28. Bex
Chapter 28
Bex
“Tucker told me how you ended up in Rust Canyon, but he didn’t mention where you hail from. I could tell right off the bat you’re not from Oklahoma.”
Felicity smiled at me from across the table in the kitchenette of their shared medical practice. When I showed up for lunch, Tucker had one more patient to see before he could take a break, so he told us to start without him. To be polite, I’d let her ask the first few questions—most of which revolved around my history with Tucker—but now, it was my turn to learn more about her.
“You caught me. I’m originally from Montana,” she confessed.
I couldn’t contain my shock. “You left the mountains to come here ? Why?”
She swallowed the bite of food in her mouth. “Needed a change of scenery. But more than anything, I wanted a chance to branch out on my own.”
“You couldn’t do that without leaving Montana? From what I hear, it’s a pretty big state.”
“Maybe.” Felicity shrugged. “But I’m the youngest of eight, and after a lifetime of being babied, I wanted to leave the nest and prove to myself that I had what it takes.”
“Eight?” My eyes bulged.
Her knowing laughter told me I wasn’t the first person shocked to learn of her large family. “Yeah, and it’s not like my parents just decided to go for it and bang out a bunch of kids close together, either. We’re all separated by three or four years. It was like they cleared the toddler stage and were like, okay, let’s do this again. My oldest brother, Nash, is twenty-four years older than me. Can’t imagine how crazy it was for him to be old enough to have kids of his own with our parents still procreating. Hell, as it is, I’m closer in age to his teenage sons than I am to his.”
“Not gonna lie, that’s hard to wrap my mind around being an only child.”
“Did Felicity tell you how she’s six degrees of separation away from royalty?” Tucker’s voice sounded from the doorway.
I turned my head in time for him to drop a kiss on my lips. “Hey, beautiful.”
He took a seat at the table, and I shifted my attention back to Felicity. “What’s this about being related to royalty?”
A hint of pink crept onto her cheeks. “ Definitely not related. And honestly, it’s not that big of a deal.” When I stared at her expectantly, she heaved a sigh. “Fine.” Using her fingers, she ticked off the connections. “So, there’s my brother, Nash. He’s married to my sister-in-law, Zoe, and they live on her family’s cattle ranch in Alberta with their two boys. Zoe’s brother is Cal Berg, who used to play hockey and lives in Connecticut. His wife, Hannah, is best friends with Natalie Slate, formerly Remington, whose brother-in-law, Liam, is in direct line for the throne in a small European country. ”
Well, consider my mind blown.
“Whoa, that’s crazy.”
“Eh.” She lifted a shoulder. “Puts into perspective how truly small the world is. We’re all connected in one way or another, even if we don’t realize it.”
“Which reminds me . . .” I turned my attention to Tucker as he took a bite out of his sandwich.
His eyes grew wide, and he swallowed roughly, croaking out, “What did I do?”
“Nothing.” I set his mind at ease. “But Aspen mentioned Jenner’s teammate is married to our all-time favorite romance author.”
Relief washed over his features. “Oh, that.”
“Oh, that? How do you not understand how cool this is?”
“She’s just a person, the same as you and me,” he countered.
I scoffed. “Only a person whose brain created my top ten book boyfriends.”
Felicity snickered beside me. “What your girl’s trying to tell you, Tucker, is that she’s in love with Dakota because she’s the mastermind behind the perfect man.”
His annoyance was audible when he grumbled, “ Fictional men.”
“Wait.” My head whipped toward Felicity. “Have you met her?”
A sly smile curved on her lips. “She popped down here for a bit last summer to do research for a small-town series she’s thinking about writing.”
My mouth dropped open a split second before I screeched, “WHAT?! Oh my God, how did I not know about this? And she’s using Rust Canyon for inspiration?” I leaned back in my chair, fanning my face, as my breathing grew shallow. “I think I’m going to pass out.”
“Don’t have time for TV, but your reading sure hasn’t taken a hit.” You could almost hear Tucker’s eye roll .
“Baby.” I placed a hand on his forearm. “Don’t be jealous. Those men are just the warmup. They get me all hot and bothered, sure.” Tucker shot me a death glare. “But they can’t finish the job the way you can.”
The sound of a chair scraping against linoleum reached my ears.
“And that’s my cue to leave.” Felicity balled up her sandwich wrapper and tossed it in the trash. “It was so nice to meet you, Bex. Don’t be a stranger, you hear?”
Tucker stiffened beside me. Even though we refused to talk about it, my departure cast a shadow over us, looming like the executioner with his axe poised to sever our connection.
Mustering up a bright smile to hide the pain that tomorrow would surely bring, I replied, “Pleasure was all mine.”
She dipped her chin before leaving the kitchenette.
