CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SONYA
When Walker kissed me the first time, I wasn’t expecting it. He tipped me off my axis then, but I’m ready for him this time. Or at least, I thought I was. It’s all I’ve been able to think about since. He felt unreal, but I feel him now. I feel the way his fingers tangle in the hair at the nape of my neck, his palm framing my face. The tight grip his other hand has on my hip pulls me towards him.
I thought this kiss would be the same as our last. Fast, hungry, rushed—but it’s not. The way he holds my face gently is a direct contrast to the way he’s gripping my hip. He’s both tender and rough like he’s afraid of what direction to take, so he’s settling in the middle. It cracks my chest open, forcing me to realize this isn’t the same tipping of my world.
He’s righting me again. Putting me back in rotation. I’m finding solid ground in him, and it’s unsettling how quickly it twists my stomach as the realization sinks in that this isn’t just anyone I’m about to sleep with. It’s Walker—my favorite person.
The person that grounds me, pulling me towards him like a magnetic force. Something about us has always seemed to work, and this is about to ruin it all. I can feel it in my bones, the way his calm extinguishes the fire burning through my veins.
Reid’s words blinking in bright lights. What if things go downhill and fall apart?
This is a bad idea.
I’m in over my head, and just like that, we’re on opposite sides again, and I’m pulling away from him. He was right from the beginning. Our friendship is not worth the risk, but the concern coating his features is a cooling balm to my worry. The racing of my heart slows when I meet his eyes, my hands tangling in the hairs at the base of his neck.
“Walker, maybe you were right," I swallow, flattening my palms against his chest. “What if this is a bad idea?”
“Then we stop now.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that,” he says, but his hands haven’t left my body. “So…what will it be?”
“We should talk about rules,” I say, moving my hands to the collar of his jacket.
He nods his head. “We should,” he says, sliding his hands over my ass. The motion pulls me closer, his chin meeting my torso as he looks up at me. “Last chance, Sunny.”
I can change my mind right now. I know I can. We’d forget about this, and things will go back to the way they were before. I know if I asked, Walker wouldn’t hesitate to back off and never bring it up again. It could become a thing of the past, something we can both forget. That’s option one, and it’s probably the one a sane person would take.
Option two is letting myself jump into this—into him—headfirst, the way I want to, and potentially have the best sex of my life. It’s shiny and tempting.
And that alone should make me want to back down. If I let us go through with this, he might ruin everything else for me, and I’d let him. It’ll be fun and could easily get tangled. As if I’m not already tangled up in him.
I feel him in my chest, but the way he’s looking at me like I’m a bright light in an otherwise dark world, I know I’ll always have him. Even if I step back. Even if we don’t do this. No matter what, I’m always going to have him in my life, and that’s enough for me to shut my thoughts off.
I want this. I want him.
Running my thumbs over his jaw, I curl my fingers around the sides of his neck and lean down till we’re nose to nose. “I could say the same thing to you, Cowboy.”
He leans up, his lips just an inch from me. There’s a string between us that has always been there—just waiting to be pulled. It’s just a matter of who has the guts to finally yank on it and secure us to our fate. “I’m in if this is what you want.”
Holding his gaze, I let myself sink into the security of him in this tension-filled space. He’s with me. He’s always with me. “I want this,” I whisper, my skin on fire from where his fingers have moved to the hem of my dress. “I want you, Walker.”
That’s all it takes for the distance to close once again and his mouth to find mine. His lips are soft, but his hands are what have me spiraling. The way his fingers bite into my skin, fanning the kindling of the flame burning beneath my skin. His hands slide under my skirt, bunching the fabric around my waist as his fingers skim over the nylon tights covering my legs. When he pulls away, taking in the obstacle ahead, I can see what he's about to do from the twitch of his lips.
“Cowboy, don’t you—”
I’m cut off by the sound of ripping fabric. Looking down, I see him staring at his handy work as he rips my tights until they are loose around my waist, pushing what’s left down my legs. His fingertips leave goose bumps along my skin.
“Was that really necessary?” I ask, lifting my foot when he moves my tights off my leg and then the next. Scrunching the fabric up in his palm, he leans his head back to look at me with a cocky smile on his lips.
It’s a total one-eighty from the Walker Bodie I know, and my stomach flips knowing I’m about to be well acquainted with him.
“I’ll buy you a new pair,” he says, tossing the torn fabric onto the floor behind me.
“Two,” I say, my breath catching when he squeezes my hip. He cocks an eyebrow at me in question. “I’m collecting interest.”
“Are you now?” he asks, holding my eyes as he leans in. His fingertips dip into the back of my thong. “I better make it worth it then.”
He leans forward, pressing a kiss to my hip bone. His hand slides out from the back of my underwear to cup my ass fully, pulling me forward as he moves to my navel. My eyes fall shut when his teeth gently scrape my skin, my lips rolling together to keep the whimper from escaping my lips when I feel him smile against my skin.
“Let me hear you, Sunny.” He tips his head back, eyes bright even in the dark lighting of my room. I feel completely out of place in his grasp. Despite being the one to ask, he’s taken full control, and I’ve let him. I feel like I’m tiptoeing around my own mind, unsure of what I’m supposed to do now that we are here.
