Page 69 of A Bloom in Winter

“No, it isn’t. I totally consent to being your rebound. Your revenge, your rebellion. Whatever it is. Use me.”

“Why in the world would you let yourself . . . be treated like that?”

“Easy.” He waited until she looked at him again. “I want you, too. And that’s enough for me.”

The female’s eyes flared. And then she turned to him.

“I’m not right,” she repeated. Like she was confessing to something. “In the head.”

“You’re right enough for me.”

That simple truth was so powerful that a part of him threatened to reveal even more. Because how had this happened so fast between them? Then again, that didn’t really matter anymore. For him, the journey was over. He was at his destination: From the moment he had first seen her, Mahrci had been different. And he wasn’t going to miss his chance.

He’d rather have a little time with her.

Than none at all.

On some level, Mahrci had known this moment was coming. She hadn’t been sure where or when, and certainly couldn’t have predicted it would be here, in an SUV full of groceries, in the middle of the drive up to the big house. But she had known they would find themselves alone, in a privacy that was electrically charged.

“You shouldn’t trust me,” she said softly.

“Trust isn’t relevant in this case.”

Okaaaay, so maybe he only wanted a one-night stand, she thought. The question was, what did she want?

Well, he was right about one thing. At least part of that could be answered really damn easily.

“And no, you’re not going to hurt me,” he murmured as he brushed her cheek. “So you don’t need to worry about that.”

She shook her head. “I’m not using you or trying to hurt you. That’s not the kind of person I am.”

“And I live in the present. That’s the kind of personIam.” He stroked the side of her throat inside the collar of her fleece . . . then lingered on her collarbone. “So I don’t worry about what was, I don’t care about what’s coming. I have the here-and-now. This moment. Here . . .”

He leaned in a little. “And . . . now.”

His eyes were hooded and hungry, his big body throwing off all kinds of sexual signals. But he stayed right where he was, in that tilt, on the cusp.

Mahrci parted her lips. “I’m sorry.”

With a nod, he backed off. “Well, you know where to find me. And everything is good with me. All, nothing. A little.”

He reached forward to put the engine in drive—

Mahrci launched herself over the center console, grabbed the front of his jacket, and pulled him in. As their mouths met, she wasn’t gentle. Neither was he. It was an explosion of contact, andas she buried her hands in his hair, it was just such a relief to let go and feel.

No thinking. No planning. No worrying.

Just the sensation of his lips and her own meeting, and the scent of his arousal, and the urge to be naked and under his surging body.

As he penetrated her. As he filled her up.

Hemmy had a point about living in the present. And she hadn’t ever felt this free.

As his tongue licked into her mouth, she moaned and thought about that big bed she’d been lying in alone—

For a split second, she had a spike of reversion, a return to her life ofWhat would people think?But considering what she had done right before coming up here, this kiss wasn’t a betrayal.

And it felt soooo good.

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