When her tongue tangles with mine, the taste of her is a shock to my system, erasing every ghost of my past. My chest heaves against hers, my heart hammering so hard against my ribs it feels bruised. I shift my weight, settling heavier between her thighs, and a low, guttural groan tears from my chest when she responds by locking her fingers tighter in my hair.
She isn't just letting this happen; she's burning right along with me.
Chapter seven
Lucia
I've doomed myself. I'm entirely sure of it, but there's no stopping now. No turning back. IneedDawson.
He's so careful, making room for his body between my thighs. One small shift of his body is all it takes to reveal what a few kisses do to him. I can't blame him, not when my skin is currently flushed and feeling on fire.
I want him to touch me. Not just on my face, but on the rest of me.
I bend my knee, trying to shift closer, but a sharp flare of pain shoots straight up my leg. A tiny groan slips past my lips—halfpain, half pure frustration—and Dawson freezes instantly. The heavy warmth of his body pauses, his uneven breathing fanning over my face in ragged pants.
Before he can pull away and change his mind entirely, I'm reaching out to him. Not wanting this to already stop, I lean up to meet him.
"I'm fine." Before the reassurance can barely leave my mouth, his large hands hook beneath my thighs and lower back.
With a single, effortless tuck of his arms, he lifts me clear off the cushions. The sudden rush of being airborne makes me gasp right against his lips, my fingers instantly clawing into the solid muscle of his shoulders for balance.
"The couch is too small to risk hurting yourself." Explaining himself in small grumbles, he moves us in the direction of his bedroom. The same place we'd spent far too long kissing this morning.
Once he gently sets me down against the rumpled blankets, he’s right back on top of me, his heavy frame settling flush between my thighs. Instead of kissing my lips, his mouth drags slowly down my cheek, leaving a trail of scorching heat before finding the hollow of my throat where my pulse is racing wildly.
My body arches on instinct, curling up to meet his mouth as he inches lower. When his lips press against my collarbone, he lets out a heavy, ragged sigh that blasts hot air across my bare skin.
"I don't want you to leave," he murmurs right against my skin, the vibration of his low voice sending a wicked shiver straight down my spine. I twist my fingers into the fabric of his shirt just to hold on. "Not tomorrow, or the day after."
The words sound permanent. Too good to be true.
My breathing hitches, growing faster and faster. "Dawson..."
He lifts his head to meet my gaze, his large hands clutching the blankets on either side of my shoulders so hard his knuckles turnwhite. He is looming over me, a wall of pure muscle and heat, trapping me in his space.
"I've got a feeling that if I let you slip through my fingers, it's going to be the biggest mistake of my life," he growls softly, his dark eyes scanning my face with a desperate kind of hunger. "I never wanted to risk letting my heart feel something again..."
He shifts his hips, his hard length pressing unmistakably against where I'm most sensitive through our clothes, making me gasp.
"...but the damage is done. It's out of my hands. I want you, Lucia."
His honesty strips away the last of my defenses, leaving my heart completely exposed. I look up into his desperate eyes, and the final wall inside me crumbles to dust.
"I always thought this mountain was a terrible, merciless place," I whisper, my voice shaking as I reach up to cup his jaw, feeling the rough scratch of his stubble against my palms. "But it has something incredibly good on it. You."
Dawson’s jaw tightens beneath my fingers, his chest expanding with a sharp, heavy breath. "The mountain is wonderful," he murmurs, his gaze burning so hot I can feel it against my skin. "You just need someone to show you. And I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes to make you say yes to me. I want to share my space with you. All of it."
The sheer, possessive weight of his words makes my head spin. Instead of wondering if all this is really happening, I want to grip the disbelief and make it a reality.
"Yes," I breathe out, the word a helpless surrender against his lips. “I’ll… I’ll give it a chance.”
That’s all the invitation he needs. His mouth crashes back down onto mine, and the hunger is absolute. He devours me, his tongue tangling with mine like a man starved. I arch up into him, my hands moving from his jaw to lock tightly behind his neck,pulling him closer until nothing else but this man takes up my view.
Suddenly, he breaks the kiss with a ragged gasp. The loss of his mouth leaves me whimpering, but he doesn't pull away completely. He hovers over me, his chest heaving, before his eyes drag down the length of my body to where my injured ankle rests gently against the blankets.
"I don't want to hurt you," he rumbles, his voice thick and rough with an arousal so intense it vibrates through my own skin. "But I want you so badly I can't think straight."
I bite my lower lip, my hips unconsciously tilting up toward his heavy frame, entirely consumed by the ache between my thighs. "If we're careful... it'll be fine."