Rising from my seat, I settled onto Tucker’s lap. Placing both hands on his face, I whispered, “We were only teasing you about the book boyfriends.”
His blue eyes were cloudy, his mind far away as he nodded. “I know.”
“Hey,” I said gently before pressing my lips to his. “I love you.”
The tension in his shoulders melted away, and his chest expanded on a deep inhale. “I love you too.”
I pulled back, my gaze dipping to the breast of his white lab coat, where his name and qualifications were stitched onto the fabric. I traced the lettering with a fingertip. “Have I told you how proud I am of you?”
Tucker hummed in response.
I gripped his chin, forcing him to meet my eye. “Seriously, Tuck. You grew up here the same as me. Not everyone dreams big, and even those who do often don’t follow through. But you did. You got into the best school in the country, you graduated from med school with honors, and now you make an impact on every person in the community that raised you. They come to you when they’re sick or injured, knowing you can help them. That’s a pretty big deal.”
Trying to lighten the mood, I raised my casted right arm with a laugh. “Came in pretty handy this week.”
Concern lit up his features. “It bothering you at all?”
I shook my head. “Barely notice it anymore. Plus, it comes with really cool artwork.” I flipped my arm over so the heart with our initials inside was visible. “Might have to get it set into one of those shadowboxes, a memento of the time the great Dr. Tucker Grant set my broken wrist.”
That got him to crack the tiniest smile. “Please tell me you’re not one of those people who has their appendix removed and wants to keep it in a jar like a trophy.”
Leaning into the ridiculousness, I nodded my head with what I hoped was a serious expression on my face. “Definitely.”
Then I burst out laughing, burying my face in his neck. He held me tight, the rumbling of his own laughter vibrating through his chest.
Yeah, I could definitely get used to this.
Tucker stopped dead at the threshold to the master bedroom, gripping the doorframe for support.
“Jesus, woman,” he breathed out, his hungry gaze roving over where I lay spread on the bed, wearing black lingerie.
I plucked at the lacy one-piece I’d found in the bottom of my suitcase when I was packing earlier. Pursing my lips, I pouted. “You don’t like it? ”
The man standing dumbstruck ten feet away dragged a hand down his face. Clearing his throat wasn’t enough to remove the husky quality of his voice when he spoke. “Sorry, you’re going to have to give me a minute. Your mouth is moving, but I can’t process anything you said because all the blood in my brain has migrated south.”
My teeth sank into my lower lip when I dared to peek at the bulge pressing against his fly. Involuntarily, my thighs squeezed together at the memory of his thick cock between them.
We only had one more night together, and I wanted to make it count.
Shifting on the bed, I sat up on my knees and crooked a finger in Tucker’s direction.
He gave in to the magnetic pull between us, closing the gap until he stood directly before me. Unable to help myself, I pressed a palm to his eager erection, rubbing it over the fabric of his pants, causing him to groan.
“Fuck, Bex. I’ll never get enough of you.”
My heart twisted, knowing we would be forced to say goodbye in the morning. Shoving that sadness to the back of my mind, I boldly squeezed his cock. A surge of power rushed through my veins when his knees buckled, and he had to catch himself with a hand pressed to the mattress beside me.
He’d ditched the tie after work but still wore his white button-down and black slacks. With both hands, I gripped the sides of his open collar and tugged Tucker onto the bed. He came willingly, and I laid back, allowing his larger frame to crawl over me.
Once he was caging me in from above, he dipped his head, capturing my lips in a druggingly slow kiss. I sank into it, moaning as his tongue dove in with deep, sweeping strokes. It was passionate without being hurried, and I clung to him in the hope that if I held on tight enough, I wouldn’t have to let him go when the sun came up .
He parted my legs with a thigh. The firm press of it there put the perfect pressure against my throbbing core.
I threw my head back on a gasp, and Tucker took full advantage, dragging his hot mouth down the column of my throat. He knew exactly which spots to pause and suck on to drive me wild.
Without shame, I bucked against his muscular thigh. The friction against my clit was heaven and hell rolled into one. I was painfully turned on, and each lift of my hips brought sweet relief, sparking near-blinding pleasure. My inner muscles clenched around nothing in my desperation to detonate the orgasm that remained just out of reach.
Tucker picked up on it instantly, cooing against my fevered skin, “What’s the matter, baby?”
A huff of frustration flew past my lips. “So close.”
“Need a little help?”
“Please,” I practically sobbed.
“Your needy pussy has already soaked through my pants,” he rasped in my ear. “Tell me what it is you need, Bex. Is it my fingers?” His touch skimmed a path over my chest and down my stomach but stopped a few inches short of where I needed him most. “What about my mouth?” His tongue flicked out to tease the skin behind my ear, and I whimpered. “Or perhaps, my dirty girl wants to skip to the main event and needs my cock.” He ground his hips. The heavy weight of his dick was sweet torture against my belly, hidden behind far too many clothes.
