20. Elsa
Chapter Twenty
Elsa
Haven’s eyes burned into me. I felt his gaze on my skin as it swept up and down. My nipples perked up, and heat pooled in my belly. I had to press my thighs together.
“Where are we going?” I rasped as he turned and tugged me to follow.
“Somewhere horizontal,” he said flatly.
I giggled as he tugged me into my room since we’d established this room had the better bed. Once we got into the bedroom, Haven turned to face me. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” he pointed out. “Let’s remedy that.”
He swiftly tugged my shirt over my head. At the feel of the calloused surface of his palms cupping my breasts, I had to bite my lip to keep from whimpering too loudly. His thumbs brushed over my nipples before he dipped his head and sucked one into his mouth.
I cried out, my knees buckling. One arm banded around my waist as he held me steady before lifting his head and bringing his mouth to mine.
Haven’s kisses were enough to make me want to pledge my body to him forever.
The way he commanded my mouth was just perfect—deep sweeps of his tongue and open, hot, messy kisses—and all the while, I was melting inside.
I could feel my slick arousal between my thighs and shifted on my feet.
He broke away, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip as his eyes burned into mine again.
“Now, you’re wearing too many clothes,” I gasped.
His low chuckle sent goose bumps rising on my skin. When he stepped back, I instantly missed his strong presence and the way it surrounded me.
The next few moments were a blur. I tossed my bra to the floor and fumbled to remove my pants.
His clothes fell in a rumple along with mine on the floor.
He stretched me out on the bed as I trembled with arousal.
There was something about him, the way he looked at me, the way I felt as if he savored every inch of me, that nearly undid me.
“Elsa,” he groaned as one of his big palms caressed down my side, his thumb teasing over my nipple briefly before his touch coasted down over my belly, rounding the curve of my hip and down my thighs.
I’d never been a skinny girl, definitely wasn’t now, but he seemed to love it, squeezing my hip and then my thigh as he made a humming sound of appreciation in his throat.
His eyes burned into mine for a beat before he dipped his head, his tongue dragging down the side of my neck.
Hot kisses dusted over my belly before he teased my nipples with his mouth.
All the while, I whimpered and arched into his touch. He made his way down my body before hooking his hand under one knee and pressing it to the side.
“Sweet Elsa,” he murmured as his fingers teased my dripping wet pussy. “Look at you.”
I dragged my eyes open, and I could have sworn I felt the heat of his gaze on my sex.
I clenched in response, my hips shifting restlessly on the bed.
I’d never felt so exposed to someone. He blew lightly just before he brought his mouth to my sex, and I felt two fingers sliding in.
My hips rocked into his touch as he made love to me with his fingers and his mouth.
Everything was tightening, spinning inside, the pleasure rising.
I felt the vibration of him saying something against me just before he circled his tongue around my clit. The graze of his teeth sent sensations streaking through me as he pumped his fingers in once more.
“Come for me, sweetheart. I know you’re almost there.”
Apparently, I could come on his command because I did just that. The tightening reached an almost unbearable point before snapping. I cried out, shuddering all over as I arched into him. He stayed with me as pleasure broke in wave after wave.
I finally sagged in relief. He slowly stretched up beside me, pressing kisses, open and hot, on my neck. When I dragged my eyes open, he gave me a lazy kiss, and I could taste myself on his mouth. My body was still trembling from the aftershocks of my climax.
Haven dusted a kiss on the curve where my shoulder met my neck, and I savored the feel of his stubbled cheek. “How are you doing?” he asked.
A giggle slipped out at that. “How am I doing?” I was practically slurring from pleasure.
He lifted his head, a sly gleam in his eyes. “I guess I’m wondering if you’re as useless as I was after what you did to me out there in the kitchen.”
I felt almost boneless, completely sated as I rested on the bed. “Definitely useless. If there was an emergency, I don’t even know if I could move.”
Another kiss, this one in the valley between my breasts. The heat of it radiated through me. Even though I was pretty useless, my nipples perked up, and my pussy clenched.
“We can call it a night,” he murmured.
“Oh, no.” I rolled my head back and forth on the pillow. “I need more.”
His grin sent my belly into a swoop. He rolled over to get off the bed. “I didn’t mean getting off the bed more,” I protested.
“Condom,” he tossed over his shoulder.
Part of me wanted to call out that it wasn’t necessary, but this was fresh, so I held my silence. A moment later, he was back and rolling a condom on. I looked up as one of his knees landed between my thighs.
Sweet hell. Haven Silver was one rugged, sexy man.
All muscled, but not in a workout way. He had a dusting of dark hair on his chest and a few scars here and there.
I wanted to trace my fingers over them and ask him how he got every single one.
But before I could even form another thought, his weight stretched out over me.
I instantly made room for his hips in the cradle of mine. My breath sucked in when he notched his thick crown at my entrance.
“Are you still ready for more?” His subtle tease was in contrast to his gaze, which was intense and serious.
“I always want more with you,” I whispered.
He shifted carefully, reaching for both of my hands and stretching them out above my head. On the heels of a breath, he slowly filled me, seating himself deeply. I let out something between a moan and a whimper and curled my legs around his hips.
