Chapter 31 #2
He sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know.” He looked at me through one eye. “Want to come with me? We could make it a cool road trip after Thanksgiving. What do you think?”
“Me?” My heart felt like it was hammering in my throat, my stomach flipping with excitement at the idea that we were making plans. He wanted me to go with him. He wanted us to do something as a couple. We really were more.
“Yeah, you. You’d be so much better company than Gunner and I’m guessing you’ll fart less in the truck.”
“Yeah, I’d love to.” Nodding and smiling like both were going out of fashion, I grabbed his hands. “It sounds amazing.”
Pulling me tight against his chest, Wilder sighed. “It will be Brownie, believe me, it will be.”
As we stood wrapped around each other I saw movement from the corner of my eye.
There leaning against the stable wall was Glenn, watching us like we were a wolf he was getting ready to hunt.
A chill ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the wind.
Something in his expression made my skin crawl, like insects skittering across my arms.
“You fancy getting out of here?” Wilder asked, bringing my attention back to him. “Get some air into our lungs?”
Glenn pushed off the wall and walked away making me feel more at ease. “That would be incredible.”
An hour later, we were saddled up and heading toward the mountains, a blanket strapped to Wilder’s horse.
The autumn air was crisp but not cold, each breath scented faintly with pine and earth.
The aspen leaves glowed gold against the deep blue sky I loved so much, sunlight catching on them like they were made of coins.
“Where are we going?” I asked as Dreamy and I followed him and Alice, picking our way up a narrow trail.
“You’ll see.” That crooked grin of his made my stomach flip. “Trust me.”
We rode in comfortable silence, the rhythm of our horses’ hooves on stone blending with the soft whisper of wind through the trees.
Twenty minutes later, Wilder led us to a clearing I’d never seen before—a small meadow surrounded by towering pines, the grass long and wild, with a view of the valley that stole my breath and held it captive.
“Wilder, this is beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you,” he said, dismounting and coming to help me down. His hands lingered at my waist as my feet touched the ground, his thumbs brushing small, lazy circles into my hips. “Been wanting to bring you here.”
While he dealt with the horses, I spread the blanket in the center of the meadow. The grass was thick and soft beneath it, and when I lay back to look up at the sky, it felt like I was floating in that endless blue.
“What are you thinking about?” Wilder asked, settling beside me with two bottles of beer from his saddlebag.
“How perfect this is. How perfect we are.” I turned my head toward him. “How crazy it is that I went from thinking you were just good sex to… this.”
His eyes darkened, the corners of his mouth curving. “Just good sex, huh?”
“Incredible sex,” I corrected with a grin. “Earth-shattering, life-changing, ruined-me-for-everyone-else sex.”
“That’s better.” He leaned over me, bracing himself on his forearms, his shadow falling across my face. “And now?”
“Now it’s so much more than that.” My fingers traced the hard line of his jaw, feeling the faint rasp of stubble beneath my touch. “Now it’s everything.”
His mouth found mine, soft at first, tasting of beer and heat, then deeper when I opened to him. The kiss tasted like promises and forever, like the first time you exhale after holding your breath for too long.
“Brownie,” he murmured against my lips, his breath warm, “I want you so damn much.”
“Show me,” I whispered, pulling the blanket over us
He undressed me slowly, as if each button, each fold of fabric, deserved its own moment. His hands were warm, his mouth following, worshiping each new inch of skin he uncovered. The cool mountain air kissed through the wool until his body covered mine, sheltering me completely.
“You sure?” he asked, even as his fingers slid between my thighs, his touch feather-light but deliberate.
“There’s no one for miles,” I gasped when his fingers found me aching for him. “And I need you. Right here. Right now. Under our sapphire ocean.”
His gaze burned through me, and I felt it everywhere, a low hum starting between my legs, spreading through my chest until it was all I could do not to pull him down on top of me.
When his fingers slipped away to brace himself over me, the heat of his body caged me in, blocking out the world.
The scent of leather, pine, and him filled my lungs until I was dizzy with it.
He eased into me slowly, filling me inch by inch, his forehead pressed to mine as though he wanted to feel my every breath.
The stretch of him stole the air from my lungs, a deep, aching fullness that made my toes curl in the grass beneath the blanket.
His movements were deep and unhurried, but there was a deliberate power in the way his hips rolled, dragging a gasp from me each time he bottomed out.
Every slow thrust wound me tighter, keeping me balanced on that razor’s edge between pleasure and something so much bigger.
The pines whispered above us, their song folding into the wet sound of him moving inside me, my quiet moans, and his low, filthy murmurs against my ear. His thumb brushed my cheek, grounding me even as heat coiled hard and fast in my belly. His eyes never left mine, holding me there, seeing me.
When release claimed me, it ripped through me like the snap of a bowstring, my back arching, his name caught between my lips and the endless Colorado sky reflected in his.
Afterward, we stayed tangled together under the blanket, his weight draped over me, the warmth of his body sinking into mine until I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began.
My head rested on his chest, listening to the steady, strong beat of his heart, each thud a promise I wanted to keep forever.
“We should probably head back,” he said eventually, though his arms tightened around me instead of loosening.
“Five more minutes,” I murmured, pressing a soft kiss to his collarbone, breathing him in. “I want to remember this forever.”
“Forever sounds perfect to me, Brownie. Just perfect.”