16. Abigail
SIXTEEN
ABIGAIL
My heart raced. Rex looked relaxed, his body reclined on my bed with one arm reaching for me and the other curled behind his head—but his eyes were intense.
“What are we doing?” I whispered.
Another moan floated up through the floorboards. Rex arched a brow and uncurled the arm from behind his head, lifting himself up to a seated position. “Abigail, I think you know exactly what we’re doing.”
I rolled my lips. Heat coursed through me, settling between my thighs. Kissing Rex had set me on fire, and now…
He leaned on his palms and put a bit more space between us, but his eyes never left mine. “Seems to me your ex didn’t treat you right.”
“Rex,” I started, mouth dry. “You’re not… I’m… We’re not supposed to be doing this.”
“Never knew you to be such a little rule follower, Abigail.”
I straightened, frowning. “I’m not. But?— ”
“But?”
“Gabe would literally murder you.”
“Let him murder me, then,” Rex said, a dark smile flashing across his lips. Every muscle between my navel and my knees tightened. Why was Rex so freaking hot ?
I sipped in enough air to say, “It troubles me that I’m currently the voice of reason.”
He laughed, then, bright and genuine, and I think a little piece of my calcified heart began to soften and melt. He reached for me, his fingers coasting over my cheek. “That kiss didn’t taste fake earlier,” he said, voice low. “And I think we should find out just how real it was.”
When I didn’t reply, he tugged on my arm and coaxed me to lie down, shifting so he was propped above me, a strand of dark hair falling across his brow. He dipped down toward me, and I tilted my chin to accept his kiss.
This man was unpicking all the knots inside me and making me feel new again. His lips were warm and demanding, and I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck and spreading my knees to cradle his hips. Every movement was natural, even if my pulse thundered.
My mind was quiet, focused on the brush of Rex’s lips against mine and the weight of his body over me. His erection was a hard bar between us, his stubble a rough counterpoint to his soft kisses.
Usually, when I did something reckless, a distant part of my mind blared at me to slow down and think. I wasn’t thoughtless—I just acted despite my own reservations.
But there were no reservations now. There was the certainty that even if Rex acted cocky and swaggering now, he was still the good guy I knew. He’d be good to me.
It was a relief and a revelation. I spent so much energy acting like nothing could bother me that I sometimes convinced myself it was true. But I was bothered by Travis’s criticisms. I’d been bothered by my mother’s doubts. I was still bothered by Gabe thinking so little of me.
Rex could see that, and he still liked me. He still wanted me.
His kisses moved down my neck, hovering over my pulse point before tracing my collarbone. He pushed my camisole strap out of the way and traced the lacy trim above my breast. I shivered, wanting so much more.
He breathed in the scent of me, burying his head between my breasts, then moved down over my stomach and hooked his hands into my shorts. I could feel the heat of his fingers against the outside of my hips, the warmth of his breath against my crotch.
Suddenly, I was shy. “Rex?”
“Mmhmm?” he asked, tugging at my shorts.
“I don’t… I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do here.”
He glanced up, shoulders framed by my thighs. “You’re just supposed to enjoy it, Abigail.”
“Right,” I said. “But what if—oh!” I arched up as he dropped his head between my legs and focused his mouth on my clit, layers of fabric be damned. It wasn’t enough sensation. It was too much. He tugged at my shorts and I straightened my legs to help him, and then I was bare before him.
Rex let out a sigh, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe his eyes. Then his lips trailed up my inner thigh, and a slight shaking overtook me .
“Relax,” he mumbled, lips at the crease between my thighs and core.
I let my hand fall to his head, stroking into his hair.
He groaned, then pressed a kiss right at the top of my slit. That was as much warning as I got before Rex dipped a little bit lower and showed me exactly how good he was with his tongue.
Breathless, my back arched off the bed. I gasped at the feel of him, pleasure winding tight in my core. He licked and sucked and nibbled at me, using his hands to keep my thighs spread wide.
“You taste like candy,” he said, licking me like he wanted to get to the flavor in the center.
I huffed a laugh. “Right.”
“You don’t believe me?”
I thought of Travis’s wrinkled nose when I dared bring up the idea of him going down on me. Then the image was shattered by Rex shifting and bringing a finger to tease at my opening while his mouth focused on my bud.
