Page 13 of Rescued By the Great Grim

My nipples tighten as appreciation shines in his eyes and a seductive smile plays on his lips. “I like your outfit.”

I have to look away to hide the blush covering my cheeks. “Thank you” I hesitate, not sure of what to do next. Seduction is not my forte.

He pats the spot next to him. “Come here. Let’s continue our conversation.” His smile turns smoldering.

Heat pools low in my belly and between my legs as I walk toward him. “I’m a little nervous about what we might talk about.” I stop when I reach the bed.

The sheets rustle as he leaves the bed, and then his warm body presses against mine, his hands covering my shoulders.

“Then let’s not talk.” His breath caresses my ear, moving down my neck, where he peppers my skin with kisses.

A small sigh escapes my lips, but my nerves get the best of me. “Maybe we should rethink this,” I whisper.

“Why?” His hands travel down the length of my arms, cross over my chest, and rest on top of my hand, gripping the towel. “Are you having second thoughts?” He punctuates the short sentence by lightly kissing my neck, just below my earlobe. “Tell me to stop if you do.”

My knees weaken, and I moan out loud. With a miraculous draw on my willpower, I’m able to step away from him, keeping a tight grip on the towel. “This complicates things.”

He laughs. The low, sexy sound vibrates through my body as he embraces me again. “It’s already very complicated,” he whispers against my hair. He smells like soap and, underneath that, a scent uniquely his, a mixture of pine and fresh water.

Sighing, I lean into his chest. He smells like home.

I tense. Him being a water creature confuses my magic. It confuses me.

Nick loosens his hold, but leans down to nibble my ear. “Stop thinking. Trust your instincts.”

“I can’t,” she muttered. “My instinct told me to go to that stupid magic retreat. And look where that got me.” I force myself to break his hold, no matter how good his hands feel on my body.

He places a knuckle underneath my chin and tilts up my face, forcing me to look at him. The pupils of his eyes are large, making them darker blue than usual. “You shouldn’t blame yourself for what other people do. Just like you shouldn’t blame yourself for wanting to be with me.”

“I bet you say that to all the women who stumble on your cabin.” I mean, who wouldn’t want him? It took only one look before my lady bits knew they wanted him.

Anger flares in his eyes for a brief second. He turns his back to me and rakes a hand through his hair, messing up the ponytail. “If you knew exactly how untrue that is, you’d laugh.” He faces me again. “I will never tell you lies. It is not my way.”

Somehow, I believe him. This hotter-than-ghost-peppers, tall-as-a-mountain, gentle giant of a man would never lie to me. “I’m sorry,” I say. ”It’s been a hard couple of days.”

He acknowledges that statement with a slight nod before grabbing my hand. “I need you with me. I don’t know why, but on a cellular level, I know I need to spend the rest of my life with you.”

My breath hitches. “I can’t make any long-term promises.” And yet, what he says echoes how I feel. Being with him feels righter than anything else I’ve known in my life.

“I understand if you can’t live here permanently, but say you’ll always return to me.” He holds on to my hand when I try to pull away.

I clear my throat. He’s making logical reasoning very difficult. “I can’t just pack up and leave my life in the Tri-Cities.” I mean, I must have reasons for why I need to return to my home, right? Right at this moment, I can’t recall what those reasons are, but I’m sure there are some.

“Why not? You said you love this mountain. Why not settle here with me?”

A lump forms in my throat. I swallow hard to push it down and blink back the tears threatening to spill. What would it be like to live here on the mountain with him? To practice magic just for the joy of using my powers? To live simply, off the grid, without the daily stresses I have now. I shake my head, chasing away the temptation. “You’re making it hard to think about this logically. I have friends. I have a life.” I mean, my life sucks. I work retail and service jobs to make ends meet. But it’s true that I have friends. Moxie is my friend. And Bean will be once she’s old enough. I don’t see them very often, but I have friends, dammit.

He fingers a strand of my wet hair and tucks it behind my ear, turning the gesture into a caress by tracing the outside of my ear.

I tilt my head and rest my cheek in his palm.

He leans down, his breath hot against my lips. “Stop overthinking what we have,” he whispers and then claims my lips.

Holy ghost peppers. Liquid fire sizzles from my lips to my nipples. They pebble into hard knots, and the terrycloth of the towel rubs against them, enhancing the sensation.

I lean into the kiss. My body ignores anything about logic or obligations. My hormones care only about getting this tall Viking naked.

His firm body presses against mine.

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