Chapter Twenty-Three #2
His fingers inched up over my calves, taking their time moving to my thighs; he hovered near the zipper.
I had to suck in a quick breath as he dragged a finger over my center.
He stopped for a minute. Closed his eyes.
Licked his lips, like he could feel my wetness beneath his fingers.
I placed my hand over his and he made a slight hum under his breath, whispered, ‘Not yet,’ before his fingers were on the button of my jeans.
He slid them down my legs, and like the coveralls, he removed them one at a time.
His hungry gaze swept over my lacy, pink underwear before he slid his hands up my torso and eased my T-shirt off.
I waited for him to touch me, but he stepped back and dragged the Henley over his head.
Like the sun had given his skin a dozen tiny kisses, freckles dotted the top part of his pecs and eased over the curve of his shoulders.
My mouth watered as he reached for the snap on his jeans and tugged them off.
His breaths came out in ragged bursts as I stepped closer and slid my hand inside his boxer briefs.
He was hot and hard as I began to stroke the length of him.
His eyes shuttered closed, and he leaned into the slow way I ran my hand up and down his shaft, teasing the end of his cock, which was already dripping wet.
His hand palmed the side of my neck and he pulled me in for a kiss. It was hot and hungry, and I wanted more. I ran my hand across the muscles defining his abdomen. Over the line of fine reddish hair that cascaded down his chest.
The day we’d first met on the path, I’d ignored that feeling of butterfly wings fluttering against my ribs.
How even though he’d talked like an idiot, the way he looked at, and cared for, his dog said he was a gentle and good man.
The tension of that line growing between us grew tauter with each passing day.
In this moment with him looking like he wanted to devour me, that tether between us became a jarring snap, yanking me in, sucking all the oxygen from my lungs.
Like on the ridge today I was in freefall, but this time I was hurtling straight for a destination I’d known I’d wanted since the moment he’d showed up at Clo’s, all gasping questions and desperate pleas that I save one of the most precious beings in his life.
‘While I’d love to fall to my knees and devour you right here, I want to take care of you first. Make sure we clean up your cuts. Is that okay?’ he asked breathlessly.
Tears burned the corners of my eyes at his tenderness, and all I could manage was a weak nod.
He dropped his underwear and opened the glass shower door, turning on the water.
Steam quickly filled the room. He took my hands and walked carefully backwards until we were both under the spray.
I started to protest, pointing to my now wet underwear, until he sank down and eased them off.
My hands stroked his soaking wet hair, and I tugged back his head to look at his face.
He smiled and stood slowly. The hard heat of him pushed against me.
I wanted to reach for him, but he held me still as he unhooked my bra and tossed it over the shower door.
He set his mouth against my neck, his hands tracing the line of my shoulders and moving to the top of my back, which made me wince.
‘Hey, I’ve got you,’ he whispered.
‘Sorry. My back must look awful.’
He snaked a hand around my waist, tucking me against him. ‘You are a fucking vision, Dani.’ He brushed aside my hair. Pressed another searing kiss to the slopes of my breasts. I wound my hands around his neck, tugging him closer, but as soon as he touched the skin on my back I winced again.
He inched away, grabbed the soap and rubbed it between his hands. His touch was light, careful, as he worked the suds down my back, over the gashes on my forearms, and across the deep cuts on my palms.
He pointed the spray in my direction, suds disappearing down the drain. A second later, the scent of cedar and mint filled the air. With slow circles, he worked the shampoo into my hair. I sucked in another low breath and his hands stilled.
‘Does that hurt?’
‘Guess I didn’t realize I scraped up my scalp too.’
He leaned in and pressed his mouth to the back of my ear. ‘I’ll be careful, I promise.’
When I didn’t respond, he turned me to face him. He held me in that tender gaze, and all the words I wanted to say, Is this real? Is my sister right about us? stayed locked in the base of my throat.
‘You’re spiraling. I can see it in your eyes.’ His palm went back to the side of my neck, and I loved the way it made me feel steady. ‘This is about you and me, Dani. In this moment I do not give a shit about any article. All I want is you. Are we clear?’
