to each of his fingers, her gaze locked on his. “You taste of snow and ice.”

“God help me.” He groaned and sucked in a harsh breath.

Fuck me. “You don’t hold anything back, do you?” he growled. “The shy city girl routine is a beautiful ruse to lure in unsuspecting victims, and I strolled in like a lamb.”

She dropped his hand and played with the fork as she softly said, “I’m open to having some fun while I’m in town then it’s back to normal for you once I’m gone. No strings.”

Having someone as sweet as Ivy to spend Christmas with? It was more than tempting.

He stood there for a long moment without saying a word. She didn’t understand what she was asking. Besides, he doubted anything went back to normal after the tornado named Ivy touched down anywhere she went.

Blazes tore up the back of his legs, spread through his back and reached between his legs to grab him by the balls.

He considered her proposal, played with the idea of having his cake and eating it too. She was the sort of woman he didn’t need in his life. Skilled with a scalpel and sweet. The last time he fell for sweet, his heart was crushed. He couldn’t do that, not with her. Not when it would never be a tumble in the hay and peck on the cheek goodbye.

Besides, she was a virgin.

He slipped his hand from hers and crossed his arms over his chest calmly despite the war raging inside him. That earned him a pretty roll of her eyes as she nibbled at the soft corner of her lower lip. The same exact spot he craved a taste of. He swallowed.

“You’re not scared of the sweet Southern girl are you, Savage?”

Terri-fucking-fied. Heat released his balls, only to claw up his spine, and burrowed deep in his gut until his dick swelled, stretching the soft material of his sweats.

Son of a bitch.

Her gaze raked over his chest and landed on his tented pants.

One touch and she would be his right here in the middle of the flour and Christmas cookies. Screw everybody who walked in.

The sun tipped over the peaks in the distance and the lights on the street died one by one. Any minute the first of the day’s customers would arrive for their bread and holiday treats.

“Ivy,” he warned gruffly. “Don’t.” He closed his eyes, unable to look at the doe-eyed expression she gave him.

Chills ran the course of his arms, and his chest widened from the tension she hammered home.

He growled low in his throat as she leaned over the counter, the scent of strawberries like a damn gut punch. A soft pad of her finger traced the ink spread over his arm and chest.

Moving faster than he anticipated, he snatched her hand from his arm, looped it over his shoulder and pulled her over the counter, rattling the glass of the displays and toppling over a stand of holiday cupcakes.

“I can’t want you like this,” he growled every word that left his mouth. “You’re fucking killing me. Don’t you get that?” He wound his arms around her and pressed as much of her to him as he could. With the counter at her back, he bent and lifted her to sit on the marble and drew her legs around his waist. The soft material of her pajamas did nothing to squelch the sudden pleasure that shot straight to his dick as he nestled between the soft folds of her virgin cunt.

“What do you think you do to me?” Out of breath as if he’d already swept her away on a marathon of sex, she pressed a hand over his heart before trailing her kitten nails down his chest. He wanted to feel the delicious pain on his back as he pushed balls deep into her tight core.

Her hand slipped between them, and then she tugged at the waistband.

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