We kissed.
It wasn’t planned. It wasn’t gentle.
It wasfire.
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 hefelt 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 freakingworld, 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. Justheat…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.”
