30. Dove #3
Josh took our glasses and set them aside.
He stepped closer into the V of my legs and I opened them wider so he could fit between them, my dress rucking up higher.
His eyes never once dropped down. Instead, he kept them locked on mine, his hands reaching up to swipe the hair out of my eyes before he cupped my face with them.
“Doing that never took away from how much this spot meant to me.” His gaze bore into mine intensely. “And it had nothing to do with not wanting to spend time with you.”
“Then why?” I croaked, throat clogged with emotion. I blamed it on the champagne, regardless that I’d only taken a few sips.
“Because I couldn’t trust myself when it was just the two of us.
I was starting to have feelings for you, and I was so damn worried you’d see it and hate me for it.
” He rested his forehead on mine, closed his eyes and sighed.
A deep, weary sigh that rattled coming out; like it’d spent ages locked up inside his chest. “And the last thing I ever want is for you to hate me.”
“I could never hate you, Josh.” I met his honesty with my own.
“I had feelings for you, then, too. How I feel for you… it wasn’t just something that sparked when you came back home.
” My admission was quiet and tentative in the air between us.
I wanted to say more. To admit I’d fallen for him a long time ago and landed straight at his feet with my heart outstretched in my hands, but that seemed a little too heavy, and a whole lot dramatic, so I held the words in.
A part of me was still hesitant, afraid one day I’d find myself watching the red glow of Josh’s taillights fade through a wave of kicked up dust just like last time.
Instead of answering Josh took my hand and helped me slip off the tailgate, hugging me close.
All my worries eased as he wrapped himself around me, and I inhaled deeply, taking in a whiff of my favorite scent.
Woodsy. Masculine. Safe. Home. In his arms, I didn’t worry about anything.
My heart was so full I could feel it thumping in my chest, beating a rhythm of Josh, Josh, Josh.
A moment later, music played softly from a Bluetooth speaker sitting nearby, stealthily played from his phone.
“I know I have a lot to make up for,” Josh murmured to me. “So let me make it up to you.” He grazed his lips against mine, the tease of a kiss, and in a daze, I nodded. I’d let this man do anything to me.
We swayed lightly in each other’s arms, not quite dancing, but all it would take was effort on either of our parts to make it that way. I just wasn’t tempted to move out of his arms yet. Not when I was in my favorite place with my safest person.
The song changed over to something slow enough to dance to, the words a little too close to home but no less true.
His arms positioned around me so he could take one of my hands in his, the other going to the small of my back, nudging me closer until no space was left between us as we swayed together to the music.
He sang parts of the song in my ear, the deep rumble of his singing voice beautiful and soothing.
It’d been years since I’d heard Josh sing, and emotion collected at the back of my throat.
Sometimes it was hard to believe this was real. Between all the heartache and loss, I finally got to have something good to call my own. And his name was Joshua Hex.
I was nowhere near what you’d call a good singer, but he made me want to be. Instead, I mouthed the words into his collarbone, my head tucked under his chin as we slow danced.
One song bled into two, and I closed my eyes, just letting Josh take the lead.
I didn’t need to concentrate on the steps or where we were going, not when Josh had me.
Eventually he maneuvered us over to the dock, which creaked and groaned under our footsteps, the worn wood still sturdy despite its age.
My eyes fluttered open, noticing the sun was nearly set, the sky still holding on to its blend of colors before night fell completely.
Josh hummed, getting my attention, and I lifted my head. He inclined his head toward the lake questioningly. “With how hot this summer’s been, the water will be plenty warm. Care for a swim?”
My eyes darted between him and the water, eyebrows raised. “Unless you’ve really thought of everything, I’m not exactly prepared for a swim.”
Josh’s lips ticked up into a grin, like he knew something I didn’t. Comprehension dawned on me as Josh left the little bubble we’d created, his hand slipping from mine, my lower back instantly growing cold without his touch, so he could toe off his boots and reach back to tug off his shirt.