The sensations were overwhelming. All I could do was grip his hair and let my hips grind into the feeling. Rex’s moans urged me on, and I watched his own hips shift and grind against the mattress, as if he couldn’t help how turned on he was.
I loved that. I loved hearing him groan when he stroked me with his tongue. Loved the thought of him needing relief because he was so aroused by the taste of me.
Shifting to kiss my inner thigh, he said, “I’ve been thinking about what noises you make when you come.”
“And when have you been thinking that?” I asked, breathless .
“Mostly when I’m in the shower with my hand around my cock,” he admitted, that dangerous smile curling his lips.
My laugh was airy and interrupted by a gasp as Rex went back to work. Pleasure coiled within me, and there was no room in my head to think about exes or consequences. All that existed was the magic of his tongue and his fingers and his groans.
The intensity mounted until a bright flash of an orgasm ripped through me. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from screaming but a moan escaped, and I grabbed a pillow to bury the sound. Our downstairs guests might’ve been happy to let us hear every detail, but this was private. I didn’t want anyone but Rex to see me like this.
As I tossed the pillow aside, I caught Rex watching me. His eyes were nearly black as he sat back on his heels, chest heaving with every breath.
“You,” he said between pants, “you cheated.”
“What?” I propped up on my elbows, dizzy and not even a little sated. Lust still coursed through my veins, and all I could see was the dangerous look in his eyes, the breadth of his shoulders, the outline of his cock pressing against his pajama pants.
“You didn’t let me hear you,” he accused, and my body tingled at his words. He really had been thinking about how my orgasm sounded. Perhaps I shouldn’t have muffled it.
“I didn’t let them hear me,” I corrected, pointing at the floor.
Rex clicked his tongue, then got up and tugged his pants off in one quick motion. His cock bobbed hello, and my mouth went dry.
I wanted him. Wanted him so badly I was dripping for it. And he clearly wanted me too.
But Rex just knelt between my spread thighs and ran his thumb through my arousal, his other hand gripping his cock in a tight fist. “You are so beautiful, Abigail,” he said quietly, thumb teasing my clit and making my thighs twitch and jerk. “I’ve been dreaming about you, like this.”
He shifted his hand so he could slide a finger inside me while still resting his thumb against my clit.
I shivered, shifting my hips to give him better access. “That feels so good.”
Rex hummed, sliding his finger in and out of me. It was slow and torturous and delicious. He watched the movement of his own hand, and with the other, reached for something on the bed.
My satiny pajama shorts appeared in his hand, and he wrapped them around his hard cock before gripping it in his fist. He let out a breath.
I watched him use my clothes to pleasure himself, and every muscle inside me clenched. He hummed in response, adding another finger while increasing the speed of his hand on his cock.
“Been watching you get into bed in these little shorts for three nights, Abigail,” he said, dropping his head back with a sigh. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to rip them off you.”
“And here I thought you were repulsed by them.”
He lowered his gaze to mine again and slowly shook his head.
I reached for him. My fingers trailed over his stomach, then up to feel the coarse hair smattering his pecs. I stretched up to kiss him, humming into his mouth as he pleasured us both.
Then he curled his fingers just so and increased the pressure of his thumb, and I had no choice but to fall back on the pillows. Heat and pressure and tightness wound around my core, urged on with every thrust of his hand. My knees fell open. My lips parted.
“Can’t wait to fuck you properly,” Rex growled, and somehow that was what did it for me.
I think it was the desperate, dark look in his eyes and the absolute truth that rang in his words. It was the way he gripped himself, my satin shorts crumpled beyond recognition in his fist.
I arched and cried out, forgetting about the pillow and the guests and every inhibition that might’ve made me quiet in the past. Heat rushed through me, sending tingles all the way down to my toes. I panted, shocked, and opened my eyes just in time to meet Rex’s gaze.
“Better than I imagined,” he said, grinning—and then his expression changed, and another rush of pleasure went through me at the sight of him reaching his peak.
