Chapter 21 Wren
WREN
“It’s time for bed,” Catfish says several hours later, his fingers lingering on the lid of my laptop, slowly but surely lowering it closed.
I quickly save what I was working on before my fingers get caught. “But there’s still so much work to do. I’ve barely begun—”
“And it will all still be there in the morning. And you might be able to see the problem and challenge from a different angle if you get a decent night’s sleep.”
“But you’re all out on a limb for me. Feels like the least I can do is find the rest of your money, or—” My words say one thing, but inside I feel a little mushy that he notices I’m tired and encourages me to stop. It feels like something I’m incapable of doing by myself.
“Wren.”
“I’m so close. I’ve filtered all my communication with—”
“Come. To. Bed.”
When he says it like that, I have little choice in the matter. Because I want to follow him. No, maybe it’s more than that. I want to please him. Please us both.
Because if I had to put a hand on a Bible and swear what I really want to do right now, it’s not track crypto or ward off federal agents. It’s get naked with this man and continue what we started in the shower.
I stand, and Catfish cups my cheeks before kissing me like he’s trying to burn me into memory. Like he’s waited years, not days, to have me again like this.
When he’s done, a slightly mischievous grin races to his face, making him look younger than his nearly thirty years. “Let’s get upstairs before I strip you and take you on the counter.”
“Given the way my body just responded to that kiss, I’m not sure I’d mind if you did.”
He pats the cool marble. “I’m making a mental note that we need to christen it, but tonight, I want you in bed.”
I take his hand but let him lead us up the stairs. “I appreciate the romantic sentiment.”
“Got to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve ever tested my romantic tendencies.”
I huff at that. “You’re a liar.”
He stops on the landing with the wide wooden banister that looks down over the main family area. “What do you mean by that?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, but realizing when I was overstimulated and kicking everyone out so you could drop the lights and make me dinner was romantic.
Finding a way to get us out of the bakery and go for a ride on a horse.
That was pretty romantic too. And let’s not mention how you took care of me when I dropped the mug, and you carefully patched me up. ”
He runs a knuckle down my cheek. “That was just me looking out for you.”
“Which is inherently sexy and romantic.”
“If that’s all it takes to keep you happy, Wren, you got to level up your expectations.”
We walk to the bedroom, the large one with a wooden four-poster bed and view towards the mountains in the daylight. Now, all I can see is uninterrupted stars.
“You want me to test your romantic tendencies?”
Catfish chuckles as he removes his wallet from his pocket, takes a condom from it, and tosses it down onto the bed. “Not sure that’s exactly what I was saying, because they could be shit for all we know. Maybe you’ve already seen the best of them.”
I reach for the buttons of the denim shirt he’s wearing and begin to undo them. “Then I guess we’ve both got some growing and testing and learning to do.”
Firm fingers grip my hips as I continue my journey down his shirt. “Speaking of learning…I wanna be respectful, here. Of who you are. But I’m worried I’m gonna do something you don’t like. Don’t wanna upset you by doing something I shouldn’t.”
I press a kiss to his chest, his skin soft and warm beneath my lips. “I appreciate you thinking about that. But this evolution of me, I’m constantly learning what that means myself. Maybe we can keep figuring it out together.”
“We can do that, but is there anything totally out of bounds?”
“The only thing I can think of is avoid hyper-feminine words for the parts of my biology. Like pussy or vagina. Stay non-gendered. Like my opening or center. I don’t mind clit. And chest. Tits at a push, but I reserve the right to get offended by that occasionally.”
He slides his hand around my neck, this thumb rubbing along my jaw. “Think I’ll be too busy enjoying you to be naming bits anyway.”
His lips meet mine, a kiss that grows more demanding.
“I really like that you care.” My words are muttered against his mouth.
He steps back a second. “Uncaring men broke two of the people I love most in this world, Wren. My father wasn’t willing to put in the work to deal with Mom’s injuries.
My ex-brother-in-law was a scumbag who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, even though he had a beautiful family at home.
He threatened her physically, right in front of those precious kids.
I vowed I was never going to be that guy who ruined the person I loved.
But I thought it was because I’d stay single or maybe settle down much later in life.
So, yeah. I care. I don’t want to break you. ”
There’s real power to his words, the kind that shows me who he really is and what matters to him. This time, I reach for him, tug him to my mouth, and kiss him in a way I hope shows just how much I understand.
I’ve never been the one who was looked after either.
And God, do I want this man to be the one who is different. The one who’ll take all the broken pieces of me and not only carefully help me put them back together but will accept me as I am when I’m done.
