on the edge of my thoughts. A thing I wanted to say. I couldn't do it, though. Not yet. If she knew all there was, would it scare her? Would she pull away?
Being out here with her like this, it almost didn’t seem real. Like maybe I really wasn’t free. All these years had been some dream to take me away from the horror I’d escaped from. A fantasy. Something I hadn’t earned.
I tried to push those thoughts away. I was here. This was now. It wasn’t some dream.
“I want you,” I whispered. It was more than that. So much more. But that was true enough for now.
She answered by kissing me. I was already hard and ready. I slipped my hand down the front of her jeans and discovered she was too. More than ready. Damn. She was soaked.
“Torch,” she gasped, and that was all I needed.
Sydney lay on her back. I got her jeans down past her knees. I loosened my own. Then I plunged into her, making her mine all over again as the stars bore witness.
Chapter Nineteen
Sydney
I could have lived under the stars like that. I wasn’t born or bred for it. At least, that’s what I’d always thought. I spent most of my life never wanting for anything. Mansions. Beach houses. Boarding schools. And yet, none of it had ever felt like home. Not like this. Lying in Torch’s arms under the open sky, he kept me warm.
We fit.
It made no sense. It should be impossible. Except it wasn’t. It was perfect. So perfect, I almost didn’t want to leave.
“It’s so beautiful here,” I said.
“I’ve always wanted to build a place on the water,” he said.
“You said you lived on the river,” I said.
His face grew dark. “Yeah. I was happy there for a while.”
“Are there places like that near Lincolnshire?” I asked.
He took a breath. “There’s one.” And that was all he said. Torch busied himself folding up the blanket. He talked to the owner of the park, and we got access to one of the cabins to wash up and change clothes. We ended up staying most of the morning, lingering over each other. What happened next was as natural as the night before and the one before that.
Torch joined me in the shower. We took turns washing each other. He took his time, lathering my breasts, slipping into me once again as he pressed me up against the wall.
I returned the favor, sinking down to my knees so I could take him in my mouth as the water sluiced over us.
I couldn’t get my fill of him. One of us had to constantly touch the other. If he was inches away, it felt like miles. I knew it wasn’t just the stars or sleeping out in the open that was different about me. Torch had changed me. It was as if being with him had realigned my orbit.
It scared me a little at the same time it thrilled me. I was warm and safe under his gaze and attention. I couldn’t stop thinking how cold and lonely it would be if he ever turned away. Or if I did.
Slowly, we finished getting ready and made our way out of the cabin. We grabbed brunch in the nearest town. I ordered the best bacon and cheese omelet I’d ever tasted from a tiny greasy spoon diner in the middle of nowhere. Another place I’d never have dreamed of going just a few months ago. I was used to five-star restaurants and having my own chef.
This was so much better. I knew I could never explain it to my parents or even Uncle George. But this felt ... me.
We got into Cincinnati in the early afternoon. Torch took me to a bar called Sammy’s. He said they’d just signed a deal to distribute some of the Great Wolves craft beer, and he needed to finalize the details.
“I’ll be about an hour,” he said. “I just need to go over some things with Sammy.”
“I’ll take a walk,” I said.
Torch frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you being out there by yourself.”
I smiled. “We’re in the middle of downtown in broad daylight. I won’t go far. I’ve got my cell. Text me when you’re finishing up.”
I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him. He grumbled but didn’t argue.
I cleared my throat as a man who I presumed to be Sammy came out from a back room. I touched Torch’s chest, gave Sammy a polite