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I hadn’t been hugged in…I didn’t know how long.

Maybe never.

And having Court’s enormous arms wrapped around me, feeling him caging me in so securely, was making my stomach flutter and my heart race.

To be held like this… it was everything.

“I got your stuff,” he murmured. “Wait here, I’ll go get it.” He released me, then kissed the top of my head before stepping around me and leaving the room.

I touched the spot he’d kissed, wondering if I’d imagined it. Everything had felt a little surreal since he’d come into my life.

Not even thirty seconds later, he was back in front of me, my worn blue duffel in his arms.

My duffel bag? Holy shit, he’d gone back to Marion and gotten my bag? I took a step toward him, stunned that he’d gone to such lengths for a few measly belongings of mine. “What… how did you get this? You went all the way back there? For me?”

When I lifted my gaze to his, he smiled. “Yeah. You never went anywhere without it. The motel still had it in the lost and found.”

He’d watched me for months and he’d made note of the smallest things about me. Things no one else had ever cared to notice before.

My lungs felt like they’d been punctured.

“I can bring it upstairs for you,” he offered.

I cleared my throat. “No, that’s okay, I’ll take it,” I said, reaching for the strap that had broken a year ago. I’d tied the two ends back together in a double knot so I could still throw it over my shoulder.

Except before I could, Court pulled it away from me. When I gave him a confused look, he smiled at me.

Fuck.

“It’s yours for a kiss,” he said, a wicked glint in his eyes.

Fucking asshole.

With an angry sound, I grabbed onto the front of his shirt and pulled myself up on my tip toes. A look of surprise crossed his face before his lips curved in the most satisfied smile.

I pressed my lips to his and he immediately palmed the back of my head, holding me there as he slanted his lips over mine. My stomach swooped when he teased the seam of my lips with his tongue, and when he slipped it inside, all I could think about was how soft he was. His lips, his tongue. Soft and warm and yielding as he groaned. I gasped when he bit my bottom lip, his sharp canines stinging as they sank into me.

Court pulled away first, his cheeks flushed red, his eyes glued to my mouth, his lids half closed. “Fuck,” he whispered. “How can a mouth this mean taste so damn good?”

I was breathing hard as I stepped away from him, pressing the back of my hand against my lips.

And, without an ounce of shame or embarrassment, he palmed his hard length, groaning as he stared at me like he’d been drugged. “You’re driving me insane, Whitney.”

I ignored that and grabbed the handle of my bag and yanked it from his grasp. “Thank you. For getting this for me.”

“You’re very welcome,” he said with a smile, wrapping his hand around the side of my neck and running his thumb along my jaw. “Anything you need, you let me know.” He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek, then walked out of the room.

I brushed my fingers along the cheek he’d kissed.

The tender, affectionate gesture shook me more than any amount of spanking ever could.

And I wanted more. Of all of it. Of him.

Wrapping my shaky fingers around the strap of my bag, I headed upstairs and set it on the bed. Court had probably already taken my pocket knife. My knitting needles, too. The plastic zipper got stuck halfway, and after struggling not to rip the piece of clothing it had caught on, I finally got it free and finished unzipping it.

I pulled out all my clothes and folded them. Not the underwear, I wasn’t a psychopath like Court. But wait…where were my cherry ones? Those were my favorite. I rifled through all the clothes I’d just folded and they weren’t anywhere.

Maybe one had fallen out somewhere…? Or had been left at the motel?