“Maybe,” I rasped, dragging my hand lower, fingers skimming where she was already hot and wanting. She gasped, sharp and unguarded, her forehead dropping to mine. “It’s the truth. You’re driving me wild.”
Every part of me screamed to take, to claim, to bury myself in her until there was nothing left between us but the sweat and the heat and the raw truth of what this was.
“Dinner in the barn was supposed to be a nice little first date.” My teeth grazed the soft edge of her earlobe just the way I already knew she liked, and she shuddered. “But I can’t stop thinking about how you taste. How you feel when I slide inside you.”
Her hands framed my face, pulling me back to meet her gaze. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, lips swollenfrom kissing. “Then don’t stop,” she whispered. “I want all those things. Because I’ll tell you a little secret.” Her lips found the shell of my ear, making me shiver as she whispered. “I’m soaking wet. Drenched for you.”
“Is that so? What a good fucking girl.” My mouth found hers again, desperate. Her hips rocked against me once more, and I felt the heat of her through my jeans. My hand gripped her thigh tighter, anchoring us both on the edge of something dangerous, and I let my fingers move the top of her leggings just to the edge of her panties.
We kissed until my lungs burned, until her breath came in ragged pulls and my body screamed for release. But when I pressed my forehead to hers, forcing space, the words tore out of me. “I’m not going to be able to let you go.”
A reason I’d been so hesitant to even start a relationship with someone. That idea that there was a chance I’d fall, but they wouldn’t. I wasn’t sure my heart could handle that. The sappy movies that Sage and Chloe always watched showed it the other way around, but I knew deep down that my feelings were the tender ones. My heart wasn’t made for barbed wire and thorns.
She stilled, her lips parted, chest heaving. Then, softer than I expected, “Maybe I don’t want you to let go. Maybe I couldn’t stand it either, East. Touch me for real.”
The barn seemed to tilt, the ground giving way beneath me as I slid my fingers into her slick heat. “Is this all for me, sugar?” I groaned. “You weren’t kidding. You are drenched.”
Her hands tightened on my shoulders as her hipsground against me. My thumb circled the swollen, nearly bursting bud, and her eyelids fluttered. Damn, she was beautiful. Her hair had come loose from the bands she’d put it in earlier. Wild curls framed her face and touched her flushed cheeks as she chased that high. God, I could watch this all day on repeat. Sliding a finger inside her wet heat, I pressed her clit more firmly as her eyelids fluttered and her hips ground against my hand.
“That’s it. Look at you soaking my hand for me. You’re so perfect. Soon I’m going to have you naked, and I’m going to worship every inch of you.” Sucking in the flesh of her neck, I scrubbed my beard against her as I sped up. “Ride my fingers so I can watch. You’re so beautiful, Lila.”
She came in a gush, her cream covering my fingers as she tilted her forehead to mine and opened those beautiful eyes with a relaxed smile. “Hmmm. You weren’t lying. You are pretty good at this stuff.” Her mouth captured mine.
“Yeah?” Pulling her leggings back up, I licked my fingers. “I’m going to show you pretty good.” Giving her a wink, I tipped her back onto the blanket and kissed her again, slower this time, letting it linger. Every brush of my hands was an admission of my feelings for her. Sliding my jeans down and letting my cock free, I rolled on a condom before pushing into her wet heat, groaning as I let myself go, teetering on the edge of giving in completely. “Give it to me again, sugar.”
I could feel her as she fluttered around my cock, those pretty tits of hers heaving as she strained towards heaven.Fuck … I could die happy right here between her thighs. Sliding my hand to her clit I worked her as I stroked in and out until our climax hit.
“Yeah,” she said as we rolled onto our sides. “Pretty good. Three stars.” Her eyes softened as she smooshed my lips together and kissed me hard. “Maybe I’ll keep you.”
My heart fluttered. Damn, I hoped she would. I swallowed hard. “Three?” I winked. “Well, I’m going to have to go for four next time.”
32
Lila
The bell above the door sang out in a bright chime as I stepped into The Wild Bloom. I had exactly thirty minutes for a break, and I was strict in taking it. Grams always said it was important to be good to yourself. Taking a walk or visiting friends was a great way for me to do that, especially on long days.
Sage’s shop was one of my favorite places. It was always warm because of the plants, and it always smelled of loamy, damp earth and blossoms. It reminded me of spring, which was especially nice near the beginning of February.
The shop was always colorful with her glass bottles that she’d repurposed into vases, the shelves crammed full of plants, and the pressed flowers that she’d framed in simple wooden borders on the walls. Her touch waseverything, with whimsical chalkboard signs with doodles of vines and gnomes scattered in the pots. Her secret wish was to gnome someone’s house. God help the person who she picked for that. It’d be hilarious, and I would totally help.
She appeared from behind a towering fern, auburn curls in wild disarray, apron streaked with potting soil. “Finally! The cavalry arrives.” Without preamble, she thrust a heavy pot into my hands. Damp soil clung to my sweater. “Look at this root system, Lila. Look at it.”
The fern’s leaves spilled over the sides like green fireworks. Roots tangled thick through the soil, strong and alive.
“I’m not sure what I’m looking at,” I said, though the plant did look unusually… snug.
“Poor Bob. He’s been recovering since that horrific car ride. It’s Olympia’s. She brought him all the way from Maine.” She shook her head sadly as if envisioning the poor fern smashed into the back of Olympia Quinn’s Honda. “Can you imagine. He’s got here half-frozen.”
From near the counter, Briggs shifted his stance, arms crossed, his Stetson shadowing his expression. “What was wrong with it? Looks like any other plant.”
Today, he had been following me around, and I am already tired of it. I could tell Sage wasn’t impressed either. The silence that followed was heavy with her outrage.
“Bob’s been ill,” she said dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest as if he’d struck her. “You might as well have insulted someone’s child. Mister Redhawk, let meenlighten you. A Boston fern is practically royalty in the plant kingdom.”
“Royalty that sheds on the floor.” His gaze flicked to the carpet and the littering of tiny fronds near the display. “Maybe you’re right, and there is something wrong with it. Could need more water.”
Sage narrowed her eyes at him like she was choosing whether to duel him with pruning shears or punch him in the face. Then her lips curved. “Poor Bob has been through things you wouldn’t believe. He’s in recovery.”
