Page 149 of The Lineman

It was obsession and passion bottled and shaken and let loose in ways that I might never fully comprehend.

I had never wanted someone—anyone—like this.

I kissed him hard, slow, dragging my teeth over his bottom lip before pulling away, breathing against his mouth.

Mike’s lips were soft but insistent against mine, and fuck, I couldn’t get enough of him.

I hadn’t planned on this happening tonight. Who could plan something like this?

I hadn’t thought about anything happening this way, in this moment, in this cabin, with the lake stretching out behind us and the world feeling so impossibly far away.

But now that I had him beneath me, now that his hands were threading into my hair and his mouth was melding with mine, I knew I was completely and utterly gone.

His fingers roamed over my skin, tracing the lines of my arms, my shoulders, my back—touching me like I was something he wanted to memorize.

And I felt it—I felthim—everywhere.

Every inch of my body was burning.

Every kiss felt like it was searing itself into me, leaving marks I’d never be able to erase.

I let out a ragged breath as he tilted his head, deepening the kiss, pressing up into me, his body fitting against mine like he’d been made to be there.

God, he felt so good.

So warm, so solid, so real.

I had never kissed someone like this before.

Not like this—with so much desperation, so much need,so much of myself.

I had never wanted someone the way I wanted him.

And that terrified me.

Because this was more than just a physical act.

This wasn’t just wanting someone, needing someone.

This was giving myself away.

And I didn’t know how to do that.

Didn’t know how to let someone have me without it ending in disaster.

Didn’t know if I could survive it if I let him in and he left anyway.

But God, I wanted him.

I wantedallof him.

I wanted to hoard him like a dragon hoards gold, savoring him as only I could, guarding him from the world and anything that might cause him pain or grief or harm. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let go, never let anyone hurt him, never let him feel anything but unfaltering, unblemished love.

What the fuck was happening to me?

I let out a shaky breath against his mouth, my hands drifting across his back, pressing into him, needing to feel him, to ground myself in the now, in the present, in the fact that he was here and real and mine.

Mike pulled back slightly, his forehead resting against mine, his breath coming fast and shallow. His fingers tightened in my hair, and when he opened his eyes—

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