Chapter 4
Chapter four
Dawson
The sound of rain lightly falling onto the roof is what wakes me up. Cracking my eyes open, the first thing I see is the lack of the sun outside.
I'm accustomed to greeting dawn with a hot cup of coffee while sitting on my porch. The only thing I've got welcoming me today is seeing Lucia spread out on her back.
I’m a total bastard for drinking her in while she’s defenseless, but I can’t tear my eyes away.
She’s shifted entirely onto my side of the mattress, clearly hunting for warmth in the middle of the night.
My plaid shirt hangs massive on her frame, the hem riding up her thighs, but the fabric is stretched taut across the swell of her breasts.
The sight of her swimming in my clothes hits me straight in the chest.
It's my fault for not tossing in more logs before we fell asleep, but I couldn't risk her changing her mind about sleeping arrangements.
Waking up to a sight like this? Fuck, I feel lucky. In the short time I've known Lucia, I've yet to see such a peaceful expression on her face.
A soft, flush pink colors her cheeks, and her breathing is slow, puffing warm air into the space between us. My eyes drag lower, completely mesmerized by the heavy rise and fall of her chest. Every protective instinct I have is warring with a sudden spike of hunger.
My hand twitches against the sheets. It takes every ounce of restraint not to reach out, to map the shape of her body with my palm and feel how those curves shift beneath my fingertips if I drag them slowly from her shoulder down to the swell of her hip.
I'm not a strong man. Keeping myself tucked away in my cabin has always been the safe option. Hell, I'd promised myself off women years ago when the last one broke my heart. The last one was a snake, but Lucia, she's a soft, fragile thing I want to wrap myself around and never let go.
Even more so when she murmurs something under her breath. I miss the whisper, but I don't let the soft sigh passing her lips slip by.
Carefully reaching up, I graze the curve of her cheek. Pushing away her hair, I'm left drinking in what has to be one of the most breathtaking views a man in my position has taken in.
With the graze of my thumb drifting to the bottom of her lip, I tell myself to pull away.
It's thanks to my weakness that her eyes flutter open in a daze.
She blinks a few times before I can pull away.
Catching me in the act, she doesn't yank away instantly as she should. Instead, she looks so sleepy.
Does she think she's caught in the middle of a dream?
"Good morning." Hoping my voice will be enough to bring her to reality, I try to pull my hand away. Before I can, she leans against my fingers, seeking out the heat. Cursing internally, I'm damned for looking at her lips.
I want to kiss her.
Fuck, I want to.
"Lucia..." Groaning her name, my thumb traces her bottom lip. "You can sleep, and I'll get breakfast going. Coffee, too."
I need something to feed this hunger clawing at my chest. Food won't be enough to satisfy it. Not with her looking so tempting right now.
"Tell me to move, Lucia," I murmur, leaning down until my breath brushes her lips. "Because if you don't..."
She doesn't take my warning seriously enough. Rather, her lips part, and her breath tickles my thumb. I'm too weak to fight against myself.
I kiss her.
At first, it’s just a soft, tentative press of my lips against hers, catching her right on the edge of sleep.
She lets out a tiny, confused hum against my mouth—a soft puff of warm air that smells like sweet slumber.
She doesn't pull away, her hazy mind clearly still drifting in a dream where I'm already holding her.
But I don't want to be a dream.
I deepen the pressure, my mouth sliding over hers with a desperate hunger sinking its claws inside of me.
The warmth of it finally breaks through her fog.
I feel the exact second reality hits her—the sudden, sharp hitch in her breathing, the way her fingers instinctively grip the blanket barely covering her.
For a heartbeat, she freezes, her mind scrambling to catch up with her senses.
I give her a moment to push me back. I even start to ease off, cursing myself for crossing the line. Before I can, I feel the sudden heat of her palm against my chest, silently beckoning me to stay.
A soft sigh escapes her, and the last of the tension drains from her body.
She completely melts. Her lips part beneath mine, softening into an open, welcoming invitation.
I take what she’s offering, my tongue sliding past her teeth to taste her fully.
She tastes like sleep and sweet, forbidden dreams, and it’s enough to make my head spin.
Groaning into her mouth, I shift my weight, rolling my body and crowding her into the mattress.
I bring my leg up, hooking my thigh over her hips to pin her beneath me, trapping her in my heat.
One kiss should be enough. It should be.
But I'm a starving, greedy man who hasn't touched a woman in years, and Lucia is driving me completely out of my mind.
Has been from the first moment I caught her curled up on my couch. I should've known how much of a troublemaker she'd be with how easily she helped herself to all my belongings. She's already stolen my clothes; may as well let her get her fingers around my heart, too.
So, I don't stop. I lean into her completely, my hands finding the soft skin of her waist to pull her flush against me.
The kiss turns deep and messy, a bruising, reckless rhythm that robs the room of any remaining oxygen.
She meets me beat for beat, her small hands sliding up from my chest to grip my shoulders like she's drowning and I'm the only thing keeping her afloat.
Call me a man who is addicted, but filling my lungs with oxygen isn't my number one priority. I'd rather drown in everything that makes up this woman.
It's Lucia who breaks first.
With a breathless gasp, she presses her palms flat against my body and gently, but firmly, pushes me away.
Releasing her without a fight, my body tenses in demand to close the space again. Hell, my cock's swollen hot against my thigh, demanding to take this even further.
Rather than only tasting her lips, I want to unbutton every button on the shirt she stole and lick my way down.
I hover over her, my chest heaving as I watch her try to catch her breath. The sight of her makes my throat tight. Her eyes are beautifully dazed, but it's her mouth that traps my gaze. Beneath that hazy smile of hers are flushed, swollen lips that call out my name.
Has kissing always been this good?
"I—I'm sorry," she whispers, her voice trembling as she swallows hard, looking suddenly terrified to meet my eyes. "I didn't... I'm sorry if I was clumsy. I've never kissed anyone before."
The words hit me like a physical blow, stalling the air in my lungs.
Never?
I stare down at her, the sheer gravity of what she just said roaring through my veins. No other man has ever touched her lips, making me realize the high chance that no one has touched her, either.
She'd kissed me back, giving me something so precious.
If I were a greedy man only moments ago, I feel like an animal now. One with an endless appetite.
"Don't apologize," I groan, shaking my head. "It was good. So good, I want to do it again."
Looking down at her, enjoying how red her blush has spread, it's the sight of her catching her bottom lip between her teeth that snags my attention next.
"Don't do that," I murmur, my voice dropping into a rough command as I lean back down, shadowing her completely. "Let me."
My thumb drags her lip free from her teeth, and before she can even gasp, I cover her mouth with mine again.
She whimpers and arches into me, her hands tangling desperately into the sheets as she lets me teach her exactly how a woman is supposed to be kissed.
I take my time, sinking deeper into the warmth of her mouth, completely lost to the rhythm of her breathing and the friction of her soft body molded to mine.
I won't feed the hunger roaring lower in my gut, but I can't bring myself to care about the morning light stealing through the window, either.
I just drink her in, kiss after stolen kiss, losing myself to the sweet, endless taste of her until the quiet cabin disappears entirely.