Chapter 16
Clayton
Relaxing back in the chair, I propped my arms behind my head, crossed my ankles, and settled back to watch the woman who captivated me.
I’d have preferred if she were still on my lap, but I couldn’t deny she was a vision with moonlight glinting off her hair, giving it an almost silver sheen.
My hands itched to touch it. To wind around the strands and bring her in close to me.
To take her lips again and capture the sweetness and sassiness intrinsic to her.
To peel off the latest pair of minuscule shorts she’d donned in order to torture me.
Abby’s invitation had seemed almost, to use Grandmother’s word, fortuitous.
It had given me an in I didn’t have to make on my own.
Not that I wouldn’t have. I’d already planned on showing up on Reese’s doorstep tonight.
Talking with Lachlain hadn’t only solidified my plan to go after Reginald and figure out what the hell he was up to, but it made me realize grabbing hold of this business opportunity with the Henleys was the key to resurrecting Montgomery.
Was grabbing hold of Reese and whatever stirred between us the key to something too?
Logically it didn’t make sense. Whatever attraction I felt for her would fade, when time and distance set in. Telling her my getting control of Montgomery rested on her family agreeing to work with us wouldn’t do either of us any good. She’d never trust anything I did.
It was better off I didn’t tell her and let everything fall where it may.
Lying in business never truly bothered me before.
If it aided me in getting what I wanted, or needed, then I’d do it with no qualms. Except, I wasn’t lying to her.
Not telling her about the deal didn’t change the fact that I was all in on helping her and her family.
It didn’t change the fact of what she did to me either.
I wanted the woman standing under the night sky with an intensity that astounded me. From the first instant, she lit a fire inside of me, one she’d continued to stoke at every turn.
Continuing to stare at Reese, I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking about. The need to know her, her thoughts and feelings, her wants and desires, rode me hard. As if summoned by my thoughts alone, she started speaking.
“Henleys have been here for generations.” Her voice, full of feeling, floated over to me.
“Sometimes I wonder if we’ll always be here or if something will change.
Maybe in some generation down the road, everyone leaves to find their life and happiness far from the Falls.
Maybe we'll lose the land and have to leave.” With a shake of her head, she continued, “I can’t imagine ever leaving here, but I recognize others may not feel the same and one day everything could change.
Heck, even now, I wonder if the cousins agreed to this simply because it’s what Henleys have always done. ”
Her words were clear, the night birds and insects the only competing sounds around us, even though she never turned to face me.
This was her moment to contemplate, and I wasn’t about to interrupt her.
“I don’t honestly think that’s the case, though.
My cousins who don’t work in our businesses have chosen their path with no recriminations or doubts, but what if one of the rest of us wants something different?
What if they’re afraid to go for it? What if I’m holding them back somehow? ”
It wouldn’t be unusual for someone to get swept up in the enthusiasm she clearly had for the project, but I didn’t think that was the case.
“I’ve only met a few of your family, and no one is on board solely to placate you. They all want what they see in their futures.” I had no doubt about that.
With a casual shrug, she grudgingly agreed. “I guess. Maybe I’m in my thoughts too much.” Tipping her wineglass in my direction, she winked my way. “Or maybe it’s the wine.” Given she hadn’t had more than a handful of sips, I doubted that. “Can I ask what made you take Abby up on her offer?”
“Who said it was only Abby’s offer I accepted?
” Reaching for my glass, I took my own sip of the deep red merlot before replacing it.
I had to admit the Henley family produced an impressive wine.
“I wasn’t about to turn down a little girl,” I let the words linger as I stood and made my way over to her.
“But you weren’t simply out for a stroll in the vineyard.
Your invitation wasn’t as blatant, but trust me, Little Trouble, it was just as commanding. ”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her words may scream innocence, but the sparkle in her eyes gave me my answer.
Rising, I stalked over to her, watching her breathing hitch as I approached.
I plucked the wineglass from her hand and placed in on the nearby table.
