“Is this what you wanted when you ran?” he asks.
I nod, barely.
“Words.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, it’s what I wanted.”
The words spill out before I can think, the sound of them stealing what’s left of my breath. He rewards me with a soft growl, the kind that starts deep in his chest and slides right down my spine.
“That’s my good boy.”
He lets the words hang there, heavy and warm in the cold air. Then his hand slides down, tracing my side, fingers curling at my waist. My shirt rides up a little, the shock of icy air hitting bare skin just before his glove presses flat against it.
I gasp.
He doesn’t say anything, just watches me flinch and shiver and arch back toward him like some part of me can’t help it.
“Look at you,” he whispers. “So damn pretty out here. Breath coming apart, trying so hard to behave.”
He grips my hip and hauls me back against him, just enough for me to feel the solid heat of him through our layers. I can’t hold back the noise that tears out of me, a half-gasp, half-moan that gets lost in the wind.
“Still want to play, baby?” he asks.
I nod again.
He slides the mask up and tugs the bottom of his balaclava up, just enough that I can see his mouth and the lower half of his face. His lips are red from the chill and his stubble is freezing from the cold air hitting the sweat. When he leans in, he rips the part of my mask that covers my mouth down and slams his lips to mine. The kiss is rough and deep, all teeth and breath and heat.
It’s nothing gentle. It’s a claim.
He’s claiming his prize.
Me.
When he pulls back, my lips feel numb and swollen.
“You’re mine,” he says quietly, thumb brushing over my mouth. “It doesn’t matter if we are up here, alone in thesnow-covered woods, or back home with you at college playing basketball and me working… living our normal lives.Eres mío, Caleb.”
“Si, soy tuyo,”I whisper.
“Say it again.”
“I’m yours.”
His eyes flare behind the mask, that electric blue catching on snowflakes like firelight.
“Don’t you forget it, baby. I’m never giving you up. I may have to hide it until you’re comfortable. But that doesn’t change the fact that nobody will ever touch you the way I do.” He shifts behind me, easing me down until I’m half on my stomach, my body molded to the snow. It’s almost like he’s getting ready to take me from behind. My pulse is thrumming and inside my head, I’m screaming for him to take me. His weight comes down over me, not crushing, but enough to remind me just how much stronger he is, how easily he could keep me here.
How safe that makes me feel.
His hand curls around the fabric of the back of my mask and turns my head to the side. “Still with me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Don’t move.”
