Page 43 of What I Should Have Known

“So, this isn’t you saying no to what’s happening?” I questioned, seeking consent first.

She shook her head. Her face pink. Her lips swollen, begging for more.

“Then Kit Kat, any man who’s ever made you feel too big is no fucking man at all,” I stated. “Now shut the fuck up. I’m not done.”

Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as I captured her mouth with mine again. My head filled with stars as I shoved my tongue between her teeth before she had a chance to stop me. Everything about her begged for my touch. Absolutely everything.

Letting my tongue search her mouth, I couldn’t stop the buck of my hips against hers. A quiet moan escaped her mouth as I pulled my tongue out from between her teeth. Her fingers slid up my sides, sending a shiver down my spine as I dove right back in.

As her touch reached the back of my neck, she bit down on my bottom lip, and I collapsed forward, placing one hand against the trunk above her head, while cradling her ass with my other.

The last time I’d enjoyed something as simple and amazing as this was lost on me.

And there was no way she was going to be able to deny it. Even Kat, the most oblivious hint-taker in the world, would be unable to ignore how excited I was. Reciprocating my movements, she shoved her hips harder against me as I trailed my lips away from her mouth and down her neck.

She gasped for air, tipping her head back as she lifted my hat from my head and slid her fingers through my short hair.

In an instant, the world shifted.

My thoughts rushed from ones of absolutely lustful desire to something gentler and more intimate. Something more vulnerable.

And I paused.

Breathing hard against her neck, I remained tucked against her as her fingers slid back and forth through my hair.

Slowly, her gasps gentled and her hips stilled. Her quickened breath lessened. The lustful heat of the moment swirled into one of vulnerability and tenderness.

Intimacy unlike anything I’d experienced before whisked me away in a cocoon of shelter and safety.

And I buried my face into the crook of her neck as she continued to rake her fingers softly through my hair. What type of life had I lived that I was more deserving of this than Duncan? Where was the fairness in allof that shit? What right had I gained to be here with such an incredible woman?

Why hadn’t it been me?

Dropping the hand from the tree, I dug my fingers tighter into Kat’s thighs, desperately begging for her comfort even though I knew she didn’t understand it. She couldn’t understand it, yet here she was, silently offering me something I hadn’t realized I’d needed.

I felt her chest expand, and with a gentle nudge, she wrapped one arm tighter around my shoulders, tucking me against her. Holding me more firmly into a strange place of security.

“Sorry,” I muttered against her skin.

“For what?” she whispered, not breaking her hold on me. Instead, she squeezed even tighter.

“Ruining it.”

A soft giggle bounced her chest. “Nothing’s ruined.”

Sighing, I slowly pulled my head up from the crook of her neck and met her gaze. Such a gentle soul stared back at me. Eyes of the most beautiful blue studied me. A tender smile lifted on her lips.

“Want to talk about it?” she quietly asked.

I slowly shook my head, unable to form the words. Things still didn’t make sense in my own head; I wasn’t sure how I’d convey to her everything going through my mind. I had no idea how to express to her why she’d suddenly become a place of safety when I wasn’t even sure of it myself.

“Whenever you do, I’m here.” She lazily drooped her palms over my shoulders.

I lifted a hand and brushed some hair from her face, desperate for a subject change, yet not quite ready to break away from her.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said.

Her brows creased together. “Done what?”

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