"You brought two staffs." I looked up at him. "You don't plan for people you're going to leave."
Something moved across his face—raw and unguarded in a way I hadn't seen yet. It landed low in my chest and stayed there, warm, specific, and unmistakable.
He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, his thumb brushing my jaw. I felt that too. Everywhere.
"Your father is going to have opinions about this," he said.
"My father has opinions about everything," I said. "I've spent most of my life worrying about them." I held his gaze. "I'm done with that."
He looked at me for one more moment—patient, steady, giving me room right up until the last possible second—and then he closed the distance and kissed me.
I'd been waiting for the right reason to make my own decisions.
I'd found him.
6
HALE
Ididn't let the kiss end.
I deepened it instead, slow and deliberate, tasting the sweetness of her mouth while the cool evening wind moved through the pines around us. My hand slid from her jaw to the nape of her neck, holding her steady as every careful restraint I'd been carrying for weeks finally started to crack.
When she pulled back just enough to breathe my name—"Hale"—it sounded like permission and plea all at once.
I let her lead as she took my hand and walked backward, drawing me toward the thick ponderosa pine standing twenty yards from the overlook's edge. Our mouths met again and again between steps—hot, hungry kisses that made my blood roar.
As rough bark met her back, her fingers tugged at the hem of my long-sleeved shirt. She yanked it upward. I helped her, lifting my arms so she could strip it off and toss it aside.
Her hands moved straight to my jeans next—popping the button, dragging the zipper down with a soft metallic rasp that cut through the quiet dusk. Heat surged through me at the boldness of it.
"Mia—" I started, voice rough, trying to slow her down even as my body screamed for more.
She didn't hesitate. "I've always wanted to do this," she whispered, the words raw and honest.
Then she shoved my jeans and underwear down my hips in one determined push. My cock sprang free, hard and aching, the cool air a sharp contrast to how hot I already felt. She dropped to her knees right there on the pine-needle-covered ground, her cheeks flushed, eyes wide with a mix of nerves and want.
I was thick and heavy in front of her. She wrapped her small hand around the base, and the simple contact made my jaw clench. She leaned in, tentative at first, pressing a soft, open-mouthed kiss to the tip before sliding her lips over the head.
She was awkward, but that somehow made it hit harder. Her tongue explored uncertainly, sliding along the underside, then trying to take more. She hollowed her cheeks too hard at first, then eased up, her rhythm jerky and unpracticed.
A quiet, embarrassed sound escaped her when she gagged lightly on a deeper stroke, but she didn't pull away. She kept going, sucking and licking with sweet determination that undid me faster than any polished technique ever could.
My hand found her hair, not guiding, just resting there, fingers tightening gently as pleasure rolled through me in heavy waves. Low groans tore from my chest with every swirl of her tongue. My hips twitched forward in tiny, restrained movements despite myself, every muscle in my core clenching tight.
Even with her inexperience, the sight of Mia on her knees for me—mouth stretched around my cock, eyes glassy with concentration—was almost too much.
After a few minutes, I couldn't take any more without ending things too soon. I pulled back with a shaky exhale, my cock slipping from her lips with a wet sound. I nudged her gently toher feet, hands steady on her shoulders as I tried to catch my breath.
"Have you done any of this before?" I asked, my voice gravel-rough, searching her face in the dimming light.
She shook her head, cheeks burning crimson. "No."
The words landed like a punch—surprise, fierce protectiveness, and a raw surge of possessiveness slamming through me all at once. She was untouched. Mine in a way I hadn't expected. I stood there for a second, digesting it, my cock still throbbing between us.
Then her hand wrapped around me again, stroking slowly from base to tip, her grip warm and sure despite the tremble in her fingers.
"I want this, Hale," she said, voice steadier than I expected. "I'm safe. I'm on birth control."
