She swallows hard.
I don’t rush her. I just… wait.
Because this moment matters. After all the teasing. The games. The mistletoe and the cookies and the near-kisses and slow burn, this is the line we’re crossing.
Together.
“I want you,” she whispers. “God help me, but I do.”
My control snaps like dry pine in the fireplace.
I haul her into my lap in one smooth pull. She gasps, then straddles me like she’s done it before. Like she’smeantto be here.
I palm her hips. Thumbs press into the waistband of her leggings.
“Noel,” I growl, low in her ear. “Tell me to stop.”
“No,” she breathes. “Don’t stop. Not now. Not again.”
Her mouth crashes into mine.
Hot. Desperate. Hungry.
I kiss her like a starving man. Like she’s the first taste of something I thought I’d never get again—joy, warmth,touch. Her body molds to mine, perfect and pliant, grinding slow over the thick ridge of my cock under my jeans.
She gasps when I thrust up against her. “You’re?—”
“Big?” I smirk.
“Cocky,” she snaps, blushing.
“You haven’t seen cocky yet, tinsel girl.”
I slide my hands under her flannel, slowly dragging it up, exposing inches of soft, warm skin. She shivers—but not from the cold. My palms trace her sides, up to the clasp of her bra.
Then—
A knock.
A pounding knock at the cabin door.
We freeze.Again.
I growl, forehead against hers. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Another knock.
Muffled voice outside: “Hey, Nash? It’s Mabel! That road by the north ridge is blocked again, an evergreen toppled under the weight of the ice. Thought you’d wanna know?—”
Noel covers her mouth, trying not to laugh.
I sigh, then shout, “Thanks, Mabel! Appreciate it!”
“Alright, well—sorry to bother you two!”
Two. Christ. The whole damn town knows.
I look back at Noel.
