They scurry away. I watch them the entire time, waiting for some comment, some attempt to reclaim their bravado.
Once they’re gone, I turn to Lila.
The desire in her eyes makes my balls swell. It’s like the end of my dick is addicted to precum, the amount flowing out, making my boxers sticky.
“Oh my God,” she whispers. “Nobody’s ever stood up for me like that before.”
5
LILA
Stop it, Lila. Don’t get carried away.
It’s difficult to listen to this sensible inner voice. Boone stands in his checkered shirt and torn jeans, his huge body threatening to burst through every seam.
He walks toward me slowly, his eyes fixed on mine, the edge of his mouth twitching in a smirk, his beard shaping around the movement. He can read me. He knows. Fuck. I can see it on his face.
He knows how badly that made me want him.
“I’m glad nobody’s stood up for you like that,” he says fiercely. “Because that’s my job.”
“We only met?—”
“No more of that, you cute, perfect city girl,” he interrupts.
When he squeezes my hands in his, temptation shivers up my arms and through me. I didn’t even know it was possible togetthis wet. It’s a relentless flow that only exists for Boone.
“I don’t care when we met. It’s a fucking fact thatnobodygets to disrespect you. Full stop.”
The kiss is like a detonation. My lips sizzle against my underwear, my nipples hot, my mind sparking with ideas of what we could do. Nerves attempt to tighten around the excitement, but I can’t let them.
“Shall we go back to the lodge?” I murmur. “Before the storm comes back?”
He brushes hair from my face, tucks it romantically behind my ear. “I know what you’re saying, Snapshot.”
“Snapshot?” I whisper.
“Your passion. The fact that every moment with you is like a snapshot I never thought a grim savage fuck like me would ever get. The fact I want tocaptureevery second like you capture your photographs. It’s a fitting nickname.”
Suddenly, he picks me up. It’s like I’m flying for a moment. Then I’m in his arms, his touch sinking insatiably into my legs, his thick fighter’s fingers claiming my thighs.
“Let’s get you home.” He breathes hard and hot. “But first…” He kisses me again with husky hunger, like he can’t go too long without our lips touching or he starts getting withdrawals. “You need to understand something. Those bastards could come back with ten of their friends and an arsenal of weapons, and I’d still force them to either apologize to you or swallow their damn teeth. That’s a promise.”
I squeeze my legs together, my entrance leaking and aching and tempting. Willing me to do it. Go all the way. Let him paint me with savage brushstrokes.
He carries me all the way home, kicks open the door to the lodge, and strides toward the staircase. Abby looks up from Monopoly and gasps. I give her a thumbs-up, exhilarated, drunk even. Drunk on this mountain man.
“Fuck,” he growls, when we’re finally alone in my bedroom.
His hands tear at my clothes between kisses. He pulls my hoodie over my head and then tears at my shirt like it owes him money. My bra comes loose when he bites on it, tears it with his teeth.
When my breasts spill free, he bends forward to take them in his mouth. Then he looks up at me with awe.
“Fucking hell. I could spend an hour just playing with these big juicy tits. Absolutely fuckingperfect.”
He pushes my breasts together like he’s been waiting his whole life for me. When he sucks my nipple, massaging the other, the sensation is new and exciting. My head swims.
“I need your pussy,” he moans, his hand sliding over my belly, toward my pants. “Hear that, Snapshot? Not want. Ineedyour tight little hole.”