Chapter 25
DELANEY
It was a five-minute drive to my house from the inn. I had on a bulky winter coat. Jeans. There were so many reasons that Parker’s hand should not be down my pants at the moment, except… that was where we were.
And honestly, it was one of the hottest things ever.
The fact that he didn’t want to wait to please me, which was exactly what he’d said the second his truck began to warm up and we drove away.
One second, he was pulling out of the inn’s driveway, the next he’d reached across my lap and said, “Help me please you,” as he pushed aside my coat and began to unbutton my jeans.
While driving.
“Um, maybe you should concentrate on the road?”
“And the two other people driving around Cedar Falls at the moment? No, thanks. I’d rather concentrate on you.”
Thankfully, he’d done both.
And now we were just a few blocks away as my left hand gripped his jacket sleeve and the other tried to clasp onto the door but couldn’t find any leverage.
“Parker.” I glanced over at him. Though he was actually watching the road, he also must have been acutely aware that he was about to make me come. The smile on this face was 100 percent “cat that ate the canary.”
“Parker,” I said again. “How?” I stopped.
Not wanting the answer. His fingers were absolutely magical.
“Jesus.” I pressed my hips into him, Parker’s two fingers alternatively rubbing and circling my clit before plunging into me and somehow, even at this angle, finding my g-spot.
His arm was stretched clear across the center console, but he looked as comfortable as a light breeze on a summer’s day.
“There is no one,” he said. “Just you. Your pleasure. The way you call my name. Can you do that for me, Delaney? Call my name as you let go of all your inhibitions? For me?”
He pulled into an empty spot on my street, put the truck into park and then leaned over toward me, watching me.
It was too much.
His words.
His expression.
His fingers.
“Parker…”
“That’s it. Louder.”
I was going to come. And did. Pulsing around his fingers, I called his name again, watching him watching me. Squeezing my eyes shut for just a second, I let the aftereffects caress my body as Parker removed his hand.
“Can we maybe stay here,” I said, beyond content in his warm truck. “Maybe take a little nap?”
“Not a chance,” he said, turning off the engine.
“Mmmm,” I groaned, not moving, even when Parker got out of the truck and came around to my side.
A blast of cold hit me as he opened the door.
And as quickly as he’d brought me from Heritage Hill to climax, I was scooped out of the truck into his arms. Squealing, I reached behind his neck, holding on. “What are you…”
Kicking the door shut, Parker proceeded to carry me up the stairs of my house, only letting me down at the door. Laughing so hard I couldn’t find my keys, I thought for a second we might freeze to death.
“Got ’em.”
Once inside, I turned on a lamp and knelt down to light the fire, wishing for the millionth time it was electric.
“I got it,” Parker said, taking over.
Glad to let him, I scurried around, lighting candles and tidying up a bit. “Make yourself at home.”
“Nice place,” he said, finishing the fire and looking around casually as if he’d not just gotten me off on the five-minute ride here.
Trying not to dwell on that, or this extreme need I had to be close to him again, to touch him like I’d wanted to do all night, I hung up my coat and asked if he wanted a drink.
“I’m good,” he said, picking up a picture from the fireplace mantel. “So this is the family?”
I headed back into my small but comfortable living room. “Yep. Mom, Dad, brother.”
“I know your mom is a dentist and father is an engineer, but what does your brother do? Is he married?”
“Nope. My mother worries it might never happen… Just turned thirty-five. He moved to Rochester for work, also an engineer like Dad, but mechanical. He’s currently living the work hard, play hard lifestyle.”
“I know a few guys like that.”
“Beck?”
“And Cole. Mason too until last year.” He put down the picture.
“I don’t think he’s as opposed to it as you guys are, bachelor pact and all. Just hasn’t found the right woman.”
“That pact,” he said as I walked toward him, “was just a silly college game.” Reaching for me, Parker pulled me into his arms.
“Seems like Beck still takes it seriously.”
He smoothed back my hair so it was completely off my face. Cupping my cheeks in his hands, Parker stared into my eyes.
“He’s not in any rush to settle down. Cole either.”
