“Why’d you do it?” she asked.
“That’s hard to explain.”
“Were you getting me back for spying on you?”
“No.”
She chewed her lip for a second. “What about that stuff about my shiny hair and blue eyes fucking with you? What about telling me I’m your problem?”
“You’re not my problem. That came out wrong.” My problem is the way I feel standing so close to you.
She didn’t appear convinced. “What about what happened yesterday? In the barn. Are we ever going to talk about that?”
I shrugged. “It was a mistake.”
That earned me an eye roll. “No shit.”
“Then why’d you ask?”
Her brow furrowed. “I don’t know. Because you confuse me. I never know whether I’m coming or going with you. One minute we’re kissing, the next you’re yelling at me to get out. This morning you’re an asshole, tonight you apologize.” She slapped a hand to her forehead. “I can’t keep up.”
“You don’t have to. Aren’t you leaving soon?” Please say yes. I can’t go on like this, wanting you this way.
“In about ten days.”
Fuck. I wasn’t sure I’d make it.
Suddenly she clapped her hands over her face. “God, what am I doing here? I must be crazy. You’re a client.” She stepped off the porch and started hurrying down the path away from the cabin.
“Margot, wait!” I was relieved she was leaving, but I couldn’t let her go alone. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
“I didn’t drive,” she called, heading into the trees.
My chest got tight, and I sped up, following her into the dark. “Margot, stop! I’ll drive you back. You shouldn’t walk alone at night.”
“I’m fine.”
“Hey.” Catching up to her, I grabbed her elbow and spun her around. “I’m not letting you walk anywhere near that highway in the dark, do you understand me?”
Just enough moonlight spilled through the tops of the trees that I could see her eyes glitter with angry tears. “Let go of me.”
“No.” I started trying to drag her back toward the cabin so I could get my keys, but she fought me.
“Let go of me,” she said through clenched teeth.
“No!” I roared, gripping her by the upper arms and drawing her in. “I can’t.”
And without even thinking about i
t, I crushed my mouth to hers.
She wiggled around in my grasp for a second, and I thought she was still trying to escape, but when I loosened my grip, she threw her arms around me.
I reached under the bottom of her dress and grabbed the back of her thighs, lifting her right off the ground. She wrapped her legs around me, threading her fingers through my hair, fingernails raking across my scalp. Chills swept down my arms and back. It felt so good to be touched this way again, wanted this way—I’d forgotten how good, and the heat of it ignited a fire inside me that had long been out. She stroked my tongue with hers, kissed my jaw, my forehead, my neck, and my entire body thrummed with the need to be inside her, to be surrounded by the warmth of her desire. It was enough to shut off my brain—all I did was feel.
Moving off the path, I put her back against a thick tree trunk, pinning her there, pressing the bulge in my jeans between her legs, rocking my hips to rub against her. She used her legs to pull me closer. Minutes flew by as our breathing grew heavier, our bodies more demanding. “Yes,” she whispered. “I want it. I want it.”
Ten seconds of fumbling around with clothing later, I was sliding into her, my hands beneath her ass, her forearms braced on my shoulders. Her mouth was open, just above mine. “Oh God,” she whimpered as I lowered her onto my cock. “I want it, but don’t know if I can take it.”