Chapter 7 Lily
LILY
Iroll over in bed, savoring the warmth of the morning light as it spills over my cheeks and chest. I haven’t opened my eyes yet; I’m simply enjoying the last few moments of this dream. It’s so realistic, I even smell Heath’s peppermint and pine scent on the sheets.
Memories of last night flash behind my eyes, pulling me from the last of my sleep state. It’s not a dream.
My eyes snap open, and I sit straight up, peering around for any sign of Heath. He’s not here, which hurts more than it should. It’s not like we slept together or anything. I remember Heath driving us here in the middle of the night and ushering me into his bed while he slept on the couch.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed and take a look around the room.
It’s nearly empty, which makes sense. He just moved here.
I’m trying not to envision matching throw pillows on the bed and massive oak bookshelves along the back wall, but I can’t seem to help it.
I wish we were decorating this house together.
Instead of getting carried away with the fantasy, I hop out of bed and make a pit stop in the bathroom across the hall. When I’m a bit more refreshed, I tiptoe my way downstairs, letting my fingers trail over the ornately carved railing. Every single detail about this place makes me love it more.
I peer into the living room, but don’t see Heath. Continuing my exploration, I check the dining room and then the kitchen, only I still don’t find any sign of the man in question.
“Looking for me, beautiful?”
I gasp and turn around, locking eyes with the sexiest, sweetest man I’ve ever met. Heath’s lips pull into an easy smile, and I fall even more in love with him. It’s kind of ridiculous how happy he makes me, even after the nightmare of an evening I had last night.
“Always,” I answer.
His eyes sparkle, and I’m sure he’s remembering my lifelong crush on him. I was so nervous to admit anything, but Heath seemed to love my secret crush.
“I have some coffee for us out on the porch if you’d like to join me.”
“Coffee on a beautiful porch, overlooking a pristine landscape, with a sexy mountain man? Yeah, I guess that sounds like an okay start to the day.” I breeze past Heath, who circles an arm around my waist and pulls me against his chest.
“Just okay?” he growls playfully before kissing my temple. “What can I do to make it incredible?”
“Hmm… maybe a kiss?”
His eyes light up and then darken as they flicker to my lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Heath claims my mouth, his tongue diving between my lips and tangling with mine. I breathe him in and let him have control, moaning into his kiss as his hands slide down my curves. My hips roll against his, our bodies moving to the steady rhythm of his tongue lapping against mine.
When we break apart, my eyelids flutter shut, and I take a deep breath. Heath chuckles and presses a kiss to my forehead before tucking my head under his chin. I sigh contentedly, happy to melt here forever in his arms.
“Come on, the day’s just getting started,” he murmurs.
Heath untangles us, then takes my hand and leads me outside. I’m surprised to see a spread of fresh fruit and chocolate croissants, along with a carafe of coffee, two mugs, and cream and sugar. I look at Heath with a raised eyebrow, loving the grin tugging at his lips.
“When did you have time to do all of this? I’m pretty sure the cookbook I suggested didn’t have a recipe for croissants,” I tease.
Heath guides me to sit in a comfy-looking chair next to the table before sitting next to me. “I might have done some shopping earlier this morning,” he says with a shrug. “I know how much you love this place, and I wanted your first morning here to be memorable.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Is that so hard to believe?”
I blink a few times, considering his question. “I mean, yeah. Kind of.” Heath furrows his brow, but I continue. “ I believe you’re that thoughtful, I just… I never thought your care and attention would be directed at me. I feel… lucky, I guess.”
I look down at my hands, wondering how pathetic I sound to him. Heath rests his much larger hand over both of mine, drawing my gaze up to meet his.
“You’re the only woman I’ve ever directed this kind of attention to,” he says softly. “You’re the only one who’s made me want to try. Never doubt your beauty, Lily. Or how valuable you are. I’m the lucky one, I promise.”
“Heath…” His confession is everything to me, but in the back of my mind, I know what this means. It’s real, or at least I hope it is, which means we have to talk to Hayden.
“Let’s dig in,” he says with a clap of his hands.