I stood over her, her face tipped back to look up at me.
In the moonlight, her skin aglow and shimmering, she looked like an angel, yet still managed to personify the temptation of the devil wrapped in one tiny package.
“Oh, I know you do.” I grabbed the railing, caging her in between my arms.
“You, um.” Her tongue peeked out to moisten her lips, and all I wanted to do was take a nip, pull it into my mouth. “Before you said something about talking. Maybe we can do that now.”
I knew she was waiting for me to step away, to go back to the discussion we should most assuredly be having.
There were still plans she needed to tell me and suggestions I could give, but none of that mattered now.
Out here in the clear night, devoid of skyscrapers and building lights, was not the time or the place for business.
It was, however, the perfect time to get my hands on her. It felt like forever since I’d tasted her last, and I had every intention of rectifying that right now.
I leaned over, bending her back against the railing, letting my nose skim up her exposed neck. The peachy scent she wore was fainter now, but no less intoxicating, especially combined with the scent of her arousal that was all uniquely Reese.
“Oh, we’ll talk,” I whispered as I trailed my lips across her jawline to her ear. Her whole body shuddered as I nipped her earlobe. I let my tongue stroke the flesh under her ear when her head fell to the side, giving me unfettered access.
Her hands found their way to my shoulders, sinking her nails deep and pulling me closer.
The slight pin pricks of pain only heightened my arousal.
“This isn’t…Oh God,” she groaned as I moved to the tendon in her neck and bit down, before laving the area with my tongue.
“I don’t think this is the best way to talk. ”
Her words said one thing, but the way her body responded to mine said something entirely different.
Everything about her reactions amped up my own. The way she moved against me turned my cock hard as steel. The way her hardened nipples pressed against my chest had my mouth watering for a taste. The way her hands gripped my shoulders made me want to feel them all over my body.
Never in my life had I felt something like this before, and I had to consider that it was more than simply physical.
Her beauty and intrinsic sexiness turned my body inside out, but there was more to this attraction.
Reese’s personality, even as sarcastic as she could sometimes be, drew me to her.
She appealed to me on every level, something I’d never experienced before.
I didn’t know exactly what that meant in the long run, but I couldn’t worry about it now.
In the present, at this moment in time, I only wanted to focus on one thing. The woman in my arms and how good I was going to make her feel.
“How about this?” I lifted my head, waiting until her eyelids fluttered open and I captured her gaze.
“I’ll talk all you want.” My thumb found her lower lip, tugging it down until her tongue came out for a quick swipe.
“I’ll talk you through each orgasm I give you.
I’ll tell you exactly how I want to touch you.
” I let my hands travel all over her body, learning her curves and her softness.
“Taste you.” Licking at her lips, I delved in when they parted.
For seconds, minutes, I lost myself in the taste of her.
The feel of her. My tongue explored her mouth, tangling with her own, eliciting soft moans from deep in her chest. Breaking the kiss, I hissed against her parted lips.
“How I want to fuck you. Is that the type of talking you wanted?”
Reese shook her head, but the only syllable that came out of her mouth was a barely audible “yes.”
That one word was all I needed.
In that moment, it was all I ever wanted.
She was fucking disastrous for my sanity and my common sense, but she was a glorious goddess to the part of me that wanted loose.
Lovers in the past rarely wanted the me I kept a tight leash on.
They’d be okay with a sample, but no more, or their high-bred sensibilities would overcome their need.
I suspected Reese would be different, and not because of her place of birth, but more because she was her own woman.
She knew how to make things happen and wasn’t at all afraid of taking exactly what she wanted.
The fact that this deceptively strong woman wanted me was a fucking heady feeling.
“Game on, Little Trouble.” I sank to my knees, careless of the fact we were outside, given that the moonlight and wildlife were our only company.
I skimmed my hands up the back of her calves, then her thighs, until my fingers teased the hem of her barely-there shorts.
“Take these fucking things off now and show me what I want.”