Rhodes rolls his eyes before looking at me intently. “This is Hudson. Along with Burke, Hudson’s older brother, these are my oldest friends.”
“The guys,” I whisper and nod knowingly. Because I do know.
He’s told me stories about his friends. I think I was shocked by their entrance for a moment and couldn’t process what was happening.
“Did you tell her about us?” Granger teases Rhodes and I can’t help but laugh.
“Listen,” my man tries to be magnanimous, even though I can tell he’s hanging by a thread, “you guys can’t sit here for dinner. You are not crashing our date.”
Bowie walks up with a huge grin on his face. “Bossman agrees. He told me not to bring your food here and to tell you your burgers are on him, but only if you move along.”
We all glance over at where Maverick is sitting with his family. He makes a slashing motion across his neck and then the universal sign of ‘I’m watching you’ while pointing toward Granger and Hudson. The whole table is laughing, and I see the moment Maverick gets distracted by watching his wife giggle.
Hudson jumps up and claps his hands. “Lovely meeting you, Helen. Please let us know when we can have a wine and dish kind of night, or gaming, or whatever you’re into. I’m there. Let me know what I can bring.”
Granger stands up while shaking his head with a big boyish grin on his face. “I guess that’s my cue. I wouldn’t want to incur Maverick’s wrath, and I do know how the man is about finding the one.” He gives a little bow. “It was nice to meet you and all that other stuff, Hudson said.”
As he strides away to join Hudson, I call out after them, “It was nice to meet you guys too.”
I sit back in my seat and share a huge grin with my man. I don’t know what I was expecting. I was nervous when I walked in, but it feels now like this town might just open its arms to a girl from the other side of the ridge without worrying about a rivalry that might not have ever been as real as some people would like you to think.
After Bowie delivers our meal with a flourish, it feels like the room disappears while we talk, eat, laugh, and share. It’s natural and easy in a way I’ll fight for if I have to.
Later when we’re walking out, the connection between us takes on an electric quality. Every breath feels like a caress against my sensitive skin. It builds and slides between us until we walk through Rhodes’s door.
Then it explodes.
He presses me up against the door and I’m so damn glad I wore a dress. Because my legs wrap around him and his fingers slide up the inside of my thigh. It feels like fire everywhere he touches and I arch my back with a moan while my head thuds back against the door.
Rhodes make a tsking sound, admonishing me or maybe himself for not protecting the back of my head. “Careful,” he warns.
While fumbling with his jeans, I plead, “I need to feel you inside me.”
I sound needy as hell. And I don’t care. Not if he gives me what I need.
This feeling has been simmering between us all night and I’m already on edge. It feels like I’m going to combust if he doesn’t slide inside of me.
Something feral flashes in his eyes just as I’m able to free his cock. He pulls my panties to the side and then is filling me.
“Fuck,” I gasp, the feeling too much and just fucking right at the same time.
His grip on me is firm as he uses his body to anchor me to the door, his hips pistoning as his groans and grunts match my moans and rasped pleas. When he buries his face in my neck, he latches onto where my pulse is pounding. As his teeth scrape along my skin, he grinds against my clit.
Being on edge for so long tonight has me close to coming already. I try to scramble away from the edge, wanting this feeling to last forever. Wishing it could.
“Don’t hold back from giving me your pleasure,” Rhodes’s voice is like smoke and gravel against my neck. “Come,” he whispers.
My limbs tighten around him as bliss zings through my body and my pussy clamps down on my man’s cock. He pumps a few more times before letting out a deep groan from deep in his chest and fills me as deep as he can.
The feeling of his hot cum painting my walls has me clinging to him just a little tighter. My heart is fluttering in my chest and as much as I wish I could, I can’t give voice to the words at the tip of my tongue.
Our panted breaths mingle and I wonder if his body is tingling like mine is. I close my eyes and soak up this feeling. Does he feel it too?
Rhodes pulls back and looks into my eyes. And I know he’s feeling the same thing I am.
When he pulls me away from the door, he strides towards his room. “I’m not nearly done with you yet, Sweetheart,” he drawls.
If I swoon, he doesn’t say anything. But one side of his mouth tips up in a little knowing smirk. It’s well earned. I’m more than okay with him not being done with me yet.
