Page 15 of Brewing with the Mountain Man
We break apart only when oxygen becomes necessary, staring at each other in shock.
"Ledger," she gasps, fingers still twisted in my flannel.
"I know," I manage. "I know."
But I don't know anything except that kissing her has rewired something fundamental in my very soul.
And I'm completely, utterly lost.
CHAPTER 5
SADIE
The storm outside might be over, but the one inside me is still roaring in my ears.
What a kiss.
My back is still pressed against the window, Ledger's large frame caging me in, blocking out everything else. Every nerve ending in my body is firing at once and I’m practically vibrating with need.
I’ve never been kissed like that before. My whole mouth still tingles and I want more.
So much more.
"Sadie." His voice is destroyed, as he closes his eyes, forehead resting against mine. "If you want to go, you need to. Now."
He's giving me an out. The responsible thing would be to take it. I'm a law enforcement officer. He’s an illegal forager I was just chasing down two days ago. He's fifteen years older than me, an ex-con built like a mountain, and…god, the way he’s looking at me, it’s as if I'm his salvation and damnation all at once.
Fire radiates from his darkening eyes. But there’s something else there, too—vulnerability, like he's already preparing for me to reject him.
Maybe I should go.
But there’s no way in hell I can now.
I reach up, trace my fingers along his jaw, feeling the scruff catch against my skin. "After that kiss? After being stuck here watching you move around this cabin like some kind of lumberjack wet dream?"
His eyes go wide. "Sadie, I?—"
"No, you started this." I press closer, feeling every part of him against me. "You've been driving me insane. Do you know what it's like trying to maintain my distance when all I see are those big, rough hands…imagining them touching me, stroking me…?"
"Christ." He groans, his breath going ragged. "Saying things like that…"
I turn my head, lips brushing his ear. "I got myself off in your shower this morning thinking about you."
The sound he makes is inhuman. Then his hands are in my hair, pulling my head back, and he's kissing me like the world is ending.
It’s possession, pure and simple.
He moves to grab my hip and yanks me hard against him. I can feel every steel plane of his massive body.
When he lifts me slightly, my feet barely touch the ground.
"Take me," I gasp when we break for air.
He doesn't need to be told twice. He scoops me up and I wrap my legs around him, attacking his neck with kisses as he carries me. He tastes like salt and pine trees, and when I suck on the bare spot near his collar, he actually growls.
"Marking me already?" His voice is low, amused. "Didn't peg you for the feral type, Ranger Giles."
"There's a lot you don't know about me," I gasp as he kicks the bedroom door shut. "Like how I've been thinking about the scruff of your beard on my thighs since?—"
