Twist My Heart by Brooke Taylor (ebook audio reader .txt) 📕

you more times than you’ve actually walked.” He tilted his head, enjoying the rose tinge to her cheeks and pout to her lips. The lushness was no doubt a preempt to a protest. “Trust me, I’m not complaining. I’m just saying, I know how heavy you are and I’m not concerned, so you shouldn’t be either. Second, there’s a short trail up to the rock ledge. And third, I’ve ruck humped…carried a backpack heavier than you for many miles in far less favorable conditions. This is nothing.” Okay, the bit about the pack being heavier might’ve been a slight exaggeration, but this really was nothing for him.

He wrapped his fingers behind her legs, spreading her knees at the same time as he lurched her body closer. A shocked gasp escaped as she grabbed for his shoulders to avoid falling over backward. Her inner thighs clamped his hips as her parted lips almost collided against his own. The overwhelming desire to crash his hungry mouth against her sweet one reared, but he turned and presented his back to her again. “Hop on, before I toss you over my shoulder.”

The suggestion of grabbing her caveman-style had his dick bouncing like he was driving on a backroad in Bagdad. It went rock hard as her arms, legs, and, sweet Jesus, scent wrapped around him and held on tight. He didn’t have the luxury of getting all drugged up as she enveloped him, though. He had to get moving. If he passed out and dropped her now, she’d never climb aboard him again.

As he traversed the rocky ascent up the boulders and crags to the mountain ledge, an irresistible giggle escaped her.

The skittering tickle of her breath across the nape of his neck caused his pulse to get all skippity and his breathing to go wildly shallow, nearly undoing him.

“This is fun. Are you part mountain goat? Wait, are we like hunting Bigfoot?”

“Negative. He’s not getting any of this action. Slide down. We’re here.”

“Already?” she bemoaned as her body raked down his back.

He seriously considered tossing the pizza aside and indulging himself on a more carnal meal right then and there. The heavenly waft of garlic and sauce stroking a fierce growl in his stomach provided enough incentive to keep him on task.

After removing the bottle of wine he’d protectively tucked inside the padded roll, he laid out one sleeping bag on the rock surface and draped Thea’s shoulders with the other. All the while, he gently shooed Titan’s long snout away from the pizza box with his foot.

She took in the stunning night view of the town lights twinkling throughout the valley below. “This place is amazing.”

“Not bad, huh?” He took out his knife, thumbing the button to automatically snap the blade out. The aggressive curve and spearing tip of the M390 steel weren’t made for the delicate task of opening a bottle of wine, but with a little patience and finesse he worked the cork loose and poured her a drink. “Not very romantic to be drinking wine out of plastic, but it’ll do.”

“Romantic?” Thea flinched as she took the cup, tilting it at such an extreme angle the wine threatened to pour out. Her brows knitted up. “You mean like…a date?”

He scowled. A date? She got date out of one stupid word? And since when did he give a crap about anything being romantic? Even if he did want to romance her, why label it a date? What was it with women and labeling anyway?

He glowered, but made the mistake of falling into those eyes of hers. Hell yeah, it’s a date. Get a black Sharpie. Let’s label this bitch.

Crap. Dates weren’t really his thing. But who cares, right? It already had all the earmarks of one. Except one of the parties was possibly engaged to someone else. But, as she had astutely pointed out at the hotel, she had no ring. Were you engaged without a ring?

Hell, no. No ring, no engagement. Everyone knew that. Even a dumbass door-kicker like himself knew that. Hell, maybe the engagement had been called off and she and this Clayton asshole were long done.

One look at her lips and he didn’t give a shit if she was engaged and had a twenty-carat commitment on her finger. The asshole should’ve been there for her. He wasn’t and Nik couldn’t play the role of the noble hero anymore. No. His desires were far too dark to ever be confused with nobility. They always had.

Did she even want him the way he wanted her? Hell, she’d practically spilled her drink at the mere thought of him romancing her. Sure, she’d kissed him, but maybe it was one of those near death, thank you for saving my life kind of things.

“Nik?”

Shit, she was waiting for an answer. Talk, fool.

“Um. It doesn’t have to be a date…if you don’t want it to be? Do you want it to be?”

Okay, gawky as hell. She already thought his attempts at flirting were cute. Now this. Even Titan looked embarrassed for him. This was exactly why he didn’t do this dating crap. Well, maybe not the only reason or even the biggest reason, but that was neither here nor there. He went for a solid, confident, “I want it to be.”

Still awkward, dude.

“If you want it to be,” he added against his better judgment.

Shut your damn mouth. Cut the chatter. Go dark.

Thea favored him with a new smile, a shy one, which to his frustration she quickly hid behind her hand. Her eyes peered up at him through long lashes. By some miracle, she wasn’t laughing at him. In fact, her face was tight with uncertainty. “Are you sure you want to date a girl like me?”

Shit. She was all kinds of trouble and she knew it.

His flannel shirt engulfed all but her knuckles as she raked her ragged fingernails, reminders of the hell she’d been through, over her lip. The girl in front of him was so different from the first