“Yes. Thank you.” I lingered and glanced around the bedroom, looking for clues that might give me some insight. He was so closed off, but I wanted to know more.
“The fire’s going.” He came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. “I can get you a clean shirt. You don’t have to wear this one.”
I slowly turned around to face him. “I like this one. It smells like you.”
We were too close. I sucked in a breath while I waited for him to take a step back. Instead, his fingers cupped my chin, and he gently nudged my head back until I looked up and met his gaze.
He stared down at me, telling me with one look everything he’d never say with words. “I should take you into town.”
Held captive by the need in his eyes, I didn’t dare move. “Why?”
His hand moved up to smooth over my hair. As much as I wanted to turn my cheek into his palm, I stayed still. I was afraid if I moved, I’d break whatever spell had come over us and he’d back off. That was the very last thing I wanted.
“You’re not safe here.” His voice came out low and held an edge of warning.
I tipped my chin up even further, challenging him. “Not safe from what?”
“From me.” He shook his head, the movement so slight I might have even imagined it.
“You’re not going to hurt me.” Even as I said the words, I wasn’t sure I believed them. I knew he wouldn’t physically hurt me, but I got the sense he was completely capable of breaking my heart. But at that moment, I didn’t care. All I wanted was to bury myself in his arms and feel wanted for a little while. My entire world had gone to hell, and I needed to be reminded that I wasn’t a failure at everything.
“Last chance.” He put his hands on my waist and backed me up against the wall. “Tell me to take you to town, Joely. Tell me you don’t want me. Because if you let me kiss you, I’m not going to be able to stop.”
My arms snaked up his chest, and I clasped my hands together behind his neck. “Kiss me then.”
He waited, the moment stretching out like an eternity. Then he lowered his head. His whiskers brushed my cheek. His moustache tickled my lips. His hands clamped down on my hips. Then his lips met mine.
The kiss was tentative at first, a quick brush of our lips. Still, it sent need rippling through me. It had been a long time since I’d been with a man, and Thatcher wasn’t like any man I’d ever met. Everything about him was more intense… his size, his attitude, even the tone of his voice. It unraveled me.
He pulled back just enough to look me in the eye. Even though he didn’t say a word, the way he looked at me told me more than enough. He wanted me. Maybe almost as much as I wanted him. Whatever happened next, I’d chosen it. Chosen him. And I wasn’t going to regret a damn second of it.
His lips crashed down on mine again, this time hungry and needy. I slid my hands into the hair at the nape of his neck and arched my back against the wall, desperate to get closer.
In one fluid motion, he swept me off my feet without breaking our kiss. I held on tight as he carried me over to the bed and set me down in the center. He broke contact to kick the door shut then climbed onto the bed and hovered over me.
“I’ve been thinking about doing this since the first time I saw you outside the cafe,” he said. “You’ve had me tied into fucking knots.”
“Really?” A man like him? In knots over a woman like me? He had to be exaggerating. Or saying whatever he thought I might want to hear so he could get laid. But Thatcher didn’t strike me as the type of man who’d lie to get what he wanted.
He buried his nose in my hair like he didn’t want to come up for air. “Even the way you smell makes me hard. What the fuck is that?”
“Um, skunk scrub,” I teased.
Thatcher growled against my neck. The vibration rolled right through me. I put my hands on his cheeks and brought his face back to mine.
“Kiss me again.” It wasn’t a request.
CHAPTER 7
THATCHER
I’d warned her once I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop. Every kiss, every touch, every taste of her drove me more and more wild, sending me closer and closer to an edge I swore I’d never fall over again. But with Joely, I couldn’t help myself. She was sugar and spice all rolled into one. The combination was as sweet as it was intoxicating.
I didn’t give myself time to think. If I had, I never would have slid my hand under her shirt and trailed my finger up her belly and under the band of her bra. The soft moan she let out only fueled the fire that burned through me. She reached up and tugged at my shirt. If she wanted it gone, I wasn’t going to deny her.
I pulled it over my head and tossed it on the floor. “Your turn, sweetpea.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?” She shrugged out of my flannel and threw her shirt on top of mine.
