Page 57 of Nave
When a soft sound escaped me, his mouth found mine like he had been holding his breath all day, like I was the breath he so desperately needed.
And I just melted into him, my arms sliding up and around his neck, our chests pressed together.
The contact seemed to unleash him.
He pressed me back against the tree, his lips hard and hungry, his scruff scratching, his tongue teasing, his teeth nipping.
All the air felt trapped in my chest, expanding, making me sure that if I wasn’t holding onto him, I would have simply floated away.
His tongue teased against mine again, his fingers tightening on the back of my neck. There was something so refreshing about his lack of control, about the feral aspect of his desire that had him pushing me more firmly against the tree, his pelvispressing into mine. At the feel of his hard length against my stomach, a deep, throaty sound escaped me.
His matching groan had the need ratcheting up, a clawing, desperate sensation that begged for relief.
Nave’s hand slipped from my neck, sliding across my shoulder, drifting downward to—
The crunch of a twig had us both springing apart.
Nave, the protector he was, stepped back, glancing around, hands already curled into fists, ready for a threat.
While I could do nothing but lean against the tree, reveling in the long-forgotten sensations flooding my body.
Adrenaline pinged off each nerve ending, seemingly everywhere at once. Pulsing, pounding, sizzling.
“Hey,” Nave called, making me jerk. “Is that the way back to the park?”
So, someone was there.
I probably should have moved away from the tree to see whom Nave was talking to. But my damn legs felt a little unsteady, and I needed the tree for support.
If this was what it was supposed to feel like with a man and a woman, then, well, I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt anything like it before.
“Yeah. I’m heading back if you want to follow me,” a soft, older man’s voice said.
“Thanks,” Nave said, reaching out for my hand and gently pulling me along with him.
Thankfully, letting myself notice how his fingers slipped through mine and tightened was enough to take my attention away from my weak legs.
Nave fell into companionable conversation with our guide. While I went ahead and just enjoyed the way the timbre of Nave’s voice seemed to wash over me.
As we drew closer to the end of the trail, the laughter of children filled the woods, making my lips curve up.
When I looked, Nave was smiling too.
My heart leapt.
Before I reminded myself that I couldn’t go getting my hopes up for a man just because he liked kids.
When my mind tried to remind me of all the other reasons I had to like Nave, though, I simply had to ignore them.
Almost as if sensing the direction of my thoughts, Nave dropped my hand to reach out and shake our guide’s hand before he ambled away.
“Let’s get you back home before I get you lost again,” he said.
But he didn’t look at me when he said it.
What was that?
Regret?
