“Then don’t,” Rowan softly said. He shifted his body to rest against mine and stared up at the sky. “I reckon if you tried, it’d hurt him too.”
“What do you mean?”
“That ache you mentioned? If he’s anything like me, he feels it every time he thinks of you.” He took hold of my nape and brought me closer, our faces inches apart. “It was that way for me, remember? I tried to stay away from you in the beginning,but you consumed my every thought. Every damn thing reminded me of you, Evan, and each of them stirred something in me I’d never felt before. Soon, each day without you felt like a gnawing in my chest I couldn’t ease. A pain that wouldn’t go away no matter how much rum I drank to try to forget you.”
“Ro.” Emotion clogged in my throat.
“So you see?” His breath tickled my lips. “I was yours from the moment I jumped from that branch and Evan-napped you. Just as I’m sure he feels you were his from the second he laid eyes on you in the dark wood.”
Warmth filled my chest. “I’m glad you couldn’t stay away.”
“As am I.” Rowan leaned in and ghosted his mouth over mine. He smelled like black cardamom and rum. “Going all-in with you is the best decision I ever made.”
Our lips met a beat later. He nipped at them and brushed his tongue against the seam of my mouth before pushing me to my back on the soft grass. The emotion welling in the base of my throat caused a quake as I kissed him back.
“None of that now.” He swept his thumb along the edge of my eye, catching a tear. “There are enough toads in this pond. We don’t need a sad one to add to the chorus of croaks.”
A short laugh broke through that lump. “I’m not sad. Just… happy you’re here. With me.”
His smirk vanished, revealing something achingly tender in his topaz eyes. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. I saw that same happiness staring back at me as he pinned me down and straddled my hips.
When he met me for another kiss, it was rougher than before. Rowan didn’t do soft and gentle. Wasn’t his style. He liked it hard, with teeth scraping skin and fingertips digging into hips hard enough to leave bruises.
Just one of the things that differentiated my men. They were each so different in bed. And I loved it. Couldn’t get enough.
The night air chilled my skin as Rowan slid his hands beneath my tunic, traveling up my ribs and to my chest. He tweaked both of my nipples, and I groaned and arched up into him, forgetting all about the chilly, spring night air.
“Such a needy little treasure,” he said, smirking down at me. “What am I gonna do with you?”
“Well, you being on top of me is a good start.” I rested my hands on his hips and tipped my head back, admiring him. Moonlight kissed his dark skin and caught on his auburn hair, bringing out the various shades of red. “Kissing me would be even better.”
“Is that right?” He flashed my favorite tooth. “That won’t come cheap. What will you give me for it?”
I rolled my hips up, causing him to arch his back and briefly close his eyes. He came back down, his body flush to mine, and claimed my mouth for another scorching hot kiss. Sparks shot through my bloodstream. His skin ran hotter than my other men, like he was made of fire, and as we grinded together on the grass and kissed, that fire seeped into me.
My head spun. With arousal as my blood rushed south. With the heat of him. I wanted to sink into that heat and let it consume me.
“Breathe, little treasure,” he murmured against my lips before pulling one between his teeth. “Or you really will croak like a toad.”
I sputtered out a laugh. “Was too excited to breathe.”
“What are you, a damn virgin?” He grazed his teeth along my jaw and rolled his hips, grinding against my erection. “Because I remember fucking you in a tub only a few days ago.”
“Been too long,” I said with a pant, my chest squeezing tight. I inwardly cursed the clothing separating us. Cursed the damn inventor of clothes while I was at it. How dare they.
“You had a cock in your ass last night.” He exhaled against my neck. “Several, in fact. Hasn’t been long at all since you’ve blown your load.”
“One in my ass, sure, but I want my cock inyou.”
Rowan lifted up just enough to see my face. “My, my. What a nasty mouth you have. You should know I’m a gentleman.”
I laughed again. “My gentleman thief.”
“Always.” He brushed his lips across mine but didn’t join them. “You’re my home, little treasure. As long as you’re safe, the rest of the world can burn for all I care.”
Spoken like a true morally grey hottie—one of my major weaknesses when it came to book boyfriends. That and villains with sharp jawlines.
After kissing me hard, he trailed his lips to my chin, then down my neck. His hands roamed my sides before meeting at the front of my trousers and unfastening the strings that held them together.