The mood shifts.
The stairs felt playful.
The hallway, honest.
The bedroom, soul destroying.
I heard his words but read between the lines. I heard the guilt he carries for not being able to protect his mom and sister. I heard the promise that he knows better and won’t hurt me unless it’s inevitable.
Slowly, we remove each other’s clothes.
“How do I take this off?” he asks, touching my binder.
“It’s a bit of a tussle, and you need to be careful of all my earrings.”
I let him wrestle my binder over my head. It’s awkward, but we laugh when it gets tangled in my hair and we have to pause while he carefully disentangles the strands, because it doesn’t matter. It’s a part of who I am, and River has no problem with it.
I’m rewarded when he brushes his thumbs over my sensitive chest.
Our lips collide, even when we’re breathless. And when we’re naked, he leads us to the side of the bed, and we fall onto the soft mattress and bedding.
Nothing is rushed or frantic. We have all the time in the world as the silence of night surrounds us.
The intensity builds slowly. We’ve touched each other before. Kissed each other like we meant it. We’ve fucked with hands and mouths and teeth. But this feels different.
Special.
A beginning.
The ranch house is quiet, the wind howling outside. In this room, the two of us silently reaffirm our promise to take care of each other. To find who we are in each other.
His hands map my body, firm and reverent, familiarizing themselves with the curves I keep hidden. The mounds of my chest, the slope of my hips, the dip between my thighs.
As he does, I shiver.
And I do the same. I kiss the tattoos that cover his chest. I lick his nipples, tasting the shower-fresh tang of him.
“I really want to fuck you,” he says.
“I really want that too.”
“You sure?” He hovers over me, his thumb brushing my cheek.
I don’t have to think. The answer is easy. “Yeah. I want you.”
“Then let me make you feel good.”
He kisses me again, that slow and drugging pace. Like he’s really tasting me. Like we have all the time in the world, and he fully intends to use it.
His tongue moves slowly over my skin. There’s no hurry or rush to get me off like I’m a quest to be conquered before he can come.
The drag of his lips over my body makes me ache.
As he moves lower, I spread my legs for him without hesitation.
His hands settle on my thighs, thumbs stroking teasing circles.
Catfish touches places I never knew were hot-wired to turn me on. The back of my knee. The crease of my hip.
When he finally moves to my clit, sucking it hard and moving his head like he would if he was sucking dick, I feel fully in my body.
Like nothing else matters.
I fist my hands into his hair, holding him tight against me, as I ride his face.
There’s something so freeing about letting my hips go wild as I grind against him.
His hands slide beneath my ass, his fingers digging into my skin, like he can’t get close enough.
He only shifts for a moment, to suck in air on a gasp.
When he returns to sucking on me, he adds two fingers, the angle of them curling inside me.
I stop worrying about what my body looks like or what the person between my thighs thinks of it. I allow myself to just be in this moment with this man who seems intent on worshipping me how I am right now.
I cry out as Catfish manages to grip my hips and flip us. It takes a second to realize what he wants. Me, riding his face.
“Suffocate me, Wren,” he says, and there’s sheer desperation in his eyes. I glance over my shoulder and see his cock. Heavy, thick, and dripping pre-cum onto his belly in a long silvery strand.
Then, he grips my thighs and pulls me down onto his face.
I’ve humped things to get off before. Pillows. My fist wrapped in bedding. Strap-ons. But the sensation of a face pressed so intimately against me like this is utterly overwhelming, I have to reach for the post of the bed to stay upright.
When I try to lift my weight off him, he simply tightens his grip, pulling me tighter, forcing me to grind.
And Catfish, God, he bites and sucks and licks and hums. His chest is rising and falling like a freight train by my feet.
And everything starts to build, fast and hot.
Briefly, he releases one thigh to grip the bedding.
Suffocate me, Wren.
Oh God, is that what I’m truly doing?
I come hard, body jerking. “River!”
But he doesn’t stop, holding me tight to him with both hands again, forcing me through my orgasm.
When he releases my thighs, I try to move, but they’re trembling so badly, I flop onto the bed next to him just as Catfish sucks in a deep breath of air.
Mini tremors rush through me. Like another orgasm is close, but just out of reach.
He reaches for the corner of the bedding and wipes his face before crawling back up my body, still breathing fast. I grab his face and kiss him like I can taste the version of myself I’d become in his mouth.
“You okay?” I ask.
He winks at me. “More than okay. I fucking love your body, Wren.”