Chapter 9 #2
“I plan to,” she said, brushing past him, a chill still in her tone. He caught the faint scent of her hair as she moved—wildflowers and smoke. The door clicked softly behind her.
Ty stood there for a long moment, staring into the fire. The flickering light licked across the walls, painting the cabin in warm golds and deep shadows. Outside, the night was still, with the sound of distant wind whispering through the trees.
Caesar padded over and nudged his hand. Ty scratched behind his ears absently. “Yeah, I know,” he muttered. “I should leave her be.”
Caesar gave a low, unimpressed grunt and trotted toward the door.
Ty opened it, letting the dog out into the night air.
He stared out into the dark night, the cool breeze coasting over his skin, as he tried not to think about Lark getting ready for bed and the soft mattress waiting for her.
Hell, he’d slept in this cabin plenty of times as a tour guide.
The mattresses weren’t five-star by any means, but they beat the camping pads in a tent by a country mile.
Every part of him demanded that he go into the bedroom and claim her, not let her go to bed without him.
Finish what they’d started earlier that day.
But he paused, knowing he was hiding the truth from her.
She had wanted the whole experience. When she booked the tour, she had specifically told Luke Vincent not to treat her with kid gloves.
He’d brought the tent, like he always did on tours, in case they decided to travel away from the cabins and couldn’t get back to one in time for nightfall, or if there was a storm and they needed shelter.
But they were only a few miles from a cabin when he chose the campsite, intentionally to show her that the wild is not where she belonged.
But the longer he saw her out there, the more he realized he was wrong.
She may have had an adjustment period, but she was far from the pampered princess he thought she was when he first met her.
Well, she was, but she was willing to work for her passion, and that was sexy as fuck.
Would she ever forgive him if she found out her father wanted him to make her journey more difficult?
He had to ensure she was tied to him before she ever found out. Then, maybe she’d be more inclined to listen and not cut him out.
Caesar loped back to the cabin, tongue lolling. He cut the dog off before he could dart into the cabin. “Not tonight, buddy. You’ve cock-blocked me enough on this trip.”
He guided him to the small barn attached to the cabin, opened the door and directed the dog inside. Caesar pounced on Jake, who grunted and swore at Ty. Ty laughed and closed the door to avoid the pillow thrown at the door.
He headed into the cabin and strode directly to the bedroom. The door was ajar, just enough for the warm glow from the bedside lantern to spill into the main room. Her shadow was reflected against the far wall, the slow motion as she brushed her hair. The sight caught him right in the chest.
He pushed the door open gently.
Lark gasped, spinning toward him. “What are you doing here?”
Her voice was soft but tight, half warning, half question.
Ty leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. “Finishing what we started earlier.”
Her breath caught, eyes widening. “Ty—”
He crossed the space between them in two slow steps. Not rushing. Just closing the distance that had felt impossible all day.
“Tell me to stop,” he said, voice low, roughened with everything he hadn’t said since that first kiss.
She didn’t, just watched him with wide eyes.
Her pulse fluttered visibly at the base of her throat, her breath coming quicker. The firelight danced across her face, highlighting the uncertainty in her eyes—uncertainty that didn’t stop her from tilting her chin up as he reached her.
He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek, his knuckles grazing her skin. “You drive me insane,” he murmured.
“Good,” she whispered. “You deserve it.”
That earned a faint, reluctant smile from him—right before he cupped her face and kissed her.
It wasn’t tentative this time. It was slow, deliberate, deep. The kind of kiss that made it clear how long he’d been fighting it, how much he’d wanted it.
Her hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer. His arm slipped around her waist, fingers pressing into the small of her back. The air between them burned.
He pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers, his breath ragged. “You sure about this?”
Her answering whisper was barely audible. “I was sure the first time.”
Ty groaned softly, his control snapping another inch. He kissed her again—long, hungry, but still careful, still holding back the edge of the hunger that clawed at him.
Outside, the wind picked up, rattling the windows. The fire crackled. Somewhere, a coyote yipped in the distance, as if warning them that the world was still turning.
But at that moment, it didn’t matter.
All that existed was the heat between them, and the knowledge that the next step wasn’t when.
It was now.