Chapter 23 Reed #2
I was exhausted after only having had two hours of sleep in the last thirty-six hours, and that was compounded by the surge of adrenaline caused by the encounter with Elise and Junior. Now that Penn and I were back on Thornbrush––now that we were home––I felt that we were safe.
I’ve never felt like I had a home before.
Not like this anyway. My parents moved around a lot because my dad could never keep a steady job.
I was the only child of two adults who had no business being parents—too busy and self-absorbed—who half the time didn’t even seem as though they liked each other …
or me, for that matter. We didn’t do love.
I’m not sure I really knew what it meant to love or be loved until Penn was born.
My love for my daughter was all-consuming.
I would do anything to keep her safe and protected, to ensure she grew up healthy, happy, and loved.
My mind drifted back to Lina. I picked up my phone at my bedside, opened the photo app, and pulled up the picture I took of Lina curled up beside Penn in her bed this morning.
They both looked so peaceful. My heart skipped a beat.
A similar, all-consuming feeling sat in my chest—a desire to keep Lina safe and protected …
a drive to treat her as though my world revolved around her.
I wanted to be the reason she was happy.
I wanted to make her feel loved and cherished.
A lump formed in my throat, and I couldn’t seem to swallow it down. If I hadn’t already let it cross my mind, it was now. I couldn’t escape it. I was falling in love with Lina Larsen.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, hoping to steady my emotions and relieve the tightness in my chest.
A key jiggled in the front door, followed by it creaking open. I held my breath, silently setting down my phone. As quietly and slowly as possible, I threw the covers off and started to head to the dresser to pull out my revolver.
“Reed?” came a soft whisper from the hallway.
I turned to the door but halted because Lina was already there.
Even in the dark, she was a goddamn smokeshow.
Her lips were parted, panting, as if she’d run here.
Her fingers wrapped around the doorframe like she was holding herself back.
Her hair lay in loose waves around her shoulders.
My pulse sped up as my gaze traveled down her body.
She was wearing that fucking fringed jacket she’d worn the one day she decided to cool off in the stock tank.
“Dammit, sweetheart. What are you wearing?”
She leaned into the doorway, her hands still gripping the frame. The jacket parted, revealing a bare strip of skin between her breasts, clear down to those fucking black lace panties. Did she really just run across the ranch in nothing but her underwear? My wild girl.
“Just a jacket.” Her voice was smoky and sultry.
“I can fucking see that.” The air was trapped in my lungs.
She dropped her hands, stepping toward me until her breasts were brushing my bare chest.
“You told me if I needed to come, I should come to you.”
“Are you drunk?” I asked, trying to sniff liquor on her breath, but all I could smell was her sweet, floral scent like she’d showered before coming here.
She shook her head. “Why would I need to drink when you give me a better buzz?”
“Is that right?”
She ran her hands down my pecs, over the ridges of muscles, sending shivers across my skin despite the flood of heat rushing to my dick. Her fingertips hooked into the waistband of my sweats. Lina barely had to tug to bring me flush against her.
“That’s right, cowboy.” She bit her plush, bottom lip. It was utterly distracting, and I was jealous of those teeth digging into her mouth. I wanted to fucking suck on it, too. Her eyes jumped between mine as if she were thinking, considering her next words.
“Lina?” I asked, concerned at the switch in her demeanor.
“How many days has it been?”
My brows raised at her question, “What do you mean?”
Her brown irises sparkled in the moonlight as she captured my gaze. “How many days have you been sober now?”
I wasn’t quite ready to have this conversation with her, but she needed to know. I knew it was clear she didn’t remember our conversation from when she was drugged, after time had lapsed and she still hadn’t brought it up. “It’s been 428 days. Since the day after we met.”
She repeated, “It’s been 428 days …” Her voice waned, as if she wanted to say more, but she stopped herself. Then she said, “I’m sorry I dragged you to all those bars with me.”
I needed to touch her, to comfort her as much as her presence soothed me.
I cupped her cheek. “I should be the one still apologizing, atoning for hurting you. It’s a boundary I set for myself, but that doesn’t mean I’m tempted every time I walk into a bar.
If anything, being with you is my motivation to stay on the straight and narrow. ”
She pressed up on her tiptoes, brushing a soft kiss to my mouth. The press of her lips felt like gratitude and forgiveness, like tenderness and affection.
“We don’t need to go drinking. I’m happy just to get wasted on you.” Her breath danced across my skin with her words.
I could feel the heat brewing between us, the yearning growing with every shared inhale and exhale.
I dropped my forehead to hers, my hands going to her waist to bring her closer. She’d walked all this way across the ranch in only two articles of clothing. To come to me.
She was irresistible. A temptation. One from which I was not going to deny myself.
“So tell me then, sweetheart, what can I do for you?”
Our chests were both heaving, as if we were trying to suck in mountain air but it was too thin and our lungs were too tight.
She leaned away from me slightly until I could see her blown-out pupils. “I want you. I want you to eat me out until I come, and then I want to ride you until we’re both careening over the edge.”
“Fuck, baby,” I whispered, before wrapping my arm around her to pull her closer and crush my mouth to hers.