“The middle of nowhere?”
Her laugh hits me low in the gut, and my cock is instantly at attention.
She glances over, her eyes bright in the firelight. “I guess you’re not the only one who likes a challenge.”
I nod. Impressed. Because Rock Creekisa challenge. No matter how you look at it.
“When I was young, we’d come and visit my uncle out here. I always thought he had the coolest job. He used to let me come along sometimes and seeing him work is a big part of why I wanted to be a vet in the first place. So, when he told me he was getting ready to retire, I jumped at the opportunity to prove to him that I have what it takes to make it here.”
She definitely has what it takes. I knew it the moment she stood up to me, unwilling to back down to a grumpy old cowboy.
“You do,” I say simply.
“I do?”
I nod and focus on the fire again.
“Thank you.” She sounds surprised.
Silence settles around us again. The logs in the fire crack and pop; the wind still beats against the house. Every breath she takes echoes in my chest.
“I keep telling myself to stay away from you, Anna,” I admit quietly. “But every time I see you, for the life of me, I can’t remember why.”
Her breath catches with my admission. “Wyatt…”
“God help me, Anna.” I turn to face her on the couch. “I want to kiss you.” The words are rough, drawn straight from a place deep inside me I’ve been fighting to ignore for far too long.
“Why don’t you?”
Her question sends a jolt through me. Still, I hold myself back.
“Because if I do,” I say, my voice gruff and only barely controlled. “I don’t think I’ll be able to stop with just a kiss.”
For a second, I’m afraid she’ll jump up from the couch and put space between us to prevent exactly that from happening.Instead, she leans in closer and whispers, “Good. I don’t want you to stop.”
There are a million reasons why I shouldn’t, including the fact that I’m so much older than her, and she’s a guest in my home, but I don’t care.
When I reach for her, she meets me halfway. Somehow, I manage to set both of our glasses on the table in front of us before sliding my hand around the back of her head and pulling her in close. Her fingers tangle into my hair.
Her breath catches as she looks into my eyes, and that’s it. Whatever thin thread of control I have left snaps, and I crash my mouth to hers.
The kiss isn’t sweet or tender or any of the things it should be. I can’t help myself. Her taste hits me like the sweet bite of the first sip of whiskey.
It burns. It’s dangerous.
I need more.
She gasps against my lips as I devour her, only breaking long enough to whisper her name on a breath. She’s trembling in my hands, but not from fear. It’s the same tremor I feel in my own body. Like weneedthis.
“Anna…” I whisper against her throat, hardly recognizing the need in my voice. “You’re sure? I don’t know if I can?—”
“Don’t stop.”
A growl rumbles from deep inside me as I claim her mouth with my own once more. It’s all I need to hear. I haul her up onto my lap, my fingers gripping her waist, my fingers sinking into the soft flesh of her hips.
She groans against my mouth as I deepen the kiss.
When her legs give way and she straddles my lap, her heat pressing down against my aching, hard cock, it’s me who groans.
