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“Yes... but sometimes, man can be advantageous.” I liked the way our interaction was heading. Her body seemed to soften with every gentle word, and she lifted one foot, draping it tentatively over the top of my leg.

“Advantageous, how?”

Her teasing tone begged me to be bolder, and dragging my palm to the underside of her ass, I abandoned her hand and squeezed her tight behind. Desire rocketed at the feel of her taut backside, insisting I dip my fingers between her pert cheeks, but I resisted, waiting to see how she’d react to my temerity.

“What are you doing?” That same husky tone met my ears.

“Exploring you.” Leaning closer, my mouth found her neck, and I nuzzled on her tempting nape. Seconds merged into minutes as our skin collided, her gasps only intensifying my pursuit.

“Oh, God,” she moaned. “We shouldn’t.”

Trapped between my lips and my hands, she twisted, exposing more of her neck, and I obliged gladly, imagining the red marks my attention would leave on her sensitive skin.

“I’m here to warm you,” I whispered eventually, covering her seat with my palm. She was so petite that the underside of my hand almost covered her alluring derriere entirely. A rush of energy raced along my spine, temporarily robbing me of breath as I considered landing that palm on her ass repeatedly. How would she react to the physical rebuke, and how could I possibly justify the brutality? “And that meansallof you.”

“Yes.” She rolled onto her back, crushing my hand beneath her until I snaked it free. Something had altered in her as she stretched, and I didn’t need the light to see it. Whatever walls she’d erected to keep me out had begun to crumble, and her voice spoke of desire. “All of meneeds body heat.”

The breathless and wanton banshee squirming beside me was nothing like the coy and reserved woman who’d requested to sleep in the bed alone. Perhaps whatever barriers she’d constructed had weakened the moment the lights had gone out, and there, in the sway of the night, a new power had overtaken her, one that had possibly even taken her by surprise—the strength of her lust.

She wants me. The thought lit me up, tightening my balls as it consumed me.She’s too afraid to say it, but she wants me.

“Come here.” Drawing her closer, I wrapped my free arm around her.

She shifted without complaint, squirming against me as she yielded and pushing her panty-covered sex toward my groin.

“Eli.”

Had anyone ever made my name sound so fucking dirty and flawed before?

She’d complicated everything—with her complexity of emotion and her so-called friends. The woman was a living contradiction. She didn’t want to hike, but she’d enjoyed being in nature. She hadn’t wanted to share the bed but seemingly had changed her mind on that score. Everything she touched spoke of paradox, while each sensation she inspired magnetized inside me.

“Tell me what you want.”

Heat surged between us as my palms separated and swept around her body. My left hand delved beneath her underwear between her legs, stroking at her inner thigh, while the right one lived out the fantasy playing in my head and slid beneath her clothing to find the soft cups of her bra.

All thoughts of the tour guide who’d sought to make a good impression on her were lost. That version of me—the one who’d given up the bed—had evaporated between the sheets, replaced by one at the mercy of his rampant lust.

I’d wanted her from the first moment I’d laid eyes on her. The pretty brown-haired woman with the large green eyes and the bristling defiance was the personification of everything I’d spent long nights dreaming about and, in that moment, she was mine.

“This.” Her voice was pained, as though admitting her need had stung.

Perhaps it had.

I didn’t know her or her history. All I could promise in the confines of the cold cabin bed was that while we were sprawled together, I would ensure she had everything she needed.

“You.” Her hand pushed my palm to her breast, urging me to take what I wanted. “Please.”

“Like this?” Brushing over her nipple, my fingers elongated the bud until she released a throaty cry.

“Oh, God.” Her hips rolled forward. “Yes!”

That noise—the sensual sound of her surrender—was everything. In one blissful instant, it became the center of my entire universe.

Her breasts were so responsive, her nipple puckering between my fingers as I coaxed more breathy whimpers from her.

“And this?” My other hand yanked at her panties, pulling them up until the fabric tugged at her clit.

“Jesus, Eli.” She threw her head back against me. “What are you doing?”

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