Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 33445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33445 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Soon that soft and tentative kiss became more heated, more demanding. His tongue stroked along hers. His hand clenched and unclenched on her hip.
She opened her mouth wider, softly moaning as she forgot about everything except the feel of his mouth on hers. Her pussy became wet, her clit swelled, and her nipples beaded. He suddenly broke the kiss, pulling her so close that one of her legs draped across his thigh.
“God, I love you. You feel so good, so right pressed up against me.”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and let her body hum with a warmth that had nothing to do with the fire. He moved back and cupped her face, his lips mere inches from her own.
“I’m so in love with you, Lilly. Did you know that? Since the moment I realized what love was, I knew that was how I felt for you.”
She smiled, her eyes becoming moist again as Riley pored his heart out to her.
“I tried pushing away what I felt for you, tried to tell myself wanting you was wrong. I didn’t want to cross that line, so I buried what I felt, tried to be with other people, find love elsewhere.” He shook his head again. “It was no use. You’re it for me, all I think about.”
Her pulse was beating so hard and fast she couldn’t even think straight. But the truth of what she wanted to say was right there on the tip of her tongue. She knew she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“I’m so in love with you, Riley,” Lilly whispered. “I feel like I shouldn’t have those kinds of emotions toward you.” Lilly closed her eyes for a moment. Or these emotions for Tallin either. “It almost seems wrong.” She dropped her gaze, but he guided her head back up with his finger under her chin until she was looking at him again.
“Don’t say that, sweetheart. I’ve realized what I feel for you isn’t wrong. It could never be wrong.”
“It just seems … selfish of me to want you the way I do.”
“Selfish?” He sounded confused.
“You guys have always been there for me. Protecting me, being my shoulder to cry on, and just being there for me no matter what.” She remembered when Christian, Tallin, and Riley had cornered Jacob Phinson—a guy who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.
The asshole had pissed himself before they even bitch-slapped him. He never did bother her again.
“How can we not be all those things to you? We love you, Lilly. There isn’t anything selfish about your feelings. It’s only natural for us to feel this way for you, to love you so much that it takes up our entire beings.”
Us.
We.
She sat back, wondering why he had spoken in the plural, but she didn’t question him, just let what he said absorb into her. What he didn’t know, and what she could never tell him, was that he wasn’t the only one she had those feelings for.
As if he had heard her thoughts, Tallin came in and slammed the side door. There was some rustling of clothes a minute before he walked into the living room with an armful of freshly chopped wood.
He stopped, looking between them, and his brows drawn down.
“What?” Tallin’s voice was gruff, and his cheeks and nose were red from the blistering cold.
Lilly’s cheeks became hot as she thought about what she and Riley had just shared. She knew Tallin hadn’t missed the blush. It was obvious when his eyes went back to Riley’s for a suspended second.
“Need some help carrying in the wood?” Tallin stared at Riley for another moment before bringing his eyes to her and shaking his head.
“Nah, Riley can help. I don’t want you to get a splinter.”
She had to laugh because Tallin was so serious. “A splinter? Really?”
“Those things can be a real bitch. Remember when you stubbed your toe? That didn’t hurt as much as a big-ass splinter shoved into your hand would. Trust me.”
She was smiling as she watched Tallin stack the wood by the fireplace. Riley got up and left the living room. The silence between her and Tallin was tangible, and the way he watched her, the expression on his face, made her feel bared, for some reason.
A moment later, Riley came back in with a pile of wood in his arms. She leaned back on the couch, staring at them as her own personal questions and concerns filled her head.
She needed to figure out what in the hell was going on with her, and how she’d deal with the new revelations.
Chapter Nine
Clarity
The next few days passed fairly quickly, and the snowstorm was finally starting to let up.
The weather was still frigid, and because of that, the snow was turning into ice. The main roads had been cleared for the most part, but it would still be a pain in the ass to make it down the mountain.