“What about my store?” I blurt, suddenly remembering the whole reason I’m staying under his roof in the first place. “And the clean up? And the note? And…”
“I already put in a few calls and picked up cleaning supplies. But I don’t want to talk about that until after breakfast. I want to enjoy this morning with you, if you’ll let me.”
“Like you even have to ask,” I tell him with the cheesiest grin.
We sip coffee and talk about all the things we missed in the last few years.
I catch Heath up on all the town gossip, while he confides in me about retiring from the military and starting over in his hometown.
It’s nothing monumental, and yet it’s everything.
After sharing so much of my heartache last night, I love knowing we can be together like this, too.
Just enjoying each other’s company while soaking in the breathtaking views.
“Thank you for the best morning of my life,” Heath says after a few moments of comfortable silence.
I peer over at him, drinking in the sight of his green eyes, angled nose, and thick beard.
His gaze drops to my lips, then lower, before snapping up to meet mine.
It’s hard to comprehend that the gorgeous, intimidatingly muscular man in front of me wants to kiss me, but there’s no mistaking the heat in his eyes.
“I think I know how I can make it better,” I murmur. Is that my sultry voice?
“Oh?” Heath’s eyes darken and his nostrils flare.
Knowing I affect him this much gives me the confidence to stand and walk the few feet to his chair.
I step between his parted thighs, loving the way his eyes are locked on my every move.
When I lean down and rest my hands on his shoulders, Heath strokes my outer thighs in response.
He grips my ass and pulls me closer to him, our foreheads nearly touching.
“Would you like a kiss?” I ask him as I shimmy my hips.
“I want whatever you’re willing to give me,” comes his breathless response.
I grin and press my lips to his, nipping on his bottom lip before licking inside his mouth. Heath lets me have control for now, silently urging me on by massaging my hips and ass. I fall into this kiss, eagerly sipping from him and learning what makes him groan in pleasure.
“Lily,” he breathes out once we break apart. “Damn, you make it hard to stop.”
“Who says I want to stop?”
“Don’t play with me, sweetheart,” he warns. “I’m not as strong as you think I am.”
“Neither am I.”
Heath’s jaw tightens, his green eyes narrowing as he swallows thickly.
“What exactly do you want, Lily?” He nips a sensitive spot beneath my ear, then licks a stripe up my neck, causing my knees to shake.
The man of my dreams slides his hands down my thighs, gripping them and guiding me to straddle his lap.
His lips brush against the shell of my ear, his breath tickling my skin.
“Do you want me to make you come on my fingers? Or maybe you want me to suck on your juicy pussy until you scream my name over and over?”
“Oh, God, Heath,” I gasp. “Yes. Anything. Everything…”
He swallows my answer in a devastating kiss. His hands are everywhere, sliding under my oversized t-shirt, caressing my back, my hips, my thighs. His large, calloused fingers roam over my skin in the lightest of touches, and then dig into my flesh, rocking me against his hardening cock.
“Fuck,” he grunts into the side of my neck before kissing me there. “You’re so fucking soft,” he groans, trailing more kisses down my neck and shoulder.
Heath stands up abruptly, keeping me in his arms as he swipes everything off the table to clear it. I squeal at the sudden movement, but he captures the sound in his mouth, sucking all the air out of my lungs in a punishing, devastating kiss.
“What about breakfast?” I ask, no longer caring at all about the food or coffee.
“Got my breakfast right here.”
He sets me down on the table and fuses his lips to mine.
Heath grips my inner thighs, spreading them apart so he can get closer to my aching core.
I can’t hold back a moan when he grinds his thick dick against me.
He tangles his fingers in my hair and rips my mouth away from his, only to nip his way down my neck.
A shiver runs through me when he covers the little bites with a sweet kiss. He’s dominant, demanding, and territorial, while also being tender and caring. It’s addictive, the way he handles me. A girl could get used to this.
“Need to taste more of you, Lily.”
I nod, knowing I’ll like whatever Heath does next.
To my complete shock, Heath grips the neckline of the shirt I’m wearing and tears it in two. I gasp and giggle at his eagerness, but then moan when I feel his tongue circling my nipple. Heath grunts and licks the other one before closing his lips around it and sucking. Hard.
