Chapter 24 #2
He’d driven me to the hospital. He’d given me half a house without a fight. He’d put up the money for the renovations. He’d supported my ideas on the house and, after a short struggle, at the lodge.
He was thoughtful and supportive and good. So damn good it almost defied belief. He’d come from a broken home and built himself into a better man, rising above all that struggle to truly become the best man in town. He had a heart of pure, twenty-four-carat gold.
And when he glanced at me, expression guarded, I wondered if he would believe me if I told him.
No words came to me. I couldn’t speak. All I could do was cross the space between us, lift my hands to cup his cheeks, and pull him down for a kiss.
He came with no resistance, his hands resting on my waist before sliding around to hold me tight to his chest. He shuddered, deepened the kiss, and I was carried off by the current of my emotions.
I felt safe and cherished and alive. I felt like I’d found someone special—that all my prejudices and judgments had been unfair.
Maybe there were good men out there. Maybe Rhett was one of them—and maybe he felt the same way I did.
“Piper,” he mumbled, fingers digging into the space on either side of my spine. “Piper, we have to stop.” Even as he said it, he drew me closer.
“Why?” I kissed his jaw, tangling my fingers into the hair at the base of his neck.
“I want you too much.” His lips traced the pulse at the side of my neck, his body curled around mine as he turned and guided me back toward the kitchen cabinets.
“That doesn’t seem like a good reason to stop,” I said, pulling him down for another kiss.
He groaned into my mouth, hands slipping under my shirt to stroke the bare skin of my sides.
He ran his big, hot palms up my waist and over my ribs, his hands bracketing my body and holding me where he wanted me.
I shivered at the touch. It was the first time in years someone had touched my skin there.
Heat swept through me, and I realized what Rhett had meant just now.
We should’ve stopped earlier, because now it was too late.
I wanted his hands on my body everywhere.
I wanted his lips on me. I wanted it all.
My own hands went exploring, untucking Rhett’s shirt and undershirt to stroke over the hard pack of muscles beneath. Hair rasped under my fingertips as I ran my hands up his stomach and chest, my whole body trembling at the sensation.
“Off,” I said, pushing at the fabric.
His grin was wolfish. “So demanding,” he murmured, but he wasted no time in shedding the garments. Then Rhett Baldwin stood before me bare-chested, and the last of my wits left me.
He was solid and strong, his muscles visible under the golden hue of his skin.
Broad shoulders tapered to a trim waist, with the faint outline of abdominal muscles shifting as I traced them with my fingertips.
He held my hips, keeping me pinned against the countertop while I explored his body with my trembling hands.
It had been a long time since I’d been with a man other than Jacob.
Nervousness fluttered in my belly, and a part of me wondered if I was making a mistake.
Rhett was my boss and my business partner, after all.
We’d only started getting along recently.
He could run me out of town if he changed his mind about me.
But when I flicked my gaze up to meet his, there was softness in his eyes.
His hand came up to cup my jaw, and he bent down to press a tender kiss to my lips.
It was slow and thorough, and it left me utterly dizzy.
I clung to his shoulders, bent backward against the kitchen counter as he deepened our kiss.
It was easy to melt against him when he stroked and petted like this, his hands moving down my sides and back up again under my shirt.
When he cupped my breast, a shiver went through me and a soft exhale slipped through my lips.
“You want me to stop?” Rhett asked.
My reply was breathless. “No.”
I had no time to rethink my answer, because Rhett had his fingers wrapped around the hem of my shirt and he was tugging it off a second later.
Cool air kissed my skin, the warmth of Rhett’s hands a thrilling counterpoint.
He touched me like he couldn’t get enough of me, tracing my curves with his hands and mouth.
He pressed a kiss to my breast, just above the edge of my bra, and I arched my back at the touch.
The back of my head nudged the upper cabinets as I closed my eyes and lost myself in the sensation of him.
I hadn’t realized how much I missed feeling a man’s warm skin against mine.
I’d locked this part of me away a long time ago as I focused on being the perfect wife and mother, but it had never died.
As Rhett tugged at my bra and exposed my peaked nipple to the air, I let go of the last of my inhibitions.
His mouth was hot on my breast, tongue laving my flesh as he let out a low, tortured groan.
His hands clung to my hips, pressing hard, as if he were trying to hold himself back.
I scraped my fingernails along his shoulders, then eased my palms over the same spot. Leaning my head back to expose my throat to him, I panted out the lust that threatened to drown me. I wanted him so badly nothing else existed.
“These pants have been driving me crazy since the very first day,” he said, thick fingers reaching for the fasteners behind the waistband.
I glanced down at my usual pinstriped work pants. “They have?”
“Pure torture every single day, Darling,” he said, and the fastening came loose. The zipper slid down, and my eyes flicked up to his. His irises had disappeared, and only darkness stared back at me. My breath caught—and his hand slipped between my legs.
We shuddered out an exhale at the same time. I closed my eyes, gripping Rhett’s shoulders as I leaned my head against the upper cabinets, my legs stumbling wider as my body begged him for more. He let out a low moan at the feel of me, slick and warm against his fingers.
