Page 39 of Summer Ever After

She couldn’t remember having a better time in years.

By the time the donkey wore down and moved over to get some water, her cheeks were sore from laughing so hard.

She leaned back against the tree trunk and let the warmth of the day settle in around her, slowly soaking up the simple joy of being here with him.

“Why did you kiss me the other day?” Aaron asked suddenly.

She glanced over at him. “Why not?” She shrugged, hoping to play her nerves off.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “I’ve wanted to kiss you like that for years.”

She felt her heart flutter. “You have?”

Instead of answering, he nodded and shifted closer. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her softly towards him. She went willingly.

“I really want to kiss you again now.”

“Okay,” she said quickly and felt stupid when his lips curved ever so slightly. “Please,” she added.

His eyes moved to her lips seconds before he touched them with his own.

“You taste sweet and tart, like lemonade and berries.”

She smiled. “So do you.”

He groaned and dipped his head again. “Tell me if I move too fast,” he said against her lips.

She shook her head. “I want this. Want you.” She ran her hands over his shoulders and arms, pulling him closer. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted this much,” she admitted as his hands started to slowly move over her exposed shoulders.

“This dress,” he sighed, slipping his mouth down her neck until his lips rested on the tip of her shoulder, “is one of my favorites.”

She smiled and pushed her fingers into his hair, holding him, guiding him to where she needed to feel his warmth.

“Aaron,” she sighed. She shifted when his palm spread out on her lower back, nudging her to lie down on the soft blanket. His mouth never left her skin, heating it until she was about to boil.

“Your taste is so sweet. Like summer honey from wildflowers,” he said, as she arched for him. “My name from your lips is the sweetest music.” He nudged the thin strap of her dress down, exposing soft white skin no one had touched in years.

Please, she wanted to beg, make love to me. Only her lips wouldn’t work. She couldn’t get her body to cooperate any longer.

She was frozen there as he softly kissed her, touched her, like she was clay and he was the artist, molding her.

His hand slipped up her knee, slowly pulling the dress up as his calloused hands gently rubbed her outer and then inner thigh. She felt on the verge of exploding, and he’d barely touched her.

“More,” she cried out as her nails dug into his shirt. “Please, Aaron,” she begged, or at least thought she had. It was hard to tell if she had just been saying it all in her head or if she’d screamed it for the whole world to hear.

His hands continued to move over her legs, softly touching her, rubbing her, until little bumps appeared all over her skin.

He teased her by rubbing her clit through her silk panties until her hips were moving with his every move. She needed more. Begged him for it.

His lips finally covered her nipple, and he sucked her into his mouth just as his fingers slid under her panties and slowly dipped fully into her heat. Her world exploded. Like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Bright lights flashed, pulsed, behind her closed eyelids. Her breath caught. Her heart seemed to stop. Time. Place. Everything stopped for one very long heartbeat.

Then, slowly, the sound of the buzzing bees and the soft summer breeze that floated over her exposed skin returned. The smell of wildflowers hit her, mixed with Aaron’s sexy musk scent.

She had a handful of his hair in her fingers and slowly, as if drunk, released her near death grip on him.

“Sorry,” she sighed, and he laughed.

“Don’t you dare apologize for that.” He shifted enough that she could glance up at him. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life.” He smiled down at her. “And I promise you, I’ll make sure it happens as often as you want.”

She smiled as he shifted her dress back to cover her skin. “What about…” She started to reach for him, but he held her hands, lacing his fingers with hers.

“Today is all about you.” He leaned down and kissed her.

This had never happened to her before. Not only had she never felt anything as powerful as what Aaron had done for her, but she’d never been with anyone who hadn’t demanded something in return.

Well, okay, so she’d never been with anyone other than Ian before. Technically, she still hadn’t, since Aaron hadn’t officially made love to her. Could what he’d done to her officially be called sex?

That thought had her spiraling as her mother’s many lectures about sinful out-of-marriage encounters played in her head.

Damn her mother to hell.