Page 29 of Midnight Lessons

“Always,” I murmur back, sealing the promise with a kiss that tastes like all the lost years between us… and all the time we still have ahead.

The drive back to Midnight Falls is quiet and comfortable. The town welcomes us with its familiar streets and the warm glow of porch lights. Willow’s laughter fills the car as I recount a ridiculous story from my teaching days in Houston, and I can’t help but feel like everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be.

“Stay with me again?” Willow asks as we walk up the stairs to her apartment above the old hardware store.

“Nothing I’d rather do,” I answer without hesitation.

We walk into her place, our steps in sync. Inside, Willow flicks on the lights and the cozy room greets us, inviting and intimate. We smile, anticipation humming between us.

“Round two of horror movies and cookie taste-testing?” she teases, kicking off her shoes.

“After,” I growl, making her shriek as I scoop her into my arms. “There’s only one cookie I wanna taste right now.”

Chapter 10

Owen

I brush my lips over Willow’s gently, sweetly. As if this is our first kiss. She trembles, opening for me, our tongues caressing. I press her body closer to mine, feeling her warmth, her softness.

Gripping my shoulders tightly, Willow deepens the kiss. I thread my fingers in her hair as I tilt her head back as our tongues twine. This is what I crave. This woman.

“I need you,” she breathes into my mouth. “Now.”

I hold her wrist when she moves toward the button of my jeans. “Wanna take my time with you tonight, Low. We have all night. There’s no hurry, love.”

Threading my fingers with hers, I lead her to the bed. I grip the bottom of my shirt and draw it over my head, then reach a hand toward her.

With the moonlight behind her, gilding her fiery hair and outlining the lush curves of her body, she looks mythic, like some flame-haired goddess offering promises of eternal passion and pleasure. Promises I intend to fulfill. But she’s flesh and blood and bone, a real woman—mywoman. And that makes her allure all the more potent.

Willow kicks off her sneakers and tugs her T-shirt over her head, unfastening her bra and tossing both aside. She crosses to me, weaving our hands together, palm to palm, as she faces me. Her breasts brush my chest, and she shivers at the contact.

“I missed you when I left,” I murmur as I nuzzle her neck. “So damned much.”

“I missed us,” she whispers, tipping her head back to give me better access to her smooth skin. “So much, I ached.”

“Nothing was right without you.” My mouth sears a fiery trail along her shoulder.I nip at her collarbone, dipping my tongue into the hollow of her throat.

“And now?” she asks breathlessly.

“Now…” I bite her earlobe. “I can’t think. Only want you. Want to feel you. To taste you.”

I cup her breasts, stroking them, teasing them to points, growling in appreciation as she moans softly. I caress her body, learning it through touch. This is Willow. My Low. The only woman I’ve ever loved.

“You’re so beautiful,” I breathe.

“For you,” she murmurs as I unfasten her jeans and slide them down her legs along with her panties. “Only for you.”

My lips fasten around a hard nipple, drawing on it, licking. Willow cries out, her hands weaving through my hair to press me closer as I lick and suck. I give the same attention to her other nipple until she’s bucking her hips against mine.

“I want you inside me,” she gasps.

“Not yet.” I’m not rushing this. Not tonight. I want her begging for my cock before I slide inside her.

I urge her backward until she’s spread on the bed like the finest banquet, waiting for me to dine on every inch of her. Willow arches her back slightly, tempting me, her pull on me as irrevocable as the moon on the tide.

Making quick work of my jeans and boxers, I stand naked at the foot of the bed, letting her look her fill. My cock is harder than I can ever remember, curving toward my stomach, my balls throbbing beneath.

I prowl toward her, setting my knee on the mattress between her legs. Leaning forward, I press my lips to the valley of her breasts, then twirl my tongue around her nipple as my hand drifts down her belly, settling on her mound. Her wetness slicks my fingers as I probe and learn. I find her clit unerringly and circle it. My self-assurance grows as she moans in response, showing me what she wants with her body.

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