He made a mess of himself, of me, and he utterly ruined my pajama shorts. Hot lines of his orgasm covered my thighs and stomach. I was so far gone that all I could do was watch, reaching down between my legs to coax out the dregs of another orgasm. That drew a long moan from Rex, who fisted his cock a few more times as he watched me touch myself.
It was dirty and messy and wrong—and so right. We panted, speechless for a few long moments.
Rex trailed a finger through his own release where it coated my stomach, a long breath slipping through his parted lips. Then he leaned over me and pressed a kiss to my lips.
“I’ll get something to clean you up,” he said softly, returning a moment later with a warm washcloth .
I found a pair of soft panties, and this time, when we got into bed, we didn’t even pretend to stay apart. Rex spread his arms for me, and I found a comfy spot in the crook between his shoulder and his chest.
I didn’t have the energy to make a quip about him obviously being a cuddler. He smelled too good, and my eyelids were too heavy.
But I’d learned one thing: good-guy Rex Montgomery was absolutely filthy in bed. And we hadn’t even gone all the way yet.
I woke up craving Rex and his tongue again. I turned my head and found his head crease in the pillow, but Rex was gone. Where was he?
I threw on my robe and wandered downstairs. The closer I got, the more I heard clinking in the kitchen. The smell of fresh cinnamon rolls and savory breakfast meats wafted my way. While it smelled incredible, I prayed it wasn’t another bridesmaid brunch. It was certainly a lot quieter, except for the country music playing lightly on the radio.
Soon it was obvious who was making all that noise. Rex, shirtless over the stove, moved like he knew his way around the kitchen better than I did. Winston supervised from the far countertop, looking suspicious.
“Rex, is that you?” I asked, walking into my kitchen.
He smiled. “Hey. I was just about to bring you breakfast in bed.”
I couldn’t help but react with a delighted smile. “Really?”
It had been a while since anyone did something like this for me. Everyone always assumed that just because I put on a brave face, I didn’t like nice gestures. My ex had demanded so much of me and made me feel so small, and he’d never once gone out of his way to make me feel special.
This was only breakfast, but it made me feel like I was floating on air.
Rex grinned at me, looking delicious. He still had a bit of sleep in his eyes, and his pants hung low on his hips. “Yeah. I figured you deserved a good morning meal after your house was taken over by the bride squad.”
“Bride Tribe.”
“Whatever. The point is that we have the house to ourselves this morning.” Yes, we did. Donny and Blair had left early for DC, and the bridesmaids had returned from whence they came…for now.
I knew exactly what I wanted to use all that time for. I sidled closer, putting a hand on Rex’s back. Mm…muscles. Rex leaned into my touch, one hand gripping a pair of tongs that flipped perfectly brown sausages. “You know,” he said, “your pans are like new. One of them still had the price tag on it.”
“Oh, yeah, I…upgraded,” I said.
Rex arched a brow, amusement glimmering in his eyes. “The price tag was from Ronnie’s shop, which closed down three years ago.”
“I upgraded a few years ago,” I amended.
“And haven’t cooked since?”
“I thought this was a Spanish omelet, not the Inquisition.”
He just smiled. “And the rest of your cupboards are full of microwave popcorn.”
“Breakfast, lunch, and dinner of champions,” I proclaimed .
“Not even the real stovetop stuff,” he said, shaking his head with a tsk .
“Wouldn’t want to ruin my nice new pans.”
His smile was like the sun. No one had ever seen my microwave popcorn habit and not been judgmental about it. “I’ll show you how to make the stovetop stuff someday.”
“If you trust me with a gas range,” I agreed, nodding to my stove.
He grinned. “I think you can handle it. Go ahead and sit down. I’ll bring breakfast to you.”
I sat at the kitchen table and looked out the sunny window, taking in the changing leaves. Rex set a plate down in front of me, then quickly swooped in with a cup of steaming coffee.
The omelet was perfectly cooked. The sausages smelled and looked delicious. The toast was golden brown, and Rex had buttered it all the way to the edge and cut it into triangles. He’d put so much effort into this.
I stared at the food. There was something strange going on in my heart. It thumped erratically, and my throat felt all tight and hot. This was exactly what my ex-husband had wanted from me. What he’d expected and always made me feel like some kind of failure for not being able to provide. But he’d never once done it for me. He’d taken and taken and taken, demanded and pouted and demeaned, and I’d come out of the relationship feeling like there was something wrong with me.