He feathered his thumb over my cheek. Pulled me closer until I was flush with his slick, wet body. ‘Tell me what you want now.’
I slid my fingers against his and brought them to my breasts. He ran his hands over the taut, achy nubs. Massaged them as I arched back for more. His mouth pressed into my collarbone.
A moan slid from my lips while his hands traveled down over my stomach and stopped at my hot center. He started with a slow rhythm of circles before he slid one finger inside, and I let out a small whimper of relief.
‘More?’ he growled.
‘Yes,’ I gasped.
He slid in another finger and I rode his hand.
The heat of the spray, the sound of his hitched breaths, the coiling of the muscles in my stomach, unleashed a delicious need.
I bucked and arched, loving the steady thrusts, how he knew how to curl his fingers to hit all the right spots.
The tense coils loosened inside me until he slid in one more finger, filling me up, making me come undone.
He pressed more kisses to my neck and into my hair as my body shook and quivered.
When my breathing smoothed out, he said, ‘We should get you toweled off and into some clean clothes.’
He reached to turn the shower off and I stopped his hand. ‘We’re not done here.’
He arched a brow. ‘What did you have in mind, Dr McGuire?’
‘How about I show you?’
I nudged him back against the white tile.
He made a low hum as I stroked him. I loved the satisfied murmurs that spilled from his throat.
The way he whispered my name like if he said it enough it would be permanently etched in his mind.
When he moaned like he was on the edge, I slid in closer.
He wrapped a hand around my waist and his eyes opened, pinning me in place.
‘I haven’t been with anyone in a long time, and my last tests were clean,’ he said.
‘Me too, and I have an IUD.’
The hint of desperation in his gaze was so uninhibited, so greedy. He walked me backward until I was flush against the wall. His hands wrapped around my waist and he lifted me up and I sank right down, taking him as deep as possible.
‘Oh fuck,’ he groaned as he held me tight. ‘Wait a minute,’ he gasped. ‘This is goddamn bliss. I want to savor it.’
I could have listened, but those tight bands of need built in me again.
Like he understood what I wanted, he began to move, slowly sliding in and out, the head of him teasing and taunting the outside of me.
The moan that spilled from my mouth had him gripping my hips tighter.
His movements came in focused thrusts as he held me in place, took me deeper, unlocking all those aching muscles inside me.
For a second, the lights in the bathroom flickered.
‘Distracted enough now?’ he said hotly against my neck and I let out a laugh.
‘Keep telling me what to do,’ he growled. ‘Where I should touch you, lick you. How you want to be fucked. I want to please you in every way possible.’
Every word he spoke sparked a fire inside me. Unleashed a hunger I’d been burying for too long. ‘I want more. To be completely filled.’
I panted into his neck as his hand moved to my sensitive center. His thrusts became more insistent, and I used his shoulders to gain leverage until he was so deep that the need inside me built until I could barely hold on.
I said his name like a prayer and he gasped, ‘Wait for me. I’m nearly there.’
The lights shuddered again as if the whole room was vibrating.
In an agonizing tease, he pulled out of me, swirled his hips, the head of his cock slick as I pleaded for him, and he slid into me again.
With panting breaths, he urged me to let go.
That beautiful heat rose up in my core. A cry spilled from my mouth as he pushed me over the edge into a delicious and euphoric high.
The lights in the bathroom blared an intense white. As Bryce found his own release, one bulb and then another exploded with a jarring crack. I yelped as the room was engulfed in shadows and the heavy cloak of evening.
Still holding me with a vice-like grip, Bryce let out a full-throated laugh. ‘There is so much about this old place that needs to be fixed.’ He pressed another open-mouthed kiss against my shoulder. ‘Or it could be what we just did was so hot, we short-circuited the damn place.’
A small, tight chuckle spilled from my lips even as a knot of dread bloomed in my chest. While I wanted to believe that what just happened was about the age of this place, a worry buried deep in the back of my mind warned that the sudden pulse of electricity had nothing to do with hot sex.
I pushed away the thought and let Bryce quickly towel me off before he took my hand and led me down the hall to his bedroom.