Chapter 36
Landon
Jesus, this woman is going to be the death of me. I don’t pull into the driveway. Instead, I take us further down the road and veer off onto a narrow dirt path, the truck bouncing across the rough terrain until we reach a secluded spot on the property.
The truck barely stops before she leans across the console, fingers curling into the front of my jacket, pulling me to her. Her mouth crashes against mine—desperate, urgent, tasting of salt and breath and everything I’ve been craving this past week.
I groan into the kiss, cupping her face, letting myself pour into her all the weeks of restraint I’ve been storing up. She answers with equal fire, climbing halfway into my lap, and suddenly the cab feels too damn small for what we both need.
When we finally break apart, both breathing hard, she whispers, “Please, Landon. Don’t make me wait anymore.”
Her eyes are wide—not with fear, but with absolute certainty. The trust there nearly undoes me.
I press my forehead to hers, fighting for control. “You sure?”
“Yes.” One word, unwavering.
That’s all I need.
“Backseat,” I murmur against her lips, the word half-swallowed between us.
I push open the door with my shoulder, hinges groaning in the frozen air as I climb out with Marcy’s legs locked around my waist, her fingers threaded through my hair.
The shy, hesitant woman who couldn’t meet my eyes when we first met has completely vanished.
In her place is someone wild and wanting, her mouth trailing fire down the column of my throat.
Her teeth catch the tender skin below my jaw, then trace the ridge of my ear, her breath coming in short, ragged puffs that cloud in the night air before disappearing against my skin, raising goosebumps that spread like wildfire down my spine.
“You’re killing me, baby,” I groan, my voice barely recognizable even to my own ears.
I pin her between my body and the cold metal of the truck, condensation from our breath fogging the window behind her head.
She gasps—a sharp, sweet sound that cuts through the stillness—as I press against her, the rough denim of my jeans doing nothing to hide how much I want her.
Her fingers dig into my shoulders, nails biting through my jacket as her head falls back, exposing the pale column of her throat to the moonlight.
“Landon,” she whimpers my name.
Her chest rises and falls against mine, each breath leaving a small cloud between us in the frigid air. I want to go slow, to memorize every inch of her, but when her eyes lock with mine—pupils blown wide, a flush spreading across her cheeks—my resolve crumbles.
Her fingers curl into my jacket, pulling me closer as she draws my mouth to hers, the soft curve of her body fitting perfectly against my hard planes.
I grip her hips, fingers digging into the tender flesh just above her jeans, and pull her closer as our mouths move together in a frantic dance.
The cold metal of the truck contrasts sharply with the heat radiating between us, but all I can think about is how right this feels.
With every kiss, every shudder of her breath against my lips, the tension from the past weeks begins to unwind.
“Marcy,” I murmur as I break the kiss, resting my forehead against hers. “Are you sure about this? Right now?”
She nods fiercely, her eyes blazing with determination and desire. “I think I’ll burn up without you right now.”
I can’t help but smile at her fierce honesty. Those words, sharp and desperate, tug at something deep within me, igniting a fire that spreads through my veins. I grip her waist tighter, feeling the warmth of her skin beneath my fingertips, the steady rhythm of her breath against me.
“Then let’s not waste another second,” I say, my voice low and husky as I press my mouth to hers again, pouring everything into this kiss. I want her to feel every ounce of the desire I have for her, every moment I’ve held myself back because I wanted to give her space.
Marcy’s hands glide from my shoulders to her jacket zipper, trembling slightly as she drags it down with deliberate slowness.
The sound slices through the quiet like a whispered promise.
Her eyes lock on mine as she grasps the hem of her cream sweater, fingers curling into the soft wool before pulling it upward in one fluid motion.
Moonlight spills across her bare skin, painting her in silver and shadow.
Her breasts rise and fall with each quickened breath, nipples hardening in the winter air.
“No bra?” I grin, my voice catching as I take in the sight of her. “Fuck, Marcy.”
I finally find the strength to look away long enough to fumble with the backdoor handle, my fingers clumsy with need.
