Page 53 of Stormswept Colorado

“Then take me with you,” she said.

Slowly, I turned my head to look at her. Her blond hair, almost as white as the snow outside, was tousled around her delicate features. The green of her irises was bright. Beguiling and yes, vulnerable, but also completely sure.

She wanted this.

Our coats were still in the front seat, drying off from our outside adventure, and the space blankets were scattered where we’d let them fall. No wonder her hands had still been cold. Except that thought led me to the memory of her fingers in my mouth. How I wanted to drag my tongue over the rest of her, nip her with my teeth and kiss away the sting. Cover her with my body and keep her from anyone who might dare hurt her.

Keep her for myself.

And that selfish desire, that craving, that fuckingneedto have this woman, was so much stronger than any of my lofty ideals.

“Come here to me.” I barely recognized the sound of my own voice. A low, bass rumble.

Ayla knee-walked across the bench, covering the foot or so between us. She didn’t have far to go. We’d been sitting close to each other, cuddled up on the bench backseat until I’d retreated. But this was important. If Ayla wanted to cross this line with me, it had to be her choice.

When her bent leg brushed my thigh, my arm hooked herwaist. I swung her so she was in my lap, straddling me. Her palms landed on my chest.

“Put your hands here,” I said, pointing at my collar. “On my skin, like you did earlier. Get them warm.”

Her fingers tucked into the opening of my shirt and rested on my collarbones. The coolness of her hands felt good. Demanding my focus. It was my job to take care of her and make her comfortable, and I relished that. “Is that better?” I asked.

She nodded. Blond strands fell across her cheek, and her lips looked plump and pink.

“You want me to kiss you, Troublemaker?”

“Yes,” she breathed. “Do whatever you want to me.”

My hips wanted to move, but I kept myself still. I held onto her waist, squeezing gently. “Fuck, Ayla, you shouldn’t tell anyone that. Especially me.”

“I think you’re exactly the person I can say it to.”

She meant because she trusted me. I planned to deserve that trust. I wouldn’t hurt her.

But I’d been holding back this part of myself for so long that I wanted a hell of a lot. I was like a starving man who’d been offered a feast.

I wanted todevourher.

“We’ll just start here. And then we’ll see.” I’d admired her lips in the photos and videos I’d seen online. I was man enough to admit it. But Ayla in flesh and blood, here in my arms—she wasrealand better than any possible fantasy.

This was who I wanted. This was who I couldn’t resist.

I circled my arms tight around her and brushed my lips over hers.

The next kiss was even lighter, slower, because I wanted to savor every second of this. If I was the starving man in front of a feast, then this was my first taste, when I had to stop and wonder if anything had ever been this good.

Then she sighed and rested her weight against my chest, her head tilting. Our lips fit together. The tip of my tongue slidalong the seam of her mouth, and she opened on a whimper. Her tongue pushed against mine, and that made my cock jump in the too-tight confines of my pants.

My hands moved up her back. One rested at her neck, the other delving into her silky hair. She made a sound of pleasure, almost a purr, so I rubbed her scalp with my fingertips as I sucked on her lower lip.

Then I tightened my grip just enough to tug her hair strands a little. Her lips parted wide as she moaned.

“You like that?”

“Mmmm.” Ayla’s eyelids went half-mast. I directed her toward me again so I could keep kissing her.

I didn’t ever want to stop kissing her.

I loved when she showed her eagerness, licking into my mouth and wiggling her behind on my lap. When she finally slotted herself all the way against me and felt my erection, she gasped. My chest lifted and fell as I breathed.

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