When his eyes locked with mine, I couldn’t look away. He held still, and I felt myself pulsing around him. The next span of time was a blur.
I was lost in his gaze and the sensation of him surging into me again and again to the soundtrack of our ragged breathing. Both of us were chasing another release. Everything was a tangle of sensation.
The subtle prickle of his hair on my breasts. The way his muscles flexed with his motion. His hands gripping mine. Through it all, I felt completely vulnerable and split wide open, but safe.
He adjusted the angle of his hips and reached between us with one of his hands, teasing over my hypersensitive nub.
Yet again, pleasure exploded. This time, my orgasm was deeper and slower, a vibration under the surface that rocked me all the way through.
I barely recognized the sound of me calling his name and holding on tight as my name came in a ragged breath on his lips.
Moments later, he rolled us over, and I rested against him. It felt as if I’d been through a storm, my body exhausted from it. My head curled on his chest, and I listened to his heart thumping and gradually slowing.
His fingers sifted through my hair before his palm slid down my back to cup my bottom. There was something so purely masculine about everything he did. His touch was casual and easy.
“I could stay here forever.” As soon as I said those words, I wanted to snatch them back.
Because that seemed like, well, a lot to say at this stage in whatever this was.
“I could too,” he replied.
I lifted my head, resting my palm on his chest and my chin atop that.
“Is this when I should find a way to leave?” His voice rumbled under my hand.
“Where would you go?” His lips quirked a little at the corners, and my belly shimmied again.
So help me God, my body just wouldn’t quit when it came to this man.
“To my bedroom,” he replied.
I rolled my eyes. “No.”
I loved that he chuckled. Before I knew it, we were laughing together. I felt ridiculous and giddy when my laugh finally slowed down.
I took a quick breath. “Haven Silver.”
“Right here,” he returned, waggling his brows. “It’s my name, don’t you forget it.”
“As if,” I teased.
Suddenly, his gaze sobered, and he tipped his head to the side. “How are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged, his shoulder moving underneath mine where it rested against his. “You were worried about complications.”
“Well, it’s day two, and we are dealing with complications. I think your mom’s on to us.”
His lips teased in another smile. “She’s observant. I haven’t said a word to her, but I have no doubt she’s noticed I can’t keep my eyes off you.”
“You can’t?” I squeaked.
“Elsa, honey, you’re adorable, you’re funny, and I’m really glad you’re here.”
Although my doubts were kicking up a storm in my mind, I ignored them. “I’m glad I’m here too.”
By some freaking miracle, we didn’t dwell on that. We lazed in bed, talking about nothing and everything. I filled him in on scheduling interviews with his mom, and he gave me a few pointers about the kind of personality that would fit to work with her.
“She’s easy-going most of the time. But underneath that is a stubborn woman who likes things done a certain way. She isn’t that tech-savvy, so this will take some letting go on her part,” he explained.
“Okay, so basically, I have to find someone who can baby her without her noticing it.”
He grinned. “You got it.”
He told me more about how long they’d been working on rebuilding the resort because it took so long to deal with the insurance. Then he tugged me into the shower, and we fell asleep together. Again.
As the days rolled by, I decided to ignore all the potential problems the complications could create. I enjoyed dinners with the family. I helped finish painting the guest rooms for the resort opening. Tommy took me on a tour of the rescue program.
I even got up the nerve to invite my mom for a visit.
Me: Maggie says you can come visit.
Mom: I know I can, sweetie, and I probably will. But not just yet.
After a few days, I walked back over to our property, studying the old foundation and remembering my dad. He meant well, but he might still be here if he hadn’t been so committed to being independent and eschewing any help.
“We’ll help you build.” Haven’s voice reached me, carried on the gusts of the wind that blew toward me.
I turned and cast a smile over my shoulder. “I know you will. I’ll figure it out. First, I have to start work.”
It was a chilly late summer afternoon. When I shivered a little with another gust of wind, Haven stepped closer and reached for my hands, tucking them into his pockets with his.
The gesture was so sweet, my heart flipped in my chest. “If anybody catches you doing that, they’ll think you’re sweet on me.”
His smile was slow and devastating for my heart, and like gas on a fire for my hormones. “I am sweet on you.”
I swear, I blushed from head to toe. He dipped his head and gave me a lingering kiss, and it washed over me. I couldn’t help but just feel good.
“Mom said you walked out here, so I came to find you. She was hoping you could check in with her before the interview,” Haven said when he lifted his head.
“Oh, that’s right. I should go.”
“You’re not late,” he said as I started to move. “Half an hour.”
Then he kissed me again, and I forgot everything else. I didn’t know how long it lasted, but I realized I could stand outside in the fresh air, with the fireweed ablaze in the background and the wind blowing, with my hands tucked into Haven’s pockets and him kissing me, for all the days of my life.
No matter what happened, I knew this was a memory I would keep.
That was something my mom talked about a lot after my dad died—what we kept in our hearts.
I was also starting to worry that I wasn’t cut out for casual. Not that Haven promised this would be casual. But a tiny corner of my mind and heart was more than a little worried.