Page 68 of Mountain Protector

“Songbird.” His jaw clenches. Both hands come to my hips. “You feel so damn amazing. No. Not amazing. Perfect.”

It’s all perfect.

Moving together slowly at first, a tender connection, trading kisses and soft looks and gentle caresses.

Then it’s more intense, our bodies colliding in a frenzy of need, our gazes dark and hot and filled with desire.

Ecstasy coils inside me, a balloon ready to burst. Every time Knox lifts me and pulls me back down on top of him, I’m brought maddeningly closer to that final explosion.

And then, in a move so freaking sexy I can barely stand it, Knox rolls us over and brings my legs up, tilting my hips so he can sink impossibly deeper. He rubs my sensitive bud as he hits a spot deep inside me, and oh, my?—

It’s not just an explosion. It’s a supernova. A galaxy bursting to life.

Everything goes blank for a few seconds—or hours, I’m not sure—while my body shudders with ecstasy. Knox plunges into me once more and stiffens, pulsing thick and hard inside me. He groans, and through my half-lidded eyes, I watch the pleasure wash over his face.

And in his eyes, I see the truth of how he feels about me.

Any hesitation I had disappears in an instant.

Still joined, Knox rolls us back over so I’m draped across him. We’re both breathing hard as the aftershocks ripple through our bodies. He strokes my hair and presses his lips to the top of my head.

We just lie here, glued together, as our hearts settle into the same rhythm.

“Lark,” he murmurs, his breath feathering across my hair. “That was incredible. I knew it would be, but?—”

“I love you.”

Oops. I didn’t mean to blurt it out quite like that.

His hand stills midway down my back. “Lark?”

Lifting my head so I can meet his gaze, I swallow back my nerves and say, “I know. Maybe it’s too soon to say it. And if you don’t feel the same way, it’s okay. I just… I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that, but the feeling is so big inside me and?—”

“Songbird.” Knox rolls us over so we’re facing each other. His hand comes to my cheek, the touch feather-light. “It’s not too soon.”

“It’s not?”

“No. I’ve been trying to figure out when to tell you, too.”

My heart leaps. “To tell me…”

His eyes soften. “I love you, too. And I don’t care about the timing. I spent thirty-eight years never knowing what it really felt like. To be in love. Now I do.”

“Oh, Knox.” I push a lock of hair away from his forehead. “I’ve never felt this way, either.”

“It’s funny. When my friends would talk about falling in love. I was happy for them, of course. And I thought it sounded really nice. But foreign. I love my teammates, I mean, and Tom, but…” Pausing, his brow wrinkles in thought. “This is different. The other love, it’s… comfortable. But with you, it’s more than that. It’s fierce. All-consuming.”

“I know what you mean. It feels like… you’re my heart. And there’s just this… certainty that you’d never hurt me. And I’d do anything rather than hurt you.”

“Sweetheart.” Knox wraps an arm around me, hugging me to his chest. “I would die before I hurt you.”

As he looks at me with absolute truth in his eyes, I admit, “I was scared. To let you in. All those times you’d come over to help around the house, or we’d have dinner together, I felt something for you. But I was terrified of being hurt again.”

His jaw tightens. “What do you mean? Who hurt you?”

“It’s not important no?—”

“Lark. Please.”

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