Page 34 of A Winter Wedding Adventure (Adventure Weddings #2)

This wasn’t remotely a good idea. In no universe did she belong in this room, with this man – who was currently inhaling deeply at her neck, turning her spine to custard. But when she slipped one hand up his back, and another into his hair, her palms recognised him.

With you, I could …

Under the circumstances, she figured Reshma’s rule book no longer applied.

It wasn’t in her nature, but she knew she had to let him dictate the pace, manage his own comfort zone, so she held on and bore it as the gust of his breath, the warmth of his body drew her own feelings to the surface.

He touched her as though memorising her, lingering at her jaw, pausing every now and again to meet her wide-eyed gaze and kiss her as though she were the one needing reassurance.

She had to pull away to stoke the fire in the stove and add more wood and he used the time to fetch a condom from the bathroom, but instead of the interruption awkwardly halting their progress, she turned to find him peeling off his pullover and reaching for the buttons of his shirt – no hesitation.

The fact that she’d seen him almost naked before only made her less patient.

Her fingers skimmed his skin before he’d even freed his arms from the sleeves.

His chest heaved at the touch. Tucking herself close, she soaked up the warmth, the familiarity of his body and pressed a kiss to his sternum without thought, then another when he swayed on his feet and groped for her to steady himself.

‘Ahi,’ he whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and spearing his fingers though her hair. ‘I think I need to sit down.’

He tugged her with him to the bed, sitting on the edge and pulling her between his knees with a casual intimacy that rang alarm bells somewhere deep and distant in Kira’s mind.

His easy touch wasn’t practised, informed by previous experiences with other women.

It was genuine , a response to the fragile feelings he spilled everywhere.

She might regret it later, but that insight spurred her on, rather than giving her the wisdom to withdraw, keep things light.

Peeling off her fleece, the thermal base layer followed quickly.

When she would have rushed ahead to her bra – the same simple design as the one she’d been wearing when they’d arrived – his hands stopped her and a groan made its way up from deep in his chest.

‘I was not prepared that time in the van,’ he murmured.

‘I shouldn’t have peeked – I tried not to.

’ Trailing a hand up her arm and along her shoulder blade, his eyes avidly following its progress, he licked his lips and continued.

‘But look at you.’ His voice was high and breathy. ‘So soft and strong and beautiful.’

The urge to laugh rose in her chest – or was it the urge to cry? Men had admired her breasts before, but usually with cruder language. Running her fingers through his hair, she brought him close, until his chin lined up with the seam of her bra.

God, he was beautiful, with his intent gaze and expressive mouth. After studying her for a dangerous moment where she began to wonder what he saw, he dropped his gaze and pressed kisses to her skin, along the edge of her bra.

The kisses were almost chaste, except for the occasional swipe with the tip of his tongue, but the pull of desire flared through her, hot and sharp. By the time he helped her shed her bra, her breath was ragged and she was desperate for more.

He didn’t make her wait, closing his mouth over her nipple with a grunt of relief that matched her sigh.

None of this felt like an awkward first time.

She didn’t have to tell him what she liked, because he heard every involuntary sigh, every hitched inhale – every gasp.

She told him everything with her breath, with noises from the back of her throat that might have embarrassed her with anyone else, but she could tell by his choked response that he liked them.

It was easy to let go and allow him the intimacy of hearing because she couldn’t hold in everything she was feeling at the glorious press of his body against her, then over her and, after a fumble with the condom, inside her.

He buried his face in her neck, his body strung taut, and she wrapped her arms and legs around him as though holding him together. Locked tight to each other, her hurtful past and lonely future seemed distant and abstract.

Only the moment existed: the tickle of his hair on her face; clumsy kisses to her throat; an urgent touch pulling her knee up and the unthinking perfection of her own body’s response. She could see from his rigid jaw and heavy eyelids that he was holding on by a thread.

As he pressed one last, desperate kiss to her lips, she encouraged them both over, soaking up every shudder and gasp.

He remained close, panting heavily, long enough for Kira to notice the gaping crack in her defences. He might have been sweeter and more earnest than anyone she’d ever been intimate with, but the next part was always painful and this time, it could be doubly awkward.

She only hoped he didn’t open his mouth. Whatever he said right now was sure to make everything worse – one way or another.

