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The hand caressing me stops before he tightens his hold. “I want you, Dahlia. Make no mistake about that. I’m just having a hard time with guilt after seeing her yesterday. I never loved her. In fact, I’ve spent years hating her, but seeing her yesterday and hearing her talk, I felt damn guilty. It just shuck me up some.” He tilts my head so that I’m looking at him. “It’s you I want to be with. No one else.” He kisses me lightly on the lips.
My heart beats wildly for this man. Before I got to know him, he came across as a badass Marine. I’m convinced that’s the impression he wanted to project, but the fact is he’s a softy at heart and just wants a life . . . a family.
I snuggle back into his chest and with the fire now blazing in the hearth; I watch the snow falling heavier outside and eventually let myself be lulled into sleep.
Chapter Thirteen
Ryder
Sitting across from Dahlia with a steaming cup of coffee in my hands, my eyes slowly take in her features. She’s sitting with one leg up and her arms wrapped around the leg while she reads something on her iPad. A position she’s been in for the past ten minutes.
The silence is comfortable.
Dahlia must have been tired last night, because when she went out while lying in my arms in front of the fire, she didn’t wake up until this morning.
My disappointment at her not being beside me when I woke soon disappeared when I walked into the kitchen to find her making pancakes and sausage. She’d looked sexy in her sweats and tee shirt. I couldn’t resist sneaking up on her and slipping my hands beneath her shirt to touch the warm skin of her torso.
I grin as I remember her batting my hands away because the pancakes would get cold. Apparently, she has something planned for tonight, which has me half aroused with anticipation.
She kills me.
As she glances up, she catches my perusal of her and gives me a knowing smile.
Glancing back down at her iPad, she licks her lips. This causes more of a stirring in my jeans. If she’s not careful, she’s going to get more than she’s expecting right now.
“What do you want to do today?” she suddenly asks.
I smirk. “That’s a loaded question if I ever heard one.”
She shakes her head. “Get your mind out of your jeans.”
“It’s not in my jeans . . . it’s in your sweats.” I chuckle. She’s too damn cute.
“Okay, time out.” I take the iPad from her.
Scrolling down the screen of ‘things to do in Stowe,’ there really is only two things I hope we’ll be doing while we’re here. I read a few suggestions out, “Snowboarding, skiing, snowshoeing or a sleigh ride.” I look to Dahlia. “Do you want to do any of them?”
Frowning, she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth. My fists clench as I force myself to keep my hands to myself. I’m tempted to pull her lip free and smooth it with my fingers, or more enjoyably, my own lips.
“Snowboarding, maybe. I’ve never done any of those things, but I’m not too sure about skiing. I wouldn’t mind the sleigh ride and snowshoeing at some point as well.”
“Okay, then. Let me find out where we can book a lesson and equipment.” I press a link and find what I’m looking for. “Spruce Peak. We can hire the gear from there and book lessons as well.”
I feel my excitement start to grow. It’s been about seven years since I last strapped my feet onto a snowboard. And if I remember correctly, Jace had won the downhill race we’d had on them. He hasn’t been on a board since.
“Why the frown?”
“I wasn’t aware that’s what I was doing, but I was just remembering the last time I was on a snowboard. It was with Jace. We used to come to New England every winter to snowboard, but things changed. Maybe one day I’ll get him back on one.” I smile, knowing I’m going to drag his butt back here at some point.
“If you’re sure that’s what you want to do today, then I’ll go and get dressed.”
“I can’t wait, babe. You brought thermals, right? It’s going to be cold as fuck out there in the snow.”
She rolls her eyes. “Yes, I brought thermals.”
As she starts to walk past me, I grab her wrist and haul her onto my lap. Sealing my lips to hers, I lick the taste of syrup and coffee from her lips. My fingers slide into her hair and wrapping it around my hands, I change the angle of the kiss and capture her moan in my mouth.
If we’re going out this morning, I need to put a stop to this but I’m unable to pull away from her lips. She has the sexiest mouth with plump kissable lips. I can’t get enough. The more I kiss her, breathe her in, the harder my dick is getting.
