“I won’t leave,” he said softly, looking up at me. He took the wine glass from my hand and put it on the table behind him. Nerves hummed, hot and low, and I shifted, opening my legs further. “Not unless you tell me to. I’m here. Choosing you.”
My breath caught. “You can’t know that yet.”
“I do.” His hands slid up my thighs and then back down, absently stroking, while desire came to life under his touch. “I don’t know where this will go, Liora. I can’t presume to know what next year will look like. But I know what I want in the now. And how I can see a future with you.”
A tremor ran through me. “Torin…”
He leaned closer, his hands continuing to stroke my legs. A fine tremble began to work its way through my body.
“I bet you could see it too, if you let yourself look.”
“Bad idea,” I said, shifting and widening my legs even more. I desperately wanted this man’s hands on me. “I’m too emotionally attached to the outcome to look.”
“Tell me,” he whispered, leaning forward, his gaze desperate. “Tell me you want this too.”
I closed my eyes.
“I want this,” I breathed. “I want you.”
He exhaled like he’d been holding it for hours.
“Good,” he murmured.
Then his mouth found mine.
The kiss wasn’t tentative.
It demanded. Everything.
His hand slid into my hair, tilting my face up. My fingers dug into his shoulders, pulling him closer until the world narrowed to heat and heartbeat and want. His lips were warm and firm, coaxing mine open, tasting like wine and something sweeter—like he was letting himself hope, too.
I made a soft, helpless sound against his mouth, arching my hips against him, and he broke the kiss, smiling wickedly at me.
“You did that the other night too, didn’t ye, lass?” Torin trailed a finger across the snap of my jeans. “At the pub. When I had you pressed against the wall. You remember? You rocked into me. Needing more.”
“I…” I dropped my head back when he unsnapped my jeans and tugged them down, along with my pants, leaving me exposed to his face. It was such a shocking move, to go from kissing all week to suddenly being half naked in front of him, that I struggled to sit up a bit. “Torin!”
“I won’t touch if you don’t want me to.” Torin stopped where he was pulling my jeans off around my ankles and sat back on his knees, waiting for permission.
My entire body thrummed with need. It seemed to always do so, around him. It had probably been the shirtless wood chopping that had tipped the decision in my head, I just hadn’t admitted it to myself yet. But, bloody hell, did I want this man.
“Och, I mean, go ahead. If you’re so inclined, that is.” I sniffed, awkwardly, and mentally died a bit inside at my words.
If you’re so inclined.Bloody hell, Liora.Who even said things like that?
But then I couldn’t think anymore as his mouth found me and he devoured me like a man who had been desperate for a taste.
It was so starkly shocking. One moment he was lightly stroking my legs, and the next he’d opened me, delving deeply with his tongue, the friction and heat hitting me just right. I arched my back, falling backward on the cushion, as his mouth took over and all I could do was feel.
This man was made for loving.
That’s all I could think about as he dedicated his entire focus on my pleasure. If I moaned, he paused, repeating where he licked. If I squealed, he paused and then sucked harder, in the exact spot that I needed. As pleasure built inside me, low and hot, rising to a crest, I began to moan and rock against his face.
“Please, Torin. Please. I need…” I trailed off as he lapped across me, sending a shockwave of desire through me, and then slid a finger deep inside of me.
“Please what?” Torin asked, as mildly as if I was asking for more sugar in my tea.
“It’s…och, aye. There, there, there,” I shrieked and threw my head back as he curled his finger upward, and licked deeply against me, his tongue swirling in just the right way until myorgasm hit, and I dissolved in a puddle, my entire body shaking with the release. Pulling back, Torin grinned up at me, a satisfied look on his face.