Chapter 22 #2
He starts to move, one hand planted on the small of my back and the other on my shoulder as he drives into me over and over again. It’s animalistic and so out of control for me, yet I fucking love it.
I’m having sex with the man I love in my favorite place.
Just that thought alone could make me come.
Blake grabs my hair and pulls me up so my back is against his front, and he kisses the ball of my shoulder before dragging those lips up to my ear.
“Whose pussy is this, Harper?”
“Yours.” I don’t even hesitate because there is no other answer.
“You’re already quivering around me. Are you about to come, baby?”
“Fuck yes.”
“Good. I fucking love the way your tight cunt squeezes my cock. Give in to it, my love. Do it. Go over for me.”
Christ on a cracker, his words, combined with how amazing he feels, shoot me right into the stratosphere. I don’t bother to be quiet as I come apart, and Blake follows me over, groaning and rocking into me until we’re both spent and panting.
He pulls out, and when his cum starts to leak out of me, he swipes his fingers through it and tucks it back inside me.
“I belong in there,” he says before helping me pull my leggings back up.
“Well, that will be fun for the next five miles.”
Blake finishes righting his clothes, then palms the back of my neck and pulls me to him, covers my mouth with his, and I immediately melt against him.
The mouth on this guy.
“I want you to feel me dripping out of you all day. Every time you take a step, you’ll know that I’m inside you. That you’re mine and only mine, sweetheart.”
“As long as there are no dirt and bugs.”
He huffs out a laugh. “Absolutely not. Trust me, baby.”
I do. I trust him more than anyone.
“Where have you guys been?” Birdie asks two hours later from a balcony at the lodge as we hike back. “You were gone forever.”
“Only a few hours,” Blake replies with a grin. “We went for a hike. What are you doing, cupcake?”
“I’m coloring out here because the baby is sleeping, and I’m always too loud. Can I hang out with you guys?”
“We’re going to get cleaned up, then we’ll come get you, okay?” Birdie immediately smiles and claps her hands.
I’m about to jog up the stairs to our floor when Blake takes my hand and stops me. He pulls me to him and cups my face.
“We don’t have to hang out with Birdie if you don’t want to.”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to. Birdie’s awesome. I like her more than most people. Hey, you should text Bridger or Dani and ask them if we can take her to the pool.”
He’s just staring at me, still breathing a little hard from the hike and covered in sweat.
“Blake? Are you having a stroke or something? How many fingers am I holding up?”
“I fucking love you.” He kisses me hard, then pulls me behind him up the stairs to our room.
“Because I like your niece?”
“Yeah, sugar. Because you like my niece. And for a million other reasons. Get in the shower, and I’ll call Bridge.”
I blink at him for a second, then turn for the bathroom. I can hear his deep voice talking on the phone as I start the water and shimmy out of my gross clothes. I’ve just started washing my hair when he joins me and takes over scrubbing my scalp.
“Oh, that’s nice. It’s always better when someone else washes your hair.”
“Are many men washing your hair these days, Harper?”
I squint one eye open and stare at him. “No, jealous man, I have a hairdresser. Cool your jets. Only you and Miguel wash my hair. Besides me, of course.”
He stares down at me, his hands pausing in my hair, and I crack a smile.
“Her name is Melanie.”
“Thank you.” He kisses my nose and returns to the task at hand. “I’d better check you for ticks.”
“I’m almost as scared of them as I am of bears.”
“You should be.” He kisses my cheek and leads me back under the water. “No Lyme disease for you.”
“I’d rather not. What did Bridger say?”
“He’ll meet us down at the pool in thirty, and that Birdie will love hanging out with us. She’s obsessed with the pool.”
“Dani said that she, as in Dani, doesn’t like water.”
Something sad moves over Blake’s eyes, and he reaches for the conditioner.
“No. She doesn’t like water. It’s a long story, but the five Lexington siblings grew up in an extremely abusive situation.
Their mom died when Charlie was just a baby.
Holden was maybe ten, if I remember right.
Their dad was a piece of shit who ended up dying way too painlessly.
He tormented and tortured those kids all their lives.
Holden would load the girls up and bring them to our ranch when things got really bad, and my parents would help take care of them. ”
“Why didn’t the dad go to jail?”
“Because his best friend was the sheriff, and this is a small town. Twenty years ago, it was much smaller than it is now.”
“Wait, you said five kids? I’ve only met four.”
“Darby, the second oldest, is getting a degree in veterinary medicine in Colorado.”
“Good for her,” I reply. “That’s awesome. So the dad must have done something horrible with water?”
“He chose different forms of torture for each of the girls,” Blake says as he starts to clean my body. “For Dani, it was holding her under the water.”
“He waterboarded his own daughter,” I breathe out.
“Pretty much.”
“Fucking hell.” I lean my forehead on Blake’s chest and feel tears come to my eyes. “Blake, that’s unimaginable.”
“I know. She’s so strong. They all are. Dani and Bridger always had a spark, but the timing was never right. Until it was.”
“And now she’s safe and loved, and oh my God, I need to hug her again.”
“She’s okay, baby.” He kisses my forehead and nuzzles my nose. “She’s great.”
“I really like her.”
“I know, and I’m glad you do because I hang out with my family often, and I want you to be around as well.”
“I don’t have a problem with that.”
After we’ve finished washing and are dry, we slip on bathing suits and walk down to the pool, where Bridger and Birdie are already waiting for us.
“She will outswim you,” Bridger informs me. “She thinks she’s a fish.”
“No, Daddy, I’m a mermaid. I’m Ariel.”
“Is she your favorite princess?” I ask her.
“No, but she’s the one who swims best.”
“That’s fair.” I nod and smile at Bridger. “I won swimming competitions in high school. She’s safe, Bridger.”
Blake frowns down at me. “You did?”
“She took state her senior year.”
We all glance over and see Tucker and Easton sitting on lounge chairs, drinking beer and relaxing with who I think are Chase and Brady Wild.
I really need a spreadsheet with pictures.
Tucker grins. “She can kick your ass.”
“It’s a good thing the swear jar doesn’t count up here,” Birdie says to Tucker, who laughs. The little girl takes my hand and leads me to the deep end.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go in over there?” I point at the shallow end, but she shakes her head.
“No. Let’s jump together.”
“Okay. One, two, three!”
We hop into the water, and when we come up for air, I keep my hands on Birdie’s sides to make sure she doesn’t go back under.
But she’s kicking and using her arms the way she should, and she grins at me.
“We did it!”
“We sure did. Do you know how to do a back float?”
Birdie shakes her head.
“Okay, hold on to the side while I show you. Don’t let go, okay?”
“I won’t,” she says and brushes some hair out of her eyes, watching me closely.
I lie back and float on top of the warm water for at least ten seconds. When I right myself, Birdie’s already floating, her arms stretched out and a smile on her beautiful little face.
“This is really nice, and you don’t have to work super hard to do it,” she says.
“I agree. I’ll join you.”
I lie back again, but before I close my eyes, I see Blake smiling at the edge of the pool, taking a picture of us with his phone.
“I love you,” he mouths to me, and I grin up at him before I bring my hands together, making a heart.
“Okay, now what are we going to do?” Birdie asks, breaking the moment.
“Whatever you want.”
“Let’s race!”