Chapter Eleven
Wren
Atwig snapped and I glanced over my shoulder to see a shadowed figure approaching. I knew who it was without having to see his face. “If you’re looking to be alone, this spot’s taken,” I teased.
He snorted and moved to stand next to me. “I don’t mind a little company.”
“Did you have fun tonight?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Although it is very different from my usual, this dress shirt is driving me nuts.” He undid the top few buttons and shook out the fabric. My eyes caught on the starburst of black ink across the top of his chest.
“I feel the same way about these shoes. I’m glad they weren’t heels but I’m used to hiking boots.”
“Take them off,” he said. His words sent a tingle up my spine. I slid them off and wiggled my toes in the dust.
“Better?”
“Much.”
“Good. You still have one more thing to do before you call it a night.” I turned towards him, his face partly hidden in shadow, towering over me in my bare feet.
“And what’s that?”
“Dance with me.” My heart flipped over in my chest.
“I’m not much of a dancer,” I said but I was already reaching for him, my hands settling on his broad shoulders.
He slid his hands over my waist, his touch raising goosebumps on my skin. His hand settled low on my back, and he pulled me closer until there was no space left between us.
The air around us was warm, but I still shivered.
The strength of his body was clear with every place we were pressed together and I wanted to melt into the feeling.
We swayed to nothing in particular. Just an excuse to touch. My mind spun through the last few days—fighting, arguing, getting stranded, saying things neither of us usually said.
Now there was only this.
The tension was gone and something new was forming in the space it left behind.
And suddenly it wasn’t enough.
Our eyes met and held, the heat between us as clear as if a fire burned where we stood.
I would regret stepping away from this man without a taste.
So I kissed him.
I rose onto my toes, his beard grazing my chin as I pressed my lips to his.
Soft at first.
Then not.
I tasted wine on his tongue, felt the heat of him bleed into me. He still smelled like the forest, even dressed like this and I breathed him in.
I dug my fingers into his shoulders, pulling myself closer.
Heat pooled low as he teased my lips.
A rough sound left his throat and he walked me backward until my spine met the rough bark of a tree.
It bit into my skin, probably snagging my dress but I didn’t care.
His hands slid up my sides, stopping just beneath my breasts. I arched into him, chasing more.
“Wren,” he murmured.
I took the opening, sliding my tongue into his mouth.
Everything these past few days had been too much.
Too intense.
The emotions, the questions, the way he made me rethink decisions I’d made a long time ago.
This had to be simpler than that.
It had to just be physical or I wasn’t sure I could walk away from it with my heart intact.
So I pushed it further.
My hands slid from his shoulders, over the planes of his chest, to his belt.
He broke the kiss, searching my face as I worked the buckle. “Is this okay?” I asked.
I could see how conflicted he was. Some misplaced chivalry bullshit that I had no time for. “We don’t… I mean, if you don’t want—”
“Just answer the question, Jasper. Yes or no?” I cut him off, sliding my hand lower, palming him through his pants.
He jerked into my touch.
He growled, low and rough, and that was all the answer I needed.
His hands tightened on my waist and suddenly I was off the ground. My back hit the tree again, my body pinned between him and the rough trunk.
The skirt of my dress slid up to my waist as I wrapped my legs around his hips and held on tight.
His lips were back on mine, even more demanding than before. I met him, touch for touch, tease for tease. It was hard to breath between the kiss and the sensation flowing through me, but tearing away wasn’t an option.
Instead, I focused on wedging my hand between our bodies and lowering his zipper.
“Off. Take these off,” I murmured against his mouth.
He pinned me in place with his body, one arm under my ass, as he shoved his pants and boxers to the ground.
“I want you.” My voice was strained as yet another honest truth spilled from my lips.
“You have me.” His answer was just as honest and the ache in my chest was momentarily sharper than the ache between my thighs.
Pushing the feeling away, I sought his bare length and gave it a gentle stroke.
His cock was warm and thick, and he bucked into my hand.
He adjusted his hold on me and slid his hand between us, pushing my panties aside.
“Fuck—” I arched into his touch, as he found my clit and teased it with skilled focus.
We didn’t have the time or space to really explore each other, but we could do better than this. I shoved the top of my dress down just enough to free my breasts, the air cool against overheated skin.
His gaze dropped, dark and focused, before his mouth followed. He sucked my eager nipple into his mouth, teasing the tip with his tongue, taking it roughly with his teeth.
Sensation flooded my deprived body. The combination of his hand and his mouth was too much to take.
I broke under him.
Pleasure crashed through me, hard and sudden, my legs tightening around him as I came. I leaned my head back against the tree, staring up at the canopy and the stars beyond it as my body convulsed with pure pleasure.
Somewhere behind us, the music shifted and people cheered. It barely registered.
This was all that existed right now.
Him and me, bringing whatever was between us to a high so it could crash to nothing when the moment ended.
That’s what had to happen. It was too hard otherwise.
“Fuck me, Jasper,” I whispered, dragging my head back from where it was resting to look into his dark eyes. He moved his mouth back to mine. Kissing me slowly for a moment.
Slow didn’t work for me. I needed more.
Reaching between us, I gripped his cock again and slid my thumb around the head, spreading his precum and feeling him twitch in my hand.
I adjusted my legs around him, guiding his cock to my entrance.
“Protection?” he murmured against my lips.
“Don’t need it. I’m clean, and on the pill.”
He nodded deepening the kiss again. I pushed my hips forward until his cock was inside me.
We both gasped.
The stretch stole my breath and my eyes fluttered shut.
We stilled. Him buried to the hilt. Me clinging to him.
I was surrounded by all things Jasper. His smell, his heat. I tasted him on my lips, felt the ghost of his tongue on my breast. Not to mention that he was deep inside me, fighting to maintain control.
He moved first.
A slow roll of his hips, then a harder thrust that knocked the breath from my lungs. “Yes,” I breathed as stars burst behind my eyes.
He thrust forward again and again. Faster and rougher as I pushed forward to meet his movements with my own.
There was nothing sweet about it. We weren’t building a foundation. This was raw and feral. Just two people driven by the animal instinct to get off.
He dropped his forehead to rest against the tree beside my cheek. His breath hit my neck, uneven now. I gripped his arms, both of our muscles straining as I held on.
“Oh shit, Jasper,” I moaned. Something, the tail of his dress shirt maybe, rubbed against my clit as we rutted together faster and harder. My nipples slid over his chest as I clung to him.
The sensation was climbing fast and all I could do was feel and react.
And then I broke again.
Harder this time.
A strangled noise tore from my throat and my inner muscles hugged his cock where it was buried deep.
“Shit,” he breathed beside me. Sweat had formed where his cheek rested against mine, where his hands gripped my thighs.
It was primal and real, honest and naked. Despite the fancy clothes and the wedding going on in the background, it came down to skin, instincts and the bare earth under our feet.
He drove into me once more and stilled, a deep groan tearing from him as he filled me with his cum.
He pulsed inside me, every muscle in his body straining.
We stayed just like that for a few long moments. He slid his lips along the side of my jaw as he fought to catch his breath and the sensation made me shiver.
His touch was still potent even after I’d come twice.
My limbs felt like jelly, exhausted from clenching around him.
Slowly I released my grip and let reality back in.
I heard the music and voices again and became aware of the world beyond the trees.
This was the most honest and unguarded sex I had ever had.
And it was over.
And I almost regretted that I would never see him again after tonight.
But it would have ended sooner or later. It was much easier to get a clean break after only one time.