Free Desired in December (Spring River Valley Book 12) by Clarice Wynter Page A

saying?” she demanded, eyes glimmering like jewels.
    “I’m saying, I never stopped wanting you. Is there any possible way you still want me?”
    The split second that she hesitated seemed like an eternity, but then Cassie was in his arms, warm and soft and vanilla-scented, crying and kissing him and erasing five years of doubt and loneliness and regret with a kiss that rocked his world to its foundations.
     

Chapter Ten
     
     
    Kissing James left Cassie weak and gasping. Wrapped in his arms, she felt complete for the first time in years, but also breakable as if she’d shatter if he let her go. She’d imagined kissing him again, a real, soul-stealing kiss like this one, fantasized about it so many times, but none of those daydreams came close to reality. She hadn’t counted on drowning in him, on being a hundred percent ready to lose herself in him and never surface again.
    She pulled back first, and covered her lips with her fingers, as if by pressing the sensation of his touch into her flesh, she could keep it there forever. Her hand shook.
    “Cass—”
    “It’s all or nothing,” she whispered, dropping her hand. The conviction in her words shocked her. What was she saying? What was she asking for? “If you want me, it’s all or nothing. You have to mean it and you have to be in it for good, because I don’t want to go through losing you again.”
    He shook his head, a half smile tilting his lips and lighting his eyes. “You won’t. I came back for you. All I ever wanted was to come back for you.”
    “Then kiss me again.”
    He obeyed, crushing her against him with one arm and cradling her face with his free hand.
    She clung to him, tears blurring her vision. She moaned when he backed her against the nearest wall, not caring if the paint was completely dry or not. She melted when he pressed his length against her, knowing full well, if he stepped away now, she’d fall. He was her strength, and she couldn’t stand or breathe or think without him.
    When James trailed kisses down her neck and pulled her shirt aside to allow his lips to travel lower, she whispered his name reverently. His hands roamed the waistband of her jeans, and hers dragged his T-shirt up, exposing the rock-hard ridges of his abs to her hungry touch.
    “Cass, I want you .”
    She nodded, suddenly desperate to shed her clothes. God, she’d missed this, missed the way they’d been with each other, young and eager and insatiable. Cassie wondered, as she reached for his belt buckle, what everyone would say if they knew the town matchmaker had only ever had one lover and that after she’d lost him, she’d stopped looking for anyone else.
    “We shouldn’t do this .” He practically gasped, pulling back from her suddenly.
    Her heart lurched. “What? What do you—”
    “Not here, not like this. We should do this right.”
    She tilted her head back, smiling but frustrated by his sudden attack of propriety. “ So let’s get out of here.”
    “We can’t go to my place . My parents will ambush us. You don’t still live with your parents, do you?”
    “Of course not. My place is on Morris Court.”
    “That’s five minutes away, let’s go.”
    Having regained some use of her legs, Cassie ducked out of his embrace and headed for the kitchen. Halfway there, James grabbed her hand and spun her around to face him. “I love you, Cassie. I always have.” His voice broke, and Cassie’s heart thudded. The emotions would be too much if they gave in to them now. If they didn’t keep moving, she knew they’d both drown.
    “I love you , too, and I never stopped. Let’s get out of here.”
     
    * * * *
     
    The ride to Cassie’s apartment passed in a blur, but once they stepped into her bedroom, time crystallized into a moment that James wished would never end.
    He had won her back. The woman he never should have allowed himself to lose was back in his life and in his arms. The ultimatum she’d given him at her shop may have