Page 47 of Where You Belong

His cologne mixed with the scent of his sweat sends my heart into a tailspin.

Lightning flashes behind him in the distance, but I’m incapable of taking my eyes off him.

“When I’m around you…” I exhale harshly. “It’s like nothing else exists outside of the two of us.”

Thunder follows, rumbling in the distance, growing closer to us this time.

I tilt my head back to peer up at him beneath my lashes. His eyes drop to my lips, and he subtly bites his own as if anticipating what I’m going to say next.

“I need you to help me forget everything right now.”

His breath feathers across my lips, pulling me closer to him. His nearness makes my senses spin.

“I’ll be whatever you need,” he vows.

He reaches his hands down, gripping my thighs to lift me into his arms. My legs circle his waist.

The rain beats down around us, hitting my face and wetting my hair. Neither of us stops; his tongue brushes across my lips, seeking entry.

“Corbin,” I groan, holding his face in my hands and opening my mouth to him. He presses his forehead against mine, releasing a strangled breath.

“God, I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this.”

He’s careful of his movements as he hurries up the steps, his grip on my thighs never waning. He reaches for the door handle, sending it slamming against the side of the house before springing shut behind us. We barely make it more than two steps inside before he has my back pressed against the wall.

“I need to feel you. Taste you. Every inch of your body.”

He helps me to my feet, but my legs feel like jelly under the haze of desire. I reach for the buttons on his shirt, attempting to quickly undo them before he bats my hand away and rips his shirt open. My jaw drops at the sound of the buttons hitting the hardwood floors.

“I can’t wait any longer.”

A smug smile spreads across his face. I lift the hem of my shirt over my head, tossing it on the floor next to us. He shrugs off his shirt, adding it to the pile before lifting me back into his arms. The coolness from the wall against my heated skin causes goose bumps to break across my body.

“Haelynn,” he moans, nipping and sucking along my shoulder toward my neck.

“Stay with me,” he mutters, the pain in his voice hitting me once again. “Promise me you’ll stay with me.”

I don’t know what to say, and I’m scared my honesty will pull us from the moment. I’m not ready to have this conversation yet. If this is the last night I’ll have with him, if it’s the last memory we’ll have together, I want to savor every second.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper against his lips, clutching his face in my hands. “There’s nowhere else I want to be.”

He sucks in a breath and squeezes his eyes shut, landing a kiss on my mouth. This time, it’s slow and full of passion. Each move is deliberate as if he’s trying to tell me something with his body.

I’m waiting for the moment when one of us makes the move and says what we’re both feeling out loud, but the thought scares me.

He grips my hips, wrapping his arm around my lower back, and carries me down the hallway. The farther we get into the house, the darker it is. But he leads the way, and I trust him.

The storm outside these four walls rages on like the one wreaking havoc on my mind, but I do my best to push it away.

He carries me into the bedroom. I spot the king-sized bed centered among the large bay windows with a small light near the corner, leading to what looks like a bathroom.

He sets me down on the edge of the bed, kissing me once again. My fingers reach out toward him, brushing against his belt. He dips his head to my shoulder, his breath coming out in heavy pants while I expertly try to unhook the buckle. He straightens, moving between my legs.

I gaze up at him beneath my eyelashes, unzipping his pants, then slipping my fingers into the front of his boxer briefs.

He sucks in a breath once again and squeezes his eyes shut when my fingers brush against his silky skin, gripping him in my fist.

“Dear God,” he chokes out.

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