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Page 26 of Falling for Him (Honey Leaf Lodge #3)

Which, you know, wouldn’t be a crisis if his arms weren’t insanely solid and his body wasn’t unfairly warm and his lips weren’t right there.

My brain said abort, abort, but my heart went full on, oh no, this is happening.

And then?

We kissed.

It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t gentle.

It was fire.

He met me halfway, lips finding mine with a heat that made the cool night vanish. His hand slid to the back of my neck, anchoring me, and my fingers curled into his shirt before I could even think. There was nothing hesitant about it. Just days of tension snapping all at once.

I kissed him like I’d been holding my breath since the moment he walked into the lodge.

And he kissed me like he felt it too.

His mouth moved against mine, slow and deliberate, like he was savoring every second and making damn sure I did too. When his tongue brushed against mine, teasing and sure, I let out the softest noise. A needy little hum I couldn’t hold back if I tried.

He groaned, deep and low, and pulled me closer.

Too close. Not close enough.

My body lit up like the campfire we’d left behind, and everything, my pulse, my thoughts, the rest of the freaking world , faded until there was only Ben.

And this kiss that felt like a freefall, I didn’t want to stop.

The stars overhead were shining brightly, as if they knew something was unfolding below them that deserved a spotlight.

I shifted in the truck bed, the sleeping bags rumpled beneath me, the night warm enough that neither of us cared that we were tangled together in a heap of fleece and firefly-sparked tension.

Ben was on his side, propped on one elbow, looking at me like I was the only thing worth seeing in the entire universe.

“You always this dangerous?” he asked, voice low, rough with something that sent a shiver from my spine straight to my toes.

“Only when I’ve had two s’mores and a sexy lumberjack to play with,” I shot back, biting my lip when his mouth curved into that wicked grin that made me want to crawl into his lap and never leave.

He leaned closer, his breath brushing my cheek. “Lucky me.”

And then he kissed me.

God, he kissed me.

There was no hesitation this time. No tentative start. Just heat …unapologetic, toe-curling, heart-thudding heat. His hand found the side of my neck, thumb brushing just beneath my jaw as his mouth claimed mine, slow at first but quickly gaining an intensity that stole the air from my lungs.

I tugged him closer, until his body pressed to mine, solid and warm and real. The sleeping bags crinkled beneath us as we shifted, and I wound a leg around his like I had every right to.

He groaned against my mouth, deep and rough, and it was the most delicious sound I’d ever heard.

“You’re going to kill me,” he murmured, dragging his lips down my jaw, along the curve of my neck, sending sparks across my skin with every breath.

“I thought lawyers liked danger,” I whispered, fingers sliding into his hair.

“Only if it ends exactly like this,” he said, before kissing me again, longer this time, deeper. His hand slid beneath the hem of my shirt, finding bare skin, and I arched into his touch, heart thundering in my chest as he slipped my shirt over my head.

“I’m glad I didn’t let you put your shirt back on,” I teased.

His eyes locked on mine, and I felt a flutter.

Everything about him, his scent, his weight, the way his mouth moved with mine, was branded into me now.

But just as his hand started to drift a little lower, he paused, pulling back slightly to rest his forehead against mine.

“Tell me when to stop,” he said, voice hoarse.

I cupped his face, breathless. “Not yet.”

And he kissed me again like we had all the time in the world as his mouth trailed down to my breasts, going back and forth between each nipple, tugging and teasing.

I let out a little breath as I wiggled out of my bottoms, and his tongue circled quicker as he felt my bareness against him.

“God, Fifi,” he groaned, which heated me as his hands slid between my legs. “You’re so…”

I pulled him up to me and kissed him as he shoved his pants down.

His hands moved with a wild reverence that made me ache, sliding along my bare waist, memorizing me like I was something fragile and fierce all at once. When he broke the kiss again, just for a breath, just long enough to rest his forehead against mine, I was dizzy with the weight of it all.

“You okay?” he asked softly, fingers brushing the curve of my hip.

I nodded, though I didn’t quite trust my voice yet. “Better than okay.”

That grin again, the one that made my stomach somersault, the one I knew he didn’t offer to many people, lit up my world.

“I’ve never…” I started, then stopped, unsure how to say it without sounding foolish. But his eyes locked on mine, patient, steady.

“You’ve never what?” he murmured.

“I’ve never done this before,” I said finally, voice low. “Not like this. Not with someone who makes me feel like I might combust just from a look.”

That made him pause. “That’s a good thing, right?”

I reached up and tucked stray hair behind his ear. “It’s a very good thing.”

Ben kissed me again, slower now, like we had all night, like nothing needed to rush. Like he wanted to kiss me until the stars faded and the morning spilled across the sky.

It was the kind of kiss that made you believe in more.

His hand brushed my cheek again, like he couldn’t stop touching me.

And just like that, his kiss was deeper, like we were sealing something sacred between us.

There was laughter and tension, slow teasing heat and breathless pauses.

Fingers slipped over bare skin, and we moved as if we knew the lines of one another, as if we’d honored them before.

“You know what you’re doing,” I whispered.

Ben laughed and trailed a kiss down my throat. “Glad to be of service.”

His mouth trailed along my body as my fingers slid along his back, and I felt his mouth move down along my thighs, kissing me gently before moving back up.

Ben’s eyes fastened on mine as the stars twinkled above him, and I happily adjusted my hips as he moved his lips to my ear, kissing me softly before he slid his length between my legs.

I let out a surprised gasp as I felt him moving with each thrust, my hand gliding along his back as we found a rhythm that felt wild and free.

I’d never felt so connected to another human in my life. With every movement of his hips and every kiss we shared, I felt heard and seen.

I never wanted it to end, but before I knew what was happening, the tension in my belly tightened as everything in my body gave in to him.

I moaned with a release I didn’t even understand.

He pulled me closer as his body pulsed with heat and strength, and his lips found mine, and our worlds exploded and silenced all in the same second.

And I could finally breathe again.

His fingers found mine under the covers, lacing together like they belonged there.

“I like this,” I said softly. “Being here. With you.”

His arm tightened around me. “Me too.”

It wasn’t a grand declaration.

It wasn’t a vow.

But it felt like a beginning.

And wrapped up in his arms beneath a sea of stars, it was enough.