“Damian,” she chides, turning to glare at me before realizing that she’s looking and spinning around again. “We decided this wasn’t a good idea, remember.”
Of course I remember. First of all, it was yesterday. Second of all, my cock hasn’t let me forget its plight ever since.
“I was kidding,” I say, getting my briefs and jeans on quickly. “I’m decent. It’s safe to look again.”
Brielle turns around, her gaze glued to my bare chest before it snaps back up to my face, a smug tilt pulling at my lips.
“You don’t kid.” Her huffy attitude only makes my smirk grow wider.
“Must be all the fresh mountain air,” I say. But I know that isn’t it. It’s her. When I’m with her, she makes me feel lighter, like I can be myself. Her refusal to back down to me, ever, makes me respect her even more.
Brielle sits on the bed while I finish getting dressed.
“Did you have a good time ice fishing?” she asks, cradling her foot in herhand.
“It went better than I expected. As long as Stephen doesn’t convince Leon to abandon this deal out of spite.” Her head snaps up, slack-jawed and appalled. I laugh and then recount how it’s common for fishermen to keep score of their catches. Stephen snagged a big catch early on, and both he and Leon were poking fun at how shitty I was at it. I had waited for the bristles to start, the contempt of humiliation, but when they grinned and clapped my back before showing me the ropes, I realized those feelings never materialized. When I hauled in the last catch of the day and it blew Stephen’s fish out of the water… the look on his face was priceless.
Brielle’s face lights up at my story, her laughter singing in my blood. I wish I was a funnier guy just so I could make her shine like that all the time.
I catch my errant thought and put it firmly in the box in the back of my mind. The one with a broken latch that isn’t doing its job keeping thoughts of Brielle at bay.
“What about you?”
“We took Maggie on a treasure hunt through the woods. It was fun. Maggie was so excited when she was able to identify a pine tree all on her own,” she laughs, her thumb rubbing small circles along the sole of her foot.
I take the seat next to her on the bed, our shoulders touching. “Those boots you brought were a mistake.”
“Always so judgy on my footwear,” she bites back, playfully bumping her shoulder into mine.
“Give me,” I tell her.
Her eyes widen, and she looks at me like she isn’t sure she heard me right. I gesture with my hands for her to give me her foot. She scoots back, turning sideways, and lays her delicate foot on my lap.
I rub my thumbs up the bottom of her foot, following the curve of her arch.
Brielle let out a breath, her eyes on me. I do it again, starting from her heel and pressing my thumbs into the sole of her foot as I make my way up to her toes. This time, she closes her eyes and moans.
I take my time, massaging, exploring every curve. With her eyes closed, I let my gaze trace over her features without reservation. Light freckles dot the bridge of her nose. Her wide mouth curls in a small smile, caramel-brown hair piled in a knot on the top of her head.
After a few minutes, I put her foot down gently and pull her other leg to me.
Brielle is fully lying down now, a blissful look on her face. Her hands are cupped behind her head as I continue to work the pressure points on her foot. An alternate life, a different version of me, could see the appeal of having a woman like her in my life.
I lift her foot and place a soft kiss to her sole before lowering it again.
“Damian Edgerton has a squishy, soft heart underneath all that dark intensity. Who knew?” The sparkle in her eyes is like a warm caress to my cold, dead heart.
I grip her waist and playfully haul her down the bed toward me. Her face alights with laughter. Her arms are stretched above her head. I twist myself around, leaning over her, and gather her wrists in my hand, pinning her to the bed.
“Don’t go around telling people, Brielle. You’ll ruin my reputation as the scary devil in charge. No one can know.”
Her chest rises and falls, those deep blue eyes locked on mine. “I kind of thought that applied to everything this weekend. When this is over, we forget it ever happened.” Her breath tickles my lips as my face hovers over hers. I can see the pulse point on her throat beating fast. I wrap my fingers around it, feeling the beat of it thrum through me.
“When this weekend is over,” I repeat. She’s laid out beneath me, her arms pinned above her head, her face flushed, eyes heavy with desire. Her knees tip apart, letting me fall between her legs.
I close the distance between us, capturing her lips with mine. The taste of her sends my body into overdrive, but as much as I want to ravage her, I know this is probably my last opportunity to take this from her. I want to take my time, to savor it.
Brielle tries to take control of the kiss despite being pinned beneath me. I don’t relent, keeping the kisses slow and deep. She fights dirty though, wrapping her legs around me, pulling us together.
