Chapter 17
Devon
“I don’t like it,” I grumbled later that evening. “At all.”
Then again, I didn’t like anything that was going to put Reese at risk in any way.
I knew she wanted to explore Billings and other areas of Montana, and I wanted that for her, but my first instinct was to make sure she was safe.
“If Hannah can disguise my appearance, it’s not the least bit risky,” she said in a voice meant to make me a little more rational as she put our dinner in the oven.
“I still don’t like it,” I said unreasonably. “If you have to go, I’d rather you were going with me.”
“Do you really want to shop and get a massage?” she teased.
I had an assistant who did my shopping because I hated doing it myself most of the time, and the only massage I wanted would have to be performed by the woman I was looking at right now.
“No,” I said honestly. “I want you safe.”
Reese walked over to where I was leaning against the kitchen counter. “I’ll be perfectly safe.”
“With three women, one of them pregnant?” I questioned. “None of you even carry a weapon.”
“Not true,” Reese said calmly. “Anna always carries pepper spray for her protection. And no one is going to recognize me. Hannah is going to change my appearance completely before we go. Even Ralph approved it. It’s not like Burke Kline is going to be hanging out in Billings on the off chance that I might show up there. The main worry was someone recognizing me as that woman involved in that shooting in Spokane. That’s not going to happen.”
Hell, I still wasn’t even used to the idea that Reese was from Spokane and not Salt Lake City.
Turns out, she’d never even been to Salt Lake City.
It was all part of her cover.
During the last week, I’d discovered that Reese was still…Reese.
Her occupation was different, and some of the facts I’d thought I’d known about her history were different, but she was still the same woman.
Unfortunately, she was also still just as stubborn as she’d been under her fake identity.
“If I tell you that you’re not going, are you still going to do it?” I asked gruffly.
“Yes,” she said in a truthful tone. “I care about your opinion, but I’ve run my own life for a long time, and I like it that way. I’ve already agreed not to ride alone until this is over. I’ve made some compromises. But you have no idea what it’s been like for me to be confined to Crystal Fork. Not to be able to do anything isn’t normal for me. I’m tired of being afraid, hopeless, and helpless. I want a little freedom for one damn day.”
“I get that,” I said irritably. “You want me to compromise this time. That’s hard for me to do, especially when every instinct I have is telling me to protect your beautiful ass and not take any risks. I’m also not used to compromising when I want something.”
She lifted a brow. “Do you always get your way?”
“Always, except when it comes to family.”
“Then pretend that I’m the sister you never had,” she said, sounding equally annoyed.
I crowded her against the counter and put one hand on each side of her so she couldn’t escape. “That’s pretty hard to do when all I can think about is getting you naked and fucking you until you can’t think about anything else but me,” I said huskily.
Christ! This woman was making me into a lunatic.
I wasn’t entirely in control of my emotions when she was with me, and I fucking hated it. But I obviously didn’t hate it enough to want her to be somewhere else.
Her annoyance seemed to disappear as our eyes locked, and the needy look in those gorgeous eyes made my control snap.
She needed me as much as I needed her, and that knowledge completely gutted me.
I speared my hand into her hair and jerked her mouth to mine.
The kiss wasn’t gentle and coaxing.
It was full-on lust and carnality, but it was exactly what we both needed.
Reese Monroe was mine, and I wanted her to be aware of that fact in a way that was beyond just some kind of compulsion.
I felt her body yield.
I knew exactly when she stopped thinking about anything else but me and the heat that flowed between the two of us.
She wrapped her arms possessively around my neck and her short nails dug into my nape.
I welcomed the twinge of pain because I wanted her to be greedy.
I felt exactly the same way.
I shoved my hands under the oversized shirt she was wearing and stroked my hand over her soft skin.
I’d already discovered that Reese had a habit of not wearing a bra when she was at home, and I was damn glad there was nothing in the way of me being able to touch all of that soft, warm skin.
I let her come up for air, and I buried my face in her neck, tasting every inch of skin I could get my mouth on.
“Devon,” she panted as I nipped at her neck.
Fuck! I loved hearing her say my name in that desperate tone.
One of my hands found its way to those beautiful breasts I’d only admired from afar until this very moment.
