virgin, old, big-trunk trees shadowing out any smaller growth—which made it ideally easy to suddenly, carefully grab Rosemary’s hand. A little twist, beyond a tree or two, then a dance behind pines, and he had her alone. Maybe only for seconds, and not far from the girls. But he still had her alone.
He took her mouth. Right then. Fast. Before she had a clue what was coming.
He did. He’d known all day, maybe knew from the minute he’d met her, that something was there between them. Maybe it had to be uncovered, searched for, worked for—but he had an absolutely clear vision about what he wanted to do with and for and to Rosemary MacKinnon.
He was going for treasure.
At first, she went tense in his arms.
At first.
The wind picked up a sudden bit. So many scents surrounded them—the tang of pine, the rich scent of wet earth and stinging fresh air. And her. Covered in that fluffy purple jacket of hers, all zipped up...but her lips suddenly parted for his. Her headed tilted back, and she lifted up, lifted into him, her arms swooping around his neck.
Aw, man.
She didn’t kiss like a good girl. She kissed like maybe this was her last chance, the last chocolate in the box, and she was going to savor the best damned kiss with everything she had. She made a sound. A soft sweet sound of yearning, a sound so vulnerable and naked that he felt a silver streak of need.
She wasn’t any woman. This wasn’t any kiss. It was a connection. The kind that made him want to own her—and to be owned right back. To have lusty, wild, sweaty sex...and then take all night, making tortuously tender love. He desperately wanted to hold her through the night. He fiercely needed to protect her through a life.
His hands slid around her, down her back, down to her butt...felt a fierce resentment at all the darned clothes between them. He needed to feel her. All of her. He was too old to invite this kind of frustration, even if it was a hurt-so-good kind of pain. He just didn’t want to let her go.
A sudden rustling sound broke through his closed-eyes concentrated exploring of her mouth.
The sound didn’t immediately stop him. It wasn’t some alien wild animal rustling...it was eleven-year-old girls type of rustling. His twins were close—but they hadn’t discovered them yet. He still had a few more seconds. He didn’t want to give up even a millisecond of these kisses, these touches. With her.
But Rosemary heard Pepper’s voice and suddenly sprang back, her eyes glazed and startled. For an instant he saw an unguarded look on her face, in her eyes. She wanted him. Maybe it took a stolen, breathless kiss to unlock that truth from the closet, but he wasn’t the only one with feelings. He wasn’t the only one who’d never expected an avalanche of emotion and need out of the complete blue.
“Whit,” she started to say. From unguarded vulnerability, she turned on the repression button, snapped that attitude into her voice.
But the girls suddenly showed up in sight, and galloped toward them, chattering and yelling the whole way. “Da-ad! You said a short walk! And now we did it and we’re starving. And exhausted. And Lilly lost a mitten.”
“I did not.”
“It was my mitten and you took it and now it’s disappeared!”
“Because you dropped it in the woods, you numbskull!”
He interjected carefully, “If you don’t scare off Rosemary with your arguing, I was thinking about asking her to come back home with us, have dinner.”
“We’re not arguing anymore.” Pepper elbowed her sister in the ribs. Lilly elbowed her right back and added a hair pull. Both gleamed beatific smiles at Rosemary.
She opened her mouth as if to say no to the dinner, then shot a quick careful glance at him. “Okay,” she said, but she was still looking at him.
She wasn’t coming back because of food. She was coming back, he strongly suspected, because she planned on straightening him out about a few things.
Rosemary wasn’t one to
He took her mouth. Right then. Fast. Before she had a clue what was coming.
He did. He’d known all day, maybe knew from the minute he’d met her, that something was there between them. Maybe it had to be uncovered, searched for, worked for—but he had an absolutely clear vision about what he wanted to do with and for and to Rosemary MacKinnon.
He was going for treasure.
At first, she went tense in his arms.
At first.
The wind picked up a sudden bit. So many scents surrounded them—the tang of pine, the rich scent of wet earth and stinging fresh air. And her. Covered in that fluffy purple jacket of hers, all zipped up...but her lips suddenly parted for his. Her headed tilted back, and she lifted up, lifted into him, her arms swooping around his neck.
Aw, man.
She didn’t kiss like a good girl. She kissed like maybe this was her last chance, the last chocolate in the box, and she was going to savor the best damned kiss with everything she had. She made a sound. A soft sweet sound of yearning, a sound so vulnerable and naked that he felt a silver streak of need.
She wasn’t any woman. This wasn’t any kiss. It was a connection. The kind that made him want to own her—and to be owned right back. To have lusty, wild, sweaty sex...and then take all night, making tortuously tender love. He desperately wanted to hold her through the night. He fiercely needed to protect her through a life.
His hands slid around her, down her back, down to her butt...felt a fierce resentment at all the darned clothes between them. He needed to feel her. All of her. He was too old to invite this kind of frustration, even if it was a hurt-so-good kind of pain. He just didn’t want to let her go.
A sudden rustling sound broke through his closed-eyes concentrated exploring of her mouth.
The sound didn’t immediately stop him. It wasn’t some alien wild animal rustling...it was eleven-year-old girls type of rustling. His twins were close—but they hadn’t discovered them yet. He still had a few more seconds. He didn’t want to give up even a millisecond of these kisses, these touches. With her.
But Rosemary heard Pepper’s voice and suddenly sprang back, her eyes glazed and startled. For an instant he saw an unguarded look on her face, in her eyes. She wanted him. Maybe it took a stolen, breathless kiss to unlock that truth from the closet, but he wasn’t the only one with feelings. He wasn’t the only one who’d never expected an avalanche of emotion and need out of the complete blue.
“Whit,” she started to say. From unguarded vulnerability, she turned on the repression button, snapped that attitude into her voice.
But the girls suddenly showed up in sight, and galloped toward them, chattering and yelling the whole way. “Da-ad! You said a short walk! And now we did it and we’re starving. And exhausted. And Lilly lost a mitten.”
“I did not.”
“It was my mitten and you took it and now it’s disappeared!”
“Because you dropped it in the woods, you numbskull!”
He interjected carefully, “If you don’t scare off Rosemary with your arguing, I was thinking about asking her to come back home with us, have dinner.”
“We’re not arguing anymore.” Pepper elbowed her sister in the ribs. Lilly elbowed her right back and added a hair pull. Both gleamed beatific smiles at Rosemary.
She opened her mouth as if to say no to the dinner, then shot a quick careful glance at him. “Okay,” she said, but she was still looking at him.
She wasn’t coming back because of food. She was coming back, he strongly suspected, because she planned on straightening him out about a few things.
Rosemary wasn’t one to
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