“Definitely not, but there’s a silver lining to almost getting got…”
Grinning, I rolled over to pin Connor to the blanket. His blue eyes were bright in the moonlight, something flashing in them before I leaned down and kissed him. “What’s the silver lining?” I murmured, able to feel his heart beating against his chest.
It dared my pulse to match his.
In response, Connor tangled our legs together and used his strength to flip us over so that we were side to side. “Must I really spell it out?” he whispered, our foreheads now pressed together.
“Of course,” I teased. “To ensure we’re on the same page.”
As if the heat building between us wasn’t proof enough.
His hand found mine again, but instead of lacing our fingers, Connor stroked the inside of my wrist with his thumb. It sent ripple after ripple up my spine. “The silver lining,” he began, voice low and a little strained, “is…”
I didn’t let him finish; instead, I grabbed his face and kissed him so he would see more stars. Half a heartbeat later, he kissed me back, and then we were kissing each other like we were running out of starlight. Connor’s tongue slipped inside my mouth, sweet but persistent, and it sent my pounding pulse straight up to the sky. My fingers tangled themselves in his hair, trying to pull him closer than close.
Distantly, I heard a dog bark.
Please, I thought.Please stay far away from us.
We shifted so that Connor was on top of me, the weight of his body a calm but also exhilarating feeling. Every inch of me was alive, my senses in overdrive. He tasted like hot chocolate,and I was consumed by the amazing but indiscernible scent of his shampoo, citronella candles, and the briny island air—and best of all, something that was just Connor McCallister. His five-o’clock shadow rubbed against my skin, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t get enough of him.
“Do—you—want—to—go—inside?” he asked when we finally pulled apart to breathe.
“Oh.” I blinked, my mind moving a hundred miles a minute. “Oh.”
“We don’t have to,” Connor said quickly. “I know the timing is—well, we’ve only known each other two weeks.” He started tripping over his words. “And I don’t want to rush—I mean, pressure—you, and despite what some people believe, Inevermove this fast. I don’t want you to think that, but we’re here and we’re alone and—”
“Connor.” I covered his mouth with my hand. “Calm down.”
He nodded, then he melted into a smile against my palm when I flicked my gaze toward the tent. He was right; we might’ve had a long history, but we’d only truly known each other two weeks. Less.
It was safe to say the upstanding young woman somewhere inside me was not impressed.
But I wanted this. Spellbinding magic had been sprinkled in my veins, and my expanding heart felt like a balloon about to pop. From my head to my toes to the depths of my core, I wanted to make the most of this moment with Connor.
I removed my hand from his mouth, and said, “Ask me again.”
He was quick. “Do you want to go inside?”
I answered him with a light brush of my lips, then unzipped the tent myself.
* * *
Afterward, our limbs were entwined in a single sleeping bag. My body had liquefied at Connor’s touch, and now my pulse felt faint, in tune with his slow and steady breathing.What a wonderful way to fall asleep, I dozed, my head against Connor’s chest. I wanted nothing more than for his heartbeat to lull me to sleep.
If only that dog weren’tstillbarking.
Someone was out looking for it now. “Loki!” we heard a man and woman shout every other minute. “Loki,come!”
Their calls and whistles seemingly went unanswered.
“So,” Connor ventured once it was clear we weren’t drifting off to dreamland anytime soon. He yawned. “What’d you and Mads talk about earlier?”
“Earlier?” I asked, because dinner now felt like three years ago.
“Yeah, while I visited the outhouse.”
I willed myself not to clam up, Mads’s words haunting me all over again.
