Chapter 18
eighteen
. . .
Axel
My dick raged against my briefs as Wren smiled down at me, all sated and sexy.
“You look pretty relaxed.” My voice was teasing, yet it still managed to sound gruffer than usual because I’d never been so turned on in my life.
I was trying to stay in control, which was becoming increasingly challenging.
“Yeah. Thanks for that,” she said, her legs still wrapped around my waist, as I started walking toward the shore.
“You don’t have to carry me,” she said, chuckling. “I can walk.”
“I don’t know. Do you think your legs will work after I just rocked your fucking world?” I tried to hide my smile.
I loved giving her shit.
Aways had.
She laughed as she shoved against my chest, squirming her way down my body, just as we exited the water.
“You’re so cocky. My legs work just fine.” She shook her head with a wide grin on her face. “It’s just—been a while.”
You’re preaching to the fucking choir, sweetheart.
We walked toward our pile of clothes, and when I turned to reach for my jeans, a loud gasp came from behind me.
“What is that tattoo across your back?” she asked.
I quickly whipped around, tugging my jeans up. “It’s just some ink I added a while back.”
“Don’t you dare move, Axel Chadwick,” she commanded as she stepped closer, her hand resting on my back. I glanced over my shoulder to see the flashlight on her phone turned on as she shone it on my back.
Well, we’d both had secrets that were bound to come out at some point.
She read the words, her voice just above a whisper.
“‘That’s my Horse Girl, sitting up high. She shines brighter than all the stars in the sky. Soaring through the air, with strength and grace. Try to catch her, and she’ll put you in your place. She’s got big dreams, just watch her fly. In a heartbeat, she’ll pass you by.’”
I didn’t speak. I buttoned my jeans and leaned down to grab my cowboy hat before placing it on my head. I turned around slowly, because she’d stopped speaking.
“Axel.”
“Wren,” I said, mimicking her serious tone. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just a tattoo.”
“When did you get this?”
“A year ago.” I shrugged.
Her brows cinched together. “A year ago?”
“Yes.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow as she looked at me. “So a year after I left, you got a tattoo on your back of the lyrics you’d written for me years ago. And then you slept with a random tourist right after?”
“Correct, but the tourist came first.” I smirked. “The tattoo was second.”
“Why?”
“Why what?” I asked.
I reached for my tee, but she tugged it out of my hand and dropped it on the ground.
“Answer the question, Axel. Why would you have sex with a woman that you didn’t know and then go and get a tattoo of the song you wrote for me.
The song I still sing in my head before every practice and every competition.
Hell, I sing it before I fall asleep every night just to comfort myself. ”
I looked away, my gaze finding the slight ripple moving along the river. The sound of the water splashing against the rocks in its path made a soothing, rhythmic sound.
“I gave it a year, thinking you’d come to your senses and reach out. When that didn’t happen, I met a woman who was looking for the same thing as me. A no-strings-attached night together, and I thought it would make me forget everything. Help me get my mojo back, you know?”
“And did it?” she pressed as my gaze moved to see her nipples poking against the lace of her bra.
Jesus. This woman was going to be the death of me.
To say that I was physically uncomfortable right now was a massive understatement. I needed to get in the house and in the shower so I could wrap my hand around my cock and get some fucking relief.
“No.” I reached for my shirt again, but she slapped it out of my hand for the second time.
“Fuck, Wren. What do you want from me?”
“I want to know what made you go and tattoo those words on your back a year after I left.” She stepped closer to me, her chest bumping against mine.
“I had sex with a stranger, and it made everything worse. I fucking missed you. Is that what you want to hear?” I surprised myself with how loud my voice was. “I was fucking miserable, Wren. And I was afraid you’d never come back, so I inked a memory of you on my back.”
She reached for my wrist, where the words In a Heartbeat were written, before pressing her tattoo against mine, the way we used to. “You already have our friendship tattoo.”
“I wanted something else.” I blew out a breath.
“It was a big fucking loss. Not just because we’d crossed a line the last night we’d been together.
It was more than that. It was years of friendship.
Years of sharing secrets and jokes and memories.
You were the closest person in my life, Wren.
And then you just left. And I struggled for a long time. ”
Maybe until the day you walked back into my life.
A tear streaked down her cheek. “I struggled, too. I’ve never felt so alone as I have during the last two years. I wish I’d known what I know now. I would have done things so differently, Axel.”
I swiped away the tears running down her cheek with the pads of my thumbs. “I know you would. And I know you’re going through a lot right now. And I’m grateful to have you back in my life. I’m done being pissed off about what happened.”
“Me too. And I’ll go back to North Carolina and see how it feels to compete again with Wrax, but I promise you, I’m not leaving you. We can talk every single day just like we used to. I want my best friend back.”
“You’ve got me, Wren. Haven’t I shown you that?” I asked as I tucked her long wet golden hair behind her ears.
“Yes. But you’re holding back, and I get it. But I just freaking dry-humped you like a cat in heat.”
