Page 97 of Chasing the Sun

“Is this what you want?” I murmured.

She exhaled, shaky but sure. “Yes.”

I claimed her mouth with mine, and there was nothing slow or tentative about it. It was a collision, all heat and teeth and breathless want, like we’d both been starving for too long and finally, finally, had something to sink our teeth into.

Her hands roamed, gripping my shoulders, my arms, pulling me closer like she wanted to climb inside my skin. I let her, let her take whatever she needed, becausefuck, I needed it too.

I wasn’t sure how we were supposed to come back from this.

I wasn’t sure I cared.

Elodie broke the kiss first, barely, her breath uneven against my lips. “We should—” She swallowed, blinking like she was trying to clear the fog from her brain. “I mean, we can’t just?—”

I studied her, rubbing my thumb along her jaw, feelingthe way her pulse jumped beneath my touch. “What? Have a full-blown health code violation in my kitchen?”

She let out a breathless laugh, her fingers still fisted in my shirt. “I was going to say ‘defile this countertop,’ but yeah, that too.”

“I guess we’ll have to find somewhere more suitable then.” I grabbed her hips, hoisting her off the stool and over my shoulder. I carried her toward the hallway, the lights dim and the inn quiet around us as she giggled.

Her grip tightened around mine, and when we reached my bedroom door, I placed her on her feet.

She arched a brow, eyes bright with mischief. “Are you sure this place is up to code, Mr. Blackwood?”

I turned the handle, pulling her inside, my voice a low rasp. “Let’s find out.”

TWENTY-NINE

CALLUM

I backedher into the bedroom, my hands gripping her waist, her breath coming faster, matching my own. The door clicked shut behind us, the only sound in the space aside from the low hum of the night beyond the windows and the heavy, uneven rhythm of our breathing.

Elodie’s lips were parted, swollen from my kisses, her pupils wide as she tipped her head back to look at me. “Cal?—”

“Yes, Darling?” My voice was low, rough with everything I was holding back.

She swallowed hard, but she didn’t look away. Didn’t waver. “Touch me.”

Fuck.

Heat surged through me, blazing and fervent, but I reined it in. She deserved more than rushing. More than a frantic fuck against the nearest surface—though the temptation was there.

Instead, I slid my hands up her sides, slow, deliberate, feeling the way she shivered beneath my palms. Her body melted against mine as I pulled her closer, pressing mymouth to the curve of her jaw, then lower, tracing my lips down the column of her throat.

Her fingers curled into my shirt, gripping tight like she was anchoring herself to me.

I wanted her desperate for me. I wanted her wrecked, and I wanted to be the only man who ever got to see her like this.

I took my time stripping her bare, pushing the fabric of her gray T-shirt up, baring smooth, golden skin inch by inch. She trembled as I peeled it over her head, her chest rising and falling in uneven breaths.

“You’re beautiful,” I murmured, running my thumbs along the delicate dip of her waist.

A slow smile curled her lips, teasing and warm. “I know.”

I chuckled, my mouth finding hers in a deep, slow kiss, one hand sliding up to cup the weight of her breast through her sheer bra, feeling the hard peak of her nipple against my thumb. Her breath hitched, and I swallowed the sound, deepening the kiss, learning exactly how she liked to be touched from the way her body responded.

She arched into me, pressing closer, chasing the friction.

“You’re also impatient,” I murmured against her lips.