Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cole
S taring off into the sunset, I couldn't help but replay the day through my head. Everything was done. Taylor's house was on the market, and I'd invited her to move to Nashville with me, but even though she put on a happy face, I hated how sad her eyes looked. Her words said something different, and I knew she didn't want to move to Nashville. She wasn't a city girl. This was her home, but she was too damn stubborn to just take the money.
I think we both knew that her staying here meant the end of us. My life was in Nashville now, even if Kylie stayed here, but maybe Taylor and I's time had passed, and we were different people now. Maybe a second chance wasn't in the cards for us.
"Look what I found." Taylor laughed, stepping out of the house in ripped cut-off shorts and a black tank top that hugged every curve of her perfect body, holding out a small key.
I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward to get a better look. "Is that the key to the old gator?" The gator was a John Deere side-by-side that Taylor and I used to ride. We'd put hundreds of miles on that old thing covering her land and mine. Over the years, my parents bought new side-by-sides, and eventually, so did hers, but we stuck with big green.
She nodded. "It's out in the shed."
I shook my head. "There's no way that old thing still works."
She shrugged as a grin spread across her face. "Only one way to find out." She jiggled the keys in front of my face.
My eyes met hers, and her smile was contagious. She looked like the girl I'd fallen in love with, and in that moment, I would have done anything to keep that smile on her face. "Let's do it." I snatched the keys out of her hand and pushed to my feet.
"You go see if it will start," she said, pointing in the direction of the shed. "I want to grab something."
She disappeared inside the house, and I strolled out to the old barn shed. It used to be bright red with white trim, but it barely had any color left. Most of the windows were broken out, and I was pretty sure the entire building had a slight left lean. It was sad to think that the new owners would destroy it.
I jerked open the old doors, and right up front was the rusty green and yellow open cab gator. I slid onto the seat and felt around for the keyhole before sliding it in. "Come on, baby," I whispered as I twisted the key, and the engine rumbled to life. I huffed out a disbelieving laugh.
"It works." Taylor chuckled, strolling up to the passenger side and tossing a bag into the back of the gator.
"What's that?"
"It wouldn't be a full moon without whiskey, the gator, and the lake."
My lips curled into a grin. "Talk dirty to me, baby." She laughed. "Get in." Before we were old enough to drink, we would grab a bottle of anything we could find, jump in the gator, and drive it down to the lake on my property. As we got older, we preferred whiskey and skinny dipping, but the trip was still the same: a full moon and the gator.
She slid in, and we took off. The gator was too loud to try to have a conversation over, but I think both of us were content just being together. By the time I eased the gator to a stop in front of the dock and killed the engine, it was completely dark except for the full moon.
"Wow, didn't that ride bring back some memories?" She smiled.
I chuckled under my breath as I slid out of the gator. "Like the first time we came out here, and you drank way too much?"
"Yeah." She laughed, sliding out and strolling around the front, stopping in front of me. Her gaze lifted, meeting mine. "You had to keep stopping so I could puke off the side."
I stepped into her personal space. "And then you passed out, and I had to carry you to bed."
"And you stayed with me all night to make sure I was ok."
I cupped her face in my hands. With our eyes locked, I dragged my tongue across my bottom lip as my thumb tugged at her bottom lip. "I would have made any excuse to spend more time with you."
Her small hands closed over mine as her eyes closed, and she melted into my touch. "I know," she whispered. Her eyes eased open, meeting mine as a grin spread across her face. She jerked my hands down. "Last one in the water buys drinks tomorrow night." She laughed, and I smirked. That was a bet I would gladly lose just to be able to stand back and watch her undress.
Taylor walked backward toward the water, her eyes locked on mine as she reached for the hem of her tank top, a playful grin twitching on her lips. She pulled up her shirt agonizingly slow, teasing my senses. Every move she made was carefully perpetrated to tease. To torment. To drive me mad and make me fucking desperate for her. Teasing me was something she'd always been good at. Swallowing hard, my eyes followed the hem until it was gone, and nothing was left but smooth skin and a black bra.
"Your turn." She nodded toward my shirt as she continued to walk backward, and I continued to walk forward. She was running out of ground.
I reached back and ripped off my shirt, tossing it to the ground. Her gaze dropped, sweeping over me for a long moment. Her eyes flicked up, meeting mine. Her hand moved to the button of her shorts, flicking it open. She stopped, and I did, too, as she shoved down her shorts and kicked them to the side.
My breath caught in my throat, and my hands twitched at my sides as my gaze raked over every curve of her perfect body and tiny black lacy thong, storing it in memory.
"Your turn."
