Page 25 of Rescue in Misty Mountain

“No,” I say.

He turns toward me, crossing the space between us like it’s nothing. Like we’ve always been on our way to this moment.

He stops with his thigh close to mine, close enough that I feel the heat of him. His hand brushes mine.

I tilt my face up. “We’re not talking about this.”

“Seems like we’re doing a lot of not-talking lately.”

“Are you going to kiss me again?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“Liar.”

He leans in slowly. Deliberate. His hand cups my cheek, thumb brushing lightly under my jaw.

Then he kisses me.

It’s worse this time. Worse because it’sbetter.

Because I don’t just want it. I need it. Like air, I need to inhale him. Because his mouth is warm and rough and gentle and mine all at once.

My fingers twist in his shirt. He groans softly into my mouth, the sound sparking heat low in my belly.

I feel his hands slide around my waist, tugging me against him. One hand moves to the small of my back, the other skimming just under the hem of my shirt. His fingers graze skin—barely—but it sends a jolt of desire through me.

My own hands drift up his chest under his shirt. I find his warm, hard skin beneath cotton. I feel the steady thrum of his heart pounding beneath my palm.

I kiss him like I can’t stop. And I don’t want to.

Until the radio crackles on the shelf behind him.

He pulls back instantly, breathing hard.

“Shit,” he mutters, turning toward it.

A familiar voice—Jesse’s—fuzzes through the static. “Gage, you there? Got a hit on that injured owl by the grocery lot. You around?”

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I sit back on the couch, heart hammering, lips swollen, breath shaky.

He turns to me. “I have to go.”

I nod, unable to find my voice just yet.

He grabs his coat and pauses at the door.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” he says. “Again.”

“But you don’t regret it?”

He meets my gaze. “Not even a little.”

Then he’s gone.

And I’m sitting in his cabin with the cat, lips still tingling, heart still unraveling, wondering just how deep I’m already in.

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