CHAPTER SIX
Cord
The storm was howling outside, but all I could hear was the ragged sound of Poppy’s breath. I’d spent ten years on this mountain making sure everything stayed in its place, but as I stood there in my kitchen with a soaking wet, curvy angel of chaos, I knew I was done for.
I’d known it since she’d dropped to her knees in the greenhouse and started apologizing to broken plants. A man doesn’t come back from that.
I lifted her off the counter and carried her to my bedroom, my hands griping the lush weight of her thighs. My cock was straining against my jeans, so hard it was a physical ache. I set her on the edge of the bed, the mattress dipping under our weight.
Naked from the waist up, she was a masterpiece of cream-colored skin and heavy, breathtaking curves. Her breasts were full, with dark, turgid nipples that were begging for my tongue. Her waist dipped into the kind of wide, flared hips that a man was meant to hold onto for dear life.
“God, Poppy.” I dropped to my knees between her legs, my hands sliding up her thighs, then higher. I reached for the waistband of her leggings, peeling the wet fabric down her legs until she was completely bare before me. “Do you have any idea of how much I fucking want you?”
Her fingers tangling in the quilt, her face flushed a deep, beautiful pink. Her eyes met mine and something flickered in them—not fear, but a vulnerability she didn’t usually let show. She was very still.
I went still too.
I’d had my hands on enough women to know the difference between nerves and hesitation, and what I was seeing wasn’t hesitation. I leaned back, giving her room, searching her face.
“Poppy.” My voice came out low and careful. “Am I moving too fast?”
She held my gaze, her chin lifting just slightly — that particular brand of Poppy courage that I was starting to recognize as the thing she did when she was about to be honest about something that cost her. “No,” she said quietly. “I’ve just. I’ve just never let anyone close enough before.”
I instinctively knew what she was trying to tell me. She was a virgin.
The air left my lungs. A primal, possessive roar went off in my head.
The thought of being her first—the only man to ever touch her, to ever taste her—made me feel like I owned the entire damn mountain.
It changed everything. My need to rush, to claim her roughly, vanished, replaced by a fierce, protective need to make this perfect for her.
Her first… my thoughts raced at all the things I wanted to share with her. Be her first in. The first to take her. Make her feel as special as she deserved.
“Okay,” I said. Just that.
Her gaze searched mine, waiting for the rest of it. The hesitation, the pulling back, the making it weird. I didn’t give her any of that.
I leaned down and pressed my mouth to the valley between her breasts, feeling the fast, nervous kick of her heart against my lips. “You’re going to tell me if you want me to stop,” I murmured against her skin. “And I’m going to take my time. Those are the only two rules.”
I felt her exhale—long and slow, the tension leaving her body like a tide going out.
I stood up and shed my clothes. When I kicked my jeans away, my cock sprang free, thick and heavy, throbbing with a need that felt like it might snap my spine. I saw her eyes go wide as she looked at me, her gaze traveling over the sheer size of me.
I climbed onto the bed, pulling her under me. I was careful not to crush her, supporting my weight on my forearms so I could just worship her with my mouth. “I’m going to take my time, baby.”
I started at her throat, kissing the pulse point there, before moving down to her breasts.
I took one heavy, soft mound in my hand, marveling at the weight of her, before taking her nipple into my mouth.
I suckled deep, my tongue swirling around the hard nub, nipping at it, until she was whimpering, her hands clutching my hair.
I did it to the other one. Then my touch got harder.
I sucked one deeper into my mouth as my finger and thumb pinched the other one.
She gasped and pressed herself against me, silently asking for more. I gave it to her. Sucking, squeezing, pinching until she was breathing hard. She was so responsive, I was sure I could make her come like this. But that’s not what I wanted. Not this time.
“You’re so soft. So much woman.”
I moved lower, kissing the silky curve of her stomach, the dip of her navel. I reached her thighs and nudged them apart. She hesitated for a second, but I looked up at her, my gaze steady. “Let me, Poppy. I want to see you.”
She opened for me, and I felt a fresh wave of heat hit me. She was beautiful—a soft, pink flower surrounded by damp curls. I leaned in, the scent of her raw, female heat filling my senses. I used my thumbs to spread her pussy lips, revealing the tiny, hooded bud of her clit.
She gasped when my tongue first made contact.
I licked her long and slow, from the bottom to the top, tasting her sweetness.
She was already damp, but as I continued to worship her with my mouth, she started to melt.
I slid two fingers inside her, testing her tightness, while my tongue flicked over her center in a steady, rhythmic pulse.
“Cord. Oh god,” she cried out, her hips jerking upward against my hand.
I didn’t stop. I wanted her to shatter. I wanted her first climax to be my name on her lips. I increased the pressure, my tongue and fingers working frantically until she let out a broken scream, her inner muscles clamping down on my fingers as she came.
I waited for her breathing to level out, kissing the insides of her thighs before I moved back up the bed. I guided the head of my cock to her entrance, feeling the intense heat of her against my tip. I was huge compared to her, a mountain of a man for a woman made of soft, inviting curves.
“Look at me, Poppy,” I commanded.
She opened her eyes, focusing on me as I slowly, agonizingly, began to push inside. I felt the resistance, the barrier of her innocence, and I gritted my teeth, my muscles shaking with the effort to stay slow when my body wanted to hammer home.
“It’s okay.” Her hands slid down to my lower back, pulling me in. “I want you. All of you.”
With one steady thrust, I seated myself deep inside her. The fit was so tight, so perfect, it felt like I’d finally found the place I was always meant to be. I went still for a beat, letting her adjust to the size of me, watching the way her dark hair spilled across my pillow.
“You’re mine now,.” The words a vow against her skin. “Every inch of you.”
I started to move—slow, deep strokes that made the bed groan. I watched her face, the way her eyes clouded with pleasure, the way she called my name. I leaned down, biting one nipple as I drove home. Over and over again.
She felt like heaven.
I felt her tightening around me again, her second climax building. I couldn’t hold back anymore. I increased the pace, the sound of our bodies colliding filling the room as I took her, my cock throbbing with the need to mark her as mine forever.
“Cord,” she cried out.
I knew what she needed and I gave it to her. One, two more deep, hard thrusts and she was shattering again. Her inner muscles clenched around me so hard I couldn’t breathe. I let out a low, guttural roar, my own release exploding out of me, filling her as I collapsed against her soft, warm body.
The storm was still raging outside, but in here, the silence was finally peaceful. I tucked her against my side, her head on my chest, my hand resting on the curve of her hip. I’d spent my whole life thinking I was meant to be alone on this mountain.
I’d never been more wrong.