Chapter Sixteen
“I want to come in,” Hayden said above Molly’s barking.
Watching him, Laura opened the door. Because he couldn’t wait to step inside, because he ached for her with every fiber of his being, he put his hands on either side of the frame of the door. He had to be honest with her.
“Nothing has changed. I…can’t promise you anything.”
“So, why are you here?”
“You’re all I think about. I ache for you.”
Without a word, she pushed the door. He stepped inside and, picking up the excited dog, closed the door behind him. Molly tried to lick his face.
“Does she greet everyone like this?” he smiled, scratching Molly behind her ears.
“She somehow knew you were outside,” Laura said. “She wasn’t very friendly with Tanner.”
“Good girl.” He chuckled.
Laura took Molly from him. “Let me put her in her bed.”
He left his jacket on a chair before he followed Laura, mesmerized by her swaying hips and those long, long legs. By the time they got to the living room, he was struggling to breathe.
She put Molly down on her bed. “Can I get you anything?”
“No.”
“So…” As she turned around, he was right behind her. Her soft gasp went straight to his groin.
With unsteady hands, he pulled her closer, dropped his head, and put his mouth against her neck, where a pulse was beating frantically. “If this is not what you want, I’ll leave. It’ll probably kill me, but…”
She slipped her arms around him, and for a moment, he held her close, breathing in her scent, breathing in her very being. What he’d done to deserve to be with her like this, he didn’t know. He was just deeply grateful. “Finally,” was the only thought running through his mind.
He lifted his head, cupped her face. “I’m really here, with you,” he whispered before his mouth found hers. Her lips were soft and warm, and within seconds, he was struggling to hold on to the reins of his self-control. He tried to focus instead on giving her as much pleasure as he could, but she opened her mouth. Hungry tongues met and he was lost.
Urgently, she moved against him, hooking one of those long limbs around his leg. Without taking his mouth from hers, he picked her up. Sliding her arms around his neck, she held on tightly as he staggered toward her room.
Only one bedside light was on, leaving the room full of shadows. Lifting his head, he let her slide down against his body.
“You feel what you do to me?” he whispered.
Nodding, those blue eyes nearly black with passion, she pulled his shirt from his jeans. With a soft smile, she opened the top button, and then the next. By the time she spread his shirt and put her mouth against his feverish skin, she’d destroyed any hope he’d had of staying in control. “Laura…”
He quickly got rid of his shirt before he kissed her again. As her mouth slid and angled under his, he ran his hands over her. It was to torture her, but he was also driving himself mad with want. As his hands slid underneath her top, he swallowed her moan.
Petals. Satin. Roses. And hot. So, so hot. Lifting his head, the back of his hand skimmed her breasts. “I have to see you.”
With heavy eyelids, she lifted her arms. He swore he could hear his heart falling to the floor and shattering into a million pieces as he pulled the top over her head. In only a pale-pink bra cupping her gorgeous breasts, she nearly brought him to his knees.
With their gazes locked, he unhooked the clasp at the back. Finally, he could look his fill. “Beautiful. So, so beautiful,” he murmured before his mouth closed around one hard nipple. Her soft moan slid right through him, sending his blood way beyond the boiling point.
Keeping one arm around her back, he suckled and nibbled and worshipped her breasts until her legs, or it could have been his own, gave way and they fell backwards on the bed.
Lifting herself on her elbow, she smiled at him. “Look at us, naked, on my bed.”
He laughed. He wouldn’t have thought he could laugh at a time like this, but she made it so easy. “Not quite.” He lifted himself to get rid of his jeans.
Her eyes followed his every movement, widened. “No briefs?”
Kicking the jeans away, he turned onto her. “It’s been a problem lately. Since a certain long-legged teacher arrived in town, to be precise.” With great concentration, he stroked her shoulder and slid his hand down to her soft breasts. Cupping one, he couldn’t resist another taste.
With a groan, she cradled his head as he feasted on her lushness.
*
Laura was swimming in a sea of pleasure. Hayden’s mouth was driving her up and up a steep mountain while wave after wave of the most exquisite pleasure she’d ever experienced washed over her.
