Mark of Damon by Eva Chase Page 0,19
that gave them a boost this year.”
I didn’t know if my newfound power didn’t register to hers or if it’d left no trace after I’d worked it, but I’d take her answer either way. I stepped closer again, tucking my arm around her waist. “An extra couple weeks of apples. Can’t argue with that. This time last year, there was so much going on I don’t think we even came out here. Seems like a sign that we’re getting back to the good times, doesn’t it?”
I’d produced this sign of better things to come. I’d made something good out of the shit the mark was trying to pull me into. What more proof could I need that I’d won? No more doubts, no more resentment over the past from here on—I’d conquered this final demon.
“It does,” Rose said, so softly her voice made my heart ache. “I missed the orchard.”
“Me too. Those were the best times, really, back then. Running around doing whatever we felt like, your dad never having a clue.”
“Until Celestine ruined everything.”
I waved my hand dismissively. I could afford to be relaxed about that now. “We still got years of amazing times. I wouldn’t give those up for anything, no matter what happened after. They’re what brought you into my life in the first place.” I tugged her to my side, gazing down at her beautiful face. Reveling in the emotions it stirred in me that echoed back through the past. “You have no idea how much I wanted you even back then, angel.”
Rose peered up at me through her dark eyelashes. Her tone turned coy. “Yeah?”
“I’m not sure I had any idea what I’d do with you if you’d wanted me too, back when we were thirteen. But yeah. You were all through my dreams, day and night.”
She swiveled on her feet to face me, carefully so I could keep my arm around her. “I know you’ve got plenty of ideas of what to do with me now. Show me.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Show you?”
“Show me how much you wanted me.”
How could I resist a request like that? My hand came up to her cheek automatically. I tilted her face and claimed her mouth with a confidence I hadn’t quite had even a few days ago, let alone years.
The tender pressure of her lips as they welcomed mine was all the confirmation I needed.
This was my consort. I’d earned her love with the pleasure I’d always been able to bring her if nothing else. I deserved this happiness. Maybe it’d take some time before I believed that all the way down to my bones, but I was getting there.
Rose’s hands slipped up under my shirt, tracing the muscles of my back skin to skin, and just like that I was ablaze. I kissed her harder, guiding her hips against mine. The curves of her breasts grazed my chest.
I wanted to explore every curve of her body, but this wasn’t an ideal place to set her on fire. The apple trees stood too low to the ground for me to lean her against one. My mind spun and settled on the perfect spot.
I kissed her again with all the longing I had in me and then drew her with me toward the woods. “Come here.”
Mischief glinted in Rose’s eyes when she saw where I was leading her. All those years ago, we’d hung out in and around the abandoned hunting cabin even more often than the orchard. I shoved open the door with a creak of its hinges, pulling Rose with me, and kicked it shut behind us. Then I was nudging her up against the cedar boards, heedless of the dusty floor and the grit that marked the windows. The warm wood smell mingled with the delicate scent of her skin. She swayed into my kiss, and I jerked down the zipper of her dress.
I’d imagined kissing her in here—kissing her all sorts of places—back when I was thirteen. Where we’d have gone from there, I was definitely a lot surer of now.
As soon as the bodice was loosened, I braced her more firmly against the wall. My thumb traced along the base of her bra to her breasts and my other hand hitched up the skirt.
When I raised her leg alongside my hip, Rose arched into me, her core aligning with the erection already straining against my jeans. A stutter of breath escaped her at the same time as I groaned. Just that brief contact