Chapter 6 #2
I should leave this barn. Walk away before I did something stupid like tell her I’d never gotten over her. Before I admitted that every woman I’d been with since was measured against a memory I couldn’t seem to shake … no matter how hard I tried.
But with her body pressed up against me—that ass I knew every inch of cradling my hips—instinct and physical desire was overriding logic.
“Oh god. The hayloft,” Eden whispered. “That’s where you?—”
“I know,” I said roughly, my hand splaying over her stomach, my pinky dipping under the hem of her shirt. The hayloft was where I’d first told her I loved her, where we’d spent hours planning our future.
One that never came to pass.
This barn held every dream I’d ever had about us.
“Do you remember …?”
“I remember everything about that summer.”
She turned in my arms, her face just inches from mine. “Jake,” she breathed.
“I can’t stop thinking about you,” I said, the words tumbling out of me against my better judgment.
“I’ve tried, Eden. God knows I’ve tried.
Told myself you were just some fantasy I’d built up over the years.
” I dragged a hand through my hair, frustrated with myself for admitting it. “But every damn day, I want you more.”
Her eyes searched mine. “I want you, too.”
The kiss started tentatively, me testing the waters and giving her space to pull away. But she didn’t. She surged into me with what felt like years of unresolved want, her mouth hot and hungry against mine.
I backed her against the weathered barn wall, my hands roaming over the curves and valleys of a body I once knew by heart.
“Tell me to stop,” I murmured against her neck, even as my hands betrayed my words by pulling her closer. “Tell me this is crazy.”
“It is crazy,” she breathed, but her fingers were already working at my shirt buttons. “But don’t you dare stop.” She pushed my shirt off my shoulders.
My fingers played with the button of her jeans. “Can I?”
“Please. Yes.”
My fingers made quick work of her button and zipper, and I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of her jeans and panties, sliding them down her hips to pool around her ankles, those boots I loved so much keeping me from stripping her completely.
I nudged her legs as wide as they would go, sinking to my knees in front of her.
“Let me take care of you,” I whispered, looking up at her. “Like I used to.”
It wasn’t lost on me I was echoing those same damn words that’d made me come in my dream this morning.
Her breath caught, one hand reaching back to brace against the wall while the other found my hair, her fingers threading through it. Her gaze flicked over my face, searching, until she nodded.
I leaned forward and nuzzled into her pussy, the grassy scent of hay mixing with her familiar perfume.
Eden gasped when my mouth made contact, her hips jolting forward.
I braced her thighs in my hands, anchoring her as I licked into her, the flicks of my tongue slow and deliberate.
She tasted exactly like I remembered—earthy, a little wild, and so sweet.
Her boot heels scraped softly against the floorboards as she adjusted her stance, her hand tangling in my hair, her grip tightening as I fucked her with my tongue.
“Jake,” she choked out, her voice shaking, her hips beginning to move in earnest.
“God, don’t stop,” she gasped, her hips grinding against my face.
She was right there. I could feel it—the way her thighs clenched, the breath catching in her throat, the raw urgency in her voice.
And then she broke.
Her body tensed, the cry that tore from her lips half-sob, half-moan as her legs clamped tight around my face.
I held her steady, working her through it, kissing her gently until the tremors eased.
She sagged against the wall, boneless and flushed, and I rose slowly, dragging my palms up the outside of her thighs, over her hips, until I was standing in front of her again.
I cupped her face in both hands and kissed her hard. Devoured her. I wanted her to taste herself on my lips. She opened for me with a soft whimper, and I licked my way inside her mouth, her tongue tangling with mine as she gripped my belt and yanked.
“I want you,” she breathed against my lips, her fingers frantic now, fumbling with the buckle. “Please, Jake. I need you inside me.”
“Eden,” I groaned her name like a prayer.
She popped the button on my jeans, worked the zipper down, and slipped her hand inside. Her fingers curled around my dick, and I nearly lost it right then.
“I haven’t been with anyone since …” She swallowed, her thumb brushing over the head of my cock. “Since before my divorce. I was tested.”
