Page 72 of He Loves Me Knot

I want to hold her.

All of her.

Everything he wanted to tell her was suffocating him.

But he had to.

“You are so beautiful, Liddy. And I’m sorry if I’m crossing some boundary by telling you, but I couldn’t live with myself if I said nothing. Whoever hurt you enough to make you feel like you had to spend your life hiding . . . I wish I could find every single one of them and punch them in the face. You aren’t lacking in any way. You’re sexy and hilarious. And, God, any man who sees you and doesn’t want to touch every inch of your flawless body is blind.”

Liddy slid her arms around his neck, her lips tantalizing close to his as she scooted forward in the water. “Liar,” she whispered, her eyes locked with his. “But you’ve got some lines, Callum Scott. I’ll give you that.”

Her lips dropped to his with gentle but firm pressure, and his breath caught. His heart thudded faster.

I could lose myself to this woman.

But he didn’t care about that right now.

He closed his eyes, his mouth slanting over hers as he returned her kiss.

A sweet, hungry kiss that made him want to mold his body against hers.

Slow down.

But he couldn’t. Instead, his hands slipped around the smooth skin of her waist. He barely convinced himself to keep them safely there when she moaned softly, her mouth opening to his. As her tongue darted into his mouth, then collided against his own, he slipped his hands up her back, tangling his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck.

God, this feels fucking amazing.

Pulling back, he leaned his forehead against hers, releasing hard, panting breaths. “Is this okay?”

His gaze dropped to where her breasts were tantalizingly close to his chest. Her heart was beating so fast that he could see her pulse on those fucking incredible mounds of flesh as they rose and fell with each breath.

She nodded.

That’s all I need to know.

The pool was surprisingly deep, up to their chests. A small ledge by the cascade provided a seat for the two of them, but Callum tugged Liddy and then lifted her onto it. He edged closer and slipped his hands onto her thighs.

A smile crept into the corners of her mouth, and she settled a hand onto the back of his neck as the other dug into his hair, tugging him closer. “More than okay,” she said.

Their mouths collided with another kiss, this one hotter and more intense than the first. Callum felt himself losing what fragile grip he still had on rational thought. He wanted to taste her, to feel her breasts against his palms.

He groaned, his heart slamming into his ribs as he tugged her closer so that she could feel the hardness of his cock. Her thighs parted, legs wrapping around his waist as he breathed raggedly against her lips. “Fuck, Liddy. You’re making it hard to think straight.”

She leaned her head back as his lips trailed down her cheek to her neck. Her lips grazed his earlobe. “Right back at you.”

He kissed her neck, pausing on that soft spot where her pulse throbbed just below her jawline.

We won’t be able to come back from this.

And I don’t care.

But she might care and feel used later if he didn’t scale back. Like he’d played her with compliments he didn’t mean.

The last couple of days had been confusing enough. Taking anything to another level would only make that worse.

Someone clearing his throat made them break apart, arms still around each other. A worker from the resort was nearby. “We don’t recommend staying in the water longer than fifteen minutes at a time,” he said with a friendly wink, then continued on his way.

Callum settled his hands back on her thighs, putting some distance between them as he straightened.