But chemistry crackled between us.
The kind of desire that could remake a person from the inside out.
Before I could second-guess the impulse, my fingers brushed the stubble on his jaw. Bexley went still, every line of him tightening. Then his gaze dropped to my mouth, and he closedthe small distance between us. His lips brushed mine in the softest kiss I’d ever imagined.
The moment our mouths met, heat rippled through me and stole my breath. I made a small, needy sound in the back of my throat that I couldn’t have stopped if I tried, and Bexley’s restraint snapped.
His hand slid to the back of my neck, guiding me closer as he deepened the kiss. It quickly turned hungry and urgent, like he’d been holding himself back for much longer than the short time we’d known each other.
I melted into him, clutching at his shirt, but he tore his mouth from mine.
“Bexley?” My voice came out breathless. “Did I do something wrong?”
He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut for a second before looking at me again. “No. Not at all.”
I waited for him to pull me back in and kiss me again, but he didn’t move. Instead, he swallowed hard, tension radiating from him in waves. “Rowan, before this goes any further, there’s something I need to tell you.”
6
BEXLEY
Rowan sat in front of me on the rug, the firelight brushing her cheeks with warmth. Every instinct I had screamed to close the distance again. Her lips were still parted from our kiss, swollen and pink. Her breath came in soft, uneven pulls that punched straight through my control.
Instead, I forced myself to sit back before I lost the thin thread of restraint I had left.
Rowan blinked at me, confusion clouding her hazel eyes. “What could be so important that you’d stop kissing me to talk?”
The hurt was clear in her voice.
I exhaled shakily and lowered my gaze for a second, because one more look at her kiss-bruised mouth and I was going to give in. “I didn’t stop because of you.”
She scooted the tiniest bit closer, just an inch, but it was enough that my bear nearly ripped free of my skin.
Confusion shone in her eyes, and her warm scent wrapped around my senses, making it nearly impossible to breathe. My bear was practically frothing at the mouth.
I dragged a hand through my hair and forced myself to meet her gaze. “I want you too much.”
She licked her lips, her gaze flicking to my mouth and back up again. “Then stopping makes even less sense.”
She had no idea how close she was to being pinned beneath me on this rug. Or what that kiss had ignited inside me. I had to tell her the truth before my control snapped completely and my polar did something we couldn’t take back.
I drew in a slow breath, steadying myself. If I took one wrong step, I could scare her off.
“Did you notice anything unusual between us?”
“Yeah.” Her lashes lowered, then lifted again, and she nodded. “I wouldn’t have kissed you otherwise. I’ve never felt anything like this before.”
Soon, she would understand why I was the only man who would ever spark desire in her.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks pink. “Is that why you stopped? Because the connection felt too intense?”
“In a way.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “Relationships start differently here in Timber Ridge. Things move quickly.”
Rowan let out a startled laugh. “I mean, yeah. I can definitely see that. I met you less than twenty-four hours ago, and we’ve already spent the night together and kissed. That’s pretty fast, Bexley.”
“Even faster than that.”
Her eyes widened as she whispered, “Really?”
