Page 42 of Snowbound

She swallows hard. Her lips are soft and parted, her eyes locked onto mine.

“Yes?”

“Does anyone really need to know?” My voice is barely a whisper now, my fingers grazing the side of her neck. Her pulse hammers beneath my touch.

She breathes, shallow and fast. “Know what?”

I lean closer, my mouth brushing against hers.

“That I was the one who did unspeakable things to you.”

Her gasp breaks in her throat. Her pupils blow wide, and there’s something wild and hungry in her eyes now.

Finally, she says it. Just a whisper. “Unspeakable things… like what?”

“Is that a dare?” I murmur into her ear.

She can’t stop the sound that slips from her lips, low and involuntary. My hand moves to her back, my fingers spanning the narrow line of her waist. I let the silence stretch until I can feel her squirming, her breath catching.

Then I lean in again, my voice low, velvet-wrapped steel. “Things that would make you unrecognizable to yourself.Things that would make you mine. Forever. Anddefinitelyunblocked.”

She shivers and lets out a breathy laugh that turns into a moan.

I draw back just enough to meet her eyes.

“No one needs to know,” I say again, this time heavy with promise. With threat. With the certainty of what I’d do before I let anyone take her from me.

She doesn’t move. Her breath comes in stutters. Her gaze flicks to my mouth.

I kiss her—once, softly. Just enough to pull her forward, to make her lean in for more. Then I kiss her again, and this time, I don’t hold back.

My hand slips beneath the threadbare sweater, fingers wide across the hot curve of her stomach. Her skin is on fire.

I want to burn with her.

She arches into me, shivering.

“Every kiss under the mistletoe,” I whisper against her lips, “belongs to me.”

I’ve hidden them everywhere. Dozens of them. Over every threshold, every door, every window. She has no idea what she owes me.

But she will.

I set it up this way. Carefully. So that with every step she takes in this cabin, she’ll have to pay for it. In kisses. In moans. In that sound she makes only for me.

Of course, I’ll make it worth her while.

She sits curled in that oversized chair now, a blanket around her shoulders, legs tucked beneath her like a girl who doesn’t know what she’s in for.

The fire crackles gently.The glow of it casts flickering shadows across her face. Across mine. The snow outside has finally stopped.

The sun hits the windows hard. I wonder how much of it will melt today. We got several feet yesterday, maybe more.

It’ll take days to thaw out.

Good. We need them.

Her eyes are heavy-lidded after everything we’ve done this morning. There’s a softness in her now, an openness I haven’t seen in too long. I’m still not used to how quiet it is here.