“You’re allowed to breathe.”
Then her lips met mine. Tentative and testing.
I stilled, every instinct strained in two directions.
One toward the tent flap. One toward her.
This was not the time.Thiswas exactly the time. Because tomorrow might demand everything.
Her lips grazed mine again, the pressure firmer. My instincts demanded I take more this time, but I held back, clinging on by threads, because this was hers to choose. Hers to begin. If she wanted me, she’d find me waiting.
But a part of me was still listening beyond the tent walls. Still measuring the silence outside. Still ready to rise at the first sign of struggle.
I would not lose myself so completely that I failed her. Or Elias. Or the others.
Her mouth lingered against mine.
Heat simmered low in my chest, spreading with every hint of contact. Each press of her mouth sparked, every hesitant touch was like a promise I felt in my blood. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was a declaration, the kind that righted every wrong.
Then her tongue slid against mine, timid meeting hunger, and my world tilted.
And when she moaned, this soft, desperate sound, I shattered.
My control snapped. There was no space left for restraint, and I deepened the kiss until it burned. My hands roamed over her without thought, skimming over her curves through the thinbarrier of my shirt. Urgency flared hot and ready, every touch igniting more need, every brush of skin stoking a fire I couldn’t cage anymore.
I kissed her harder until I felt the edges of losing myself. I tore my mouth from hers, my chest heaving while I pressed my forehead to hers, trying to wrestle the hunger back down.
“If I don’t stop . . .” My voice came out frayed. “If I don’t stop now, I won’t.”
Her breaths were just as uneven while her lips trembled against mine. She leaned back, her eyes bouncing across my face. “I don’t want you to stop,” she whispered.
The words slammed into me, but I forced myself to stay still. I cupped her cheek. “Whatever you want, Lolli. I’m yours to command.”
Her attention went to my lips when I dragged my tongue across the seam. “I want everything with you, Brenton. I just don’t know what everything is. I’ve never—you’re the first male I’ve ever . . . anything.” She paused, as if she feared it would change the way I looked at her. “I think I’ll be a fast learner if you want to teach me.”
For several beats, I forgot to breathe. My vision narrowed to her. Only her. With awe.
“You’re . . .” My voice faltered.
Mine.
The word thundered in my chest. Yes, possession, but it was more than that. Privilege.
The knowledge that no one else had touched her like this. That I would be the first she trusted with something so intimate, so unguarded.
Pride flared sharp and hot in my blood. Protective. Reverent.
Dangerous.
With the tip of my finger, I traced the curve of her elongated canines. She shivered at my touch.
“I am honored,” I said. “And I will go slow,” I added, my voice roughened by something deeper than desire. “Only what you ask for. Nothing that you don’t.”
Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I winked. “I’m certain you’ll be a fine student and will have me at your mercy in record time.”
Her smile was coy, her eyes lit with amusement and desire as she ran her knuckles across my jaw. “I think I already do.”
My laugh came out thin and ragged.