Skinny dipping was part of Josh’s agenda this evening?
My body grew hot as I watched his toned chest come into view. He cast the shirt aside, letting it flutter to the ground. A memory broke through the fog of lust I was currently in just from seeing him shirtless, and just to be a brat, I snarked, “I thought I wasn’t allowed.”
His gaze darkened, remembering just what I was referring to.
“You weren’t allowed when other boys were watching.
” His hands sought the hem of my dress, fingertips teasing along the back of my thighs.
“Now it’s just me here, and you’re all mine.
” He gathered the fabric of my skirt in his hands then eased it up and over my head.
It was a weird feeling, to be so exposed out in the open, even if there was only one pair of eyes on me.
The night was far from cold, but chills erupted over my skin as I stood in just my bra and underwear.
Thank God I’d heeded Reverie’s advice, deciding to go with a lacy combo I'd never worn before. There hadn’t really been much of an occasion in the past, not anyone I really wanted to wear them for, and there was no need to wear something dainty and pretty when I was just getting sweaty and dirty around the farm.
The nervousness of being so exposed, so vulnerable, had my hands drifting to the front of his pants to even the playing field.
Far more of me was on display than him, and I wanted, no needed, to change that.
His tongue came out to wet his bottom lip as I thumbed open the button of his fly.
My fingers flirted over the zipper, teasing, applying just enough pressure to have him twitching under my hand, a soft groan escaping him.
The quiet whisper of his zipper was lost over the sound of our heaving breathing, both of us suspended in this tension-filled moment.
Said tension seemed to heighten as my fingers curled over the waistband of both his jeans and boxer briefs.
I hesitated only a moment before pushing them down until they pooled around his ankles.
When he stepped out of them my breath caught, captivated by all of him on display in the fading sunlight.
We may have been up close and personal in the shower before, but I hadn’t gotten a chance to look my fill then, too worried about my own insecurities.
But I was looking now, and Josh was a work of art.
Whatever gym routine he’d been doing had clearly been effective, and the farm work he’d tackled in his time back had only helped.
He was a bronzed statue carved from a girl’s wet dream, and every solid, cut part of him had me drooling.
It also had me painfully aware of how opposite we were.
How every firm part of him was rounded and soft on me.
Our differences were highlighted in every curve and dip of my body, every stretch mark, every ugly, new scar I’d acquired from working a physical, manual job by myself these past few years, where his had faded while away.
But this time instead of that wave of embarrassment I’d grown accustomed to experiencing, the fevered heat in Josh’s eyes as he watched me had me feeling…
powerful. Sexy . As if I’d taken a lethal dose of courage, my hands wandered over my body until they found their way to the top of my underwear.
His eyes homed in, but just before I could take them off, he stopped me.
“Wait.” He surprised me by sinking down to his knees. “Let me.”
My insides liquified into a molten heat at the sight of him kneeling before me.
The skim of his lips to the curve of my stomach just below my belly button had my answer dying in my throat.
My permission came in the form of my hands in his hair, directing him lower until his kisses hit the edge of my underwear.
He worked his way from one hip bone to the next in a meticulous line, leaving no skin un-kissed.
Each one had my breath punching out of me until I was a panting mess.
My legs longed to press together to ease the ache between them and my nipples were hard and sensitive inside my bra, begging for the same attention.
When Josh finally eased the fabric down my legs, the evening air was a cold kiss on my wet center.
He guided one of my hands to his shoulder to keep me steady as he helped me step out of them before unbuckling and removing my sandals.
When he rose, my panties were still fisted in his hand and as if in slow motion I watched as he brought them to his nose, inhaling deeply, his eyes closing in ecstasy.
Desire hit me like a strike of lightning, burning through me, leaving me reeling with a want that damn near hurt, and had me growing slicker between my thighs.
“You smell so fucking good, baby.” His voice was deep and raspy and raw.