Without taking my eyes off her, I flicked open the button to my jeans as I tripped over myself to kick off my boots, shoved down the zipper, and quickly worked myself out of my pants before tossing them to the grass.
I held my breath, wondering how far she'd go. If this was two years ago, we'd both be completely naked and in the water by now, but it wasn't, and we weren't.
I stepped forward, and she stepped back, her feet hitting the dock. She was running out of dock. She stopped at the edge, and I stepped into her space, my body mere inches from hers. A gust of wind blew a strand of loose hair in her face.
"You are even more beautiful now." I brushed the strand out of her face and slid it behind her ear. Her gaze dropped, and I brushed my thumb over her flushed cheeks. "I keep thinking maybe our time has passed, but when I look at you, I still feel exactly the same as I did then." Her gaze lifted, meeting mine as her chest rose and fell with deep, slow breaths. "I still want you just as much now as I did then." And that was terrifying because we both knew our lives were on completely different paths.
Smiling, she turned, giving me her back, and my gaze fell as she pulled her hair over her shoulder. "Could you help me?"
Sucking in my bottom lip, I bit down hard. I wasn't sure how much self-control I had. I wasn't sure I could touch her and not keep her.
Stepping forward, I ran my knuckles down her neck and over her spine, stopping at the black bra hook. Her breath hitched, and I released a jagged breath as my cock strained against the cotton of my boxer briefs. My fingers fumbled with the material until it popped loose. Sliding the straps down her arms, my hands caressed her skin until the bra dropped to the ground.
Curling my hand around her hips, I pressed my lips to her shoulder. "I wanna love you tonight, like I'm never gonna love you again." My voice was a low rasp as my ragged breath fanned over her heated skin, and my hand snaked around, running my thumb over her jawline, turning her face to mine. Gripping her jaw, my mouth claimed hers completely, skipping the soft, gentle kisses and going straight for desperate, greedy, sloppy, all teeth and tongue.
My pulse accelerated as she spun in my arms without breaking from the kiss, pressing her naked chest against mine.
Fuck, I want her!
I gripped her ass in both palms, lifting her and carrying her to the picnic table on the dock. I wanted to take my time, to taste her, feel her but the desperate need to feel her heat wrapped around me had my cock ready to explode.
Easing her onto the table, I broke from the kiss as I kneeled in front of her, and she fell back, propping herself on her hands. Her bare body was on full display for me. I hooked my fingers in the strings on her side and dragged her panties down her thighs as I pressed my lips to her hip bone.
Her head fell back on a moan, and my eyes closed as I shoved down my boxers. God, I loved that sound. My lips trailed over her body, kissing and nipping as I moved up, finding her throat. I positioned myself between her thighs as my hands curled around her hips. I jerked her to me, positioning her where I needed her as my mouth assaulted every inch of her neck. Sliding myself through her slick flesh, I groaned against her throat as I coated myself with her arousal. I rocked my bare cock over her stroking her clit with my wide head, making her wetter with each stroke.
"Cole..." She broke off on a moan as her back arched into me.
My abs tightened, and my cock twitched like it was ready to explode. It had been too long. As much as I wanted to slow down, I needed to get round one out of the way because I planned on taking every round she'd give me tonight.
"Please," she whimpered.
"Please, what, baby?" I purred against her ear. "Tell me what you want."
"Make me come." Her words came out as a command, and it only fueled my fire.
Lifting, I wrapped my hands under her thighs as I positioned my soaking wet cock at her entrance. "Is this what you want?"
"Yes, please."
"You want me to fill you with my cock?" I pushed the head in and withdrew it, teasing her.
"Fuck, Cole," she grunted. "Fuck me."
She cried out as I pushed into her.
"Fuck." I paused deep inside her, my cock pulsating as her pussy gripped and squeezed me like it was fitted just for me. I dropped my chest to hers and captured her mouth with mine, trying hard not to lose it before she did. Pulling out inch by agonizingly slow inch, I sucked her bottom lip between my teeth before thrusting my hips forward and filling her. I groaned into her mouth as I repeated the motion over and over again. Breaking from the kiss, she inhaled in a deep breath as my body trembled. I slipped my hand between us, finding her clit.
Pumping in and out, I found a rhythm between my hand and my cock that made her body vibrate, and when my mouth captured her nipple, it sent her soaring over the edge, and I followed right behind her.
Her body went boneless, and I caught her before her back hit the table. We lay silently, our labored breathing filling the quiet night for several long minutes.
"How about that swim now?"
"I'm not sure my legs work."
I huffed out a laugh. "We can lay here until they do."