Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
S unny had never much cared for her first name. It was too cheerful. Too bright. Too pure. But when Reid said it in his husky, desire-filled voice, it didn’t sound cheerful, bright, and pure.
It sounded sensual. Dark. Dirty.
She liked it. She liked it a lot.
Before Reid, pleasing men she spent the night with hadn’t been high on her list. She’d been more concerned with them pleasing her. But she wanted to please Reid. And she didn’t just want to please him. She wanted to drive him wild with desire.
She seemed to be doing a good job of it. His eyes were squeezed closed as if he were in pain as he fisted his hands in the sheets and moaned. The tensing of his thighs and abdominal muscles told her he was close. But before she could bring him to release, he spoke in a choked voice.
“St-op!”
She lifted her head and looked at him with concern. “Did I hurt you?”
He cradled her face in his hand and shook his head. “God, no. I just want you right there with me when I come.”
It was about the sweetest thing she’d ever heard. She moved up his hard body, intending to give him a soft kiss of gratitude, but he quickly took control of her lips in a possessive kiss that wiped all thoughts from her mind save for one.
More.
She wanted more.
He gave it to her.
As he kissed her, his hands slowly wandered over her body as if he was memorizing every curve and dip. When those work-roughened fingers finally slipped between her legs, parting her folds and dipping into her wet heat, his moan was as loud as hers.
“You are so hot, baby,” he whispered against her lips. “So damn hot. Can I have this?” He dipped deeper and strummed her with his thumb. Liquid desire spread through her and she would have given him just about anything.
“P-P-Please, Reid.”
He growled low and gave her one more body-melting finger-thrust and thumb-strum before he pulled away and reached for the drawer of his nightstand. When he returned with a condom, she couldn’t help teasing him.
“Just how long have those been in your drawer, Reid Mitchell?”
He grinned, sheepishly. “Since I met you. I think my subconscious knew where this was headed long before I did. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking.” His smile faded as his eyes darkened. “So are you gonna grant my wish, Sunshine?”
She took the condom from him. “I’m gonna grant both our wishes.”
She took her time putting on the condom, enjoying the feel of his hard length in her hand. If his moans were any indications, he seemed to be enjoying it too. They both were breathing hard by the time she straddled him.
She hadn’t ever given much thought to how she and men fit. Probably because she’d never fit with a man like she fit with Reid. Once she was fully seated, they both groaned with satisfaction. That feeling of satisfaction only grew as she started to move up and down his thick shaft.
At first, he allowed her to set the pace, but then his hands gripped her hips and he took control, meeting each one of her pumps with a hard thrust that turned desire into gnawing, frenzied need.
“Harder,” she moaned as she flung her head back and clawed at his chest. “I want it harder.”
She released a squeak of surprise when he flipped her to her back. Pinning her hands to the mattress with one hand and holding the majority of his weight with the other, he gave her what she asked for.
She felt like she was incinerating from the inside out. The tighter his grip on her wrists and the harder he thrust, the more she burned.
“You like it rough, don’t you, baby?” he gritted out between his teeth as he thrust into her deep. “You like it when you aren’t treated like a fragile doll. Well, I’ll never treat you like a fragile doll, Sunshine. Because you’re a strong woman who can take what she wants. So take it, baby.” He pumped faster. “Take it.”
The mixture of his dirty talk and hard thrusts sent her flying right over the edge and into the spiraling vortex of an earth-shattering orgasm that seemed to go on forever. Somewhere in the midst of it, she felt him find his own release with a tightening of muscles and a loud curse.
When it was over and Reid had released her wrists and slumped on top of her, she felt like one of Darla’s dishrags that had been wrung out and left to dry on the oven handle.
A content dishrag.
With other men, the moments after sex had always been filled with a multitude of emotions—disappointment, awkwardness, the need to make sure the guy didn’t become too clingy. Which probably explained why she’d always made a quick exit or asked them to leave. But lying there with Reid draped over her, she didn’t feel awkward or dissatisfied. And she certainly wasn’t in any hurry to leave. In fact, she felt like she could stay right there in the haven of Reid’s big, muscled body forever.
“You need to let me go, Sunny.”
Her face flamed as she realized she was holding on to him like a barnacle to the hull of a ship. “Oh! Sorry.”
