Page 156 of At First Spark
“And when you got involved,” I murmur, the realization settling into place piece by piece, “it stopped being about Michael.”
Holt’s gaze locks onto mine.
“Seems so.”
My stomach twists painfully.
“It became about her.”
“She fixated,” he says.
I nod slowly. That explains the photo. The note. The way everything shifted from intimidation to obsession.
“She didn’t care about me before,” I say quietly.
“No.”
“But she does now.” The words hang between us heavily. “And Michael let it happen.”
Holt’s jaw tightens.
“Looks that way.”
I close my eyes briefly, trying to steady the sudden wave of anger and nausea twisting together inside me. Because that hurts worse than the fear ever did.
It explains everything that didn’t make sense before. I step forward, and the space between us disappears.
Holt leans forward and kisses me. The spark of attraction between us is just as potent today as it was that first moment he yelled at me for fighting the fire at the inn.
My arms wrap around his neck as he presses his body against mine. He reaches out and grips my thighs, something he seems to do whenever we’re close, and lifts me, forcing me to wrap my legs around his taut waist. I can feel his stiff erection asit rests against my center, the heat seeping through my pants to my skin. There is little I can do to hold back my moan.
We move toward the hall where his bedroom is located, but before we get there, some primal instinct inside him takes over. In the hallway just outside his door, he slams my body against the wall and pulls away from my mouth with our hips still united.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he tells me as his gaze travels across my mussed hair and kiss-swollen lips.
His hands are braced against the wall as he rocks against my body once, eliciting a primeval moan from my lips. He kisses me again as my fingers pause at the edge of his shirt.
"Touch me, Lark," he says, his breath on my mouth, and my control is slipping fast.
My eyes widen as I gaze at him, our stare penetrating the last of my hesitation. His grip tightens around my thighs, my control slowly slipping, then he’s pulling me away from the wall, and I can hear him murmuring something about a bed.
Somehow, we make it into the bedroom with my lips pressed against his neck.
He flings me in the middle of the bed, my body bouncing a few times before it settles. Reaching behind his head, he tugs his shirt over his body and throws it aimlessly into the room. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the view of his chest, the eight-pack of abs, and that damn v-cut at his hips that I never knew actually existed. My gasp doesn’t go unnoticed, and he smirks as he takes in my perusal. He then takes off his shoes and socks, then places a knee on the bed, then the other, crawling over my body, still covered in my clothes from earlier.
He presses a kiss to one of my bent knees, over the denim, and continues his path until he’s kneeling between my legs.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” he says, tugging on the button resting at my waist.
The pants fall open, and like Christmas Day, Holt undresses me in an impatient hurry. His tanned skin glistens in the moonlight shining through the window. He leans over me and inspects the pink lace that covers my breasts and the pair of matching panties that do the same between my legs. My breasts heave behind their confines, and I long for Holt to free them, but his attention is focused on my fingers, stroking his arms gently.
A groan builds in my throat as his fingers move up my calves and across my hips before trailing up to my chest.
“The softness of your skin always surprises me,” he whispers, his cock tenting behind his pants, pulsating against my hips.
Bending his elbows, he frames my face with his arms and leans down to kiss my lips. I’m so addicted to his taste, I could kiss Holt for eternity. My fingers slide up and down his back as I respond to his kiss, my body becoming more heated with each stroke. Moving one of his arms, he slides it between our bodies until he comes in contact with my already soaked panties. It only takes being in the room with Holt for my body to crave him, desire him. A fact that took me too long to come to terms with.
He strokes me a few times on the outside of my panties, my body shivering with each pass, then he slips underneath the material. My body responds immediately.
