Page 4 of My Wild Mountain Man (Summer in the Pines #15)

raven

. . .

I dropped my keys on the ground and growled with a little stomp. I bent to reach for them.

I couldn’t believe what I’d just done! I had actually said it! Suggested he show me everything he was good at.

Oh god! Why did I do that?

I was going to have to hide in my apartment and salon for the rest of my life.

There was no way I could go anywhere else when it would risk bumping into Bash.

My hands shook and my body felt like it wasn’t my own.

I was definitely a never-been-kissed virgin if a couple of dances got me all hot and bothered and got my tongue all loose!

Loose enough to ask him to do me, so I could get him out of my system! I’d actually done that!

I felt him before I heard the heavy sound of his footsteps. He stopped and stood behind me as I stood up, my car keys in hand. His energy palpitated against me. Or maybe that is wishful thinking on my part?

“Raven.” My name sounded like a plea, and my eyes shut.

He’d come after me. Why? Was it because he knew my older brother and wanted me to be safe or something else?

“Pretty girl, please turn around and look at me,” he urged. I shook my head with my eyes pinned on the car window. It was too dark for me to see his form behind me, but I couldn’t get myself to face him.

“You really don’t have to do this,” I squeaked. The shuffle of his heavy footstep sounded, and I felt the heat of his front against my back even closer. Almost like a blanket of warmth. His body basically caged me against my vehicle.

“Please look at me, baby girl.” At the term, even sweeter than when he called me his pretty girl, my thighs pressed together to alleviate some of the pressure. Doesn’t he know his words get me all hot and bothered?!

“Raven, please.” This time, I couldn’t keep ignoring him. I wasn’t a little kid. I was a grown woman. It was time to put my big girl panties on and face the consequences of my actions. I turned around, my gaze moving up to look at him.

Bash was so big. Tall and broad. And just like that, my mind went into the gutter remembering just how big he was.

“What?” I whispered. I pinned my eyes to his broad shoulder, still not able to make eye contact.

“You told me to forget what you said,” he rasped, and I couldn’t help myself. Our eyes connected, and that’s when I noticed it. The darkness in his gaze. The quickening in his breath. The way his muscular chest rose and fell like he had been working out.

“I did.” I swallowed, and if I hadn’t felt like my heart was about to burst out of me, I would have noticed something was off with him.

“I can’t do that,” he rasped, stepping between my legs, leaning his body a little closer.

“What? Why not?” I asked, but he didn’t respond.

He simply caged me against my car. One hand rested against the driver’s side door while the other rose slowly.

Almost like he was daring me, silently challenging me to flinch or back away from his touch.

But like a moth to a flame, I stood still until the tips of his fingers caressed the side of my face, and I leaned into his touch.

“So soft,” he mumbled, almost like he was talking to himself. “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Wha—" I didn’t get to finish saying what before he was leaning in again, but this time he didn’t stop until his mouth was on mine.

Ohmygod! I was kissing Bash!

Bash Ledesma, the man of my dreams, the one I had been crushing on since the first time I met him, was kissing me!

The realization hit, and natural instinct kicked in.

My lips moved slowly against his. And he let me.

It surprised me. Bash wasn’t the kind of man to hand over the reins, but there he was, silently leaving it to me to explore.

Tentatively. Slowly. He tasted like beer and something I knew deep down in my soul was uniquely him.

I could see the hype with kissing when you kissed someone like Bash.

My hands fell to his chest, not to push him away but to hold on for dear life.

His tongue peeked out, gliding against my lower lip, wordlessly requesting permission I was more than happy to give.

My lips parted, and when I moaned as his tongue dove into mine, his hold on me tightened.

Suddenly, my feet were no longer on the ground but around his waist.

“Shit,” he cursed, breathing heavily the moment he pulled away. “One weekend. A long one. Next weekend,” he panted, and I blinked. My head swam with wanting to go back to kissing him.

“What?”

“Stays between us,” he laid out, and I swallowed hard.

Was he really suggesting what I thought he was?

“Why not now?” I asked boldly. “I could just follow you home, or you could come back to my––“

“Don’t finish that sentence, pretty girl, or I’ll take you up on it.” I pressed my lips together. “Next weekend. Think about it. You change your mind, it’s okay. No wrong, no foul.” Nothing happened? He kissed me and unequivocally changed me.

“But if I don’t? I mean, if I don’t change my mind?”

“Then you’re mine,” he answered honestly and confidently.

The promise clung to the air between us.

My knees would have given out on me if he hadn’t been carrying me.

Slowly, with the utmost care, Bash set me down, making sure I felt his body and just how hard it was for him to step away.

Holy crap! Bash Ledesma is hard! Because of me!

He felt as big and menacing as he’d looked out by the water a couple days ago.

“Bash––“ His fingers lightly pressed against my lips.

“Baby, you say anything right now, I’ll literally pick you up and drag you into my truck,” he threatened, his gaze on my mouth before connecting with mine.

“You make that sound like a bad thing,” I breathed, unable to keep the words to myself.

“Fuck.” His forehead dropped and rested against mine. “You’re making this so damn hard.” Something came over me, and my hand boldly moved down his chest to his waistband and didn’t stop until I was right up against the length of him.

“Something’s already hard,” I pointed out, loving the way his nose flared. Bash looked like he was barely holding on to control, and I liked it. I might have been seriously inexperienced, but that didn’t mean I didn’t know about things. I read a lot, and romance novels were my go-to.

“Raven,” he growled, and I didn’t get a chance to say one other word because he kissed me again.

This wasn’t the sweet and slow kiss like the first one.

It was urgent. Passionate and so damn needy it made my toes curl.

Breathless and panting, I was dizzy with a throbbing need that coursed throughout my entire body.

“Bash.” His name was a whispered prayer. One that he wanted to give in to, but I could tell by the look in his gaze he was stubborn enough to deny the two of us.

“Get in your car,” he ordered gently. “Think about it.” His words were short and precise. “Friday, five o’ clock. My place.” He nodded before kissing me one more time. “If you change your mind, it’s okay,” he whispered against my lips so softly.

I leaned in closer, melting against him.

Especially when the tips of his fingers moved into my hair.

His dark eyes were unreadable, but there was something in them.

Something that made hope bloom inside of me.

So many things were running through my head and sat on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t say a word.

Not when he pulled back and opened the door for me and got me in my SUV.

“Drive safe. I’m gonna follow you home, make sure you get there safe.”

“You don’t––“ I started to say, but the look he shot me had me thinking I shouldn’t argue. “Okay.” I shrugged.

A breath escaped me when he leaned in close, pulling my seat belt on before clicking it into place. I could smell the scent of his cologne and skin. His face stopped right in front of mine, then his hand rose and stroked my face.

“Be safe, baby girl,” he rasped before kissing me one more time.

Sweet and slow. So damn smooth and romantic it took my breath away long before he pulled away. With one last long look, he shut the door and walked away. I sat in my car for a moment. My head spun with everything that had happened and the possibility of everything that would happen in a week.

Because no matter what the week would bring, I knew exactly where I would be on Friday at five.