I braced one hand against the wall beside her head, the other gripping her hip. “Same. I’m good. I swear.” I paused, just for a second, the gravity of what we were talking about doing hitting me suddenly in the chest. “But Eden?—”
“Please. I need this. Need you,” she interrupted, her voice soft but firm.
Hearing those words, hearing the frantic way she spoke them, made my control snap. In the span between one heartbeat and the next, I weighed the risks and decided I didn’t care. I needed Eden like I’d never needed anything before in my life.
“Fuck it.” I grabbed her thigh and hitched it as high on my hip as I could, given the jeans puddled around her ankles, as she guided me to her entrance, her eyes locked on mine.
She nodded her permission, and I pushed inside her in one slow, aching thrust, and we both gasped. It felt like coming home and losing myself all at once.
But the angle wasn’t right. Her back hit the wall, and her hands scrabbled for purchase, caught between holding on and tugging me closer.
I pulled out, breathing hard. “Turn around.”
Her eyes flared, and she spun, bracing one hand against the wall in front of her.
“Both hands,” I said, my voice rough with need. “Hold on tight, baby. I’ve waited ten long years for this moment.”
She planted her palms on the smooth, worn wood, fingers splayed, chest rising and falling with every breath. I bent forward, kissed the back of her neck once, then gripped her hips and lined myself up again.
I slid back into her in one deep thrust, both of us groaning as her body stretched to take me. My hands tightened on her hips, and I set a rhythm … steady at first, then harder, deeper, chasing the high I’d been denied for a decade.
Her breathy moans echoed throughout the barn, bouncing off the rafters and mingling with the ragged sound of our breathing. Her body took every thrust like it was made for me, as she pushed back against me with every stroke.
“You feel so good,” I groaned, my fingers digging into her hips as I leaned over her, my chest brushing her back, and my mouth at her ear.
She whimpered, her head dropping forward, her hips stuttering as she clenched around me. She was close, but not quite there yet.
I reached around, my fingers finding Eden’s clit, and rubbed it in tight little circles, matching the pace of my cock driving in and out of her. “That’s it, baby. I’ve got you.”
Her whole body locked up a second later as she cried out, her release crashing through her like a dam breaking.
“Fuck,” I growled, gritting my teeth, trying to hold on, trying not to come inside her even though every instinct screamed for it.
I pulled out fast, one hand gripping my cock, pumping hard as the orgasm tore through me.
My hips jerked, and I groaned loudly as I came, thick ropes spilling onto the dirt floor between her boots.
I stood there for a beat, bent over, as I fought to catch my breath. My forehead dropped to the small of her back.
“Holy shit,” I muttered, rising up to press a kiss to her neck. “You okay?”
She nodded, still leaning against the beam, her breath coming in shallow gasps. “Better than okay. I’m perfect.”
Yeah, she fucking was.
We didn’t say much after. Just helped each other back into our clothes.
I should have let her leave then. Should have chalked this up to closure, to unfinished business finally being settled between us and moved on. Instead, I found myself reaching for her hand as she gathered her things.
“Eden, wait.”
She paused, and I saw my own uncertainty reflected in her eyes.
We’d just crossed a line I swore I’d never cross again, and part of me wanted to pretend it meant nothing.
Just two adults scratching an itch. But looking at her now—her hair mussed, lips swollen from my kisses, wearing my mark on her skin—I couldn’t lie to myself about what this was.
“Yeah?” She asked, her voice tentative.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
When she left a few seconds later with a quietly spoken, “Bye Jake,” I had to force myself not to ask her to stay. To never leave. To give us a second chance.
But I didn’t. I simply told her I’d be seeing her, then watched her rental truck disappear down the long, dusty driveway, my heart in my throat.
Growing up, I’d watched my parents’ love story play out in this very barn—the way Dad’s eyes would light up when Mom walked in, how they’d steal kisses when they thought us boys weren’t looking.
Growing up, I figured that kind of love wasn’t in the cards for me.
But then Eden had walked into my life, and suddenly I understood what Mama meant when she told me, “You’ll know when you find your person, Jacob.
It’ll hit you like lightning, and you’ll never be the same. ”
She’d been right, of course. I’d never been the same after Eden. Especially after she left. And I’d be damned if I was going to let this woman leave me again.