I squeeze my thighs around his hips and lean back on my hands, giving him more access. His hands and mouth cover every inch of my breasts and torso with kisses, bites, pinches, and soothing strokes.
Heath scrapes his teeth down my soft belly and kneels in front of me, shouldering my knees apart so he’s staring right at my panty-covered pussy.
I know he sees how shamefully wet I am. How wet he’s made me.
Heath leans forward and covers the wet spot with his mouth, sucking on the fabric and making me gasp in surprise.
He grunts into my pussy and breathes in deep.
Holy hell, this man is fucking hot. Everything he does.
Heath hooks his thumbs into the side of my panties and slowly drags them down my legs until I'm bare before him.
For a few seconds, he just stares at me.
It's unnerving. No one has ever seen me like this.
Touched me like this. Ruined me like this.
Heath peppers kisses up the insides of my thighs, first one, and then the other. Then he parts my lips with his thumbs and lets out a strangled moan.
“Jesus Christ, you’re dripping for me. I need it. Need to taste it. Need to.” He sounds like a man possessed. I love it. How am I the one doing this to him? Why me?
I don’t have time to overthink it before his tongue is sliding through my folds.
I gasp and moan, falling backward onto the table.
Heath licks me up and down, humming into my pussy like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted.
I swear I feel his wet, hot tongue deep in my core, the liquid heat pooling inside me and filling my veins with burning ecstasy.
Heath leans back slightly, and I whimper at the loss of him. Then he swipes two fingers up my slit, pulling my pussy lips open and forming a cage around my clit with his fingers. My eyes slam shut as his tongue makes contact with my isolated bundle of nerves.
The whole world zooms down to just Heath and me.
He sucks on me fiercely, and my body winds up fast and hard.
When I'm about to come, he backs away and pushes his tongue inside me, lapping at my throbbing channel.
One finger finds my clit, and he brushes it softly, never letting me go over the edge but making sure I'm still right there.
“Please, please…” I whine, squirming beneath him and trying to get him where I need him most.
Heath ignores me, continuing to torture my swollen, sensitive cunt with his tongue.
His finger circles my entrance, over and over, then dips inside.
I moan, feeling my tight channel stretch around his large digit.
Fuck, I can’t even imagine what his cock is going to feel like.
I don’t know if I’ll survive, but I sure as hell want to try.
He slowly works his finger in and out of me with gentle thrusts, then he curls it up. My body spasms violently, causing my thighs to close around his head and my back to bow off the table.
“Feel good?” he asks, his voice low and gravelly, sending another shiver up my spine.
“So… good…” I gasp.
Heath grunts in approval, then continues to fingerfuck me hard and suck on my clit, growling into my pussy. My muscles lock up tight, each thrust and rough lick sending me higher, higher, higher…
And then I shatter.
I scream out his name and claw at the table as my orgasm ravishes me. Heath slides his hands underneath my ass and pulls me closer, burying his face into my pulsing cunt and drinking down all of my release. I squeeze my eyes shut and fall into pleasure so intense I think I might pass out.
“So beautiful,” he rasps as he scoops me up into his arms. “Love watching you come apart for me.”
I’m vaguely aware of my torn clothes and the mess of food and dishes from breakfast, but none of that matters as my mountain man carries me inside.
He barely has time to set me down on the kitchen floor before his phone rings. “Dammit,” he grunts as he fishes it out of his pocket. The desire drains from his eyes, replaced by guilt. It hurts worse than if he punched me in the gut.
Heath looks at his phone, then at me, before taking a step back. “I’m sorry,” he mouths before answering the call. “Hayden, what’s up?”
I’m left standing naked and alone in Heath’s kitchen, feeling more vulnerable than I ever have. Why am I always alone? Always so alone. Only this time, it’s worse. This time, I know what it’s like to be wanted, to be desired, to be taken care of, which only makes the rejection hurt that much more.
I’m such an idiot. I was blinded by my stupid childhood crush, then got carried away when he showed up in my time of need. Heath must have gotten swept up in the moment, too, but now it’s over. We’re over.