Chapter Eleven #3
After that, time seemed to speed up, and before she knew it, she was walking out the employee exit. Vander was there, leaning against her vehicle and completely stealing her heart.
He followed her home, the headlights of his truck a warm presence against the Wyoming darkness sliding past her windows. Her pulse still hadn’t entirely settled, and it had less to do with anger and much more to do with the image of Vander pinning that man to the wall.
A familiar pulse settled in her core, and by the time they pulled into her driveway, she was slick with desire.
As she slipped out of the vehicle, he met her in the driveway and they walked to the house together. Since Ben was with her parents, she didn’t need to make her usual stop by Granny Helen’s to carry his sleeping form to bed.
She unlocked the door, aware of Vander standing right behind her, broad enough to shield her and protective enough to take a bullet for her.
That man is HOT. Honey, if you don’t snag him, half of Willowbrook will gladly get in line for some of THAT.
She would get in line right now.
They entered the quiet house and Vander took a moment to lock up.
When he turned to face her, he dropped his gaze to his boots. “I hope I didn’t embarrass you tonight.”
She stared at him. “Embarrass me?”
His jaw flexed once and he met her stare. “I know I got aggressive.”
She took a step closer. “Vander.”
“Yeah?”
“It was hot.”
The poor man looked so completely caught off guard that a giggle pressed at the base of her throat.
Before he could recover, she gripped him by the shirt and yanked him in. As their lips collided, he issued a rough sound and grabbed her, hauling her up against his solid body like he’d been holding himself back all night.
His mouth moved against hers, hungry and hard, moving his hands beneath her jacket like he needed reassurance she was really there. Summer tangled both hands into his shirt, kissing him harder.
Vander was everything.
Protection.
Desire.
Safety.
Everything tangled together until she couldn’t separate one feeling from the next anymore.
He pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers. His chest heaved. “You sure?”
Her answer was to kiss him again.
With a growl, he lifted her. She wrapped her thighs around his waist and he carried her straight to the bedroom. She pressed kisses over his neck and bit lightly into his ear, raising a groan from him.
By the time they hit the doorway, her insides were knotted with want, and his eyes were burning.
He let her slide down his body and she attacked his clothes.
First, she lifted off his cowboy hat and tossed it aside.
Next came his jacket, and she let the heavy canvas fall to the floor.
Easing her hands under his shirt, she skimmed over the velvety steel of his abs and pecs.
He only allowed her to peel off his shirt and stopped her before she could reach for his waistband.
Gripping her by the hips, he crushed her lips with his. Her mind spun from the lack of air, but she never wanted to surface. She didn’t realize he’d backed her up to the bed until her legs hit the mattress.
He tore his mouth free and ripped off her top. “God, you’ve been driving me crazy all night.” His lips hit her throat and worked a trail of small kisses up to her chin and back down to the tops of her breasts.
Sucking in a gasp, she sank her fingers into his soft hair and let emotions and pleasure spike through her.
She rocked her hips into his, feeling the stiff length between them.
“You act as eager as I am.”
“In case you didn’t notice, I am.” His grin flashed before he returned to kissing her, slow and thorough, framing her face with startling tenderness that contrasted to the bodily harm he threatened that guy with hours ago.
She slid her hands up his muscled back and gripped his shoulders, his skin under her palms warm and hard at the same time. His hands started to roam too—thank god, because she was losing her sanity taking things this slow. He skimmed his hands up to cup her breasts.
He swished his thumbs over her peaked nipples, making her cry out. Passion waged war with the desire that urged her body to have him—now.
But he set the pace, pressing kisses beneath her jaw and another at her throat with so much reverence that her breath caught.
This amazing man didn’t think he was worthy of her. He’d looked her mother in the eye and admitted he didn’t believe he was a good guy, when everything he did proved the opposite.
He made her life happier, easier, more exciting simply by stepping into it.
For years she’d felt like an old house she’d seen on the edge of town—abandoned and empty and neglected—and she’d accepted it as being just part of her life. Like eventually everyone would leave the way her ex did, choosing himself over her and Ben.
But somewhere between the day with Vander at the ranch and the way he watched over Ben without being asked…Vander had stopped feeling temporary.
And maybe the scariest part was that she finally pictured forever with him.