Among the Heather (The Highlands, #2) (78)

Our lips collided in biting, nipping, licking kisses as we both reached for the closure on his jeans. He shoved them and his boxers down to his ankles, freeing his cock, and I watched as he took his wallet out of his back pocket and retrieved a condom. As he rolled it up his straining arousal, I licked my lips in anticipation. No one felt like North. No one ever would.

“I want it hard,” I pleaded, the trickle between my legs amplifying my already excited state.

“I’ll give it to you any way you want,” North assured me, his voice guttural with promise. And promise he did. I gasped as he gripped my legs, spread them, and thrust up into me.

“North!” I cried out in pleasured shock, his throbbing heat overwhelming me. Every feeling, thought, all my focus was on the sensation of his thickness inside me, and I struggled for breath as my body tried to adjust and relax. It was as if every nerve was inflamed, and a minuscule shift between us sparked a tug of delicious tension I immediately sought more of.

North, however, held still against me, breathing heavily as he stared into my eyes with such love and longing.

And a hint of satisfied possession.

I pushed my hips against him, and his grip on my thighs became almost bruising.

“I need you,” I whispered.

His control snapped.

As North hauled me up, I didn’t think about how heavy I was or if this was awkward. I wrapped my legs around him. Holding tight, I panted with excitement as he pounded us into the wall, thrusting into me hard, gliding in and out of my snug channel. The trailer rocked with the force of his drives as he pounded me into the wall, and I loved every fucking second.

I felt his thumb press down on my clit and I blew apart, my cry of release triggering North’s. He threw his head back, his eyes on me, his muscles strained as he gritted his teeth to muffle the sound of his climax, and my inner muscles clenched around him as he throbbed with release.

North fell against me, his lips on my shoulder, his chest against mine, my arms still locked around him. He turned his head and kissed my neck.

“Ye werenae jokin’.” His accent thickened with lust as it sometimes did. “Ye were soaked, princess.”

His hot mouth hit my throat and he groaned. I shivered at the feel of his tongue as he scattered wet kisses upward toward my ear. Then North whispered, voice hoarse, desperate almost, “I love ye so fucking much.”

Joy, fear, adoration, longing, relief, anxiety. I felt it all as I tightened my arms around him and kissed the top of his head. I tried to open my mouth. To say the words back … but they wouldn’t come.

It made little sense because the one emotion I felt more than all the others was love.

I loved North.

Why couldn’t I say it?

Tears pricked my eyes. Especially when he lifted his head to look into them. I sensed and saw his disappointment. But he didn’t condemn me for my weakness. Instead, he kissed me with such tenderness, it only made me feel worse.

Was I broken?

The thought terrified me.

Because if I couldn’t say it to North … there was no hope of me ever saying it ever again.





Thirty-Three


NORTH





Walker proposed to Sloane at her bakery opening. She said yes!





The text from Aria made me smile as I chugged a bottle of water. Blake was filming a scene between my costars for the rest of the day, and I was enjoying downtime overlooking the gorgeous Lake Como.

Hot sun beat down on my back as I replied.

Happy for them. I’ll need to text Walk.





It didn’t surprise me Walker had proposed to Sloane at the grand opening of her bakery. Aria told me last weekend she thought his proposal was brewing.

Monroe is holding an impromptu engagement dinner for them tonight. I might miss our call.





My gut twisted. Not because she’d miss our nightly call, but because I wished I were going with her. A friend’s engagement dinner sounded like something you were supposed to do as a couple. These things never bothered me before. I’d missed girlfriends’ birthdays, for goodness’ sake, because of filming schedules.

The difference was that Aria was my home, and I felt like together we were making a place for ourselves in Ardnoch, even if I couldn’t be there all the time. I didn’t want to quit—I loved acting too much. But it would take me a while to get used to being so aware of missing out on life events with Aria.

Maybe if she’d tell me she loved me, it wouldn’t bother me so much.

I was trying to be patient, but fuck, it stung every time I said it and she didn’t say it back.

Sighing, my fingers flew over my phone screen.

No probs. Enjoy yourself. We’ll talk later.





Tomorrow we flew to Japan for the last of our location shoots. It was too far for Aria to come visit, so I wouldn’t see her in person for a month. I didn’t know how I’d handle all that time apart, especially with things feeling not quite settled between us.

Aria sent me a blowing-kiss emoji. In return, I snapped a selfie with my back to the lake and a view toward Tremezzo and sent it to her.

Barely a few seconds later, she replied,

Well, now I’m turned on and you’re not here to do anything about it. Thanks. Asshole.