The silence swells.
But then his hand brushes my knee, slow, grounding. His voice deep. Gentle.Roughas sin.
“I’m not asking for forever, Noel.”
I look up.
His gaze pins me.
I don’t answer.
Because I don’t need to.
My body leans in for me.
Our mouths meet.
And we fall into something I know I’ll never recover from.
Chapter 14
Nash
She tastes like cinnamon and sugar and a challenge I didn’t know I needed until she slammed into my life in combat boots and a suitcase full of twinkle lights.
Noel Hart is chaos. Wrapped in red lipstick. Rolled in glitter. Glowing in firelight and humming with heat as her lips part beneath mine.
And I’m gone for her.
I’ve been resisting for days. Pretending I didn’t notice how her sweater dips off one shoulder, how good she looks in my flannel, or how she hums Christmas carols while rearranging my furniture like she owns the place. Like she belongs here.
Inmyspace.
Inmylife.
But right now, under the crackle of the fireplace and the howl of the winter storm outside, there’s no pretending.
My hands slide into her hair. Silken, wild, smells like cinnamon and cedar. She gasps softly when I tug just enough to tip her head back, giving me her throat like some offering I don’t deserve.
I press my mouth there instead. Kiss the spot below her ear. Taste her skin, feel her pulse.
She shudders in my arms.
“You don’t play fair,” she whispers, her voice a little breathless.
“Didn’t say I did.”
Her hands grip my shirt. Nails dig through the fabric. “You’re impossible.”
“And you’re still here.”
I pull back just far enough to see her eyes. Dark and wide and wanting.
“Say it,” I murmur.
“Say what?”
“That you want this. That you wantme.”
