And when I stand alone in the hallway, rain tapping the windows, I let myself feel it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Abilene
Sunday
“Jesse?”
My voice sounds strange. Soft, breathless, like it’s been stolen from me and handed back in pieces.
I blink, trying to make sense of the shadows stretching across the horse stables, dust swirling in golden shafts of light.
Why are we here?
Why is he…
“Abilene,” Jesse murmurs, stepping toward me with that slow, confident walk he has, the one that always makes it seem like he’s approaching danger or desire, and he’s fine with either. “I couldn’t stay away any longer.”
I open my mouth to say something,anything, but the words dissolve when he reaches out and tucks a lock of hair behind my ear.
His touch is warm. Too warm. It sends a shiver racing down my spine.
“I think about you,” he whispers, “more than I should.”
My heart slams so hard against my ribs, I swear the horses can hear it.
“Jesse,” I breathe, “we shouldn’t be?—”
“I know,” he says, stepping closer, close enough that I can smell sun-warmed hay on his skin, close enough that his breath brushes my lips. “But I don’t care.”
His fingers skim down my jaw, and my knees go weak. The stables feel too small, the air overwhelming, my pulse too loud.
Jesse’s lips touch mine. The gentleness undoes me more than any force could. A soft sigh escapes me, and that’s all the permission he needs.
The kiss deepens.
Heat coils low in my belly as he pulls me closer, his hands sliding to my waist, fingers curling like he’s been waiting years just to touch me.
The stables disappear. Everything disappears.
There’s only the warm, urgent press of his mouth, the intoxicating taste of his breath, the way every inch of him is flame against my skin.
My hands go to his chest, solid, strong, familiar in a way that makes my stomach flip, and he groans against my lips, a sound that sends sparks racing through my blood.
“Oh, Abilene,” he whispers between kisses, “I’ve wanted this… wanted you…”
His mouth trails along my jaw, down my throat. My head tips back instinctively, a soft gasp escaping.
Everything feels unreal.
Too perfect.
Too heated.
Too…
A sudden shift.
