My voice is low, bringing my mouth down to her ear. “You weren’t complaining on the dance floor.” Her lips part to retort, but I beat her to it. “Get in the truck, River.”
“Help me.”
Lifting her into the truck, she settles into the passenger seat, buckling her seat belt before I shut the door and hop in the driver’s side.
She’s quiet as I pull out of the lot, and then for the entire drive. Her focus never drifts from outside her window. Her eyes only finding mine as I pull up the long dirt road that will turn into my circle driveway in front of the custom, modern farmhouse I built five years ago.
Where Tate stayed home, I went just across the Cole County border to get away from him and bought this land. Then built the house. It’s massive, with a black exterior offset by pine wood. A monstrosity way too large for just me, but I like animals and figured over time I would end up bringing plenty of them home.
“This isn’t my house,” River protests as I open her door.
“I said, ‘Can I take you home?’”
“Yes, my—”
“I never said which one.”
Her eyes bulge, but she takes my hand, moving up the front steps beside me.
Bronc and Bull, my massive Bernese Mountain dogs, greet us at the front door. Their tongues lolling out of their mouths as I run my hands through their fur.
“Dear god. They’re like human-sized,” River hiccups.
“We like big things here.”
Her swallow is loud as she stands beside me, her body stiffening. I realize what I said and maybe did it on purpose. I needed proof that she’s as affected by me as I am by her.
“Big. Yes. Massive.” Her words breathy.
“Let’s get you some water.” I guide her into my kitchen, flipping on the dim lights that sit beneath the hood. She doesn’t say a word, her gaze raking over the open space. Absently, I wonder if she likes it.
With a shake of my head, I turn my back to her, fishing a glass out of the cabinet. It shouldn’t matter if she likes my kitchen or not. I only brought her here to make sure she had someplace safe to stay for the night.
Keep telling yourself that, Gray.
Running the tap, I fill the glass for her.
I’m slow to turn back around, unprepared for how this woman makes my insides stir. River leans against the island, her fingers curled over the edge as her back presses into the concrete top.
Her eyes rake down my form, stopping where my dick bulges behind my zipper before trailing back up to meet my eyes. Stepping to within a few inches of her, I raise the glass as if in slow motion. Our fingers brush as she takes it from my grasp, my body suddenly pressing in against hers. Those sage eyes never leave mine as she takes long pulls.
“Want some?” The pink of her tongue skips over her bottom lip before she bites down on it.
Instead of allowing me to reach for the glass, she raises it to my lips, waiting for me to tip my head back and drink.
Only when I’ve emptied it does she place the glass behind her on the countertop, pushing hard so she can hop up to sit on the edge. Still, those eyes never leave my face. So vibrant. So beautiful. Piercing right into me as if she can see all the things I try to hide.
“Hungry?” I breathe, my lips just out of reach of hers.
She only nods before her fingers slip into the hair at the nape of my neck, pulling my face to hers.
I’d wanted to kiss her sweetly for the first time. Learn her. Worship her, but the moment our mouths meet, we devour each other. Her lips part for me, my tongue dipping in. The coolness of the water we both just drank does nothing to lower the heat between us. It only burns hotter. A raging inferno that may never end.
Fingers braced on the inside of her knees, I spread her legs wider. Just enough space for me to step between them. Her core pressed against my throbbing erection.
Tugging her scrub top out of the band of her pants, my fingers trail over her bare skin. Her moan caught in my mouth as her body arches toward me.
My mouth pulls away from hers, trailing over her jaw. Her breaths are heavy in my ears. A sound that only makes my dick harder. “I don’t do this,” she pants.