What the man could do with his hands and mouth was unimaginable. And the heat… She was past agonizing; she’d burst into flames. At this point, she would welcome any kind of release. Not even in her wildest dreams—and there were seriously X-rated ones—could she have conjured up a lover as attentive, as enthusiastic, and as deft as Hayden was turning out to be.
Somehow, he knew exactly where to touch her, how to send her blood roaring, how to push her heart into the next gear. Every stroke of his hands moved her closer and closer to the edge. Restlessly, she moved beneath his onslaught. There was still more. She could feel it and she didn’t want to wait a second longer.
And as if he could read her mind, he flipped open the button of her jeans and, with her frantic help, got rid of them.
“Look at you,” he murmured, swiping his hand from her breasts down over her body to where she was aching, throbbing, for him. “Beautiful, so, so beautiful…”
“Hayden…” she got out brokenly and pulled him close.
As his mouth closed over hers, his hand found her core. She’d waited so long for this, she’d been so ready for him for such a long time, his touch sent her right over the edge. Choking out his name, her fingers in his hair, she came undone.
When she opened her eyes, he’d put protection on and was above her, his eyes nearly black with need. For her. Feeling like the most beautiful woman on the planet, she opened her arms and welcomed him home.
“I want to give you more…” With a groan he slid into her.
Still struggling to breathe, she pulled him closer. “Let’s fly together,” she whispered against his lips before his mouth closed over hers.
He moved, slowly. Her body, so attuned to his every need, found his rhythm.
“Laura…” he breathed in her ear.
“Yeah?”
“Just. Laura,” he murmured, as he increased the tempo.
Closing her eyes, she wrapped herself around him as they rode out the storm. All she could hear as she let herself be swept away was their ragged breathing, and all she could feel was the unspeakable pleasure of being here with him, making love.
Just when she thought she couldn’t possibly handle more, she opened her eyes to find his amber ones, like liquid chocolate, focusing on her, egging her on to go faster, to give more, to love more.
Bending down, his mouth crushed down on hers. Behind her eyes, stars exploded, and together, they broke free.
*
He had just enough energy to gather her in his arms and roll onto his back so that she was on top of him. In awe, he cradled her close, as they both tried to get their labored breathing under control.
“You okay?” he asked when he could finally speak.
Lifting her head, those blue eyes, desire still lurking in the depths, found his. Smiling, she nodded. “You?”
“That was…I’ve never…you’re amazing.” Rolling onto his side so that she was lying next to him, he looked down at her. “Tell me this is real. Tell me I’m not dreaming again?”
Stroking his back, she smiled. “This is as real as it gets. We’re naked and in bed—”
“Naked and in your bed,” he agreed. “To see the way you react when I touch you…I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”
Those soft hands had glided to the front. When she found him ready for her again, her eyes widened. “Really?”
“I’ve been ready since I saw you in Grey’s Saloon.” He chuckled as he bent down to kiss her.
*
The touch of Hayden’s hand against her cheek woke Laura. He was standing next to her bed, fully clothed. It was still dark outside.
“What time is it?” She sat upright, not bothering to pull up the sheet. He’d seen all there was to see.
“Five o’clock,” he muttered, his eyes on her breasts. “I have to go.”
“You sure?” she asked, licking her lips.
With a groan, he kissed her, his one hand cupping her breast. And just like that, the embers of last night’s fire ignited again. She pulled him down. With a low, guttural sound, he surrendered.
It was close to six o’clock when he finally left. With Molly in her arms, Laura leaned against the door as Hayden jogged down the stairs. When he reached the sidewalk, he looked over his shoulder again.
Smiling, she blew him a kiss. He smiled—wide and happy. Her heart sighed. They hadn’t talked again. There was nothing more to say. He’d said nothing had changed, but she wanted him, anyway.
After closing the front door behind her, she walked toward the kitchen with Molly still in her arms. “Well, Molly,” she said, as she put the dog on the floor. “I suppose I’m actually having an affair with the cowboy.”
The distant ache she’d probably always carry in her heart, she was going to ignore for the moment. Soon, when he left for the last time, there would be enough time for pain and tears.
