“Me too.” I rise on my toes, kiss him gently. “This is the best date I’ve ever had.”
He smiles full, unguarded. “Yes, it is.”
My heart soars as we walk back to his cabin, hand in hand, the night full of promise.
Chapter five
Nathan
The fire has settled into a steady, low glow. Orange light moves slowly across the walls and over Katy’s skin, turning everything soft and golden. She is curled against my chest on the couch, her head resting right over my heart, one leg draped across mine beneath the heavy wool blanket. Bear snores quietly on the rug in front of the hearth, completely unaware that the silence I once clung to like armor is being rewritten in this very moment.
Her fingers draw slow, absent circles over my sternum, right through the thin cotton of my thermal. Every pass sends warmth spreading outward from the point of contact. I can feel her heartbeat against my ribs, steady and slightly quick. Mine answers in the same uneven rhythm.
I press my lips to the crown of her head and breathe her in her vanilla scent, a faint trace of woodsmoke, the clean warmth of her skin.
“You okay?” I ask quietly.
She tilts her face up. Her green eyes catch the firelight and hold it. “More than okay,” she answers, voice soft and a little rough. “I’m perfect.”
The word lands somewhere deep inside me. I believe her. Completely.
I lower my head and kiss her. It begins gently, just the slow press of lips, the quiet exchange of breath. She sighs against my mouth, a small sound that travels straight through my chest. Her hand slides up to cradle my jaw, thumb brushing the edge of my beard. The kiss deepens naturally, tongues touching, tasting, lingering. She makes another soft, needy noise, and something inside me gives way.
My hands move of their own accord, sliding down her back, learning the gentle curve of her spine, the flare of her hips beneath the sweater. She arches into my touch, pressing herself closer, and I feel the heat of her body through our clothes.
I pull back far enough to look at her. Her cheeks are flushed, lips swollen and shining, eyes dark with want.
“Tell me to stop,” I say, voice low and rough. “Anytime. Just say the word.”
She shakes her head. Her fingers slide into my hair. “Don’t stop. Please, Nathan, don’t stop.”
I kiss her again, deeper now, hungrier. I ease her back against the couch cushions. She goes willingly, pulling me down with her until I am settled between her thighs. The blanket slips away. I brace myself on one forearm and use my other hand to slowly push her sweater up, revealing soft skin that glows in the firelight.
She is beautiful. Every curve, every gentle swell, every inch of her.
I trail my mouth down her throat, tasting the faint salt of her skin, feeling the rapid flutter of her pulse beneath my tongue. She gasps when I nip lightly at the place where neck meets shoulder, then soothes the spot with slow, open-mouthed kisses. My hand slips beneath her bra. I cup her breast, thumb circlingthe nipple until it tightens. She arches, whispering my name like it is the only word she remembers.
“You are so beautiful,” I murmur against her collarbone. “So soft. So perfect.”
I push the sweater higher, kissing every new inch of skin I uncover: the center of her chest, the gentle rise of her breasts, the tender valley between them. When I tug the bra down and take one nipple into my mouth, she cries out, sharp and surprised. I suck gently at first, then with more pressure, rolling the peak with my tongue while my hand kneads the other breast.
Her fingers tighten in my hair, holding me there. “Nathan,” she breathes. “God, yes.”
I move to the other side, giving it the same careful attention, worshipping her slowly, deliberately, until she is trembling beneath me, hips rocking in small, helpless motions.
I kiss lower, across the soft plane of her stomach. I trace the dip of her waist with my thumbs, then hook my fingers into the waistband of her jeans.
“Look at me,” I say.
She does. Her eyes are glassy, lips parted, chest rising and falling quickly.
“I want to taste you,” I tell her. “I want to feel you come on my tongue. I want to make you shake.”
Her breath catches. “Yes. Please.”
I unbutton her jeans and draw them down her thighs along with her panties. Slowly. Reverently. When she is bare before me, legs parted, skin flushed from chest to thighs, I pause. I let myself look. Really look. She is breathtaking.
I settle between her legs, shoulders spreading her wider, and begin with slow kisses along the inside of her knee, then higher, trailing open-mouthed caresses up her inner thigh. She trembles beneath my mouth. I can smell how aroused she is, sweet and heady.
