Page 92 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
There’s no rush, he told himself when he pulled back to catch his breath and let her do the same.
Her breathing was shaky, and she dropped her hands to clutch his shirt, her hands fisting the material as another shiver raced through her. But this one, he knew, had nothing to do with the cold.
She’d laid herself bare just now, and nothing had ever been more beautiful. He moved his hands to do what he’d been dying to do before. Delving his fingers into her long, still-damp locks, he held her still so she had to meet his gaze.
“Tell me you know I’m right,” he whispered.
There wasn’t even a flicker of confusion in her eyes. She knew precisely what he meant.
That she was worthy. Deserving of marriage and kids, and anything else she might dream of. But mostly, she was deserving of love.
She didn’t answer, and he hadn’t really expected her to. No one could convince someone of that sort of thing. It needed to be experienced. Proven.
And as his lips sought out hers again, he did his best to show her with his touch just how perfect she was.
Flawed? Yes. But who wasn’t? Her imperfections made her human.
They made her perfect for him.
And he tried to show her that as his hands roamed into her hair, skimmed across her neck, and trailed down her back. His lips rained kisses on her dainty nose and her elegant cheekbones and across the length of her stubborn little jaw.
All of it as perfect as she was.
And he wanted to hurt the people who’d ever made her doubt it. He wished he could bring Frank O’Sullivan back from the dead just to account for all the ways he’d let his daughter down.
But none of those people mattered now. Because here in this cabin, it was just him and her. And he wanted it to stay that way forever.
The thought brought with it a flare of shock, a flicker of terror—but then she lost patience with his gentle trail of kisses and claimed his mouth in a searing kiss that burned away anything but the here and now.
Once more, life came down to Dahlia in his arms.
The fire crackled as the wind outside roared. But she was safe, and they were here, and with his kiss, he did his best to tell her everything she refused to believe.
He had no idea how much time passed in this blissful piece of heaven before she pulled back, settling in his arms like she was just as at home as he felt.
“Wow,” she murmured, a grin stealing over her face and taking his heart right along with it.
“You can say that again.”
Her eyes flickered with laughter. “Wow,” she teased.
He groaned at the silly joke.
She reached out and touched his beard.
“Am I giving you beard burn?” As soon as he asked, he saw she was a little red around the mouth.
She shook her head but then said, “I like it.”
He grinned. “And I like you.”
Her blush matched the beard burn, and he couldn’t resist pulling her into his chest for a tight hug as his heart swelled painfully.
She hugged him back, her fingers toying with the long hair that curled over his collar. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For… for everything.”
He swallowed hard against another wave of emotion. But when he pulled back to face her, he didn’t try to hide it. “I could kiss you all day.”
She blushed as she laughed. “You’re pretty good at it.”
