“I think we can start by picking up where we left off last night,” he rasps firmly.
My breath shivers as I watch his huge hands twitch forward. Wanting to reach for me, but I get the feeling Mack has something else to say before we go any further.
“See what you do to me?” he asks, glancing down at his front before showing me his hands, which I notice have the same tremble running through my entire body.
I can only nod in reply. Feeling more drawn to him by the second.
Needing him to kiss me now, not just wanting it.
But also loving the suspense of the moment. Knowing that this is actually real.
It’s happening.
An actual real-life man wants to do more than just have me follow him into the woods.
“I just need you to know that I’ve only ever felt this way about you, Tina,” he adds.
My hand reaches for his and grips his huge fingers. They curl around mine as he makes my heart swell with his sweet words.
“Once I kiss you, I won’t stop,” he says with true grit in his voice. “But I don’t just want to kiss you, Tina. I want all of you…and forever. Starting right now.”
He gives me time to tell him otherwise, but I don’t need to even think about it.
I know there’ll be hell to pay, and most likely for both of us if I do give myself to Mack.
But something about this whole place, not just him, makes me feel like I really could stay here forever.
Without another word between us, Mack leans down and cups my face with his hand.
His mouth is gentle over mine at first, but as soon as we both feel and taste the power that’s drawing us closer yet, we both abandon ourselves.
His mouth is hard over mine and our tongues swirling like the way I know our bodies could too.
My hands claw at his rock-hard chest and abs.
The pulsing line of his arousal stiff against my soft belly.
And his huge arms envelop me before he scoops me up. Literally picking me up as if I weigh nothing while we kiss.
Holding me so strong but tender, I can’t help feeling I’ve finally been rescued.
I feel like I’m in the safest place in the world in his arms.
I know I’m home now.
CHAPTER TEN
Mack
I thought I could wait.
Maybe even just talk as we hike, then spend today getting to know Tina better.
But dammit if she doesn’t make me harder than stone, and every step I take feels like one more away from her. Every second I waste in not telling her how I feel about her is too long.
I’ve never been much of a talker.
More of a doer kind of guy. So, once I know we’re clear of the curious eyes of my aging housekeeper, I can’t bear the strain in my jeans another second. I tell her.
I tell her what I’m sure we both already know, and from the look in her eyes, she doesn’t have to say another word.
She does feel the same, but being a little shy and maybe even intimidated by my size or years, she isn’t as bold as I am in letting her know how I feel.
How much I fucking need her over just wanting her now.
Kissing her for the first time, and more important, feeling her kiss me back with the same intensity.
It answers all the questions we have for each other without any words.
We just know.
And whatever happens from now on is nothing compared to this feeling, and knowing we have all day and tonight together only makes the rest of the world, let alone the ranch household, seem like it’s so far away it might not even be real.
Scooping her up and carrying her with me, it’s as civilized a caveman as I can be right now.
And even after just a few steps, and another long kiss, Tina lets me know in a casual tone I don’t have to carry her all the way.
Squeezing her close, I chuckle softly.
“I’d carry you five hundred miles if it meant you’d be mine,” I tell her candidly.
Knowing I could hold her forever like this, and not only because I have a strong arm.
“Plus, I’ll set you down when I’m good and ready,” I croon, nuzzling her neck and making her giggle.
Both of us instantly feel like we’ve known each other forever, and being close is the most natural thing in the world. Like it should be between us.
“You can’t carry me five miles,” she protests, gasping when my hand shifts, touching her ample chest on one side as I secure my grip on her.
More determined now not to set her down until we reach the stables.
“You bet I can’t, or you really don’t want me to?” I ask her, raising my brows.
She opens her mouth but closes it as she thinks to herself.