Chapter 8 #3
Paxton stared at the slightly charred marshmallow. “You’re giving me your marshmallow?” she asked. The awe in her voice made him wonder what the other men in her life had ever done for her.
“I will roast as many marshmallows as your heart desires,” Sawyer said. “I just have to warn you, you’ll probably get sick after the seventh or eighth one.”
She let out a rich laugh. “Now that I do remember, but my mom always had seltzer water or ginger ale on hand.”
“So this really was a thing?” he said. “You and your mom roasted marshmallows when you were a kid?”
Her enthusiastic nod combined with that bright smile was infectious. Sawyer couldn’t help but smile himself.
“She used to take me camping in the yard, that patch of land between our trailer and Harlon’s Bar,” she said.
“We’d roast marshmallows, she’d tell me ghost stories, and we’d read books that I picked up from the library.
I guess it was her version of a low-cost vacation, because she could never afford the time off from work or the money it would take to go on a real one. ”
Sawyer thought about his own childhood and couldn’t deny the stark difference to hers.
Because his father had been sequestered in his Ninth Ward neighborhood while growing up, he’d vowed that his son would get out and see the world.
Sawyer had visited more than a dozen states by the time he was twelve.
He’d been to the top of the Empire State Building, observed the majestic beauty of the Grand Canyon, and dipped his toes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
“It’s okay,” she said. He looked up at her. “I know what you’re thinking, and really, it’s okay.”
He doubted she knew what he was thinking, and Sawyer wasn’t inclined to share his true thoughts with her. Not right now. He didn’t want the startling difference between the way they grew up creating any more of a chasm between them, especially tonight.
“I was just thinking—” he started, but she cut him off.
“You were thinking about all the cool places you’ve visited, but you’re afraid to say anything because you think it will make me feel bad.”
Damn. Maybe his poker face wasn’t as good as he thought it was.
She held the marshmallow she’d been roasting out to him.
“Okay, yeah. That is kind of what I was thinking,” Sawyer said before taking a bite. A trail of the warm, sticky substance fell onto his chin.
“Don’t,” she said. “Those campouts with my mom are some of my very best memories. I didn’t need anything else.
I’m ashamed to admit just how jealous I was of some of the things other kids in Gauthier—those whose families had money—got to do, but fancy vacations was never one of them.
And it’s not as if I was stuck in Gauthier my entire childhood, either.
When Shayla and Braylon were kids, they would go to the beach in Biloxi for a week every summer.
Their folks were sweet enough to bring me along.
So, you see. There’s no reason for you to feel bad for me. ”
She reached over and ran her thumb along his chin where the marshmallow had fallen. Her eyes zeroed in on his lips. “You missed a spot.”
The husky rasp coloring her words clutched at his gut. And lower.
“That was the best way you could think of to clean it off?” he asked.
“What exactly do you suggest?”
He shrugged. “It all depends.”
“On what?”
Sawyer leaned forward. “On whether you plan to sneak away like you did the last time,” he said, his voice as husky as hers.
Her gaze traveled from his mouth up to his eyes. “There’s a lot I want to do tonight, but leaving isn’t a part of the plan.”
Sawyer closed the distance between them. “Then why in the hell are you not doing it?”
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her out of the chair, settling her legs around his waist. Her lips collided with his, thick with passion, heavy with the lust the two of them had been fighting over these past couple of weeks.
With her wrapped around him, Sawyer started for the open French doors.
Once inside, he laid her on the chaise longue in the living room and quickly covered her body with his.
“Pax, do you know how many times I dream about doing this every day?”
He charged for that spot on her neck just below her ear. Three years had passed, yet he still remembered how much she’d loved it when he sucked there. Sawyer went for it again, first sucking, then gently biting, while his hands roamed the soft skin underneath her shirt.
She released a low moan, her neck arching, reaching for his teeth and his tongue.
“I want you so much,” she admitted in a rush of breath.
Her words, spoken in that lusty, desperate voice, had the effect of throwing hot grease on a burning fire. Sawyer’s body went up in flames.
He kissed his way down her, then buried his head underneath her shirt, kissing his way back up again as he rolled the shirt up and off her. The bra came next.
For a moment Sawyer just hovered above her, temporarily stunned at how sexy she looked dressed in nothing but skintight jeans. He needed her fully naked, but there was something so sensual, so damn sexy about half of her body being bared to him that he just needed to soak it in for a minute.
Then he decided a minute was too long.
He hooked his hands in the waistband of her jeans and peeled them from her body, quickly removing her satin panties after that.
Sawyer pulled her to the edge of the chaise and knelt on the floor before her. He was overwhelmed by the feelings swirling within him as his eyes roved over her. This woman had captured his heart so long ago. Nothing would make him happier than finally having the chance to give it to her.
Actually, right now, he saw one thing that could make him pretty happy. Running his palms up her inner thighs, he spread her legs apart and hooked them over his shoulders.
He was like a starving man who had just had a banquet fit for a king set before him. As much as he was dying to pounce on her with a rapaciousness unparalleled to anything he’d experienced before, Sawyer told himself to take it slow.
He made his way up the inside of her thigh, marking the ridiculously soft skin with gentle love bites. He soothed each bite with a soft kiss and followed with a slow, wet lick. He kissed his way around her, deliberately avoiding the one place he knew she wanted him the most.
“Sawyer!” Paxton yelled. “Stop teasing me.”
But teasing her was exactly what he wanted to do.
He drew the backs of his fingers along her inner thigh, then around her center, before finally giving her some relief.
Using the pad of his thumb, he lightly teased the mass of nerves at her cleft, then rolled it between his fingers.
