Hayes searched my face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I wasn’t certain this wouldn’t end in wreckage around us, but I was sure I wanted to feel what it was to wholly belong to this man, body and soul—even if only for one night. I wanted to give myself over to everything he could make me feel, even if I didn’t think it could last. “Make me yours.”
Hayes’ eyes flashed, and he lifted me in one swift move. My legs encircled his waist as I simply held on. We strode towards my bedroom on the other side of the small cabin. I thanked my lucky stars for walls made of thick lumber that insulated sound.
He closed the door behind us with a foot and continued to the bed, stopping just shy of it. Hayes never once looked away from me as he lowered me to the floor. Each millimeter of movement sent sparks of sensation dancing across my skin.
As soon as my feet touched the floor, my hands were in his tee, tugging and pulling until golden skin greeted my eyes. Planes of lean muscle I couldn’t resist exploring. My fingers traced a pec as his hands went to the button on his jeans. Hayes hissed out a breath as I circled a nipple. “Ev…”
I looked up at him with a wicked grin. “Yes?”
He pulled me flush against him as his jeans fell, and he stepped out of them. “You know, I’ve wanted those clever little fingers on me since the moment I saw you.”
The knowledge of that, the power, made something stir to life inside me. “Then let’s give you what you want.” My hands went to his boxer briefs, sending them to the floor. My fingers curled around his shaft, stroking.
The groan he let out made everything in me tighten. Hayes traced a hand over the center of my sleep shorts and then slipped under the hem. He pulled back a fraction. “No underwear?”
“Not when I’m going to sleep.”
“You mean to tell me that every time I’ve seen you walking around this house in those damn shorts, there’s been nothing underneath?”
I shrugged.
Hayes’ head dropped to my shoulder. “You’re going to kill me. I’m going to die of an actual stroke.”
I gave his neck a playful bite. “Let’s have a little fun first.”
“Damn straight.”
In a flash, Hayes had me on my back on the mattress, pulling my sleep shorts from my body. He tossed them over his shoulder as he moved for my tank top next, throwing that somewhere else. “I knew you’d be beautiful.” One finger circled my nipple. “But you steal my breath.”
“Hayes.” His name was a cross between a whimper and a plea. “Need you.”
Those dark eyes caught fire, and I’d never seen anything more beautiful. “You have me.” He tore open a foil packet, rolling a condom over his length as my legs encircled his waist once more, bringing him closer to me. His tip bumped against my opening. “You with me?”
“Always.” It wasn’t a lie. After this, a piece of me would always be with him. Buried somewhere deep, even if I had to walk away.
My eyes fluttered closed as Hayes slid inside.
“Stay with me, Ev.”
My eyes flew open as he began to move. My back arched as I met him stroke for stroke. It was different. Whatever was between us made it so. That pull had rooted itself deeply now, and I didn’t think it would ever break.
My fingers curled into Hayes’ shoulders as he angled his hips, driving himself impossibly deeper. Sparks of light dotted my vision with each thrust. I dug in deeper, searching for that last piece.
That thumb, the same one that’d gently stroked my cheek to ease me, found that tightly wound bundle of nerves. The rough pad circled and teased, then flicked with a force that sent everything crashing down around me. And as we came apart, I knew nothing would ever be the same.
35
Hayes
“You’re whistling again,” Young said as she pulled up a chair in the meeting room.
I immediately stopped. No part of me should be whistling. Not when we’d had two attempted abductions recently, and someone had nearly run my sister off the road last night. But I had been. Because amidst the storm swirling, I was the happiest I’d been in years. “I think you’re hearing things, Young. No whistling over here.”
She snorted and took a seat. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out.
Mom: You need to talk to Hadley. Convince her to move home until whoever’s doing this is caught.