Chapter 17
Gia
“Will you read me a story?” Leah asks with sleepy eyes. She’s fresh and clean from her bath and is squeezing a book to her pajama-clad chest.
I raise my eyebrows at Holt to see if he has a problem with that. He makes a face that says it’s up to me, so I give Leah a smile and follow the girls back upstairs.
Leah gets settled under her pink sheets, handing me the book she wants to read. Lauren comes in a minute later and asks if she can listen too. Leah pats the bed for her sister to join us.
The story is about a little girl slaying dragons all by herself. I use silly voices for the characters, making the girls giggle. Once we get to the end, the moral of the story becomes clear that even though you can slay dragons on your own, it’s okay to ask for help when you need it.
Leah is almost asleep when I set the book back on her shelf, but she still asks, “Do you hafta leave?”
I sit back down on the edge of her bed, put on the spot by her sleepy blue eyes. “Yeah, I do. I miss my sister and my family. I’ve got things I need to do back home.”
“But you’ll come back, right?” Lauren asks.
“I don’t know, sweet girl. I hope so, but if I do, it won’t be for a while.”
The heartbreaking expression on their faces almost makes me cave. “We’re going to miss you.”
I swallow down my tears. “I’ll miss you just as much.” Without thinking about it, I press a kiss to both of their foreheads and then leave the room before I have an epic breakdown.
Holt’s right outside their room, his face a wash of emotions. He swallows them back the same way I did. Then he holds his hand out to me and leads me down the hallway to his bedroom.
In all the time I’ve been here, I never ventured into his space. It felt wrong to go snooping without him around.
As we step through the threshold, it’s much bigger than I realized.
A wall of windows allows the moonlight to brighten the space while a lamp on Holt’s nightstand lights the other half.
He has a four-poster bed with light blue bedding.
There’s a cozy sitting area on the opposite side of the room in front of the fireplace.
Holt turns me into his arms, cupping the sides of my face.
His heated gaze is heavy with the words he’s not saying.
It might be wishful thinking, but it feels like he wants to ask me to stay the same way the girls did.
In the next second, the thought is gone as if he decided against saying what’s on his mind.
I’m grateful for that because if he asked, I’d probably say yes. And then in the morning, I’d have to go back on my word.
I can’t stay here, even with Gwen’s offer. This town isn’t my home. I can’t leave my entire family behind based on a whim. I’ve made a lot of rash decisions in my life, but this isn’t going to be one of them.
Holt leans in to kiss me just as softly as he did earlier. We both know that tonight is our last goodbye. I have one more full day in Pine Creek Falls before I have to be on a plane back to North Carolina.
As our tongues glide, I tug on the hem of his T-shirt.
He pulls away only long enough to let it slide over his head before he’s back, making me dizzy with kisses.
I run my palms down his muscled chest to play with his happy trail.
A shiver runs through him when I dip my fingers into the top of his jeans.
He leans back and starts to divest me of my clothes.
My sweater goes first, dislodging the clip from my hair.
I pull it out and chuck it on the floor, letting the strands fall around my shoulders.
It’s about as long as Ginny’s now, which is not something I’m used to.
I usually keep it short to minimize the chances of being mistaken for her.
It suddenly hits me that I haven’t worried about that once since my first day here. The only other place I’m this comfortable is in my hometown.
Holt undoes the clasp on my bra, bringing me back to the moment. I work open the button on my jeans and shove them down my hips. Once I’m naked, I yank down Holt’s jeans and underwear.
Our gazes meet, and for one moment, I wonder if this is a good idea. Tomorrow is going to hurt like a bitch.
But even knowing how bad I’ll feel tomorrow, I’d regret not taking advantage of my time with him.
Holt scoops me into his arms and carries me to the bed.
He lays me on my back, his body surrounding mine.
Gentle kisses are pressed to my jawline, then down my neck and chest until he reaches my breasts.
He laves my nipples, turning them into tight peaks that send bolts of pleasure down to my clit.
It’s as if his hands are everywhere, touching all my most sensitive spots at the same time.
I’m overwhelmed with sensations, and my brain can’t keep up.
I gasp when he wraps an arm around me and flips us over. He pulls at my hips, forcing me up toward his face. His blue eyes pierce me from between my spread thighs. “Grab the headboard.”
I barely have time to follow through on his demand before he yanks me down onto his wicked tongue. His grip on me is bruising, and I swear I’m about to come unglued. He sucks my clit into his mouth, causing my hips to roll.
“That’s it, Rainbow. Ride my face until I’m drowning in you.”
“Fuck.” I’m white-knuckling the headboard.
The wood is creaking under my grip as I ride Holt’s tongue just like he demanded.
Then he thrusts two fingers into me, and I detonate.
By the time I come back into my body, the taste of iron is on my tongue—I bit my lip so hard to keep from shouting that I made myself bleed.
Holt lifts me from his face and pushes me down to straddle his hips. He reaches over into the nightstand and pulls out a strip of condoms. I yank it from his hand and tear one off the top. He watches me with heated eyes as I roll it down his rigid cock.
I don’t wait a second longer to notch him at my entrance and slide down his full length.
He closes his eyes and groans, “Fuck me.”
“That’s the plan, Cowboy. I’ll ride you for the full eight seconds.”
Holt smirks, meeting my gaze again. “Trust me, it’ll last a whole lot longer than eight seconds.”
“Cocky.”
“Confident.”
I start to ride him, grinning when he bites his lip to hold back his pleasure.
He turns the tables on me, sitting up to pull one of my tits into his heated mouth.
A gasp escapes without my permission. With this angle, my clit is grinding against him with every roll of my hips.
It feels so fucking good, I don’t ever want to stop.
Sex has never felt like this before.
I’ve had one-night stands that range from god-awful to mind-blowing, and not a single one has ever made my body sing the way Holt does.
He slides his calloused hand around my waist and down my spine. Then he’s pressing a finger against my back entrance, and the sensation sends me flying. My whole body tightens around Holt’s, making him curse. He starts to shake, his orgasm hitting him just as hard as mine hit me.
I drop my forehead to his shoulder as he drags his palms up and down my spine. We’re both breathing hard, our hearts pounding in tandem.
“Was that too much there at the end?” Holt asks.
“The finger thing?”
“Mm.” He nods.
“I shot off like a rocket. I think we’ll need to do it again.”
Holt snorts. “Good.”
We both go quiet when we realize we won’t be doing this past tonight. Instead of saying anything, I get off of Holt’s lap. He points me to the bathroom, and I escape into the confines of the soothing sage-green room. I grit my teeth to keep tears from falling.
This isn’t me, goddammit. I don’t cry over guys. I fuck them, and then I move on. I might like Holt more than any of the others I’ve been with, but that doesn’t change anything. I’m getting on that plane and going home.
That’s the end of it.