“Yes, you did.” He drops his voice lower, lips brushing my ear. “You clenched around me. Hard.” His teeth graze my earlobe. “Every single time I said it.”
I squirm beneath him, embarrassed and turned on all over again. His cock twitches inside me, and I bite back another moan, my body already responding despite the oversensitivity.
“Shall we test that theory? See if I’m right?” His hand strokes my hair back from my face, the tenderness at odds with the devil in his eyes. “Good girl.”
The words send another pulse of heat through me, and he feels it, his eyes darkening with renewed hunger.
“What about the party?” The words come out strangled.
He chuckles, dark and amused, and plunges deeper inside of me. I moan, torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer, greedy for more.
“Mm.” Another slow thrust as he watches my face closely. “We’ll go. But next time…” He leans down, his breath hot against my ear. “Next time, I won’t let you leave.”
It’s a promise. Not just about tonight or tomorrow morning. About all of it. The disappearing, the pretending, the careful distance I’ve maintained.
Next time, he won’t let me leave.
And god help me, I don’t want him to.
Because for once in my life, I’ve taken something just for me. Something real. Something that makes me feel alive instead of invisible.
And it feels right.
It feels like I finally found a home I’d like to return to.
TWENTY-NINE
DAKOTA
Music pulses from the main lodge. Actual music. Julien’s fingers are loosely tangled with mine, the casual touch so new it sends electricity skating up my arm. His hair is still damp from our shower, darker, and I want to run my fingers through it again.
We reach the lodge’s wooden porch, steps creaking beneath our boots. Just as I reach for the door handle, Julien wrenches me sideways, around the corner where shadows pool deep against the log wall. His hands find my waist, backing me against rough wood as he crowds my space.
“Jul—”
He kisses me. Deep and thorough, tongue sweeping into my mouth like he owns it. Like he’s trying to memorize the taste of me. My hands fist in his shirt, yanking him closer even though there’s no space left between us. This still feels forbidden. Us, together, out in the open. Like any minute, someone will tear us apart, or I’ll wake up.
“We just showered,” I manage, lips tingling.
“I know.” He cups my jaw, his thumb brushing across my lower lip, and his eyes tracking the movement. “Can’t help it.Wanted you a little more to myself before we go in there. Can you blame me?”
Heat floods my cheeks. My core. Everywhere. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Maybe.” He kisses me again, softer this time. “But you’re here.”
I am. I’m here with him. Not disappearing. The realization makes my chest tight.
“Are you really okay?” I whisper, suddenly nervous. “With me staying with Amelia for now?”
His expression doesn’t change. “Yes.”
“Julien—”
“I understand you need more time.” His hand winds around the back of my neck, fingers tangling in my damp hair. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Thank you.” I rise onto my toes, pressing my lips against his in a kiss that turns deeper than I intended, his hand on my hair holding me in place.
The door beside us bangs open, spilling yellow lamplight and laughter into our hiding spot. We jump apart like teenagers caught by parents, and Sienna stumbles out, nearly tripping over her own feet, the plastic cup sloshing liquid on her hand.
