How had he ever thought he could deny himself this woman? How had he ever thought he’d be satisfied to simply watch her from the shadows?
They'd been destined to come here from the moment they set eyes on each other. To come together. From the first time they’d shaken hands, when their fingertips had touched and electricity had sparked, that invisible thread had been pulling them inexorably closer, steadily drawing them to this very spot.
This…This was meant to be. They were meant to find each other and know how hot passion could burn. They were meant to fire hot and flame out, like a shooting star.
The low moan at the back of her throat seemed to reverberate down into his balls, making him highly aware of how tight and heavy they were. It was enough of a distraction to have some good sense returning.
If this was all it would ever be, if all they had was this one night, he wouldn’t rush.
He would revel.
He would do everything he’d been dreaming of doing. He would touch every part of her. Taste each inch of her. Make her finish with his fingers and his mouth and his cock until every orgasm she had going forward reminded her of him.
Yes, even though he wasn’t the one for her, he wanted to be the one she remembered. The one she thought about on nights she was alone. The one who filled her fantasies when she rubbed herself to completion.
Maybe that was selfish. Maybe a better man wouldn’t want that for her. But he didn’t care.
All that mattered was making this night count.
All that mattered was making her his for these few, fleeting hours in the hopes she’d carry him with her through all the years to come. Because he knew he’d be carrying her with him for the rest of his life.
Pulling his mouth from hers took all the self-control he could muster. Then, he pressed his forehead to hers as their ragged breaths mingled.
“Don’t stop.” Her warm words feathered over his hungry lips.
“There’s no way I’m stopping.” His voice sounded like he’d dragged his vocal cords over shattered glass. “Not unless you tell me to. And if you do, I’ll likely walk funny for the next three weeks.”
She pulled back to study him. The firelight showed her eyes weren’t one shade of brown but hundreds. Caramel and toffy, chocolate and butterscotch. He could spend a lifetime looking into her eyes and never name all the sweetness he saw there.
“Then why did you pull away?” she whispered, her cheeks rosy with the warmth of passion.
“Because we’re going too fast. I don’t want to miss out on anything. I want to experience it all.” He brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “Will you let me?”
Her throat worked over a hard swallow. When she exhaled, it was ragged and smelled of hot chocolate. “I’ll let you do anything you want, Britt.”
“Then come with me.” He stood from the sofa and offered his hand.
She accepted without hesitation, and he felt a punch of satisfaction. When she obediently followed him to the pallet in front of the fireplace, lying down atop the soft quilt per his whispered instructions, he felt a wave of lust. But it was the moment she lifted a hand, silently beckoning him to join her, that made him feel something entirely new.
Something he’d never felt before.
He recognized it for what it was, though. And he wasn’t proud to admit it wasn’t a modern or an enlightened emotion. It was animalistic. Primal.
He wanted toclaim. He wanted to mate. He wanted to possess her body and soul until every inch of her was imprinted with him. He wanted…
Her.
That was the simple truth of it. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his whole damn life. And every second he wasn’t touching her, wasn’t kissing her, wasn’t making her moan his name in ecstasy, was time wasted.
Quickly crossing to the bedroom door, he shoved the wooden doorstop beneath the crack. It wouldn’t stop the bedroom’s occupants from exiting the room, but it would slow them down enough to allow Britt and Julia to cover themselves.
Then he turned to make his way back to the pallet and the woman who waited for him with open arms and a vixen’s smile.
22
The flames in the hearth crackled softly. But it was the fire inside Julia that held her attention. It moved through her veins like molten honey—liquid and glowing.
Her heart thrummed inside her chest with a wild, insistent beat. Her breaths came fast and shallow, the air filling her lungs tinged with the taste of the burning wood and the lingering flavor of his kiss.