As soon as she released him, he pushed up to his hands and looked down at her. “There’s no reason to apologize. I like being held in your arms. I like it a lot. If I hadn’t been worried about crushing you, I could have fallen asleep right there.”
She felt her heart warm. “I like being in your arms too.”
He smiled a satisfied smile. “Good. If you give me a second, I’ll have you back there.” He dipped down and delivered a kiss that had her body humming all over again before he got out of bed. He returned only moments later and delivered on his promise, pulling her into his arms and holding her like he never wanted to let her go.
After the long day of work and great sex, she should be tired. But she didn’t feel tired. She felt wide awake . . . and content.
“Tell me about your childhood,” she said as she played with his chest hair. “Where did you grow up?”
“Waco.”
“With your mama, daddy, and sister?”
He stopped drawing circles on her bare shoulder with his thumb. “Just my mama and sister. Our daddy was mostly out of the picture.” She felt his muscles tense. “He wasn’t married to my mom. He had a wife and family that he spent most of his time with.”
Her heart tightened. “I’m sorry.”
“It was okay. I had my mama and my sister.”
She hesitated. “What happened to your sister?”
There was a long pause before he spoke. “Pancreatic cancer. She only lived five months after her diagnosis.”
“I’m so sorry, Reid.”
“Me too. Even though we weren’t nearly as close as you and Corbin, I loved her. I didn’t realize how much until she was gone.” He paused. “I wish I’d been a better brother. I wish I had told her how much I loved her.”
Sunny lifted her head and looked at him. “I think she knew. You proved it by showing up when she needed you the most.”
He sighed. “But I wasn’t happy about it. Poor Sophie. The kid lost her mom and then got stuck with an inept cowboy who doesn’t know the first thing about being a parent.”
“Maybe you didn’t know the first thing about it then, but you’re a fast learner. Sophie couldn’t ask for a better guardian.”
He sent her a skeptical look. “Now you’re just lying to make me feel better.”
“Not at all. Believe me, I know a good guardian when I see one. I had my fair share of bad ones.”
His gaze turned sad. “Corbin mentioned how tough your childhood was.” He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Sunshine.”
“Like you, it was okay because I had someone who loved me. I owe Corbin so much.”
“Is that why you keep all your anger and unhappiness hidden from him? Why you try to be his perfect little sister?”
His blunt words had her sitting up. “I’m not perfect. I’m far from it.”
Reid studied her, his gaze direct. “You’re right. You aren’t perfect, Sunny. No one is. People get mad and grumpy and have bad days. No one can be sunny all the time. Sometimes the rain clouds move in and you just feel like . . . turning a but into a butt .” He reached out and took her hand in his. “And that’s okay. It’s okay to show your angry art, Sunny.”
Talk about rain clouds. She couldn’t keep her eyes from filling with tears and rolling down to her cheeks. When she went to wipe them away and make some silly excuse for her sudden emotional state, Reid stopped her.
“Let them fall, Sunshine. To me, your tears are just as beautiful as your smiles—your angry art just as stunning as your landscapes.” He drew her back into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Now all you have to do is realize that too.”
Sunny woke with the strong need to create. It had been such a long time since she’d felt that need she couldn’t ignore it. Carefully easing out from beneath Reid’s arm, she got up and grabbed his western shirt and pulled it on before she went hunting for a sketchpad and pencil.
When she’d lived in the trailer, she’d tucked her art supplies in every nook and cranny in case inspiration hit. So it didn’t take her long to find a sketchpad and pencils in the cabinet of an end table. Once she had them in hand, she grabbed a kitchen chair and hurried back to Reid’s room. He was still sound asleep and she wasted no time getting to work.
Worried the creative energy would disappear at any second, she worked feverishly, her pencil flying over the paper like it had a will of its own. Seconds later, Reid’s image took shape. Sleep-mussed hair falling like a ruffled raven’s wing over a high forehead. Thick eyelashes resting just above sleep-flushed cheekbones. Dark scruff covering an uneven top lip and angular jaw.
After sketching his face, she moved to his perfectly-sculptured shoulders and chest. She was so focused on getting the muscles around his collarbone just right that she didn’t realize Reid was awake until he shifted. She glanced to his face to find his pretty amber eyes on her.
