Page 12 of His Savage Longing

The first faint traces of dawn filter through the curtains, casting a warm glow over Aspen's slumbering features. My chest constricts at the sight of her lying so peacefully beside me, tousled crimson curls spilling across the pillowcase. It almost doesn't seem real after all this time.

Almost involuntarily, my fingers reach out to ghost along the delicate line of her jaw. Aspen murmurs something soft and unintelligible in her sleep, her full lips pursing into an unconscious pout.

God, she's so damn beautiful.

Unable to resist the pull, I ease closer until the solid weight of her curves presses flush against me. Aspen stirs, eyes fluttering open for a heartbeat before drifting shut again with a contented sigh. She nestles deeper into my arms, her leg slipping between mine in a slow, sensual glide.

The thin cotton blanket between us does little to disguise the swell of her breasts, the heat of her core radiating against my thigh. It would be so easy to surrender to this again. Just a simple shift of my hips, a tug to rid us of these last flimsy barriers, and I could drink deep from that intoxicating well once more.

Beneath the searing lust is another ache, one I've carried far too long. A soul-deep craving for the kind of intimacy that has nothing to do with tangled sheets and sweat-slicked skin. The kind only Aspen has ever managed to offer.

One of her restless hands skims along the ridges of my abdomen, her nails lightly scoring my flesh in a way that has my muscles clenching. I growl low in my throat, the sound rumbling through us both.

"Aspen..."

The husky rasp of my voice seems to rouse her further. Those emerald eyes open, still glazed with the vestiges of sleep. For a suspended moment, she simply stares at me—taking in the hard planes of my features, the intensity of my stare. Slowly, the hazy desire clouding her gaze clears as the reality of our tangled forms settles in.

Abruptly, her entire body goes rigid in my arms. Aspen sucks in a sharp breath, her features schooling into a carefully neutral mask.

"Zane. I wasn't..." She trails off, swallowing hard as she subtly shifts away from me.

I resist the instinctive urge to tighten my hold, to keep her bound against me where she belongs. Instead, I simply hold her stare, keeping my expression open and unguarded. "It's just me, Red."

The childhood nickname slips out unbidden, and Aspen's mask fractures ever so slightly. A fleeting shimmer of tenderness softens her features before the shutters descend again. But she doesn't pull away further, some of the rigid tension easing from her muscles.

"We should talk," I murmur after a loaded pause, reaching out to tuck an errant curl behind her ear. "Really talk, for once."

Aspen's lips purse, but she gives a jerky nod of assent.

Taking a fortifying breath, I push up to sitting and lean back against the headboard. She mirrors the movement, drawing her knees up to drape the sheets over her body in a loose cocoon. I can practically hear the gears turning in Aspen's head as she worries that plump lower lip, clearly steeling herself for whatever's to come next.

"I want you to stay." The words tumble out in a low rumble. "I want us to rebuild the camp together."

Aspen's brow furrows as she processes my declaration. "You're serious? Even after our disagreements about how to approach it?"

"More than ever," I affirm with a nod. "Look, I'll be the first to admit I was being stubborn as hell about sticking to the 'authentic' Silverpine experience and resisting any modernization. But after seeing how fired up you were getting over the possibilities..."

"So, what? You think we can find some middle ground?"

I lean in closer without conscious thought, the scent of her surrounding me in an intoxicating cloud: vanilla and sun-warmed cedar. "I know we can. We're a hell of a team."

"What about my job?" Aspen asks, chewing on that lush lower lip in a way that draws my gaze like a magnet.

I hold her stare, keeping my expression impassive despite the raging need to reach out and smooth the crease furrowing her brow with my thumb. "Quit."

She blinks, clearly taken aback by my blunt response. "Just like that? Zane, I've worked my ass off for years to build my career."

"And how's that making you feel?" I challenge, arching a brow. "Fulfilled? Happy?"

Aspen's eyes blaze for an instant, that fiery spark I've always loved roaring to life. But it's fleeting, quickly banked as she glances away with a helpless shrug. "My life is in the city. My house, my friends..."

"None of that's real," I rumble, unable to keep the edge of frustration from seeping into my tone. "Silverpine, what we had here—that was real. More real than any bullshit corporate ladder or cookie-cutter suburban existence you've been telling yourself you wanted."

But she's nothing if not stubborn, that chin lifting in defiance. "So what, I'm just supposed to drop everything and start over here? In Silverpine?"

I lean in closer, letting my gaze roam over those delicate features that have haunted my dreams for far too long. "Where you belong."

Aspen's bravado falters, her shoulders sagging infinitesimally as uncertainty clouds her eyes. "How can I know you won't just disappear on me again?"

Source: www.allfreenovel.com