Another shiver runs through me. “Tonight, I do.” It’s a breathy whisper.

He peeks up at me and grins. “And before tonight?”

“I was on the fence.”

“What changed?”

“Tonight you showed me the real you.”

His lips touch the back of my hand, and I exhale a shuddery breath.

“Okay?” he asks.

“Okay.” I nod.

He lifts his head, eyes searching mine as he twirls an errant curl around his finger, then drags a single finger along the edge of my jaw.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been very nice to you.”

He nods in agreement. “It’s part of your allure, just like mine is needling the shit out of you until I get a reaction.”

“You’re definitely good at that.”

“Good enough that if I kissed you, you might kiss me back?”

“There’s a reasonably good chance of that.”

He leans in closer and tips his head to the right, so I angle mine and meet him halfway. Just before our lips connect, he tucks his thumb under my chin and mutters, “I’d better not fuck this up.”

My chuckle turns into a sigh when his lips brush over mine, sending an electric jolt through me. We both still.

“Did you feel that?”

“It’s probably just the storm.” I wrap my hand around the back of his neck and pull his mouth back to mine to see whether I’m right. I also notice that the patter of rain has slowed significantly, and it’s not nearly as forceful or violent as it was when we first stumbled in here.

I don’t have much time to focus on those details because the moment Van’s lips connect with mine again, a bolt of sizzling lust zings through me. Heat follows in a heady rush when his velvet-soft tongue sweeps out to meet mine. We both groan, and the hand around the back of his neck tightens, as if I’m trying to anchor him to me. At the same time his fingers slide along the edge of my jaw and tangle in my hair.

Van angles his head more, and I mirror him, opening wider, giving him access to explore, go deeper, give and take more.

I’ve been kissed plenty of times in my life—some of them have been amazing, while others have been lackluster—but this takes me right back to that kiss on the beach all those years ago. This is lust combustion. I don’t know if it’s pure, unfiltered chemistry or the fact that we’ve shared so much of ourselves tonight, but I find myself sinking into this kiss, desperate for it not to end.

Our twined hands part, mine finding his knee, and he mirrors the movement. He spreads his legs wider, and I slide to the edge of my chair, wanting to get closer. I haven’t had this kind of contact in months. And what I did have with Jason was good—nice, like a pretty sunset, something to appreciate and enjoy—but this isn’t the same.

When it’s clear that my sitting on this chair is impeding our ability to get closer to each other, I snake my arm around his neck and rise, tapping on the outside of his left knee, hoping he understands what I’m asking without having to disconnect my mouth from his and use actual words.

Thankfully, he seems to be able to read my mind. He closes his knees and we change positions, his knees inside mine now, giving me the opportunity to use him as my chair. I sit on his thighs and slide forward until we’re chest to chest.

It doesn’t matter that we’re both wearing jeans; I can still feel that prominent bulge, now nestled between my thighs. We make plaintive sounds into each other’s mouths, the kiss gaining fervor. One hand stays tangled in my wet hair; the other arm circles my waist and pulls me tighter against him, bodies flush. I roll my hips and press closer, as if I’m trying to meld us into one.

All the while, I let my free hand explore, tracing the contour of muscle under his shirt. The hairs on his arm stand on end, and goose bumps flash over his skin. I edge back a little, the chair groaning with the shift in weight. Van’s fingers flex on my hip, slipping lower, pressing into the soft fleshy part of my ass.

I find the hem of his shirt and ease a palm underneath, hoping he’ll get the hint and do some exploring of his own. It doesn’t take long for him to take the bait, and his warm palm slides up my back, pulling my shirt up, causing me to shiver as the cool air hits my skin.

I roll my hips again, and he jerks. And all of a sudden, a massive crack echoes through the cabin. For a moment I think it’s the storm. At least until we both go crashing to the cabin floor, the chair a splintered, broken mass underneath us.

I push up on my arms, my wet hair hanging in my face and brushing Van’s cheek as I meet his shocked gaze. I grimace when I notice the bead of blood welling on his top lip.

“You okay?” His voice is full of gravel, his erection still making itself known between my thighs.

“I’m fine.” I swipe at the blood and hold my finger up. “I nicked you, though.”

“Totally worth it.” His tongue sweeps along the cut, and he curls his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me back in for another kiss. This one is as long and heated as the first, despite the fact that Van is lying on a filthy cabin floor with a broken chair underneath him.

Eventually I pull back, both of us breathing hard. “I think the rain has slowed enough that we could go back to your place. If you want.” I bite my lip, aware that by putting this option on the table, I’m opening myself up to a whole host of potential problems. But the flip side is exploring the incredible chemistry we seem to have, and I’m not sure the downside outweighs the potential for some awesome sex with a really hot, surprisingly down-to-earth guy.

Van glances around the cabin. I can see the moment he comes to the same conclusion I have—that this place is disgusting. There’s no way I want to have sex in this nasty old hunting cabin and risk the spider- and bug-bite mementos.

“Yeah. Yes. Absolutely. My place is way better than this.”

CHAPTER 14

KISSES AND CHEMISTRY

Van

Dillion pushes to her feet and holds out her hand to help me up. We both stand there for a second, staring at the destroyed chair, before we turn to each other and glue our mouths back together.

Dillion is nothing and everything like I expected her to be.

She’s a mix of bold and intense and soft and sexy.

And she sure as hell knows how to kiss, so I’m going to go ahead and guess that this chemistry we happen to share will be even more amazing once we get our clothes off.

After a few minutes of dancing tongues—or it could be longer than that; I lose track of time—she puts her hands on my shoulders and pulls back. We’re both panting. She covers my mouth with her palm. “Let’s put a pin in this until we get back to your place, yeah?”

“Yeah.” The word is muffled by her hand.

She nabs her phone from the table and leads me back out into the forest. It’s still raining, but it’s slowed considerably. The path isn’t wide enough for us to navigate side by side, so I follow behind, the light on her phone bobbing unsteadily with her hurried steps. We’re almost jogging we’re moving so quickly.

Eventually the path widens, and I fall into step beside her. We reach the turnaround where her truck is parked.

“Are you good to drive?” I ask. “I only had one beer, and that was a while ago.”