“I…I do not—"
“You do.”
My breath caught, the room tilted, and he pulled me in.
Not roughly.
Not hesitantly.
Purposefully.
His hand slid around my waist, and his other cupped my jaw as my body hit his in a rush of heat and electricity that stole my breath.
His lips swept over mine softly at first, testing, and I let out a little breath.
Carson’s eyes steadied on mine right before he kissed me.
It wasn’t like last time.
There was no hesitation or town cheering through the windows.
This kiss was deeper, hotter, and far too devastating.
His lips claimed mine with slow, deliberate hunger. It felt like the kind that said he’d been thinking about this for eons.
Maybe that was why he’d been avoiding me.
His thumb swept along my jawline, and my knees nearly buckled.
I curled my fingers into his shirt, pulling him closer, giving in to the want inside of me. He groaned softly against my mouth, and the sound went straight through me.
Everything else fell away. The lodge, the office, tomorrow morning’s guests, the rules we’d written just to shatter all fell away.
There was only Carson.
His breath, his hand, and his mouth with mine, like he already knew exactly how to unravel me.
Carson deepened the kiss, tilting my chin up, pressing me gently into the cabinet, and I gasped softly against his lips.
He swallowed the sound as heat pooled low in my stomach. My heart pounded so hard I felt it in my fingertips.
He kissed me like he meant it, like he wanted it…like he’d been restraining himself for far too long and the thought nearly did me in.
When he finally pulled back, barely, just enough to breathe, his gaze stayed on mine.
We were both breathing hard, and I didn’t move.
Neither did he.
His voice was rough when he spoke. “We’re terrible at rules.”
I laughed breathlessly. “We didn’t even make it five minutes.”
“Probably a record for us,” he murmured.
I swallowed, dizzy, overwhelmed, wanting more than I should let myself want.
“We really shouldn’t do that again,” I whispered.