“You can do that anytime you want.”
“So why didn’t you take things further?” She stepped back, glancing down at the obvious tent in my jeans.
“I don’t want to do anything to push you away again. I just got you back.”
She nodded. “I think last time we put a whole lot of expectations on it. We made all sorts of promises, and then everything blew up around us. Maybe this time, we just enjoy our time together. You know, like best friends with benefits.”
I had to laugh. “Didn’t think that was your thing.”
“I haven’t had sex in two years. I don’t think I even have a thing anymore. I know that I liked what just happened out there in the water with you.” She sighed.
“And you don’t think sex will complicate our friendship?” We’d been apart for two years, yet we’d picked up right where we’d left off. It almost felt like no time had passed now that she was here.
“Maybe we don’t have sex. We just, you know—there’s other ways to feel good without taking it too far.”
My dick threatened to tear through the zipper of my jeans, and I shifted on my feet, attempting to adjust my throbbing cock. “Fuck, Wren. You can’t say shit like that. Not when I’m hard as steel.”
She smiled. “You made me feel good. Let me make you feel good. No sex. No expectations. Just you and me.”
I tried to hold my shit together when she dropped to her knees right there on the private beach in front of my house. She reached up and unbuttoned my jeans before shoving them down my legs, along with my wet briefs. My cock sprang free immediately, and her eyes widened.
It was sexy as hell, seeing her down on her knees in nothing but her bra and panties, her wet hair hanging over her shoulders.
She licked her lips, and I nearly came right there. Her dark eyes looked up at me, as if she was asking for permission.
“I want you wearing my hat when you wrap your lips around my cock,” I said, my voice unwavering as I pulled it from my head and dropped it on hers.
She nodded, a wicked grin on her face. “Better?”
“Fucking perfect,” I said. “Now let’s see if you can suck a cock as well as you can ride a horse.”
Her gaze locked with mine before she leaned forward.
Her tongue moved to the tip of my dick, circling it in a slow, sensual motion. I watched her intently, my hat sitting on top of her head as her lips wrapped around my length and she started to move.
Slow at first.
So fucking sexy, watching her lips slide up and down my shaft. Her tongue swirled around as her hands moved to my hips, nails digging into my skin as a groan escaped me.
“Fuck, Wren. Just like that,” I growled.
She took me deeper. Over and over again.
I bucked into her sweet, wet mouth, and she continued to suck and lick. Nothing had ever felt better.
My legs started to shake as one of her hands moved to my balls, giving them a little squeeze, and that was all it took. I knocked the hat off her head and gripped her hair in my fist as I thrust again and again.
“So fucking good,” I hissed.
She took me deeper. Over and over.
I hit the back of her throat, and she didn’t relent.
My legs started shaking, and I knew I was close.
“Wren.” My voice was barely recognizable as I gave her hair a tug, a warning to pull back. “I’m going to come.”
But she stayed right there, refusing to stop.
I couldn’t hold on for another second. A guttural sound escaped my lips as my body shook, and I unloaded in her mouth.
Over and over.
Grunting and gasping as I tried to catch my breath.
It had been so long since anything had felt this good.
My fingers tangled in her wet hair as I loosened my grip.
Once my breathing had slowed and I stopped thrusting, she pulled back and released me, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
It was sexy as hell.
Those dark eyes found mine in the light from the moon above.
She stood and smiled at me. “Feel better?”
“Yes.”
“I guess riding horses isn’t my only talent, huh?” She smirked.
I tucked myself in as I tugged my briefs up and then my jeans while she quickly dressed beside me.
I leaned down and grabbed my hat, popping it on her head.
I liked it there.
“I’d say you’re a woman of many talents.” I chuckled.
“Thank you.” We walked side by side toward the house. I didn’t want things to be weird now. But we were in a gray area, just getting our friendship back on track—all while knowing she wasn’t going to be staying here permanently. Yet here we were, crossing all the lines once again.
We paused when we reached the steps leading to her apartment.
I wanted to ask her to come to my house.
I wanted her in my bed.
I wanted her next to me all the fucking time for as long as she was willing to stay.
This was dangerous.
I already knew all too well how much it would suck when she left.
Yet I couldn’t stop myself from wanting more.
“So, let’s sit with this for a little bit. Friends with benefits, just not all the benefits.” She laughed.
“I can live with that. We’ll take it slow.” I took a step back.
She reached for the hat on her head and held it out for me.
“Keep it. It looks better on you anyway.”
“I don’t know, Cowboy. It looks damn good on you, too.” She smiled as she set it back on her head.
“Well, you haven’t seen how you look with my hat on your head while my dick is in your mouth. It’s fucking perfection.”
“I forgot what a filthy mouth you have,” she said, walking backward slowly up the steps.
“Get used to it while you’re here. I plan on taking advantage of those benefits.”
“Counting on it,” she said with a chuckle as she pulled the door open. “Good night.”
“Night, Horse Girl.”