All great changes are preceded by chaos...

Kiss My Giraffe is almost here! A hot, grumpy-sunny, opposites attrac...

All great changes are preceded by chaos...

He pulled back just enough to unbutton his shirt and yank it off. Her gaze and hands were hot as she ran her palms over his bare skin, and Knox shuddered. "F*ck, I love your hands on me."

"Me too. God, how have we waited this long?"

That was a great question. When he'd first met her, he'd known she was trouble. He expected that she'd drive him crazy and that they'd clash whenever she came to town.

He'd been right. But those clashes had been foreplay. He'd acknowledged that to himself only, the second time she'd come to Autre. But he'd started feeling respect for her right away. Not only the work she did but the way she treated the people he loved most.

He'd quickly realized Fiona was pushing the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild petting zoo toward becoming a sanctuary. She'd seen their potential before they'd understood it themselves. And she'd been right on. She'd given the animals a loving place to go, and she'd given the people a purpose that they'd all embraced and grown from.

He was crazy about her for that alone.

Anyone who loved his people as much as he did would be able to get past a few of his walls.
So he'd resigned himself to liking her. Admiring her. Enjoying their banter and her sass.

But damn, he hadn't expected the physical desire to be so strong.

He just couldn't fight it anymore.

A long-distance, no-strings-attached fling with this woman was perfect.

"We waited because I didn't like you for a long time," he said, leaning in to run his mouth down the length of her throat.

"Liar," she said with a breathless laugh. "You liked me as soon as I brought swearing parrots to town."

He groaned. Those parrots had caused him all kinds of headaches with the locals. "No."

She wiggled underneath him, pressing up against his fly. "Yes."

"I wanted you, but I didn't like you."

"Oh, you wanted me the very first time we met." She grinned up at him. "Just like I wanted you."

"I wanted to paddle your ass."

Her eyes went wide but not with shock. Heat. There was heat there. "I know."

He narrowed his eyes. "Yeah? But you kept poking me."

"Yep."

He ran a hand down her side to her butt and cupped a cheek, squeezing firmly. "I still want to regularly."

She gave him a sly grin. "I know."

He shook his head. "I'm going to get to be really dirty with you, aren't I?" Fiona was the perfect type to push and play with. She would never let him overstep, and she would give as good as she got.

His c*ck pulsed with that knowledge, and his body heated. The things he wanted to do to this woman. With this woman. He knew she'd meet him head-on, fully participate, make him beg if she wanted to. But if she let him push her to the point of begging, that would be…amazing.

"You can be however you want to with me," she told him softly.

As she answered, something in her voice or her eyes made him pause. That was so sincere. So…heartfelt.

She meant it, and he sensed that she was referring to things beyond sex.

Instead of pulling away as he probably should have, he lowered his head and kissed her hungrily. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down more firmly against her body. She kissed him back, her hands going to his ass, pulling him into her. She felt like heaven.

"More," she said softly against his lips. "Please."

He dragged his bearded jaw over her cheek and down her neck. "We're going to do this, Fi," he said roughly against her ear. "We're going to have this wild affair. We're gonna f*ck each other senseless." He lifted his head to pin her with his gaze. "And you're going to keep your news to yourself. I don't wanna know. When you come to Autre, you're going to be in my bed. When you're not here, you're gonna answer my f*cking texts. But I don't need anything else."

And he meant that. The long-distance relationship would work. People thought those were hard, and he was sure distance was tough for some. But he knew well that long-distance was perfect for some couples. Like him and Fiona. Two independent people didn't need to be all wrapped up in each other.

He moved to unbutton her jeans, needing desperately to see—and lick—the tattoo on her hip. He'd seen it when he'd needed to do first aid on the ostrich bite on her lower back a few months ago. The tattoo curved over her left hip bone and read 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴.

That was Fiona. She had the potential to turn his world upside down.