“What?” she says.
I laugh gruffly. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s going on here, Tessa. Ever since I stepped into the diner, I’ve wanted you. I know you can tell. I know you feel the same.”
The quality of her breathing changes, getting airier, more high-pitched, the same way she’ll sound when I’m driving up between her thighs and claiming her in the way she deserves, needs to be claimed.
“Is this a joke?”
“A joke?” I growl, fighting the urge to whip the car into a hard turn, drive us deep into the forest, and finding a quiet spot to show her just how much I’m not joking.
“Yeah. I don’t understand why you’d say that.”
“Because it’s the truth. What did you think I was going to do before Angela called? I was going to kiss you, Tess. I was going to kiss you, hard, because I can’t fucking fight this anymore.”
This is coming out wrong, jumbled, and messy.
I shouldn’t be saying any of this.
The SEALs taught me better than this. They taught me discipline, and right now I’m being very undisciplined.
I should quickly tell her that it was a joke, salvage whatever I can from this situation.
But I can’t stand the idea of my woman thinking I’d toy with her like that.
“I don’t know what to say,” she gasps.
“You feel the same,” I tell her matter of fact. “Either that or my instincts aren’t what they used to be. When I was leaning into you, getting ready to claim those kissable, pouting lips, I saw how badly you wanted it. I saw how badly you needed it.”
“Yes,” she whimpers, again with that moaning quality to her voice.
My cock gets somehow stiffer, pressing against my pants, the helm super-sensitive and engorged. I have to focus ridiculously hard to stay on the road, to resist the overwhelming impulse to pull us off to the side of the road so I can claim what’s between those luscious thighs.
Her legs are driving me insane.
“But we can’t do anything about it?” she says, making it a question with a lilt at the end of the sentence.
Yes, my seed roars inside of me. We can. We have to. I can’t live without her. I need to put a baby inside of her.
“We have to think of Angela,” I say with an effort, the words feeling wrong as they leave my mouth.
She clasps her thighs. I’m guessing it’s a nervous tic, but I really wish she wouldn’t…
No, that’s not right. I want her to keep grabbing them, to squeeze her legs, compress them and turn them red under her grip, it’s making it so damn difficult to focus on the road.
“This really isn’t a joke?” she murmurs.
“No,” I snap fiercely. “I’d never joke about this, Snapshot. I can’t explain it. When I walked into that diner and saw you standing there, sexier than a dream in that tight-fitting waitress’s outfit, I knew I had to have you. I knew you were mine. I knew I’d never be able to think about anybody else for the rest of my damned life. I’ve never felt this way about a woman. I never dreamed I could. But…”
“But Angie,” her voice cracks. “This feels like a dream.”
“It’s real. It’s happening. But we have to be strong.”
“I feel the same,” she whispers. “I’ve always had a crush on you, Trent. But when you came to the diner yesterday, it all came barreling down, so hard, so real. I’m having crazy thoughts…”
She trails off, turning to her window, staring as if she can find some solace in the passing trees. We’re almost back at Youngstone now and my body tenses at the thought, as though getting ready to rebel and turn us back toward the hiking trail.
“You’re thinking about us starting a family together,” I growl.
“Pull over, Trent,” she says.
“Why?”
“Please. I need to breathe. I can’t—this is all too much.”
I bring the car to a stop at the side of the deserted road, driving under the spindly shadows of the trees.
She steps out and paces in front of the car, her hands clasped in front of her.
Even now – when I should be focused on how clearly upset she is – I can’t stop from devouring the sight of her ass in those denim shorts. My balls pulse and the tip of my cock feels like fire against my pants, like any second I could explode.
I won’t, obviously. I won’t waste a single drop of my seed unless my woman is involved. I’ll explode into her tight slit and flood her with my children. Or I’ll slather it across her big beautiful breasts, or her make round ass glisten with my release.
“How did you know that?” she cries, wheeling on me when I step from the car.
“Because I feel the same,” I say passionately, striding over to her. “I can’t explain it. I can’t even try to explain it. But I feel the same. My body’s telling me to have children with you, Tess.”
“Mine is too.” We pause close to each other, so close I can feel the heat radiating from her like an invitation. “How is that even possible?”
I bare my teeth, somewhere between a smirk and a grimace. “How the fuck should I know? But I feel it. I need you. I…”
She turns away as I lean in, letting out a shivering breath.
“Angie,” she says as if the word costs her a great effort.
“I know,” I growl, my heart thundering in my chest. “I know, I fucking know. We have to be strong.”
She turns to me and I stride right up to her, inhaling the scent of her, washing through me with incredible force. I try to tell myself it isn’t intoxicating, that she isn’t driving me feral, she isn’t making me forget my daughter.
“Do you have any idea how beautiful you look right now?”
I tuck a rebellious strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. She shivers at my touch,