I almost said, “And you?” but thought better of it. I knew the answer and didn’t need to press. We weren’t even officially dating, and the last thing I wanted was another broken heart. And yet…
“Which of them do you think we crack first?” I asked, hoping Parker hadn’t noticed my hesitation.
“Whew, that’s a tough one. Is neither an option?”
I would have answered, but Parker had leaned down to kiss me, and I was ready. I wasn’t sure if his need to touch me was because of having been denied it all night, like mine. We’d really have to discuss that.
Later.
At the moment we were too busy tearing our clothes off. That wasn’t just an expression either. I’d never gotten undressed more quickly than when Parker began to unbutton his shirt.
“For the record, if wearing your shirt sleeves rolled up like that is a habit of yours, I’m here for it.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asked, tossing boots, socks and jeans to the side.
“Yeah.” I was down to bra and underwear, the nicest ones I owned. And it seemed Parker appreciated the fact that this black lace set was particularly sexy.
“Dear lord,” he said, pausing for the first time since he’d removed his shirt. “Would you look at that? Perfection.”
It was just a compliment. Easily enough given. I’d learned actions were more important than words when it came to men. But somehow, none of that mattered. Parker’s sincerity had to be real.
“Thank you,” I said, having worked on my ability to accept a compliment without qualifying it. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
He pulled me to him. “Let me finish this for you.”
Unlike the frantic pace we’d set removing our clothes, Parker reached behind my back, unclasped my bra, and pulled the straps off slowly with his thumbs. Making a sound that confirmed he very much liked what he saw, Parker tossed the bra aside, cupping both breasts in his hands.
We stood like that in front of the fire, kissing… touching… exploring, for longer than I would have expected when we’d so hastily removed our clothing. Almost as if he revered me, Parker knelt down and looked up, pausing.
It was the single sexiest thing he’d done yet, Parker’s hands running up my calves as he remained on his knees, watching me. I wanted to say something, but had no words. Maybe it was better this way, without them.
Reaching up, he pulled down the black lace underwear bit by bit, only standing when they were completely off me. I did the same to him, springing Parker free, verifying that he was very much ready for me.
“I can’t decide,” he said, guiding me to the couch, “if I want to spend the next hour kissing every inch of your body before making love to you on that fur rug of yours beside the fire…”
He spun us around so that Parker’s back was to the couch. “Or if I should sit on the couch and have you straddle me, in complete control, and let you have your way with me.”
As always, his words got to me, making me forget everything but the visions he painted in my mind. Feeling saucy, I pushed on his chest. “I choose number two.”
“I need to?—”
Knowing what he was going to say, I stopped him.
“I’m on the pill.”
Our eyes met and locked.
Parker sat. I straddled him. And just like that, we were back to not being able to get enough of each other. Not wanting to wait any longer, I guided him into me, already wet and ready to take his full length, and just as he’d said, I had my way with him.
Parker’s hands rested on my hips, his fingers digging into the flesh there with the sweetest sort of pressure as I moved up and down.
Using his shoulders for leverage, I moved alternatively fast and slow.
Circled and paused. Every move was mine to choose, a heady sort of pleasure so different than any of the other times we’d been together.
With the fire at my back, Parker’s expression one of awe and emotion, I was a goddess in that moment. Or at least I felt like one as I tossed my head back and let myself go.
“You are spectacular.”
His voice, his words… I kissed him. Ravaged him. Before long, our bodies moved in perfect rhythm at a pace that would be impossible to keep. Parker seemed to sense I was close.
“Come on, cupcake. Together.”
Knowing what he meant, I moved my hips just the right way and cried out, Parker thrusting his hips up to me harder than he had all night.
Maybe it was the control. Maybe knowing we had no barrier between us. The whole night, wanting to touch him. The fire. The look in his eyes. I wasn’t sure. But something had shifted between us, and in the aftermath, before I pushed up and away from him, still joined together, we watched each other.
When Parker smiled, the oddest sensation of wanting to cry washed over me. I held it together, never in my life crying during, or after, sex. But somehow he knew. Parker pulled me toward him, against his chest, and I lay there, listening to his heart.
When my breathing became normal, my cheeks no longer tingling, I lifted my head up.
“I know,” he said, tucking errant strands of hair behind my hair. “I felt it too.”