He set down his wine, took mine from my hands. "I need to tell you something."
My pulse jumped at the seriousness in his voice.
"I haven't felt like this in years," he said instead. "Or ever. You crashed into my life with your determination and your sass and your damn muffins, and suddenly I remembered what it felt like to want something beyond just getting through each day."
"Sawyer—"
"Let me finish." His thumb traced my cheekbone. "I've been alone so long I'd forgotten what it felt like to share space with someone. To want to share it. But these past days, working beside you, fighting for something together—it's shown me what I've been missing."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying I'm falling for you, Cinnamon Moretti. Hard. And I'm ready to stop hiding from that."
The wine sat forgotten on the coffee table as he leaned closer. I kissed him then, pouring everything I couldn't say into the connection. He responded immediately, pulling me onto his lap, his hands threading through my hair.
When we broke apart, both breathless, I pressed my forehead to his. "I'm falling too. Terrified, but falling."
"Good," he growled, and kissed me again.
We talked about everything and nothing, the fire crackling as darkness fell completely outside. When the pizza finally arrived,the delivery driver's knock startled us apart. We ate a few slices, but neither of us was thinking about food anymore.
We moved to the rug in front of the fire, where Sawyer took his time undressing me, his rough hands gentle as they revealed each inch of skin.
"Beautiful," he murmured, his mouth following the path of his hands.
He laid me down on the thick rug, and I watched through half-closed eyes as he stripped off his flannel and jeans, revealing that powerful body that had haunted my dreams since the first day of harvest.
"Come here," I said, reaching for him.
But he shook his head, a wicked smile playing at his lips. "Not yet."
Starting at my ankles, he kissed his way up my legs, taking his time, his tongue teasing the sensitive skin behind my knee, the tender spot where thigh meets hip, until my hips were lifting off the rug, seeking his mouth. When his mouth finally found where I needed him most, I cried out, my fingers gripping his hair. The burn of his beard between my thighs left a delicious friction that made me arch higher.
He circled my clit with maddening slowness before sucking hard, two fingers curling inside me in a rhythm that had me gasping his name. Just as I was about to tumble over the edge, he pulled away, making me whimper in frustration.
"Patience," he said with a grin before kissing his way up my stomach, paying attention to every sensitive spot, learning what made me gasp and arch beneath him. "You're so wet for me already. Been thinking about this?"
When he finally pushed inside me, we both groaned at the sensation. This time was slow, deep, our bodies finding their rhythm as the fire popped and hissed beside us.
"Look at me," he commanded when my eyes started to flutter closed.
I did, getting lost in the intensity of his gaze as he moved inside me. Each thrust was deliberate, controlled, building the tension between us like heat under a copper pot. My nails raked down his back as the pressure built, my legs wrapping around his waist to pull him deeper.
"That's it," he encouraged as I started to come apart. "Beautiful, Cinn."
The orgasm rolled through me in waves, and he followed me over, my name torn from his lips.
Later, in his bed, we came together again with urgent need. This time I was on top, setting the pace, watching his face contort with pleasure as I rode him. I pinned his wrists above his head, enjoying the way his muscles strained against my grip. "My turn to be in charge, mountain man."
His hands gripped my hips hard enough to bruise, and I loved it—loved being wanted this fiercely, loved wanting him just as much.
"Fuck, Cinn," he rasped as I changed angles, making us both gasp. "God, you feel good. Just like that."
"Right back at you," I teased, then lost the ability to speak as he sat up, changing the angle again, hitting that spot inside me that made me see stars.
"Harder. Don't hold back," I demanded.
We moved together frantically now, chasing release, sweat slicking our bodies. "Yes, just like that," he encouraged.
