Page 47 of Mystery in the Mountains

“Have you not been with anyone else?”

“Oh. No. I haven’t been with anyone else. I meant what I said, Asher. I never stopped loving you. I’ve never been with anyone else.”

His brow creased as he looked at her like she was a puzzle.

“I . . . I don’t know what to say,” he said as he ran his hair through his dark curls.

“There’s nothing to say.”

“So, you haven’t had sex in four years.”

“I haven’t kissed anyone in four years.”

His bare chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath. “How can that be?”

“Because . . . even when I left and was too big of a coward to come back and face what I had done, I was still yours. I’ve always been yours, and I always will be.”

His brow scrunched as he evaluated her.

Does he really think I’ve been with other people?

He cleared his throat. “Well, I feel it’s only right to tell you . . . I have been with other people.”

“That’s okay, Asher. How hypocritical would I be if I got upset about it? I’m the one who left. Do I want to think about you with someone else? Absolutely not. But I get it.”

He nodded, bit his lip, and looked up at the sky. After a quiet moment, he turned back to her. “Nothing? In four years?”

She shook her head.

Before she knew what was happening, Asher was closing the space between them, his rough palm slowly cupping her jaw.

Her breath stuttered in her chest as his thumb grazed her cheek.

He lowered his head until his face was mere inches from her own. “So, no one’s done this in years?”

She gave her head a shake before he closed the distance and captured her lips in a kiss.

The world around her fell away as his lips moved with hers. This was why she had never kissed anyone—it would never feel like this. The magic of this mountain seemed to envelop them as he slid his other hand around her waist and pulled her closer.

When her mouth opened, he slipped his tongue to meet hers. Desire pooled inside of her, turning her core molten. Asher growled and deepened the kiss, pulling her close.

He broke the kiss and rested his forehead on her. “Fuck, Sunshine, it never feels like that with anyone else.”

“It’s always been you, Asher. Always.”

His mouth captured hers again, and he lay back onto the blanket, bringing her with him. Her arms wrapped around him in surprise. The feel of his bare skin under her hands was like coming home.

She held him tight as he kissed her, and the magic and warmth of the sun while Asher embraced her felt like heaven. Nothing ever felt this good since she left.

Why she had left this place suddenly seemed like a mystery to her.

He pulled back and brushed the hair from her forehead, tucking it behind her ear. “My Sunshine.”

Reverence filled his voice.

Cupping her face again, he pressed another kiss to her lips before falling to her side and pulling her close. “I can’t do this anymore . . .”

Her heart dropped.

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