Then it was my turn to drop my hands, feeling the hard bar of his erection pressing against the placket of his pants. His head ducked against my neck as he pressed a kiss below my ear, his body curled around mine as he trapped me in.
Pleasure shattered through me, drawing a surprised gasp out of me. My fingernails dug into his shoulders as I trembled.
His movements slowed as he lifted his head, gaze flicking between my eyes. “Did you…?”
“Yeah,” I panted. “That doesn’t usually…”
His utterly male, self-satisfied smirk stopped me from finishing my sentence. Happen so fast.
I smacked his shoulder and laughed. “Stop it. Your ego doesn’t need any more inflation.”
“Think you have another one in you?” Rhett asked in a silky, dark voice, his fingers moving against me once more.
I sighed and closed my eyes, unable to resist.
That was the thing about Rhett. He was magnetic. Even when I knew he was putting on a show for other people, my eyes still strayed toward him. When he smiled, it made my heart thump. When he laughed, I buzzed inside.
Having him touch me like this, all that attention focused on me, all that intensity directed solely in search of my pleasure…
it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
He was patient and demanding and playful, touching and teasing and kissing me like there was nothing else he’d rather do and nowhere else he’d rather be.
And maybe that was the truth. Maybe he cared about me. It certainly felt like it.
As it turned out, I did have a second one in me.
My pants ended up pinned around my thighs, my hands scrabbling to feel his arousal, all modesty gone.
Rhett’s hands gripped my hips and slid down to my thighs, gripping all the flesh that I sometimes lamented in the mirror.
He groaned and spun me around, pressing his clothed front against my bare behind.
The fabric rasped against my flesh, and I laid my palms flat on the countertop to try to regain a bit of balance.
“Rhett—”
“I know. I’ll stop.”
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
His forehead came to rest on the back of my shoulder, both arms wrapped around my stomach. One hand slid up to hold my breast, sliding under the cup of my bra so his palm was against my skin. He pressed his chest to my back, warm and huge and all-consuming.
I never stood a chance. Maybe that was why I’d resisted him at first—because I knew how dangerous it was to open my heart to him.
Rhett slid his hands over my stomach and around my waist. He stroked me as he pressed a kiss to my shoulder, his voice low when he murmured, “I want you, Piper.”
I bit my lip. How could I possibly resist a man who was guarded and vulnerable? Who was arrogant and kind? Who was all the complicated angles and shards that I saw within myself, wrapped up in a beautiful, male package?
“Yes,” I replied, and it took only a few moments to feel him behind me. His hand stroked down my spine as he positioned himself where I wanted him.
I moaned as he entered me, my fingers curling against the stone countertop.
I couldn’t spread my legs any wider, pinned as they were by my pants, so I leaned forward and arched into his hips.
Rhett made a harsh sound at the back of his throat, his fingers digging into the flesh around my hips.
The intrusion was intense and hot and unbelievable.
I dropped onto my forearms and glanced over my shoulder.
Rhett looked stunned. He exhaled, hands easing their grip on my hips, and then he began to move.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wasn’t supposed to sleep with my boss. I wasn’t supposed to fall for him. I knew it, deep down. Rhett had too much power over me. He could make me lose my job, blacklist me from the town, and make sure I had to leave.
I was being reckless after so very long spent being utterly responsible.
After scrimping together enough to leave my ex and making sure I was always rock solid for my boys.
After pulling together every scrap of determination, working twice as hard as other applicants, and doing what I could to make sure I never faltered.
Sleeping with Rhett put that all in jeopardy. I was taking all my hard work, my effort, my tears, gathering them in a pile and setting them all on fire.
And when he said my name, his voice rough and raw, his cock buried deep inside me, I could only think one thing: it was worth it.
Worth it to hear and feel a man come apart at the feel of me.
Worth it to have pleasure tighten in the pit of my stomach, until I didn’t think I could take any more.
Worth it to look over my shoulder, my hair falling all around my face, and have him band his arms around my chest to pull my back up hard against his body.
I came with a cry, my head falling back against his shoulder. He followed me to oblivion a moment later, his hold on my body not easing for long, breathless minutes. Then he pressed three slow kisses to my shoulder and eased out of me, his hands gentling as he stroked my sides, my hips, my thighs.
I turned around, remaining in the circle of his arms, and rested my forehead against his chest. My breath gusted out of me, thoughts still hazy and unfocused. When we finally pulled away to put our clothes back on, I wondered if I’d just made a monumental mistake.
Then Rhett’s head popped out of the neck of his undershirt, his hair a beautiful mess, and he gave me one of those smiles that made my knees weak.
His hand lifted to gently grip my chin, and he pressed a soft kiss to my lips.
“Hey,” he whispered, inching closer so he could wrap his free arm around me.
“Hi,” I whispered back.
His smile widened, and I had no choice but to smile back.
Then my smile turned into a giggle, and I buried my face into his chest as we both laughed.
The tension broke, and with one last kiss to my temple, Rhett pulled away.
He grabbed the glass of water I’d left on the other side of the kitchen and placed it beside me.
“Drink,” he said, “then we’ll go shopping for knickknacks around the place.
” He waved to the house at large, and I glanced over his shoulder.
The cat lay curled on the back of the sofa. He cracked a disapproving eye in our direction, then buried his head back against his body.