The hinges groan as I swing it open, cold air rushing between us for just a moment.
I guide her into the backseat, leather creaking beneath our weight, her hair spilling across the dark upholstery.
My breath hitches as I lower myself over her, the cramped space forcing every movement to bring us flush against each other.
When I reach for the button of her jeans, the metal feels warm from being pressed between us.
“Did you forget panties too?” I ask, my voice rough as gravel, thumb tracing the sliver of exposed skin just below her navel.
I slide her jeans down her legs, the fabric catching on her thighs like it’s reluctant to let go.
A shaky breath escapes me when I glimpse the black lace—her choice sending pure desire shooting through me.
The way her body moves, arching slightly as I work the denim free, pushes me to the edge of sanity.
“God, Marcy,” I murmur, letting the jeans drop onto the truck floor. “You’re breathtaking.” I slide my hands along her thighs. I want a taste so fucking bad.
I yank her to the edge of the seat, my knees digging into the frozen gravel as I hover half-outside the truck.
December air burns my lungs, but Marcy’s skin blazes like a furnace when I grip her thighs and wrench them apart.
She gasps—a sharp, broken sound—as I dive between her legs, burying my face against the damp lace, inhaling her scent like a drowning man finally reaching air.
“Landon,” she gasps, her voice breaking as I drag my teeth across the lace. Her hips buck against my mouth. “God—please—I can’t take it anymore.”
Her heat burns against my face like a brand as I claim her center.
I rip the lace barrier aside, desperate for direct contact.
Her thighs clamp around my head, muscles trembling against my cheeks.
Every strangled cry she makes ignites something primal in me—I’ve fantasized about devouring her since that one night in her kitchen, and now I’m starving, ravenous.
My tongue plunges deep without warning, her taste flooding my senses like a drug. Her back arches off the seat, a hoarse scream tearing from her throat. I grip her hips to hold her in place as she writhes, my mouth relentless, merciless. Her fingers claw into my scalp as she grinds against my face.
This isn’t like that first night before she left. That was making love—this is a claiming. A claiming between two people who have waited too long to find each other.
Her taste is intoxicating, a drug I’ll never get enough of. I devour her like a man possessed, each savage stroke of my tongue drawing wild, animal sounds from her throat that echo in the cramped space. Her thighs clamp around my head with bruising force as she bucks against my mouth.
“Don’t ever leave me like that again,” I growl against her skin.
“I’m sorry,” she gasps. “I won’t.” She writhes on the seat, fingers tangling in my hair. “I promise I won’t.”
I tear my mouth away just enough to see her—head thrashing against the leather, mascara streaking down her temples, chest heaving. Her eyes are nearly black with hunger.
“Tell me what you need, Marcy.”
“You,” she sobs, clawing at my shoulders. “I need you, Landon.”
I don’t think—my body moves on pure instinct.
I grip her thighs, pulling her closer, and dive back into her warmth, my tongue finding her sensitive core.
She tastes like heaven, and the sounds she makes drive me forward, urging me to explore deeper, faster.
Each stroke of my tongue sends her spiraling higher, and I feel the tension coiling tighter within her. I need to watch her unravel.
“Landon, PLEASE!” she cries, desperation threading through every syllable. “I’m—” She comes with a scream, her body arching off the seat, legs clamping around my head. She trembles against the leather, completely undone.
She’s barely caught her breath when she yanks me into the truck, my knees cracking against the door frame. The cab swallows us whole—too cramped, but I don’t give a damn. Her fingers claw at my belt, tearing the leather free.
I can barely think as I fumble with my jeans, fingers trembling with urgency. My heart pounds a primal rhythm in my chest, urging me to lose myself completely in Marcy. She pulls me closer, her eyes dark and wild with need, and I realize I’m not the only one who’s been desperate for this moment.
“Please, Landon,” she whispers, a plea that sends shivers down my spine. “I need you. I’ve missed you so much.”
