‘Inside,’ she gasped, breaking away, but Alice caged her back in. Her lips never left Briar’s skin, skirting across her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids, mouthing along her jaw, and biting the lobe of Briar’s ear. ‘Please.’
Briar breathed out the word, and Alice trembled against her, her head finally lifting to meet Briar’s gaze. She looked wild, her eyes dark and heady, and Briar lost her ability to think.
Alice dragged her the final few yards to the cabin. They pulled at each other’s clothes, stripping bare and falling into bed. Briar’s hands skimmed over Alice’s curves, unable to get enough of her.
‘You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about this,’ Alice murmured, her thumb rubbing along Briar’s lower lip where it had split. Giddiness filled her at the words. Briar had thought about it too, too many times to count. But she’d never expected to hear the admission from Alice.
She parted her lips obediently, and Alice’s eyes flashed as she dipped her thumb into Briar’s open mouth. Briar sucked, tasting the saltiness of Alice’s skin, and couldn’t stop herself from moaning.
‘I’ve got you,’ Alice whispered, kissing her neck. Her hands drifted down Briar’s body, leaving fire in their wake. And wherever her hands went, her mouth followed.
Not a single inch of Briar’s body was left untouched, except for the one place she needed it the most.
‘Ally,’ she begged, running her hands through Alice’s impossibly soft hair, tugging on it, trying to get Alice to move from where she was biting a mark into Briar’s hip. Alice glanced up at her wickedly. ‘Please,’ Briar groaned, feeling like she might burst.
And then, finally,finally,Alice’s mouth met her center, and Briar lost all sense of herself. Her hands fisted into the bedsheets, feeling like she was being held together by Alice’s fingers, her impossibly hot hands holding down her hips and keeping her tethered to the world.
Chapter 23
Briar
Alice was gone when Briar woke up, and she wasn’t in their cabin when Briar returned from breakfast, either. Just as she was about to go find her, the phone rang.
‘Hello, Briar speaking,’ she said.
‘Oh, Ms. Elwood,’ came a British voice from the other end. Dread immediately set in. ‘I’ve been trying to reach you.’
‘Mr. Lavish, how are you?’ Briar said, injecting false cheer into her tone.
Mr. Lavish was the lawyer who’d been handling her mom’s estate. Briar had been dodging his calls since he’d met with the appraiser the week before.
‘I’m well, dear,’ Mr. Lavish said. ‘I’ve found you a buyer.’
Briar blanched. ‘Really?’
She’d convinced herself there was no harm in going through the motions of selling the camp: appraising it, consulting Mr. Lavish and discussing it with her family. But at no point had she considered that there would be a buyer so soon. Her mother hadn’t even been in the grave for two months.
Mr. Lavish pressed on, oblivious to Briar’s spiral. ‘He’s a local businessman from Virginia. He saw the photos and he’s excited to use the land for his hunting parties. Says he’s willing to offer five per cent over asking.’
‘Hunting parties.’ Briar’s voice was an octave higher than usual. She glanced around the hallway, trying to imagine what it would look like with taxidermized deer heads hanging from the walls. ‘Wow.’
‘He wants to see the property. Is there a time that works best for you?’
‘Um,’ Briar said, trying not to think about the rabbits currently making a home in the stump outside being strung up for sport. ‘The session ends August first.’
‘Perfect,’ Mr. Lavish said. ‘I’ll send the details. Sorry, I’ve got to run. We’ll talk soon.’
Briar listened to the dial tone for a moment before taking a breath and dialing a new number.
‘Bri?’ Laurel’s tone was bright on the other end of the line. ‘How are you? Haze, come here.’
‘We’re in Bath!’ Hazel announced.
‘I’ve had some news,’ Briar said, not able to soften the blow. There was a long pause, and Briar knew the twins were exchanging a look, silently conversing in a way that had always made her jealous. ‘There’s a buyer.’
‘Oh,’ Hazel said. Briar wished she could see them, cursing the landline for being her sole connection to her family. She wanted nothing more than to be with them right now. ‘I mean, Dad said there might be, but I thought it’d fall through.’
‘Well, it didn’t.’ She sighed, pinching her nose and gritting her teeth through the next sentence: ‘I think I’m gonna do it. Sell it—’