Her nipples were as hard as diamonds, and I knew she felt the sensation clear to her toes when I tweaked one of them.
“Oh, God,” she cried out as her head fell back to give me access to anything I wanted.
“Devon,” she crooned in a sultry voice that made my gut twist, and my cock beg to get inside her voluptuous body.
Not going to happen. Not yet.
I gripped the bottom of her shirt, pulled it over her head, and tossed it onto the floor so I could see exactly what I was fingering.
I’d never thought of myself as a boob guy, but the moment I laid eyes on Reese half naked; I was instantly obsessed with the most gorgeous tits I’d ever seen.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Reese,” I growled right next to her ear before I covered one of those spectacular breasts with my mouth.
It was an awkward angle because I was so much taller than she was, but my mouth and teeth tormented those gorgeous breasts until Reese was moaning and squirming under my touch.
“Devon!” she cried out. “I need—”
“You need me to make you come. Say it, Reese,” I demanded, wanting to hear her admit it out loud.
“Yes,” she screamed as her nails dug hard into the skin of my neck. “Please.”
Her entire body was trembling with need, and my gut ached from the desire to feel her and watch her come.
I slid my hand down beneath the stretchy, loose shorts she was wearing until I’d breached her panties and stroked over her pussy.
“You’re so wet, Reese,” I rasped against her neck.
She was so slick and hot that my cock jerked in reaction.
I ignored it, my entire focus on Reese and her pleasure.
“Fuck me,” she pleaded in a voice that I almost couldn’t resist.
“Don’t think,” I said as I nipped her earlobe. “Just feel, Reese.”
Her breaths were coming hard and fast, and I savored the feel of that heat hitting my skin.
She was so aroused.
She was so damn beautiful.
And this woman was all mine.
I teased that slick pussy in a way that I knew would make her crazy. I used my fingers to fuck her and almost groaned when I felt how tightly her sheath gripped my fingers.
I stroked over her clit with my thumb, priming her beautiful body for what I knew was coming.
I lifted my head to watch her face.
Her skin was glowing with a light layer of perspiration, and her eyes were closed.
“Look at me, Reese,” I commanded. “I want you to know exactly who’s about to make your body explode.”
“Devon,” she said on a lusty moan as she opened those emerald eyes and caught my gaze.
The trust and adoration in her eyes were like a gut punch to me, and it instantly forced me to give her exactly what she needed.
I put pressure on her clit and stroked hard and fast until I could feel her entire body shaking uncontrollably as she orgasmed.
Hard.
The primal satisfaction I got from watching her fall apart was almost foreign to me, but I knew it was going to be addictive.
When she screamed my name over and over as her climax went on and on, I knew that was a sound I was going to want to hear a million times or more in the future.
I’d never get enough of it.
I’d never get enough of seeing her just like this.
I covered her mouth with mine as she crashed back down to Earth.
She kissed me back with so much passion that it made my chest ache.
That probably should have scared the hell out of me, but it didn’t.
Everything …fucking everything was different with Reese and I wasn’t shying away from those differences like I had earlier in our relationship.
She made me feel things that I never had before, but I was starting to realize that truly feeling alive was better than guarding every single emotion I had.
When I released her mouth, I simply held her tight until she recovered.
I couldn’t say that I didn’t want more, but I was content just to hold her warm body against mine knowing that she was satisfied.
“You didn’t want to…” she said hesitantly against my shoulder, trailing off at the end.
“Fuck you?” I asked hoarsely. “Have my cock buried so deeply in your beautiful body that I couldn’t think straight? Hell yes, I wanted it, but we need to talk first, and I wanted to watch you get off. My dick can wait.”
“What do we need to talk about? Are you okay?” she asked, instantly sounding concerned about me.
Christ! That was one of the things that I adored about Reese.
If she thought something wasn’t right with me, she immediately wanted to know because she cared about me.
“I’m fine,” I said as I reached down and picked up her shirt and helped her get it back on her body. “I was going to try to explain at the fundraiser, but we were interrupted. I can’t do a friends with benefits thing with you, Reese.”
She looked crestfallen, and I knew I was going to have to explain a lot of things that I’d never told anyone before, not even my own family.