Page 17 of Mountain Man Grinch
“Exactly,” I say, palming his thermal-covered chest.
He pauses for a long moment. The fire crackles, his breath comes slow and strong. Gus snores softly like a miniature locomotive.
“You gonna stick with me, though?” he finally asks gruffly. His words would knock me on my head if he weren’t holding me so tightly. “I don’t do casual, not with any part of my life.”
“Yes, I’m gonna stick with you.”
“How can you be so sure?” His eyes narrow.
I arch a brow, resolute. “Because I say what I mean and mean what I say. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“Sure have, but still…”
I wait, eyes on him. Finally, I break the silence. “If we’re doing honesty … your turn.”
“Just been hurt before. Cheated on by my fiancée while I was on a bad deployment. One that got some of my brothers-in-arms killed. Double whammy I never really got over. Decided I didn’t need to until a little spitfire walked into my cabin this morning.”
His thigh presses firmly into mine.
“A little spitfire that’s not like your ex.”
He touches my cheek. “Want to believe that, but…”
“But?”
“We’re moving too fast. You do this with every guy?”
The question is like a slap in the face. I go rigid, meeting his gaze with fire. “Absolutely not. I’m a virgin for heaven’s sake!”
I clasp my hand over my mouth. Part of me waits for him to laugh or pull away. “I’ve never said that out loud before,” I confess.
He freezes. All air leaves his lungs. “Arielle,” he whispers, tortured, “then, I really can’t.”
“Guess someone else will, then.”
His head snaps toward me. Eyes wild, possessive.
“Nobody else but me.”
It lands somewhere between a grunt and a growl. Possessive, fierce, the spark to my blood.
And then, he kisses me.
A hard, claiming, devastating kiss. His hand fists in my hair. My body melts against his. His mouth devours mine like he’s starved.
Fire explodes through me.
I cling to him, trembling, wanting more—so much more.
Then—
“Yeep!”
Davin pulls his hand back, shaking it with a grimace.
Gus snarls like a demonic marshmallow.
“Oh my God,” I breathe. “He bit you!”
