Page 43

As I roamed his chest, a shudder went through him. There, battling across his expression, was something I recognized. His arousal was palpable, charging the air, shortening his breaths, and spiking my pulse. If I voiced it, would he bolt? Only one way to find out.

“We both want this. If it’s your restraint you’re worried about—”

“Evie—”

“—I’ll stop you. I’ll say no before it goes too far.”

His knuckles blanched around the soap. “I wouldn’t…”

“Wouldn’t what? Stop?” I slid my hand down the hairless planks of his torso and traced the V of his abs. “You wouldn’t force me. Trust me to say no.”

Shadows deepened his dilated pupils. A heartbeat passed. Two. Thr—

Plunk went the soap.

He gripped my waist and yanked me against him, bringing his mouth to mine. The electric slide of lips shimmied through my whole body, the movement of his jaw restrained and slow but deliciously mouth-covering. Finally, he licked along the seam, requesting entry. I gave it up in the next breath and parted my lips.

The first touch of Jesse’s tongue was a shock to my system. The next came like a tidal wave, ripping through every cell of my body and tingling my fingers and toes. Our mouths melded, our breaths collided, and our hands began to move.

His hands slid into my hair and gripped the back of my thigh. I stretched on tip-toes, climbing his towering frame and hooking my arms around his neck.

Tilting my head with his hand, he deepened the kiss, his restraint loosening with each diving reach of his tongue. “Say no.”

To a kiss? I laughed into his mouth and held him tighter. “Not yet.”

He dug his fingers against my back, bringing me closer for a better angle against my mouth. I hugged his shoulders, reveling in the slide of our chests. The way he lifted me and the position of my groin against his belly, I knew he could feel the friction of my pubic hair against his skin. He’d never been this close and personal with my nudity.

We kissed for an eternity, making up for so many lost moments. He sucked and licked and ate at my mouth, the intensity and skill of his tongue expressing his thoughts before he spoke them.

“Fuck, Evie.” Sultry tones infused his breath. “There was a spring-fed creek near the reservation.” His hands roamed the rise of my ass, fingers sliding down the crease and squeezing a fleshy cheek. “The water was so pure and clean you could taste the minerals from the soil and the fallen sprigs of mountain mint.” He nibbled, pulling my bottom lip with his teeth. “You taste like that.” He sucked on my tongue, released it. “Natural.” Another sip. “Vital.” Then he kissed me like he was taking the flavor of his memories from my lips.

God have mercy. I was lost in his poetic honesty, the heat of his mouth, the velvety feel of his lips. I wanted to know all of him, feel him, and bite after bite, he fed me more.

The water lapped at our hips, and the humidity in the air enveloped us in a warm cocoon. So many sensations burst inside me, but one in particular concentrated below my waist and throbbed between my legs.

His breathing slowed, and his hands returned to my waist. I felt immediate loss when he tore his mouth away, panting.

“Jesse.”

He put his frown on my uninjured cheekbone. “I shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t ruin it.”

His frown became a scrape of teeth across my jaw and ended with a nibble on my lips. “Don’t you know? You are my everything. My anguish. My heaven. There is nothing but you.”

I hummed, unable to contain the conflicting rush of contentment and loss. “And your visions?”

His palms traveled up my arms, over my shoulders, down my back. He pulled me closer, chests aligned, our breaths in sync. “You are my visions.”

I hated them, the omens that burdened him, but my feelings didn’t make them go away. “We’re not stopping at that kiss.” His jaw set, but I kept talking. “Doesn’t have to be tonight, but Jesse, we’re not going to pretend this didn’t happen. We’ll work through it, figure it out.” I tilted my head to catch his eyes. “Which means more talking. Okay?”

He dipped his chin in a nod, rubbing his cheek against mine. The scruffy hairs on his face tickled against my skin. Just another coarse, masculine attribute that deliciously defined him.

“I have another request.”

He looked away, the muscles in his face tightening.

“Are you listening?”

His eyes flicked back to mine.

“Never ever shave that stubble.”

He rubbed his jaw, the scratchy sound drifting around us as he returned my grin. “I lost the soap.”

What a gorgeous fucking smile. It filled me with all kinds of hope. “I’ll trade the last bar of soap on the planet for a kiss like that any day.”