Page 35 (1/1)

"Selling the inn will ensure Faith and Kitty don’t have to work anymore That we can afford care for Kitty I can help the into my father"

He pushes open his door before I have a chance to respond I feel anchored to my seat by what he said, but when he pulls open my door, I force myself to cli for permission and leads me up a path It’s dark, and I have no idea what reht me to, but I can smell moss and saltwater I openwind Trees line either side of the path and I sense we’re getting closer to the water thethe leaves It’s dark, but the htens around mine e come upon uneven earth I trust him, I realize In this moment, after the way he opened hirip, left over froain, talk it to death Talk until he stops feeling pain over so he couldn’t prevent, until no more words exist on the subject It’s so unlike ivesproblems an art foriving e to create balance Balance him

"Where are w--" The words die in my throat e reach the end of the path and I see Dublin Bay spread out below us Boats bob on its cal it, lit up houses nestled into the hillside along the shore Somehow the sky doesn’t see the water below We’re on top of a hill, which didn’t see it in the car, but fro, it feels like we’ve scaled Everest In the distance, I can see Howth Harbor, where I’d spent the day This afternoon suddenly feels like a thousand years ago So s over the side of the dock

It’s so beautiful up here, I can’t stand it I couldn’t capture this perfect feeling of isolation with my camera if I tried

Mist When I read about it in books, I always thought it was ato set a tone or create aaround our ankles like a cat begging to be petted It’s not eerie, it’s co away the ugliness we both carry around on our shoulders

"Killiney Hill," Shane says softly, answeringdown ainst his chest, closing my eyes when he folds his ared up on the car ride, it feels like a relief to be held To focus on so else The way it feels to touch each other

This is how I can soothe him Soothesense that we need one another tonight, right now on this hill The beauty aroundout every reservation and leaving only no, right now, I can’t stopmy hands up his chest His eyes are closed, but when I slip a hand up his neck and into his hair, his lips part on a breath I want to taste that sound on ue, so I do Slowly, I kiss away the tension in his body, replacing it with awareness Of me Of what’s about to happen

Shane seeainst hiht, Willa"

I nod "Tonight"

Chapter Seventeen

My et close enough to each other We’re standing upright, but his rough hands are onHisravity…it’s everything I can hear ive a care Oh God, how have Iat ue I want, I want, I want is all I can think as I return the kiss in equal es of his jacket, and I push it off his shoulders, not caring where it lands When I start unfastening his belt, Shane releaseshis lip hard and growling in his throat, as if the sight ofhis belt is a ives my hands a mind of their own and I abandon h his jeans

Shane covers my hand and helpsYou’ve hadhis eyes locked onhis belt and unzipping his jeans Then he takes ing me with a choked co to torture , every inch of ht, but it could be a blizzard, and I wouldn’t feel a hint of cold Shane’s words heathand orship in his eyes…it’sme feel restless Desperate I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything ht but there’s no room for doubt or alarm now I’m beyond that

"Shane, please"

"Please, what?" He bites s "You want a little torture, too, love?"

I don’t realize Shane has unfastened e off my boots and kick my pants the rest of the way off with ain The kiss is breathless, his warainst hi between us now, and it’s far too hs and it short-circuits round, now, Willa" He clutches a fistful ofto get between your thighs and fk you I told you this was inevitable, didn’t I?"

"Yes"

"You knohat else is inevitable?" He drags rass and covers led sound leaves ht won’t be the last ti to want you over and over This doesn’t end here Not by a fking long shot"

Christ, how can he expectintome crazy? I feel empty, incomplete, without him inside me It makes no sense since he’s never been there It’s unexplainable

Don’t care Need his, hooking a toe in the s around Shane’s hips and drag hiskiss I can muster Whatever I have to do to tempt him to push himself inside me It’s the most vital necessity in my universe