Page 35 of The Haunting of the Mountain

“You’re my first.”

My head spins. My heart stops. I can’t breathe as my fingers dig into her legs.

“Stone?”

It sounds like she’s across the room. Like I’m underwater. I stare at her in disbelief. The first to make her come? The first to be with her? The first…

“No one’s made you come before?” I rasp, finally coming back.

She nods. “I’ve never been with anyone before.” She swallows. “Intimately.”

The world spins around me. The storm outside has nothing on what’s going on in my head. “No,” I say, shaking my head.

“Stone?”

The expression on her face drops. The light in her eyes fades. No. No, no, no. She has no idea.

“No,” I repeat, the couch creaking as I shift my weight on top of her. She sighs as my body pins her hand against her, and I brush a stray strand of hair off her face. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe you’ve never been… you’re perfect, Kyla.” I stroke her cheeks, thumb her lips, and brush her brows. “You’re a damn miracle, and I…” I swallow but the lump in my throat refuses to budge until it finally comes out.

“I love you. I know it’s crazy. I know it’s fast. But I’ve known from the moment I laid eyes on you. It’s bone-deep. Unshakeable. I love you, and I can’t hold it in any longer.”

It comes out in one long breath because once I opened my mouth, I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t keep it in. And as I stare at my girl, all I can hope for is that she feels the same.

Her head dips briefly, but when her eyes meet mine as she smiles, I know my answer. I know my life has just begun.

“You realize that I believe in Bigfoot, Nessie, Mothman, and all the other cryptids around the world, right?” She pauses and then strokes my beard. “What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think it’s crazy at all. I’ve felt it too. I… I love you, Stone.”

The last remaining tension in my body melts. The heavens open up. Angels sing. If Bigfoot exists, he’s out there with the rest of the cryptids howling at the moon at Kyla’s declaration.

“Say it again,” I rasp, cupping her cheek and brushing her lips with my thumb. “Tell me.”

Her blush deepens. “I love you.”

“Again,” I rasp, lowering my head into the crook of her neck, kissing her softly as my cock slides against her slick folds.

Kyla moans as I press against her, grabbing her wrist and pinning it above her as I lick her neck and nip at her skin.

“I love you.”

A growl rattles in my chest, and I start thrusting harder against her, beginning to lose control.

“There are no sexier words than that,” I rasp into her ear.

“Fuck me,” she moans into mine.

“I take that back.”

She wraps her legs around my waist, hooking her ankles behind my back as she grinds against me.

“I need you inside me.”

How could a man be so lucky? She tore into my life like a damn hurricane, wrecking everything I thought I knew about myself. I thought I’d be happy up here, living my life alone on the mountain. Simple but fulfilling. But Kyla made quick work of that. There’s no future here unless it’s with her.

“I'll grab a condom,” I rasp, pushing against the couch, hoping to hell I still have one somewhere.

“No,” Kyla breathes, refusing to unhook her legs from my waist. “I’m on the pill, and I’ve never been with anyone.”

I swallow. “It’s been a long time for me. Never slept around.”

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