She pointed the pencil at him. “Don’t you dare move another muscle.”
A smile tipped his mouth. “Or what?”
She thought for only a moment. “I’ll leave.”
The smile disappeared. “Can I keep my eyes open? I like watching you draw. Especially in my shirt.” His gaze lowered. “And the view would be even better if you opened your legs just a little bit.”
She bit back a smile. “Pervert. Now don’t move.” She went back to sketching . . . with her legs slightly wider than before. Reid kept his word and remained perfectly still until she was almost finished.
“I hate to mess with your creativity, sweetheart, but I need to go to the bathroom in a bad way.”
“Okay. Just let me?—”
“No time.” He threw back the sheet, jumped out of bed, and hurried out of the room. When offered such a delightful display of hard male virility, Sunny didn’t complain. Besides, the drawing was close to being done. And pretty good if she did say so herself. Still, she didn’t feel confident enough to share her work and quickly closed the sketchpad as soon as Reid stepped back into the room.
He lifted his eyebrows. “So I guess I don’t get to see it.”
“Nope.” She tucked the sketchpad and pencil under the chair.
He shrugged. “Okay. I guess I’ll have to live with you being shy about your work.” His gaze ran over her. “What I can’t live with is that shirt.”
She glanced down. “What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s still on you.”
She glanced up to see him smiling evilly. Smiling evilly with an impressive erection. Desire swelled up like sweet honey from a cracked-open hive. She rose to her feet, and slowly unsnapped the shirt and let it slip from her shoulders. Before it even hit the ground, Reid had her on the bed, her hands over her head and his hard, muscled body pressing into her.
He moved his lips along her throat, punctuating each word he spoke with a nibbling kiss. “I—was—doing—a—little—thinking—while—you—were—sketching.”
She pressed her hips against his erection. “I gathered that.”
He lifted his head and grinned. “Noticed that, did ya?”
“It’s hard not to notice. Pardon the pun.”
He laughed. She could get drunk on his laughter. It made her as giddy as Mimi’s elderberry wine.
She smoothed his hair off his forehead. “So what were you thinking about exactly, Reid Mitchell?”
“I was thinking about how fun it would be if you painted me.”
“You want me to paint you?”
“Not like a portrait. I want you to use my body like a canvas . . . for your angry art.”
Reid had done a lot of dirty talking in the last twelve hours, but this . . . this not only set her body aflame, it also caused a flame to flicker to life in her heart. For the first time in her life, she felt seen. Really seen. While she knew what to do about the fire burning low in her body, she didn’t have a clue what to do with the fire burning deep in her heart.
Reid misunderstood her hesitation. “What? Too kinky?”
“No . . . I just . . . would like that.” She smiled. “I’d like that a lot.”
“Then it’s a date.” He kissed her sweetly. “Tonight, I’m going to stretch out on that art table of yours and let you do your worst.” His eyes darkened. “But for now, I want to do a little painting of my own.” He bent his head and brushed his tongue along her neck in a heated trail of fire. “I think I’m going to call this . . . Sunshine art.”
It turned out he was extremely good at Sunshine art. Using his tongue and lips, he painted her body into a trembling canvas of need. When he reached the tattoo on her hip, he lightly kissed each petal as if adding the most delicate highlights before moving down a few inches to her quivering center. With all his prep work, all it took was one deep kiss and a few flicks of his tongue to send her flying.
He stayed with her until the last tremor and sigh. Then he lifted his head and smiled smugly.
“Not to shabby for my first work of art.”
Before she could answer, the front door opened.
“Uncle Reid! I’m home!”
Reid and Sunny stared at each other in horror for only a second before springing from the bed like a couple of naughty teenagers caught by their parents. Reid grabbed his jeans while Sunny grabbed his shirt.
But before they could even start to get dressed, Sophie appeared in the doorway. They both tried to hide like shy virgins behind the piece of clothing they held as Sophie looked between them in disbelief.
Reid finally broke the awkward silence with an angry bellow. “Get out, Sophie!”
She flinched before she turned and hurried down the hallway, followed by the slamming of the front door.
“Shit!” Reid tugged on his jeans before racing after her.
Sunny hadn’t even finished getting dressed when he returned looking like a wild man.
“She took your car!”