Chapter 29
29
Laird
She’s been sitting by the lake for the past hour.
I thought about sitting with her, but I don’t know. It just feels right to let her have more time. It’s given me time to play songs on the acoustic, which I put in the trunk at the last minute, thinking I should serenade my girl. This guitar feels fitting for the cabin. The world here is a bit slower, and I think we’re both finding a little peace in the chaos of the past years for me, days for her.
Willie had to deal with a truck sliding into the lake at a boat ramp a few miles from us, so we’re making the most of our time waiting. I look down at her phone, but he hasn’t messaged again.
Working out the lyrics, I hum at first and then sing low to keep my voice down. Everything seems to echo in the trees, but I keep my eyes steady on my fingers. The sound of leaves underfoot reaches me before she does. I look up to see the sun in her eyes, bringing out the gold. “You should sing more,” she says, greeting me with a smile that does my heart in every time it’s gifted. Sitting in the Adirondack next to mine, she slides back and rests her head on the chair.
“You think so?” She’s claiming she’s a city girl with New York and LA roots, but nature sure looks good on her. The brown in her eyes is brighter, the sunlight diffused by the tree brings out the golden strands of her hair, and that mouth, it’s almost too pretty to look at. Almost. I stare right at her.
“I do.” She’s killing me with those sweet words I can’t wait to hear her say in another context.
“I’m not playing acoustic on the album, so it’s not exactly how it will sound, but what do you think of the music?”
“You wrote those songs?”
Not sure why this feels like I’m exposing a secret. I want her to like my music, though, so much. “Yeah.”
“I think you’re amazing. I love the melodies. They sound beautiful played on this guitar. What do Nikki and Shane think?”
“They haven’t heard them. I’ll play for them in the studio in a few days. Only you’ve heard them.”
Getting up, she comes to me. I’m quick to shift the guitar off to the side and welcome her onto my lap. She wraps her arms around her neck and then leans in and whispers, “You’re so talented. I can only imagine how sexy those songs are on the electric.”
I steal a kiss as thoughts of reminding her of my many other talents cross my mind. “You’re sexy. Now I’m having images of you naked with my guitar.”
With an easygoing smile residing on her lips, she asks, “Is that a fantasy of yours?”
Moving my hand under her dress, I rub the side of her bare thigh and then lean in to kiss her neck. But first, I whisper, “It is now.” Her throat hums against my lips as I trail my tongue up her neck. I nip at her jaw before angling her chin to face me and kiss her lips. The sweet pressure turns needy, our tongues twisting as she owns every corner of my mouth.
A moan escapes her, and I swallow it down while readjusting beneath her. Every move, every sound, every breath she makes has me growing harder until I need more space. I slide my hand under her ass, pop the button of my jeans, and then lower the zipper to make room for my erection.
She angles herself to torture me some more, but it’s becoming too much. “I can’t be trusted with you,” I confess in a heated breath against her lips.
Her head rests against mine, her breath coming in waves. Taking my hand, she guides it between soft thighs and to the silky apex of her legs. “You don’t have to. I’m yours anytime you want me.”
Closing my eyes, I slip my fingers under the silky scrap that’s not hiding much. “You’re already wet for me, baby.”
“Always for you.” Her head rolls on her neck, exposing the delicate skin for me to mark.
I place a kiss first and then gently suck the tender skin, her body pliable to mine as she wiggles slowly against mine. And then I bite, sending a shock through her body and causing her hips to buck into my fingers. Slipping into her heat is heaven, her expression a goldmine of emotions from want to need to a hunger that takes over her pretty features.
Her head falls back to the chair as she rocks on top of my hand, her ass rubbing over my cock. “You feel so fucking good.” I tease the shell of her ear with the tip of my tongue and then whisper, “Are you going to come for me, baby?”
As much as I want to fuck her like this, it’s beautiful fucking torture. I need to be inside her. I circle her sweet clit with my thumb and then give her the pressure she’s seeking while adding another finger for her to fuck. “Yes. Yes,” she moans through jaded breaths. And then she leans forward and rocks back and forth until her body is frenetic on top of me, and her head drops down. “Right there. Right the—”
Her breathing chokes in her throat, but her body pushes until she holds my knees like she’s hanging on for her life. “Oh God.” The words rush from her mouth as an onslaught of tremors rolls through her core and around my hand.
When her body slumps forward, her head hangs off the end of my legs, the tips of her hair reaching the ground. Sitting up, she bends to the side and kisses me. “I want you.”
“I need to be inside you.” I pull my hand free and reach around to the string holding the fabric together on her hip. “You’re not partial to these.” I rip it.
“Laird?” She turns back to catch my eyes. She gets a smirk as well. “I didn’t bring a spare pair to wear back to LA.”
“I’m okay with this,” I reply, moving to the other side. She’s laughing when I rip it apart, not that it was hard, unlike me. “Lift.”