“Walker…” I trail off, my chest suddenly tight with anxiety when his fingers slip under the thin bands on either side of my hip, holding my underwear in place. He toys with it for a moment before pulling it back, letting it snap against my skin. This time, the whimper falls from my lips without hesitation. His smile is evident when he kisses my mound.
“That’s it, needy girl,” he says, his hands sliding further up my dress.
When he reaches the small of my waist, the string crossing over the open back of my dress and tying at the front makes him pause. I move to undo it when his hands tighten on my waist, and he seizes forward, taking my pebbled nipple through the fabric of my dress.
“Walker,” I warn, biting my tongue. “We…” I trail off because his lips on me—even through the fabric of my clothes—is making me stupid.
He hums against my torso, leaving a trail of kisses from the bottom of my scrunched-up dress to the top of my thong. “Can I do something for you?” he asks, his breath ghosting over my belly button as he tips his head back to look at me.
“Rules. You said we needed rules.”
“We can talk about that after,” he says before taking the waistband of my underwear between his teeth, and my knees nearly buckle at the sight. Part of me thinks if it weren’t for the tight grip he has on the back of my thighs, I would.
It’s stupid to keep going without setting boundaries, and I know that. There’s a blinking red light going off in my head telling me to think with my brain and not the growing heat between my legs, but then he’s sinking to his knees in front of me, and my chest immediately tightens in anticipation.
“Walker,” I breathe, tangling my fingers in his hair. I bite down on my bottom lip when he moves my underwear down my legs. “You don’t—”
He presses his lips to my hip, his hand moving further down my leg to lift one of them onto his shoulder. “If you think we’re doing this and I’m not getting a taste of you, you are sorely mistaken,” he says, pulling his glasses off. “Hold,” he says, waiting only a second for my fingers to pinch the arm before his fingers curl around my thighs, my vision going blurry as his tongue dips between my folds.
“Walker,” I whimper, moving my free hand to his shoulder to hold myself up when he adds a finger. The edge of my vision grows darker with each move he makes. “Wait,” I say, grabbing his shoulder with my free hand.
He pulls back to look at me, concern creasing his features. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I shake my head because there is nothing I want more than his face buried between my thighs. I’m pretty sure he’s about to ruin sex for me, and I’m going to wholeheartedly let him. “Quite literally nothing, but if we keep going, which yes , please do, I am going to fall.”
He grins up at me, squeezing my leg. “Well, we can’t have that.”
Lifting my leg off his shoulder, I set my foot on the floor and swap spots with him. Reaching for the nightstand, I set his glasses down before settling on the edge of my mattress, safe from falling on my ass while he unravels me. Which at this point seems inevitable, likely to happen more than once with the rate he’s going. Not that I have any complaints.
“Better?” His hands slide over the side of my legs and to the back of my knees, pulling me forward to give him a better angle. I lift my legs up to rest over his shoulders, watching the lustful look in his eyes as he takes me in.
“Better,” I say with the nod of my head.
Sliding his hands up the underside of my legs, he nips at the tender skin of my thighs on his way back to my center. He starts out slow, running a finger along my wetness before pushing one in. I squirm along the comforter towards him, desperate for more.
“You always this wet, Sunny?” My lips part to answer, but it only comes out in a string of whimpers when he presses a kiss to my clit before sucking it. My toes curl as his fingers and tongue work in tandem, drawing out my orgasm.
“Oh God,” I cry out, my words muffling when I throw my hand over my mouth to keep some sort of anonymity. My free hand digs into the comforter beneath me as he continues to lick me through the wave of ecstasy as it works its way down my body. I am almost certain I will never be the same after him, not after that .
He’s completely unraveled me, and when he works his way up my body, his hands now finding the string on the front of my dress to work it the rest of the way up my body, there’s a stupid grin resting on his lips. The taste of me on his tongue as his arm loops under my waist, lifting me up to undress me.
I am so utterly screwed right now, and somehow, I can’t seem to care as I move up onto my elbows, taking in his very much clothed body. He moves onto the bed, the rough denim of his pants scratching my tender skin.
Placing my palm on the center of his chest, I meet his gaze. “Clothes.”
He pulls back and gives me a teasing look, picking at the fabric covering his chest. “What? You like my sweater?”
“Walker,” I whine, reaching for the hem. “Off, now. Please.”
“Well, since you said please.”
With one leg on either side of mine, he sits up on his heels and reaches behind his head for the collar of his sweater. My breath hitches, studying the trail of skin it leaves in its wake. The tanned and taut muscles of his abdomen, leaving me in a spiral as I drink in my first time seeing his naked chest.
“What’s that look for?” he asks, tossing his top onto the floor next to my disposed dress.
I shake my head and reach for the buckle of his belt. “Just committing your body to memory is all.” Not at all afraid to admit the truth to him. I know he won’t hold it against me.
“In that case, we better get these off,” he says, reaching for the button of his jeans.