My mind was hazy, the all-consuming lust making it hard to focus on anything other than the need for the man whose body weight was settled deliciously atop me. “Any of them. All of them. Dealer’s choice. So long as it’s now.” My impatience was only further highlighted when I began clawing at his shirt, fumbling to get the buttons undone .
Tucker’s husky chuckle had electricity buzzing beneath my skin, and I couldn’t stop the moan that worked its way up my throat.
When he rose to his knees, the rush of cool air wafting over my heated flesh brought goosebumps to the surface. With deft fingers, he worked the last two buttons of his shirt before letting the material fall away. Then he quickly discarded his pants and boxers, leaving him gloriously naked before me.
Goddamn, that dick was gorgeous, standing proud between his thighs—thick and long enough to steal my breath away upon entry but not so big that it hurt.
If I didn’t know any better, I might think it was created just for me, the perfect size to bring me endless pleasure.
Under my hungry gaze, precum beaded at the tip, and I licked my lips as the phantom taste of him ghosted over my tongue. Tucker caught me staring and gripped his shaft, head dropping back on a groan as he stroked his length slowly.
“Tuck.” I made weak grabby hands, desperate to feel his hot skin against mine.
His blue eyes grew as dark as the ocean as he scanned my lace-clad form. Fingers plucked at the stretchy material. “Expensive?”
Swallowing, I managed to nod.
“Good.” The word was almost lost to the sound of ripping fabric.
He moved so fast that my gasp of surprise was instantly smothered by his tongue sliding deep into my mouth. We writhed against each other, trying to get closer, even though there wasn’t an inch of space between us.
Tucker’s heavy weight pinned me down, and I went out of my mind as the tip of his cock glided through my seam, teasing my entrance.
“Now,” I demanded on a breathless whimper, nails digging into the skin of his back .
Without another moment of delay, his hips surged, filling me in a single stroke, and our throaty groans mixed together. That initial merging of our bodies was euphoric; there weren’t words to describe how incredible it felt to have Tucker inside me.
My hands drifted to his ass, gripping the firm muscle and urging him to move. A whine sounded when he remained immovable, holding as still as a statue. Though the hard ridges of his body might suggest he was carved from marble, the pulsing of his cock within me betrayed that he was very much alive.
“Fuck yourself on my cock.” His voice came out strained. “Use it to get off, baby.”
With desire gripping me in a chokehold, I couldn’t make sense of his words. That was, until he shifted onto one elbow, which freed up a hand to tweak my nipple, and my hips jerked involuntarily, chasing the spark of pleasure that action sent straight to my clit.
His lips dropped to the curve of my neck, sucking the flesh while he continued to pluck at the stiff peak of my breast. Tucker held his lower body steady, his hard cock offering a delicious fullness to aid in the ecstasy of having my clit grind against the base with every buck of my hips.
Tucker’s grunts as I worked myself into a frenzy indicated that he was barely hanging on. He was close. I only prayed I was closer.
Tingles gathered between my thighs, and I strained against Tucker’s hot body, right on the edge.
I just needed . . . something more.
Like he could read my mind, Tucker bit down on my shoulder, and I shattered. Brilliant lights flashed before my eyes, and my sharp cry echoed off the bedroom walls. Unending waves of bliss radiated outward from my core, and I never wanted to stop riding this high .
My orgasm was still cresting when Tucker widened his knees and reared back to loop a forearm beneath my thigh. The move spread me wide open, and he finally rolled his hips, actively engaging in our coupling.
I expected him to pound into me like he had every time we’d fucked before. Instead, he kept his thrusts measured, though each snap of his hips still packed a strong punch.
“Can’t get deep enough,” he panted. “Want to fucking live inside you.”
God, I wanted that too.
His hand stroked the sweaty hair away from my face, cupping my cheek as we held eye contact. He was pouring his love into every movement, and I felt it curl around my heart, healing those broken parts and soothing the scars. With him, I was whole again.
Tucker Grant was my one great love.
My heart beat for him. It always had, and it always would.
The emotion grew overwhelming, and I couldn’t keep it contained. “I love you,” I whispered.
Tucker’s pace faltered for a split second but then resumed. His mouth came down on mine in the sweetest kiss, even as our bodies crashed together.
When he tore his lips away, he murmured, “My love for you is endless, Bex. Even when my time on this earth is done, I won’t stop loving you.”
His beautiful words sent me careening over the cliff a second time. We clutched each other tight as he shuddered his release, coming deep inside me.
Utterly spent, I was unable to keep unconsciousness at bay as his strong arms banded around me.
My last thought before I let darkness drag me under was: What I wouldn’t give for more time.