Her brow furrows slightly as she blinks up at me. “Why?”
“Why what, darlin’?” I ask, cupping her heart shaped face with my hand and running my thumb along her cheekbone.
“Why me? No one has ever tried this hard with me before,” she confesses, looking more confused by the minute.
For all the spark this woman has, not nearly enough of it is directed towards believing in herself. “Hmm. How can I put this?” I ask as I rest my forehead against hers. “I’ve spent twenty years traveling around the world, going to different places and meeting all kinds of different people, but not one of them has ever made me feel as whole as you do.”
When she lets out a small gasp, I chuckle. “I know we don’t know all that much about each other yet, but that will come with time. Besides, everything I need to know I found out the minute I saw you.”
“Really?” She asks, her eyes wide and a smile coming across her face.
“Really,” I say, brushing my lips across her forehead before I lean back. “You are gorgeous, I mean, this body was made for me,” I tell her as I give her hips a squeeze. “And you’re feisty, not afraid to go after what you want, and willing to tell it like it is. Everything about you is perfect for me. I just hope I can be the same for you.”
Scarlett surprises me by reaching her arms around my neck and lifting up on her toes to kiss my cheek. The warm brush of her lips against my skin has my heart swelling in my chest. “Well, you’re off to a pretty good start,” she says, smiling up at me.
A throat clearing over on the porch has me drawing back. I would shoot a glare at her brothers, but I hope to be related to them soon enough, so I don’t want to start any trouble. “Now, while I would love to give you a very real kiss, I also don’t want to cause any trouble for you with your family.” Scarlett pouts up atme and I can’t help but chuckle. “Don’t worry Firecracker. When we do kiss, it will be well worth the wait.”
“That’s pretty big talk,” she says as she unzips my jacket and tosses it at me. “You’re going to have a lot to live up to now. I put my number in your pocket. You better use it.” With a wink and a smirk, she sashays away from me, putting a little extra swing in her steps just to torture me.
“Trust me honey, you are going to be my first call every morning,” I call after her, earning a giggle as she waves over her shoulder at me and climbs the steps to her home. Her brothers shoot me one last glower before following her inside.
My instinct is to stay and protect her from whatever grief they are going to try and give her over me, but my little Firecracker can handle herself. Besides, now that I know the name of the town my girl calls home, it’s time for me to start finding a place to hold up until we can make things permanent.
***
The Juniper Creek motel isn’t a five star establishment, but it will serve its purpose well enough until I figure out how to best woo my woman into making a lifelong commitment. My back aches as well as the rest of my body from the stiff mattress that I’m lying on, but it isn’t the lack of comfortable accommodation or the soreness of my body that kept me up all night. It was thoughts of my Firecracker that had sleep eluding me.
Picturing Scarlett in her barely there outfit, hearing her breathy voice in my mind, and imagining all that smooth skin underneath my fingers had me rock hard for hours. I jerked myself at least three times, coming with her name on my lips, and still I was ready to go for another round. It seems like nothing will satisfy me until I’m buried deep in her pussy, shoving my seed so far in that we make a baby right then.
Forever with this woman is what I’m aiming for, so a baby isn’t out of the question. I would love nothing more to see Scarlett round with my child, her teaching our kids to be just as strong-minded as she is.
Fuck, just thinking about making a family with her has me hard again, so I take myself in my hand with hard, rough strokes until I’m shooting rope after rope across my stomach, shouting her name as I imagine myself inside her.
After a quick clean up, I pull on some trunks and sit on the bed. It’s only six in the morning, which is pretty early, but I can’t wait any longer. Grabbing my phone, I open a text thread to my girl and type out a message. I programmed her name in my phone the minute I had the chance and have been resisting the temptation to call her every minute since I did.
Ryker:Good morning, Firecracker. Were your dreams of me as sweet as mine were of you?
What little sleep I did get was spent dreaming about Scarlett, how much I already love her, and how I can’t wait to build a life together. I know it’s fast, but when you know, you know, and I’ve been around long enough and had too many close calls to waste any time.
Firecracker:Good morning, honey bear. And no, my dreams of you were not so sweet, but much more spicy.
A groan comes out of my mouth and I run a hand down my face. Thinking about her dirty dreams has me needing another round of jerking off already.
Ryker:Damn, darlin’. You can’t say shit like that when you aren’t around to deal with the consequences.
A text reply comes almost immediately, and I smile down at the words on the screen.
Firecracker:Then I guess you’ll just have to come bring me lunch so that I can see the effect I have on you for myself. If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll even give you a hand with it. ;)
Goddamn, this woman is going to be the death of me, but what a wonderful way to go.
Ryker:I’m going to hold you to that. See you soon, Firecracker.
After placing my phone on the nightstand, I head on into the shower to get ready for the day. I’ve got to start making plans for the future, but first, I need to take care of myself yet again. Yup, definitely going to be the death of me, and I couldn’t be happier.
Chapter Five
~Scarlett~
