I look at her, and her eyes are filling with tears. “I love you, Ava.” I swallow, feeling another tear fall. “Thank you so much for this. It means a lot.”
There is no hesitation. She takes a step towards me and gives me a hug. Her hold is so tight I can’t resist bringing her so close to me that I can feel her entire body against mine. The ragged breathing tells me that she’s just as full of emotion as I am. We stand there, holding each other tight. Calming each other down and comforting all the same. She finally lifts her head slightly, only to bury it in the crook of my neck. “God, I love you so much, darlin’.” I breathe.
“I love you, too.” she answers calmly, like where she is right now is where she belongs.
I kiss the top of her head and wipe my eyes. “Gosh, I don’t know whether you bring out the best or the worst in me.” I say with a little chuckle.
“I think we both bring out the best. I love being around you. I’ve never enjoyed somebody’s company so much.”
“Same here, sugar.”
Then she looks at me and gives me something else I wasn’t expecting.
***
Ava
My heart is beating out of my chest, but at the same time, I've never felt so calm. It’s a very odd combination. With Gunner’s arms around me I feel like the world is my oyster, and I guess in a lot of ways, it is. As he makes an innocent joke, just the chuckle that comes out of his mouth, while he finishes crying and telling me how much he loves me, something comes over me, and I have to kiss him. When my mouth touches his, his touch is tentative and soft, and inside, I'm wishing that he’ll kiss me again.
Our eyes meet for a moment, and in the next moment, his lips are on mine. After that intense gaze his touch matches what that look said, and if possible, my heart beats even faster. While still gentle, his lips glide over mine, and my tongue meets his, telling him what I want to say. That despite all my previous reservations, right now, I want him. So badly. Like if I don’t have him something inside me will die. My body is desperate with need as my breathing immediately turns choppy and my fingers claw through his hair, desperate to pull him as close to me as possible.
He lifts me, pressing me against his hard body, and walks, with me in his arms, to the bedrooms. How he knows which one is mine is beyond me, but he finds it, and he sets me down on the bed, as if our previous conversation about avoiding sex didn’t happen. I think we’ve both forgotten it. I think we both know what’s right. It’s this. Us. Together. The love that we share is so evident, all my inhibitions are out the window. I peel off his shirt and he peels off mine, as we revel in the contact above the waist. He trails kisses down my neck and chest, my hands are in his sexy, mussed hair, and my back arches.
As he kisses every inch of me, his hands find the closure on my pants, and he deftly undoes them, while I’m wiggling my way out of them, and we then make quick work of taking his pants off. He is so beautiful I can’t stand it. Despite his recent injury, Gunner has kept his body in shape. My eyes are all over his rippled abs and his beg-to-be-kissed pecks. Biceps that I could bite, and a rear end that I could bounce a quarter off of, it’s like my eyes don’t know where to look, because they want to look everywhere.
When his lips touch the inside of my thighs, my body turns into hot molten lava. He doesn’t miss an inch. Not one. No stone is left unturned as Gunner navigates his lips all over my body, sliding his hands so far up my abdomen, he manages to slip my bra off and fondle my breasts. Writhing and hungry, my toe finds the top of his briefs, and I slide them down, wanting so badly to have all of him. His hardness is so warm against my belly as he crawls on top of me, sucking and licking my breasts, driving me close to the edge that way.
Nimble fingers stroke my hard nub, sliding one inside me, giving me the release I’m begging for. His mouth and fingers don’t stop as the aftershocks subside. No, they keep going, until he expertly slides himself down my body, not missing a beat, and his mouth is on my most sensitive area, quenching it, with his fingers and big, warm hands satiate my nipples, bringing me to new levels of pleasure. His tongue batters me in all the right places, bringing me to the edge effortlessly again, and as I cry aloud, begging him to fill me, he does.
Stretching me with even thrusts, Gunner hits a special spot inside me in moments, as his fingers interlace mine and he squeezes them as I come a third time, all the while he hangs on for an encore, and it comes, quickly, right after, as the veins pop out in his neck, and his eyes shut tight, right before he pulls himself out of me swiftly, emptying on my belly. His warm seed bursts out of him, as spurts of soft, sexy groans come from his throat. He finally takes a cleansing breath and stills, opening his eyes, and he cleans my belly off with tissue from the nightstand, before laying alongside me, as we enjoy pleasurable afterglow together.
His kisses are in the dozens as we lay naked next to each other. Stroking the other’s body, staring into each other’s eyes. This is home. Gunner is home to me. He’s all I’ll ever need. He’s all I’ll ever want. He’s it. And by the look in his eyes, he feels the same. How I ever got so lucky is beyond me. But we belong to each other and nothing or nobody will ever come between us. “You cold, darlin’?” he asks me, sliding a lock of hair over my ear.
“Not with you here.” I chuckle. He’s so beautiful it hurts.
“I hope I didn’t get your belly all sticky. You can go take a shower if you like. I’ll wait.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Well, I know that, sweetheart. I just feel bad for not putting a condom on. I was a little distracted and forgot until the last second.”
“It’s okay. I forgot, too.” Something inside me is begging to come out. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t be heartbroken if I had a baby.” I look at him. “I hope that doesn’t freak you out.”
“Well, no, it doesn’t freak me out, darlin’. Nothing that you want freaks me out. I want to have kids, too. But how about we wait a couple of years, hm? Wait until we both know what we want with our careers and such? We’v got lots of time. We’re both so young, darlin’. Besides, we can enjoy all the other babies. They come around enough, right?” he kisses my forehead.
“You’re right.” I scoff. “Talk about putting the cart before the horse.”
“I love it that you do that.” he smiles. “I’m glad that you put it all out there for me. I like knowing what’s on your mind and I love it that you’re not afraid to say so.”
“Well, how could I be? You’re so safe to be around. And I know that you love kids, too, so how could I be afraid to tell you?”
He just kisses my lips in answer.
“Should we head back to the ranch? Before your mama figures out what’s going on?”
“Darlin’, that’s one thing you never have to worry about with my family, especially my mama. What happens between us is private.”
I lift a brow. “Are you new? Have youmetyour brothers?”