*
Without conscious thought, Hayden ended up at the graveyard. The sun wasn’t up yet, but the pinkish light behind the mountains was already announcing the new day.
Slowly, he walked toward the last two graves—his wife’s and his brother’s. For long moments, he stood there, drinking in the silence. It was bitterly cold, but he was only vaguely aware of the temperature.
“Willow said I should talk to you two,” he finally said. Closing his eyes for a moment, he waited…for something. They didn’t have to be alive to hear him, Willow had said. Blinking, he first moved to his brother’s grave and put a hand on the cold stone.
He waited for the pain to slash his heart, the guilt to steal his breath. Long minutes passed as he stood there remembering his brother. A picture of Walker as he would always remember him flashed before him—laughing, joking with his siblings.
After a long time, he opened his eyes in wonder. There were no thoughts of pain or guilt. Grief still lingered. It probably always would. Not as sharp-edged as it had always been, but a dull ache, reminding him of how much joy Walker spread wherever he went.
Deep in thought, he moved to Madeline’s grave. She’d been his first love, his first kiss, his first everything. “I’ll always love you, Mads,” he muttered. Not bothering to wipe away the tears, he crouched down. “I have something to tell you, though…”
When he drove away from the graveyard nearly two hours later, he was feeling lighter. It wasn’t as if he was bringing home a new bride…the truck steered dangerously toward the one side of the dirt road. Cussing, he brought it back just before it hit the bushes.
Where did that come from? He’d been very clear with Laura—he couldn’t give her anything permanent and she’d invited him into her house, into her bed, and into her arms, anyway.
A vivid image of Laura in a wedding dress, smiling at him, was suddenly just there—front and center in his mind. Cussing, he stopped and got out. Inhaling the cold air, he tried to clear his mind. He wanted to be with her, not…
Marry her? Have her around all the time? Be with her every night? Images of their entwined limbs from the night before had him just about hyperventilating. He leaned against his truck, trying to get his breathing under control.
Getting married wasn’t on the table. Laura knew that. She accepted that. They’d be together until…
Yeah? The taunting little voice was back.
Upset and confused by his wayward thoughts, he got back in his truck and drove home. A fling, that was all this was. There was no future. It was temporary. At least until this mad need for her had receded.
As he parked in front of the homestead, he called his mother. It would be nice to have Laura at the family lunch tomorrow.
“Good morning, Hayden. When I saw your truck in front of Laura’s house this morning, I was hoping you’d stop by for a coffee,” she said before he could say hello.
So she’d seen the truck. He was still trying to think what to say when she continued. “Shall I invite her for lunch for tomorrow, then?”
“Thank you, Mom, but please…”
“I know. You don’t want to get married again. You should think about that, though. You still have your whole life in front of you. It’s an awful long time to be alone. And what happens when someone else offers Laura a ring and a happily-ever-after? Have you picked up Luke yet?”
His head was spinning. Trust his mother to change subjects so rapidly. “No, he’s staying till lunchtime.”
“Why don’t I pick him up and he can stay with me tonight? He hasn’t been to visit his grandma in a while.”
Maybe a good idea. It would give him time to clear his head. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll come early.”
“Of course you will. See you tomorrow!”
Cussing a blue streak, he got out of the truck just as Willow came out of his house. “There you are. I’ve made coffee. You didn’t come home last night?” Her eyes were twinkling.
Hayden sighed. “Don’t tell me the damn gossip mill has been at it again.”
“Not that I’ve seen. Depends on where you’ve parked your truck, of course. You’ve been with Laura?”
He nodded. Everybody had probably seen his truck.
“And you’ve talked to Madeline and Walker?”
Of course she would know. “Yeah, I have.”
“You’re happy with Laura?”
“Yeah, but it’s…”
“Temporary?” Shaking her head, she touched his shoulder. “Listen to your heart, Hayden. Listen to your heart.” With a wave, she walked toward her truck.
The house was empty. Silent. It was strange not to have to worry about Luke today. His phone was in his hand before he thought too much about it. There were chores that had to be done, but he’d be free this afternoon.