“Let me,” I say, swatting at his hands before undoing the button and pulling the zipper down. I sit up, moving my fingers to the black band of his boxers. Slipping my hand in, I wrap my fingers around his hard length and give it a firm stroke, watching the tight lines on his face crease as he stumbles forward in my hold.
“Sunny,” he groans when I run my thumb over the sensitive head of his cock.
“Sit back,” I say, nudging him back. He does as I ask, and I follow, sitting up on my knees to work his jeans the rest of the way down. I toss them to join the pile of our clothes, and when my eyes land back on him, my breath hitches.
“God, Walker…” I exhale when I take him in. All the hard lines of his body, the dark trail of hair from under his navel that I’ve only ever seen peek out from the hem of his shirt when he stretched. And boy, does it lead to a gift. “You’re…pretty.”
“Pretty?”
I nod my head, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Like really, really pretty.”
“Well, that’s certainly a new compliment in bed,” he says, a growing grin taking up his face, and I can’t help but smile back at him. This was not at all how I saw my night ending, but I’m certainly not about to squander it.
I’m about to reach for his length, the tip dripping, when he meets me halfway and finds my lips again. His hands trail down my naked body, and when he moves to push me onto my back, I’m forced to pull back. “Hey, wait,” I say, trailing my hand down his chest. “It’s my turn.”
He shakes his head and presses his lips to my jaw, finally getting his way and laying me down. “I’m not going to last if you do that,” he says, kissing me on the lips and then the hollow of my neck. My lips part, ready to tease him, but his mouth is back on mine, and any thought I may have goes out the window. “You’re still sure about this?”
I nod my head. “And you?”
“More than sure,” he says, kissing the corner of my mouth and then my collarbone, his hands working their way down to the curve of my waist. His grip is firm, lifting my hips towards his. A moan falls from my lips as I rotate my hips upward, grinding into him.
Each corner of my body fits with his like a puzzle piece. His hands slide over my ass, his fingers curling into my skin. “I am, too,” I say, running my fingertips along his back until I have his face between my hands. “I’m always sure when it comes to you, Cowboy.”
His lips find mine again, and my hands run through his hair and down his back. Every edge of him feels right against my body, and the warmth seeping into my skin is something new. In all my other experiences, it’s never felt like this. He feels different.
Better.
“I don’t have a condom,” he says, pushing up from me when I lift my leg to hook behind his. “I hadn’t really…I wasn’t really thinking when I ran here.”
“I have some,” I tell him, pointing to my nightstand. “Top drawer.”
He leans over and pulls the top drawer open, taking out one of the foils. When he turns his attention back to me, amusement is etched on his skin. “Do I ask why you have so many?”
A laugh falls from my lips. “You’ve met Dylan, right? He practically throws them at us.”
“Remind me to thank him later.”
“Or you could not do that,” I say, taking the condom out of his hand to rip it open. He falls silent, watching me beneath hooded eyes as I roll the condom down his shaft and then lift my head, holding his steady gaze.
“No turning back now.”
I grin and reach for his shoulder, directing him back down to me. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” I whisper, gasping when he guides himself in. My nails dig into his skin, clawing at him, and the twist of pleasure fills his features as I stretch to accommodate him.
He starts slow, thrusting his hips forward. Each movement is gentle, allowing me to adjust to his size and the fire burning in my belly. He fills every corner of my brain, and I lose sight of the world around me. Nothing but him seems to matter, filling in every open crack between us. It’s everything I knew it could be and more.
It unfolds into something I don’t recognize. Now that I know how good we feel together, how good we could be, it leaves me wanting more, and that’s not part of our deal. This is strictly friends. That’s all we can be—fantastic friends.
The best of friends.
But God, we could be so much more.
“Fuck, Sunny,” Walker breathes out, one hand on the bed next to my waist while the other grips my hip to hold me steady as his thrusts become more urgent. “You take me so well.”
“More,” I breathe out, digging my nails into his back. “I need more.”
Without missing a beat, his hand moves off my hip, and his thumb finds the sensitive bundles of nerves between my legs. I gasp at the contact, tightening my hold on his shoulders. Stars dance behind my eyes as I tip over the edge. He thrusts a few more times before I hear my name, and his weight comes down on top of me. His labored breaths a chant against my neck as he rolls into the empty space next to me.
“We should have done that sooner,” he says when we’ve both caught our breath, and his laugh wraps around me in a familiar warmth. “What were we thinking?”
Whatever concern I had about not being able to fall back into this state of our friendship dissolves. My anxiety that asking him to have sex with me totally fucked everything up is put to bed. Letting out a long breath, I turn my head to find him already smiling at me, and my heart races.
We’re good.
He’s still Walker. My Cowboy and I’m still Sunny.
We’re still us .
“Yeah. We should have.”
His smile widens as he moves his hand up to tuck some hair behind my ear. “I guess we should talk about those rules now, huh?”
I nod my head, biting down on my bottom lip. “Maybe,” I say, not yet ready to break this freeing feeling between us. “You know what sounds really good right now?”
He hums. “Tell me.”
“Peach pie.”