Page 72 of Stockman's Stowaway

Cap sat up, tenderly taking hold of her hands. ‘Mia, I’m quite prepared to wait. I just don’t want to be your rebound guy.’

‘My what?’

‘You barely broke up with—’

‘Please don’t say his name and ruin the mood.’ Too late, it was already ruined. Her bottom lip dropped into a sulk, with the need to hug her pillow and hide under the covers.

Cap dipped his head closer, enough for her to once again admire his earthy fragrance in the outback’s crisp night air.

He swallowed hard, his voice like gravel. ‘I do want to kiss you, Mia. Very much.’

She blinked at him, a surge of hope and desire flaring through her body. ‘I want you to. You have my permission, if that’s what you’re looking for.’

‘I-I don’t want this to be something casual. I’m not built like that.’

‘Can’t we just take it day by day?’ She wasn’t ready for the full commitment phase either.

But as the air between them grew heavier she couldn’t stop herself from closing the distance to melt into his soft lips and his warm chest. And when her arms wrapped around his shoulders there was a groan, as he swept his tongue across her lower lip, begging her to open for him.

With a tiny sigh, she happily complied and slid her tongue against his, while her fingers dived through his hair, to hold him closer in a kiss that felt like pure heaven.

Her body sang out for him on some primal level. Despite what it’d been through, it was hungry. She was alive. And she was desperate to be loved by him.

‘We’ll take this slow, Mia.’ His raspy voice sent a tremble of pure fiery lust to lick down her spine and around to her lower belly.

‘What if I don’t want you to take it slow?’

Once more he smiled that delicious smile. And she finally got to stroke the dimple that had been teasing her.

‘We have all the time in the world.’

‘Well, excuse me if I want to be a little greedy.’ Her lips crashed into his, dragging him closer as their kiss deepened.

‘Are you sure?’ He mumbled against her lips, pulling her away.

Oh, great, now she was being all needy. She frowned. ‘Don’t reject me.’ The heat coming out of her heart for him, was unlike anything she’d felt before.

‘I wasn’t.’ He sat back.

‘This,’ she said, pointing at the gap between them. ‘This feels like a rejection to me.’

Cap wiped his hand over his face. ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’

‘Huh?’ Oh no, not the classic words—it’s not you, it’s me—before you got dumped by someone.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve been with anyone. Are you sure you want to be with me?’

Didn’t that make her smile. She didn’t hesitate to walk on her knees to straddle his thick thighs and sit on his lap. ‘Yes.’ She held his face in her two hands. ‘And I don’t want you to hold back.’

‘But—’

‘Stop.’ She placed her finger over his lips. ‘I’m not some fragile princess. I’m a girl who likes to get dirty. So why can’t we have some fun?’

Twenty-five

Cap’s brain scrambled, scattering all common sense into nothing but dust. There was no logical reasoning, just a primal urge that swept over him. ‘In that case…’ He hands surrounded Mia’s tiny waist to drag her closer onto his lap.

Her fingers sank deeper through his hair before she softened her mouth to settle against his, where he took each of her lips between his, one at a time. ‘I’m going to savour this, Mia.’

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