* * *

The temptation to hold on – to her, to the connection – was strong, but Mattia knew he had to let her withdraw. He’d agreed to casual, even though he wasn’t quite sure he’d achieved it in the end.

He flopped onto his back, lacking the energy to even pull the duvet over his naked body, while Kira sat up, her beautiful, bare back to him, and rummaged for her underwear.

‘Every time I hear the crackle of a fire, I’m going to think of you and get turned on.’

She stilled and he made out the soft sound of her blinking. ‘ That’s what you have to say right now?’

‘I didn’t think anything else would be… appropriate.’

‘Well, I’m glad you have a different association with fire now.’ She shoved her thermal shirt over her head without bothering with her bra.

‘I think… I have a different association with sex.’

She was in the middle of tugging her underwear up her legs and she stumbled, scowling at him.

‘A positive association – a casual one,’ he insisted, rolling onto his side to give her a reassuring look. ‘That was… I’ve never been so good in bed before.’

She snorted a laugh. ‘ You’ve never been so good in bed before?’

‘That’s what I meant. Because of you , I was—’ He gave up when she only laughed harder. He rolled onto his back in defeat. ‘Will you at least come back to bed and pretend I’m not the only one completely wrecked?’

Her laughter puttered out and he inwardly winced. ‘Mattia,’ she began, warning in her tone.

He flung out an arm and snagged the waistband of her underwear, just lightly.

Tugging too hard – holding too tight – would only send her running.

‘To keep warm,’ he pointed out, although the roaring fire in the stove – crackling pleasantly – had heated the room a little past comfortable. ‘Casual body heat.’

‘I’m not a snuggler,’ she insisted, although the way she practically purred when he rubbed a hand up her back suggested she was only fooling herself with those words.

‘You’re not a snuggler; you’re not a wedding planner,’ he teased lightly. ‘What are you, Kira Watling?’

‘A loner,’ she insisted, slipping out of his reach.

Mattia sobered at her words. He had to take her at face value, even though he felt more than a glimmer of doubt. For a loner, she’d allowed him very close.

She pulled up her technical trousers and perched on the bed to adjust her socks, sitting up to run a hand over her tousled blue hair. It was still in a ponytail, but was barely recognisable as such, most of it now in loose, wild strands around her head.

‘Do you dye it blue so people don’t have a chance to judge the real you?’

She stiffened and he snapped his mouth shut a few seconds too late. The thought had just tumbled out. He hadn’t considered whether she wanted to talk about this right now.

‘If that’s true, it’s not working. You… all the others – you’ve found out more about me than my oldest friends know.’

His stomach dropped as he realised she was thinking about her ex, about the unwelcome reunion – whenever they made it down the mountain.

‘How are you feeling? About seeing him?’

She glanced over her shoulder at him. ‘Maybe a little better now,’ she answered with a dark chuckle.

‘Well, I’m glad of… that.’

The mattress dipped as she shifted closer and he propped himself up on one arm to meet her wary gaze.

Lifting a hand haltingly, she brushed her fingertips over his cheek and he wasn’t sure whether to beg for more or berate her for touching him in such a patronising manner after everything they’d just shared.

‘I hope you find your soulmate. You’re capable of it.’

He frowned. ‘You think you’re not?’ She’d loved Christian enough to hurt for twelve years.

‘It’s a bit too late for me to believe.’

She stood before he could formulate a rebuttal. He hauled himself upright, reaching for her hand – when a distant roar made him pause and listen.

‘Do you hear that?’ he asked, alarm zipping up his spine as the rumble grew louder, punctuated by a crack that made him jump.

‘I heard that !’ Kira groped for him, hauling him up. ‘Away from the window!’ Pulling him into the corner away from the fire, she threw herself over him just as a resounding crash broke the silence of the early hour and he thought he felt the walls shake.

A moment later, the eerie mountain quiet descended again – muted and immense. Kira exhaled on a long breath, her expression tight. Glancing around as though to check that everything was still standing around them, she moved off him.

‘That was a few minutes too late to feel the earth move,’ he blurted out. ‘What just happened?’

The grim light in her eyes told him Alessandra’s wedding had just gone from hell to hell frozen over. ‘An avalanche. Come on, we have to check on the others!’