Holding herself up by the arms of the chair, I toss the shredded fabric to the porch, then wedge myself out of my jeans, pushing them to my knees, along with my boxer briefs. No easy task, but knowing how close I am to being buried inside her again, I get the job done.
I lower her hips and then angle myself at her entrance. I don’t have the willpower for foreplay and have her sink down and swallow me. “Jesus. You feel amazing, baby.”
Her lids are heavy as I press her hand over her belly, and she anchors a palm on my knee. “So good, babe.”
When she starts raising herself and falling back down, I reach around and grab her tits over her dress. That elicits a moan that can’t be mistaken for anything less on the edge already. I fuck her faster, refusing to let her finish alone. But damn, she has me craving to claim her in ways I shouldn’t, wanting to own every inch of her inside and out.
Bending forward, she rides my cock, pushing herself to the edge again. Her hums of pleasure mix with the sound of our bodies coming together over and over again. I thrust. She takes. She lifts, and then she covers me in her warmth, wet and soft. “So tight, baby.”
As if that was the inspiration she needed, her mouth falls open and my name becomes a chant as she trembles to completion. The pulsing and the rush, the squeezing and her still whispering my name has me following her off the cliff.
I don’t whisper. I slam into my girl, calling her name to the heavens and the lake ahead. “Fuck, Poppy.” I hit the peak and then fall back in the chair, still holding her by the hips. When she leans back, I kiss her shoulder and then once more, where bruising occurs from my earlier claiming of her. “Amazing.”
“Amazing.” Then she begins to laugh. Holding up her phone, she says, “Car’s ready.”
We got back late after stopping for dinner on the drive to LA, hitting up a restaurant where I got in and out without being recognized. It was a nice change to blend in and spend time with her without the interruption.
I chug a glass of water and grab my keys to sneak out of my house just after the sun rises to take care of business.
“Not going to say goodbye?” she asks, leaning against the corner to the hallway.
“I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Where are you sneaking off to? ”
I pause to think if this is something we should continue to talk about or if the paternity test is best left off the table. She knows where I stand. I know where she stands. We’re standing together, so does more need to be said?
Other than me knowing she has amnesia, I won’t hide anything else from her. With the amnesia, it’s best to hide the truth. With the paternity test, she should know. I tuck my wallet into my back pocket and reply, “Tommy’s reserved a lab before opening hours, so I can go in and take the test.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. Her little cotton shorts hug her hips, and a tank top clings to her chest. “No witnesses. No paparazzi. Probably best.”
I run my fingers through my hair, not sure what’s left to be said, so I ask, “Do you want to come with me?”
“No.” The early morning smile shines for me, making my heart ache that I’m putting her through this. “I think you should go on your own. Remember, there’s no pass or fail. Just a quick swab and—”
“My life changes forever or—”
“Carries on the same. I don’t see the downside either way.”
Walking to her, I hold her low around the waist on one side and caress her face with my other hand. “I don’t deserve you.” It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that I might not have been meant to be with her the first time. That this time around might be my redemption.
She cups my face, her pretty eyes searching mine, and then her smile reaches them. “You deserve the universe, babe. You just have to fight for it one day at a time.” Lifting to her bare toes, she kisses me, and in that kiss is where I see my forever. “Love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Poppy?” I kick the door closed with my foot. I spy her on the phone, pacing by the swimming pool. I carry the coffees to the back and slide the door open.
Stopping with her back to me, she says, “Why?” Her tone is short when she continues, “Cosplaying as a cowboy makes no sense, Mom, especially for a wedding.” Her foot bounces, and her shoulders are tense. “That’s very nice that the Tuckers want to host the wedding, but—I get it. You want an adventure, but I can’t leave my life to be there all week.” She rolls her head on her neck to ease some tension, but I don’t think it’s working, so I set the coffees on the table. “You’re not listening, or you don’t care, which is it?”
I greet her by rubbing her shoulders. She startles but smiles just as quick. She turns to kiss me. It’s fast, but when her eyes connect with mine, I can see how happy she is to see me. She says, “I need to go. We’ll talk soon.” As soon as they disconnect, she throws her arms around my middle. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
She tosses the word home around like it’s her own. That makes my fucking week.
With her head pressed to my chest, I ask, “Everything okay?”
“No, my mom just informed me that their wedding has been moved to a destination event.”
She spots the coffees because I’m released, and she asks, “For me?”
“Yes. They’re the same so either works.”
“Thank you.” She takes a sip and then says, “She’s still expecting me to cater this massive event now a destination wedding. ”
“You need boundaries in place.” I take the other coffee and mess with the lid. “Where’s the wedding going to be?”
A heavy sigh weighs on her entire being. Looking straight at me, she says, “Nashville.”
“ Ah. Yeah, that complicates things.”