Page 37 of Tangled with the Tight End

She licks her lips and grinds against my thigh. “It’s warm in here.”

“I don’t care. You’re mine.” I smash my mouth against hers and groan. I should say while I’m here, but I fucking want it to be true.

I swipe my tongue between the seam of her lips and greedily steal her breath. Her hands lace into my hair and tug on the strands, sending me instantly into overdrive. I press her backside into the counter and rake my hands over her back, exploring and forcing her closer.

Our lovemaking last night was intense, but the desperation surging through my veins is unsurpassed. I want her to be so desperate for me that every rational rule she wants to throw out disappears before the words come out of her mouth.

I’ve never felt this out of control. This obsessed. This…. Everything. She has me spinning out of control, and I don’t want it to stop.

eighteen

NORAH

The road windsin front of us as Gabriel steers the Jeep toward the lodge. This has always been one of my favorite places to observe wildlife. A squirrel sprints across the road, stops, and waits on its haunches as we drive past. This is their land, not ours. That’s what I love about Evergreen Lake. The community is small, so we take up less space, leaving the animals ample room to roam.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him. His hands grip the steering wheel at the nine and three o’clock positions, likely because there’s more snow covering the roads the higher elevation we travel. Even under his coat, I sense his hard muscles flexing as he steers. His jaw is covered with a 5 o’clock shadow as if he woke up and stumbled out of bed.

I know that feeling. After he left last night, I wandered through the house wondering what in the hell I was doing. Not ten minutes, hell not five minutes before we were making out, I was declaring the possibility of a hook-up off-limits, and with one touch, I threw in the towel at standing strong.

There’s something about him that demands my attention, and it’s going to be my downfall.

Even today, I’m breaking my rules. I told him we needed space so that we didn’t confuse a vacation fling with anything else, specifically so I could build up my walls and protect myself from falling for him. And he barges into my shop, growls at Sawyer, and sweeps me off my feet.

Mine? I shift my attention out the window. He doesn’t mean that. Okay, fine. He means for the next week or two, he doesn’t want me running off with Sawyer so he can indulge in no-strings sex. No strings-hot as a fucking inferno-sex. But that’s where it ends.

“Norah?” His voice is a deep rumble.

“Yes?” I turn my head to face him.

One corner of his mouth inches upward. “Do you know you’re beautiful, when you’re fretting.”

I roll my eyes and cross my legs. “You’re full of shit.”

“No.” The stern cadence of his rebuttal draws my attention again. His jaw is tight as he shakes his head. “I’m not. You’re beautiful whether you’re stomping out of my brother’s house pissed off at me or pondering how to get rid of me.”

“I’m not….”

His eyes meet mine for a second, and I swear there’s a flicker of hurt before it flashes away as fast as it appeared. “Yes, you are. You’re sitting there trying to figure out your next move to blow me off, but it’s not going to work.”

That’s what I’m afraid of. The words fly through my head, but I keep my mouth shut. He flips on the blinker and turns into the lodge’s parking lot. “What exactly are we doing here?”

“In this car or at the lodge? Or as a couple?”

My eyes narrow into slits. “At the lodge?”

Not that I want his answer. It’s bad enough he’s tossing us out as a couple when he’s been adamant that he has no intentions of settling down in Evergreen Lake. He has both feetoutside the door to return to Kansas City, and he knows this is where I want to be.

But I’m not sure I want to know what we’re doing at the lodge either. If it involves him trying to convince me to get naked, my clothes will be off faster than a cheetah runs. He makes me weak.

“Nothing dirty.” He shoves the gearshift in park and leers at me. “Unless you beg me.”

“You’re a ridiculous tease.” Damn him anyway. He’s hot as sin and backs it up with both words and deeds. I’ve never had someone openly flirt with me this way. And I’ve sure never had multiple orgasms in one sex session. More like one every three months if I had enough to drink and there was a full moon.

He grabs my hand and laces our fingers together. It shouldn’t feel this perfect. “I have a private dinner set for us in the restaurant. Champagne and lobster.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to spoil you. I don’t think you’ve had nearly enough of that in your life. Let’s go.” He grins and squeezes my fingers. When I grab the door handle, he clears his throat. “I’ll get the door.”

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