He studied my face for a long moment, and I could see him wrestling with himself—desire warring with protectiveness, need fighting against restraint.
"If we don't stop now," he warned, his hands flexing on my waist, "I'm going to carry you into that cabin and spend the rest of the day showing you exactly what it means to belong to me. And baby, once I get you in my bed properly, once I taste every inch of you, once I claim you completely—you're not leaving this mountain. Not in three days, not in a week. You'll be too busy being mine."
The promise in his words made my entire body flush with heat. This was it—the moment where I could step back, return to my safe academic world where everything was controlled and predictable. Or I could leap into the unknown with this mountain man who'd rescued me from the wilderness and made me feel more alive in twenty-four hours than I had in twenty-four years.
"Neil," I said, my decision made. "Take me to bed."
Chapter 5
Neil
I drank in the sight of her standing in my workshop—hair mussed from our kisses, lips swollen, cheeks flushed with arousal. "Last chance to change your mind, sweetheart. Once I get you in that bed, once I start showing you everything your body is capable of feeling, I'm not going to want to stop."
"I already told you. I don't want you to stop."
The walk from the workshop to my bedroom had never felt longer. I kept her hand in mine, her small fingers interlaced with my much larger ones, and I could feel her pulse racing where our wrists touched. When we reached the bedroom—my bedroom, where she'd slept last night in nothing but my shirt—she hesitated for just a moment.
I cupped her face in my hands, tilting her head up so she had to meet my eyes. "We'll go as slow as you need. You're in control here. You say stop, we stop. You say slow down, we slow down. You want something specific, you tell me."
"What if I don't know what I want?"
"Then I'll show you options until you figure it out." I leaned down to kiss her forehead, then her nose, then brushed my lips against hers in the gentlest possible touch. "I'm going to make this so good for you, Kim. Going to worship every inch of you until you understand how fucking perfect you are."
Her breath hitched. "The way you talk to me..."
"You like it when I tell you what I'm going to do to you?" I smiled against her mouth when she nodded. "Good, because Iplan to tell you exactly what I'm doing, exactly how beautiful you look, exactly how good you feel around my fingers, my tongue, my cock."
The crude words made her shiver and press closer. My shy little librarian had a dirty side she was just discovering, and I was going to be the lucky bastard who got to explore it with her.
"Neil," she whispered, her hands sliding up my chest. "Please."
I kissed her properly then, deep and thorough, walking her backward toward the bed until her knees hit the mattress. She sat down hard, looking up at me with those dark eyes wide behind her glasses.
"First things first," I said, gently removing her glasses and setting them safely on the nightstand. "I want you to be comfortable."
Without the barrier of her glasses, she looked softer, more vulnerable. I knelt in front of her, putting us at eye level, and her breath caught at the sight of me on my knees for her.
"I’m going to undress you now," I told her, waiting for her nod before reaching for the hem of her shirt. "Going to reveal every perfect inch of you and then I'm going to taste every bit of skin I uncover."
She lifted her arms, letting me pull the shirt over her head. Her bra was simple white cotton, nothing fancy, but against her pale skin it looked like the sexiest thing I'd ever seen. Her breasts were small, perfect handfuls, and when I traced the edge of the cotton with one finger, her nipples visibly hardened beneath the fabric.
"You have no idea what you do to me," I murmured, leaning forward to press an open-mouthed kiss to the swell of flesh above the cotton.
"Show me," she breathed, her hands tangling in my hair. "Show me what I do to you."
I reached behind her to unhook her bra, taking my time, building anticipation. When the fabric fell away, revealing her completely to my gaze, I had to take a moment just to look.
"Beautiful," I said reverently, cupping the small, perfect mounds in my palms. "Absolutely beautiful."
When I lowered my head to take one pink nipple into my mouth, she cried out and arched against me, her nails digging into my shoulders. I lavished attention on both breasts, using lips and tongue and the gentlest scrape of teeth until she was writhing beneath me, making the sweetest sounds I'd ever heard.
"Please," she gasped, though I didn't think she even knew what she was begging for. "Neil, please, I need..."
"I know what you need, baby." I laid her back on the bed, working the button of her jeans with steady fingers. "Lift your hips for me."
She did, and I slid the denim down her legs along with her panties in one smooth motion, leaving her completely bare to my gaze. She immediately tried to cover herself, but I caught her hands gently.
"Don't hide from me," I ordered.