I grip my jeans, hands shaking as I push them down just enough to free myself. The moment cool air brushes my skin, need surges through me like fire. Marcy’s eyes are wide and desperate, her breath coming in short gasps.
“Now,” she whispers, urgency lacing her voice. “I need you inside me, Landon.”
I don’t need to be told twice. I push into her, and the world slips away.
The cold that bites at my skin becomes a distant memory—all that remains is this moment, her body arching beneath mine, urging me deeper, claiming each inch of me until I can’t think of anything but the blissful connection between us.
I groan, the sound torn from my throat as I sink into her warmth, the sensation of her wrapping around me igniting every nerve ending in my body.
I can’t fight the urge to move, to feel her respond.
My hands grip her thighs tightly as I plunge deeper.
The world around us fades into nothing; it’s just me and her.
Marcy’s body responds to every thrust, arching and twisting against me, her moans filling the small space with pure need. My heart races, pounding out a fierce declaration that this is right—this is everything I’ve longed for.
“God, you feel so good,” I groan, losing myself in her. My hands grip her hips, pulling her closer as I drive into her.
Each thrust sends shocks of sensation surging through my veins, igniting a part of me desperate to claim her, to make her mine in every possible way. The world outside fades into nothingness; it’s just us, tangled together in this moment of raw intimacy.
Her whimpers break against my ear—”Lan-don”—my name fractured into syllables between ragged breaths.
My fingers dig crescents into the soft flesh of her thighs as I drag her toward me, the truck’s suspension creaking beneath us.
She clenches around me, hot and slick, the pressure drawing a guttural sound from somewhere deep in my chest that I barely recognize as my own voice.
“Don’t—” My voice breaks as I bury my face in her neck, inhaling her scent like oxygen. My fingers tremble against her skin. “If you disappear again—” I can’t finish. The memory of the empty apartment and unanswered calls claws at my throat.
Her pulse hammers against my lips. She cradles my face, thumbs catching wetness beneath my eyes I hadn’t noticed. “Landon.” Her whisper cracks between us. The truck windows fog with our breath as she presses her forehead to mine, our eyelashes nearly touching.
Something shatters inside me when she mouths those words against my lips—three syllables that are so simple, yet mean everything. Her breath catches, warm against my skin, her pupils dilated so wide I could fall into them.
“I love you.”
“Fuck, I love you too,” I groan, my voice breaking over the words like waves against rocks.
My fingers tangle in her sweat-dampened hair, holding her gaze to mine.
“I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you in Hal’s.
” I thrust harder, deeper, the truck’s frame groaning beneath us.
“Loved you since you asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend, like I hadn’t already been imagining it from the second you stepped through that door. ”
My lips crash against hers like a man drowning, swallowing her gasp as my teeth graze her bottom lip.
“I’m yours,” she pants against my mouth, her voice breaking. “Only ever yours.”
A sound tears from my throat—half growl, half sob. “Mine,” I rasp, my fingers digging into her flesh. “And I’m yours, Marcy. Fucking yours.”
I reach between us, my thumb finding that swollen point where she’s most sensitive.
Her back arches off the seat, a strangled cry tearing from her throat as her nails dig into my shoulders.
Her thighs clamp around my hips, trembling as she comes apart beneath me.
The windows have fogged completely, sealing us away from the pines and the night air, creating a world that shrinks to just the heat of her skin against mine and the ragged sound of her breathing.
My lungs burn. Pressure builds at the base of my spine as I drive into her—once, twice—my rhythm faltering.
My vision blurs at the edges. I bury my face against her neck as white-hot pleasure rips through me.
The truck rocks beneath us as I shudder against her, her name a broken sound against her skin.
When we finally come down, we’re half naked and breathless. Her lips curve into a smile I wish I could freeze on her face forever.
The truck settles into comfortable stillness after our wild rush, the night wrapping around us like a warm blanket. I lean back against the seat, chest heaving, my heart still hammering as I steal a glance at Marcy.
“You okay?” I ask, my voice rough but threaded with real concern.
“More than okay,” she murmurs, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on my arm. “You made sure of that.”