Paxton rocked her hips, jerking as soft whimpers escaped her lips.
Sawyer grew harder with every moan, but he fought the urge to strip out of his own clothes and fill her.
Right now it was all about her pleasure.
He wanted to make it so good that she would never think about leaving his bed again.
Tucking his hands underneath her, he gripped her ass and lifted her to his mouth.
That first taste on his tongue gave him new life.
Sawyer forgot all about her pleasure and selfishly concentrated on his as he explored the exquisite world between her legs.
Her slick, tender flesh tasted even better than he remembered.
He buried his face between her thighs, closing his mouth over her center and sucking hard.
He flicked his tongue back and forth over the tight bud at her cleft, branding it as his.
He felt Paxton’s thighs quivering around his head moments before her back bowed and her scream tore through the room.
With a promise to himself that he would return to tasting the deliciousness between her legs, Sawyer stood and quickly got rid of his clothes. He couldn’t wait any longer.
Covering himself with the condom he’d taken earlier from his bedroom, he fitted himself between her thighs and entered her with one long, deep thrust. Pleasure, pure and explosive, burst throughout his being as he found heaven.
Nothing in this world had ever come close to the way it felt when Paxton gripped his body.
It was as if she were made exclusively for him.
With a desperation that had his limbs shaking, Sawyer gripped her hips and pumped in and out, quickly becoming addicted to the way her inner muscles clutched him as he slid deeper, then retreated.
The sensation of being engulfed in her incredible heat was like a drug, flooding his brain with the most erotic pleasure he had ever experienced.
“You feel…so good,” Paxton panted.
“You feel good,” Sawyer said. “You taste good.” He dipped his head and thrust his tongue into her mouth.
“And your body looks amazing.” He trailed his lips along her collarbone and then down her chest, pressing wet kisses to the shallow valley between her breasts.
He pleasured her with his mouth, rolling his tongue around her taut, peaked nipple, tugging it inside and sucking hard.
She squeezed her muscles, and Sawyer lost it. Clutching her ass, he pulled her to him and slammed into her, over and over and over, his uncontrollable desire overriding everything else.
He felt Paxton explode as she cried out; the feel of her climaxing around him sent him over the edge. With one final thrust, he came, his entire being shuddering in an ecstasy that was so intoxicating, Sawyer never wanted it to end.
Paxton burrowed herself more securely into Sawyer’s naked chest, seeking his warmth now that the chill from outside was starting to seep in.
“You may want to check the settings on your central air unit,” she told him. “I don’t think you adjusted for tonight’s cold front. It’s freezing in here.”
“You cold?” Sawyer wrapped his arm around her middle. “I have a better way of heating you up,” he said as he buried his face in her neck.
Paxton squirmed, pretending she was trying to get away, when in reality she wasn’t trying to do anything of the sort.
She’d never felt more content than she did lying there wrapped in Sawyer’s arms. It was as if he couldn’t get enough of touching her.
His fingers teased her bare shoulders, the nape of her neck, her collarbone.
It was the closest she’d ever come to experiencing pure bliss.
They remained that way for long moments, resting comfortably together on the chaise underneath the cashmere throw Sawyer had taken from a hallway linen closet. But then his voice broke into the silence.
“You have to tell me why, Pax,” he said softly.
She’d known this was coming, but she was no readier to explain than she was ready to leave his arms.
But Paxton knew she owed him an explanation. Deciding to finally own up to what she’d done, she twisted around in his arms and faced him.
“Why did you leave the way you did?” he asked.
“It’s simple,” she said. “I felt guilty.”
His head reared back. “That’s definitely not what I was expecting. Why in the world would you have felt guilty?” He stiffened. “Were you dating someone at the time? Did you use me to cheat on your boyfriend?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t have a boyfriend. But I did use you,” she continued. Sawyer’s eyes were filled with confusion. Paxton placed her hand on his chest. “That night, when you came into the bar, I could tell how much you were hurting. I wanted to help alleviate some of that pain.”
“Which you most certainly did,” he said.
“Except once we left the bar, your hurt and pain became second to me living out my fantasy. I’d wanted you for so long, and all I could think about was finally having you for myself.
I capitalized on your suffering. I knew you were drunk and vulnerable, and I used it to my advantage to get what I wanted. ”
Paxton braced herself for the backlash. Instead, she felt his chest start to rumble seconds before a roaring laugh poured forth from his mouth. She peered up at him.
“What’s so funny?”
“You,” Sawyer said. “You are so funny and so incredibly sweet. But you’re clueless as hell. At least when it comes to this.” He trailed his fingers along her jawline in a gentle caress. “Is that really the reason you left? Because you felt guilty for using me?”
“Think about it. What if our roles were reversed, and you’d slept with me while I was hurting over my sick mother?”
“You didn’t take advantage of me that night,” he said.
“You gave me exactly what I needed, and I don’t just mean sex with the girl who’d starred in every one of my teenage wet dreams. You gave me a chance to escape the realities of that day.
I went to Harlon’s hoping to drink away my troubles.
But the alcohol didn’t do anything compared to what you did for me.
” He tenderly brushed his hand across her cheek.
“Never feel guilty for that night. It ranks up there as one of the best nights of my life.” He nuzzled behind her ear.
“In case you were wondering, tonight is running a close second.”
She smiled at him, her heart nearly bursting with gratitude over the way he’d so selflessly assuaged the guilt she’d carried these past three years.
“You know,” Sawyer said, “there is something you can do to send this night right to the top of the Best Night Ever list.”
Paxton couldn’t contain her laugh as he suggestively waggled his brows. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his head down, and kissed him with everything she had.