Page 78 of Curvy Cabin Fever

Smart girl.

“I didn’t think you’d still be out here,” she tries again.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep with all the noise.”

Her breath catches.

Good.

“I’m sorry?—”

“Don’t,” I snap. Then I exhale, my jaw tight. “Don’t fucking apologize. You did nothing wrong.”

She walks closer. “You told me I could...”

I nod once, curt. “And I meant it.”

“But you didn’t want me to do it.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“So what do you want, Damien?” she asks, standing in front of me now, arms crossed, hair still messy from their hands.

I finally look up at her.

And fuck, she’s beautiful.

Eyes blown, lips swollen. Skin flushed and glowing like she’s been worshipped.

I want to rip that glow off her skin and replace it with my own.

“I want you,” I say simply. “Every fucking inch of you. Not just your body, but your mind, too. Your heart. Your stupid fucking smart-ass mouth.”

Her lips twitch, but she doesn’t smile. “Then why did you let me do that with them?”

I set the mug down on the porch rail and stand, towering over her. “Because you looked at them like you couldn’t breathe without them. And I’d rather you be happy and fucked senseless than be mine and miserable.”

She stares up at me, chest rising fast.

“You think I’d be miserable with you?”

I don’t answer.

Because I don’t think that. I know I’d wreck her differently than they would. Not rougher—though maybe that too—but deeper. More permanent.

More…forever.

She takes a step forward until her chest is pressed to mine.

“I looked at them like that,” she whispers, “but you weren’t watching when I looked at you.”

I freeze.

She tilts her head. “You think I don’t feel the way you hold back? Like you’re saving yourself for some other time?”

I clench my jaw. “You had enough going on.”

“I still do,” she replies, stepping closer, until her hands are on my chest. “And Istillwant you.” Her fingers tighten into my shirt. “But you don’t get to be the only one who gets to choose when. You told me I could have them. I did. And now I’m telling you—I still want you too.”