Catching Fire (Hometown Heat 2)

“I didn’t think you wore pink,” he mutters as I pull the covers up.

“You said you wouldn’t look.” I glare his way.

He laughs. “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Get in here, little spoon.” He sighs happily as I roll onto my side and he scoots close. With his arm around my waist, he pulls my back against his front, snuggling me into position until I fit just right.

“Hmmm. I like you in nothing but underwear,” he says, his breath warm and minty on my neck.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” I snuggle a little closer, relishing the tingles that spread over every inch of me as our bodies press together.

Electricity races from the top of my head to the tips of my toes and back again, filling me with a floaty, giddy feeling even as sleep drags at my lids.

“Goodnight, beautiful,” Mick whispers, his lips moving against the sensitive skin at the back of my neck.

Before I can confess I like “beautiful” a lot more than “angel”—like it a little too much probably—I’m out.

Chapter Twelve

Mick

I wake up hard.

So hard the pressure in my balls makes me wince, but I make zero effort to get out of bed. I don’t want to move, to do anything to disturb the woman asleep in my arms.

We shifted position in our sleep and now Faith’s head is on my chest, her arm thrown across my stomach, and her leg hitched up around my thigh. She’s warm and soft and feels so good snuggled against me I don’t even mind that she’s drooled a little on my shoulder.

In fact, I kind of like it.

You like her snorts and think her drool is cute. Might as well propose right now and be done with it.

I smile at the ceiling. I won’t be proposing anytime soon, but I can’t deny how natural it feels to wake up with Faith. Just easy and right. I feel lighter than I have in months, hopeful and so happy I can’t help dropping a grateful kiss to the top of her head.

“Hmm…” She moans sleepily and shifts, sliding her leg away from mine. “What time is it?”

I glance at the clock on the bedside table. “Three o’clock.”

“Oh my God, you’re kidding me.” She lifts her head, swiping a sleepy hand across her face. “Ew.” She glances down at my chest and makes an embarrassed sound. “Shit, Mick…I think I drooled on you.”

“You totally drooled on me,” I say, my arm snaking around her waist.

“I’m so sorry, I—”

“Don’t be sorry,” I say, rolling over and pushing her back onto the pillows. “I like it.”

She arches a dubious brow. “You like it?”

“I do.” I press my lips to her bare shoulder, dusting kisses along her clavicle until I reach the hollow of her throat.

“Again, you’re a strange man.” She sighs and arches her back, granting me easier access to her neck as she wraps her arms around my ribs.

“Good thing you like strange men,” I remind her as I kiss her throat, her jaw, her cheek, before finally bringing my lips to hers, capturing her mouth for a long, deep kiss that summons a soft moan from her throat.

“I don’t know about that,” she says, her breath coming faster as she pulls away. “But I like you.”

“I like you, too,” I whisper, squeezing her hip before my hand drifts up to cup her breast through her tank top.

She sucks in a swift breath, shifting beneath me as I drag my thumb across her nipple. Her flesh tightens through the thin fabric and thoughts of kissing her there—there and everywhere else—dance through my head, making my already aching body ache a little harder.

“God, that feels…” She trails off and her eyes flutter closed as I circle her nipple with the pad of my thumb, once, twice, before curling my fingers over the top of her shirt and tugging the fabric down.

My first glance at her bare skin takes my breath away. She’s curvier than she looks in most of the clothes she wears, her breasts full and round, with nipples the palest shade of peach that flush to a dusty rose at their centers.

She’s beautiful, so beautiful that my first kiss to her breast is more reverent than passionate.

“So pretty,” I murmur against her soft, soft skin.

“Mick, I—” She breaks off with a soft gasp as I swirl my tongue in a circle around her tight tip, teasing, flicking, worshipping until she moans my name.

“I want you so much,” I say, pressing her breasts together so I can more easily attend to both her nipples at once.

“I want you, too,” she says, threading trembling hands into my hair. “But I… Shit, I can’t think when you’re doing that.”

“Do you want me to stop?” I suck one nipple into my mouth, increasing the suction as she arches closer to my mouth.