Page 16 of The Minx and the Mountain Man

I exhale sharply through my nose. My hands clench at my sides. “I’m trying to keep things from getting messy.”

Her lips part, her chest rising and falling with deep breaths. “Messy?” she echoes. “Reid, we’re snowed in, married, and apparently both extremely attracted to each other. I think we passed messy about ten miles back.”

I snap my gaze to hers, everything inside me strung tight. I could step away and put some distance between us, but I don’t. I can’t.

“You deserve more than this,” I say, voice low and rough.

Sadie tilts her head, studying me like I’m the most frustrating puzzle she’s ever had to solve. “And what if this is what I want?”

Something inside me snaps.

Before I can think better of it, I close the distance between us in two long strides, and my hands find her waist as I back her up against the cabin wall.

She gasps but doesn’t pull away. If anything, she leans into me, her breath coming in soft, quick bursts. “Reid…”

I stare down at her, my heart pounding like a war drum. My fingers dig into the soft curve of her hips, my entire body thrumming with restraint. “Tell me to stop.”

She swallows, her pulse fluttering in the hollow of her throat. “No.”

And that’s it. I crush my mouth to hers, swallowing the soft sound she makes as she melts against me. The kiss is nothing like the first—this one is rougher, hungrier, with days of pent-up frustration and longing crashing together in a tangle of heat and desperation.

Sadie’s hands slide up my chest, fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt as she tugs me closer, pressing her body to mine. My self-control is already frayed, barely holding together as her lips move against mine, hot and eager.

I groan against her mouth, one hand sliding up to tangle in her hair, the other gripping her waist, pulling her flush against me. She’s so damn soft, so warm, and when she presses up on her toes, seeking more, a desperate little sound leaving her lips, I nearly lose it completely.

I press her harder against the wall, my mouth moving to her jaw, then lower, tasting the soft, sensitive skin beneath her ear. She gasps, fingers tightening in my hair, her nails scratching lightly against my scalp, sending shivers down my spine.

“Reid,” she breathes, her voice wrecked, needy.

I close my eyes, gripping the wall beside her head, forcing air into my lungs. This was supposed to be simple. A deal. Nothing more. But with her looking at me like that, her lips swollen from my kisses, her chest rising and falling with each shaky breath, I know there’s nothing simple about this.

This woman—this infuriating, impossible, sunshine-wrapped-in-fire woman—is going to be my downfall.

I hook my hand beneath her thigh, lifting her against me. She doesn’t hesitate, wrapping her legs around my waist, pulling me in like she’s been waiting for this as long as I have. I groan against her throat, barely holding myself together as her hands slide under my shirt, her fingers dragging over my skin, leaving heat in their wake.

I carry her to the couch, lowering her onto the cushions, my body covering hers as I claim her mouth again, deeper this time, slower, drawing out every sound, every shudder. My name tumbles from her lips like a prayer, and it nearly undoes me.

I shouldn’t want her like this.

But I do.

God help me, I do.

She arches beneath me, her fingers pulling at the hem of my shirt, nails scraping lightly against my abs, and I curse under my breath, the last shred of restraint hanging by a thread.

I pull back just enough to meet her gaze, our breaths mingling in the space between us. “Tell me you want this.”

Her fingers tighten on my shirt, her eyes dark and steady. “I wantyou.”

That’s all it takes.

The last piece of restraint shatters, and I give in.

Completely.

I stand and undress. I can feel her eyes on every part I uncover. When I slip my boxer briefs down and off my legs a moan escapes from Sadie.

“Holy cow, mountain man. That’s some weapon you’ve got there.” Sadie says with a smile that lights up her whole face.

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