Rex hummed to himself, piling his plate with twice the amount of food as mine, looking casual and comfortable and happy. He wasn’t expecting anything of me. He wasn’t doing this to catch me out and make me owe him something.
He was just being Rex.
“I can’t believe you made me breakfast,” I finally said.
“Why not? No one’s ever made you breakfast before?” he asked, grinning like it was a ridiculous statement.
My gaze fell to my old tablecloth. “No, actually.”
“Oh.” Rex sat down next to me with his matching, although much larger, meal, and I felt the shame of my marriage surface. If Travis had done something like this, it would’ve been a thinly veiled attempt at making me feel like a failure. Rex speared a sausage. “Well, someone should have. And to be clear, this is the only thing I can cook. From noon onward it’s takeout all the way in my house.”
I looked up into Rex’s dark eyes, falling a little more for that slash across his eyebrow. I smiled. “Thank you.” Part of me didn’t want to, but I took a bite—and it was exactly what I was afraid of. Delicious. I hummed, satisfaction sending tingles all the way down to the tips of my toes. This was something I could get used to.
I chewed, the bite turning thick in my mouth.
There’d be no getting used to it, because after this weekend, it would be all over. I’d be back to Pop-Tarts and popping cartridges out of my Keurig.
Meow . Winston slid across my calf as if reminding me that he would be staying. And for that, I was grateful. I scratched his ears and he meowed again. Sighing, I said, “Fine. Just this once. But we’re not making a habit out of this,” and then I chopped up a little piece of my omelet and put it on the floor for him. I glanced at Rex. “Winston says thanks as well.”
Rex looked at my cat, who gave him what appeared to be a feline stink eye. “You’re welcome,” Rex said politely and not at all snarkily, then looked at me. “So, what are you up to today? ”
“I’ve got a couple of closings to follow up on, and then I have an open house later this afternoon.”
“Where at?” he asked.
“The listing I have on Baker Street. The last agent couldn’t sell it, and the owners are skittish. It’s the first open house since I took over.”
“Big day, then.”
“I’m not worried,” I said, and I wasn’t. I could sell the worst house in town. It’s what I did.
Rex smiled. “You’re good at what you do,” he said, and warmth spread through my chest.
Trying to hide how much his words affected me, I said, “It’s such a great house. If I could, I’d buy it myself.”
“So why don’t you?”
I lightly scoffed. “I guess Gabe never told you about all the trouble I went through to keep this place.”
“Not specifically.” His comment made me wonder what Gabe had told him about my divorce. What he told him about me . I could only imagine the embarrassing things he’d admitted to Rex. Gabe thought I was a damsel who enjoyed getting herself into distress and who didn’t have the brains to do any different. If he weren’t the type of guy who’d go out of his way to make sure I was all right, I would resent him for it. But how could I resent him when part of me thought he was right?
Rex glanced at me. “You mentioned you fought for the house in the divorce, though.”
I took another bite, then waved my fork around to indicate the house. “Well, my ex, he’s this big-shot lawyer, right?”
“Can New Elwood lawyers be big shots?”
“He’s a small-town big shot,” I amended with a smile. “ But the point is, he tried to bully me into a bad settlement when our marriage broke down. And, by the way, he is the one who decided he needed to get his bit on the side. And then he wanted the house too?” I scoffed, crunching down on my perfectly buttered toast. I pointed the corner of the bread slice at Rex. “I couldn’t let him get away with it. He wanted the house, so I made sure he didn’t get it. That was my way of getting back at him.”
Rex grinned. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
“You made me breakfast,” I said. “You’re safe.”
We finished eating, and I helped Rex wash up. When the last plate was put away, he caught my arm and spun me around to press me up against the kitchen counter. His kiss was slow and deep and delicious.
I sighed, eyes closed, and rested my head against his chest. “If I could call in sick today, I would.”
Rex kissed the top of my head. “Same.” He smiled at me, eyes crinkling. “But I’ve got something to look forward to at the end of the day now.”
It was hard to ignore the jump of my pulse. Rex leaned down to kiss me again, and it took long, long minutes before we were able to break apart and go to work.