Page 25 of Consumed By The Forbidden Mountain Man

"I love you," he says. "I love you, Ivy. And I'm done being scared of it."

The sound that comes out of me is somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "I love you too, you stubborn, impossible man."

He kisses me. Soft, slow, his forehead against mine. Not the hungry kiss from the pines. Not the desperate kiss against the cabin wall. This one is a promise.

"I turned my porch light off," I whisper against his mouth.

"I noticed."

"It was mean."

"It was devastating."

"Good."

He laughs. An actual laugh. Full, surprised, his chest shaking against mine. The first real laugh I've heard from Reid Castellano, and it warms me from the inside out.

From his cabin, Tony yells, "If you two are done, I'm eating your steaks!"

Reid shakes his head. Laces his fingers through mine. We walk toward his cabin.

"Your brother is going to make this weird for a while."

"My brother was always going to make this weird. That's his job."

"And yours?"

"Mine?" I squeeze his hand. "I'm staying."

He stops walking. Looks down at me. "Staying."

"Staying. Here. In Whisper Vale. Patty Cole wants a social media manager. Holly needs a marketing plan for the bakery. And I just won a pie competition, so clearly this town needs me." I look up at him. "And you need me."

"Yeah." His voice is rough. "I do."

We eat steaks on Reid's porch. The three of us. Tony drinks four beers, gives Reid exactly the right amount of grief, and tells me he's proud of me twice without prompting.

When Tony goes to his cabin at ten, Reid pulls me inside, locks the door, and kisses me against the kitchen counter.

"Missed you," he says into my neck. His hands are under my sweater. On my ribs, my waist, my breasts. "Two days felt like a month."

"Whose fault is that?"

"Mine." He lifts me onto the counter. "Let me make it up to you."

He drops to his knees. Unbuttons my jeans, pulls them down with my underwear. His mouth is on my inner thigh, my hip, the crease where my leg meets my body. Then his tongue slides through my pussy, flat, slow, and I grab the edge of the counter.

"Fuck, Reid."

He hums against me. The vibration sends a shockwave up my spine. His tongue circles my clit, slow deliberate pressure, then sucks gently while two fingers push inside me. Curling. Finding the spot that makes my thighs shake.

My hand goes to his hair. He looks up at me from between my legs, dark eyes locked on mine, and the combination of his mouth, his fingers, and those eyes pushes me over. I come hard, his name echoing in the small kitchen, my back arching off the cabinet.

He doesn't stop. Keeps his mouth on me, softer now, drawing it out. Then he stands, strips, rolls a condom on, and pulls me to the edge of the counter.

One thrust. Deep. My legs lock around his waist. His hand grips the back of my neck, holding my face to his.

"I love you," he says. Moving inside me. Deep, steady strokes.