Page 12 of Frosty Mountain Man

“That’s cheating,” I gasped, laughing despite the cold soaking straight into my borrowed clothes. “You can’t just tackle someone, that’s not how snowball fights work.”

He just stared up at me for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a snowball fight before.”

That made my heart ache. Had he ever just been a little boy? A normal teen? A young man out on his own, exploring his own interests? I was beginning to understand why he may have walked away from his family business. I had learned long ago that having money didn’t buy happiness. It just bought you security.

I reached out and brushed the snow from his hair, needing to touch him. I realized how close his face was to mine, and exactly how not-so-frosty his eyes were.

His hand came up and brushed the melting snow from my cheek before cupping the back of my head and pulling my mouth down to his. It was slow and deliberate for exactly one heartbeat. Then it wasn’t. It was fast and hungry, like he’d been holding himself back. He wasted no time asking for entrance with the tip of his tongue. I wasted even less time granting it. We both groaned as the kiss deepened. Dark and delicious.

His mouth was hot against the cold air, a contrast so sharp it made my head spin, or maybe that was just him. His hand tightened in my hair, tilting my head exactly where he wanted it, and I let him. His tongue explored the recesses of my mouth, tasting me, just as I was tasting him. He tasted like the coffee he’d had this morning and a masculine taste I couldn’t describe. I just knew it was how Harrison tasted. And I wanted more of it. Immediately. Possibly forever.

Eventually he pulled back, his head falling back in the snow, his eyes momentarily closed. Then without a word, he managed to get us both to our feet. He took my hand and led me back into the house.

CHAPTER SIX

Harrison

Elle stood in my entryway dripping snow on my hardwood floor. The hat I’d yanked down over her ears was missing, lost in the snow outside. She was looking at me the way I imagined I was looking at her.

Hungry.

“You’re soaked,” I said.

She gave a startled laugh. “Oh, if only you knew.”

I immediately knew exactly what she meant and felt my cock harden even more behind my zipper.

I reached for the fasteners of her borrowed coat instead of answering and she let me. I slid it off her shoulders and hung it up without thinking about it. She watched my face the whole time as if she was waiting to see if I’d stop.

I didn’t stop.

Instead, I bent down and took off her shoes. Next, I took off my coat and shoes. We stood there, just staring at each other. I tipped her face up toward mine.

“Bedroom,” I said. It wasn’t a question.

“Obviously.”

I got her down the hall faster than I’d have thought possible for two people who kept stopping to kiss each other against every available wall. By the time we made it there, her borrowed sweatpants were gone, left somewhere in the hallway. Our t-shirts made a reckless trail behind us. I had her bra strap slipping off her shoulders before we reached the door.

I made myself slow down there. Just for a second. I ran my thumb along her jaw. “You can still tell me to stop. At any point.”

Something in her face softened, all that sass going quiet for a moment. “I know. I’m not going to, but I know.”

“Good,” I said and kissed her again. Slower this time as I finally let myself touch her the way I’d wanted to since she’d pressed her hand against my chest.

Her body was soft everywhere. Soft and enchanting like no other woman before her. Full hips that fit perfectly under my palms, thighs that pressed against mine when I pulled her closer. And when the rest of her clothes finally came off and she stood in front of me in nothing but the low bedroom light, I had to stop again, just to look.

She whispered my name. Although I’d already figured that out, I heard that something in her voice that made me know she didn’t usually do this. Beneath her tough interior was a woman who was vulnerable. I traced a finger across her collarbone, then lower, outlining the dark pink island that surrounded one peaked nipple. That touch made her shudder and me smile.

Then I trailed it down between the valley of her breasts, over her stomach and across her hip. That made her take a small step back. “None of that,” I ordered, splaying my hand across one ass cheek and pulling her back toward me.

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my life, Elle, but I have never seen anything I wanted to look at as much as I want to look at you right now.” I said it plain, no dressing it up, because dressing it up would have made it sound like a line, and it wasn’t one. “I want to see every inch of you. I want to see how you react when I touch every inch of you.”

I leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. “And, just so you know, I’m going to take my time with you. Until I don’t.”

Her breath caught, audibly, and whatever she’d been about to say instead came out as something closer to a laugh, unsteady and disbelieving. “That was, annoyingly, a very good thing to say.”

“I have my moments.”