Chapter 5
ELI
Ihave one more box to haul into Stella’s place, not that there were many to begin with. That fact alone shocked the hell out of me.
A woman like her, fucking drop-dead gorgeous, moving from where she did, doesn’t usually travel really fucking light.
I have more shit than her, and I think of myself as a minimalist. I believed helping her unpack would give me insight about her, but it only left me with more questions.
My phone rings, and I pick it up without checking the screen.
I know exactly who it is as I see Reed’s big-ass head standing at his window sporting a huge-ass grin.
“What?” I ask, and a bark of laughter sounds from the other end. I gotta fight myself from getting annoyed. “Owen.”
“You…” He breaks into a fit of laughter all over again as if I just told the world’s best freaking joke. “You went and…” He starts to chuckle while trying to catch his breath, but I’m not going to deal with this shit.
They know me.
We’re close.
They know how out of character this is for me to react this way with a woman.
“I get you think you’re being fucking hilarious, and you don’t get this, but you calling to laugh at me for feeling the way I do is fucking shitty of you.” Silence meets my ear.
“Awe, come on. You’re my little bro. If I don’t pull your leg about getting sprung over a chick, my annoying older brother card gets pulled.”
“Fuck you,” I mumble and hear him bite away a laugh.
“This is that serious?” he asks genuinely. I grunt because I see Stella walk past the front window and note she needs curtains. My brother might be the only close neighbor, but people drive around these areas. I don’t want some creep getting a glimpse of her.
“Very.”
“How? You just met her. Or at least that’s what Reed said. Did you know her before this?”
“Nope. He was right.” I pause to wedge my phone between my shoulder and ear as I pick up the last box that says Kitchen and shut the car door. “Look, man, you know me, yeah?”
“I do. I get that. But maybe—"
“No maybe about it, Owen.” I look up to see her opening the front door, curious about me on the phone while holding her last box.
“She’s mine. So, how about at your next tea party with Reed and Eden, you let them know that, too.
” I hang up, not wanting to waste any more time with my brother on the phone.
Not when my future is walking right toward me.
“Need help?”
“Nope.” My lips twitch. Fuck, she’s cute thinking this little box warrants help. I head to the door and wait for her to walk through before stepping inside then shutting the front door.
“You need curtains, babe,” I point out. She looks toward her front window and nods.
“I think I have a couple panels in one of my boxes from my old place.”
“If not, when I run to town to get us food, I’ll grab something.”
“You… what?”
“You’re tired, baby,” I note as I set the box of her belongings on the couch Camila left behind. A couch that seriously needs to be retired. “I’ll go get us dinner and a movie and some curtains.”
“If you’re tired, we could always resched—"
“Nope,” I say, the ‘p’ popping at the end. She blinks. Damn, I want to know every thought rushing through her head.
“You sure? I kinda put you to work. Not to mention drive up and down the mountain to get my car and—" I stop listening. I can see my little talk before she stepped into my brother’s place didn’t stick.
I walk up to her and can’t help myself. I pull her curvy frame into my larger, harder one.
Fuck, she’s soft. So damn soft and sweet.
The shaky handle I have on my control when it comes to her dissolves.
There is no way I do anything but kiss her.
Right there, in the middle of the living room, my lips touch hers, and I suddenly, for the first time in thirty-four years, know what it’s like to be alive.
Truly and really alive.
My heart thumps louder, harder. With actual purpose.
I don’t maul her, even though I want to. The kiss starts off tender. Gentle. Giving her plenty of opportunity to push me away. But she doesn’t.
Her hands clench my tee as she lifts her body to the tips of her toes to get closer, pressing her beautiful full breasts against my chest. Fuck! I can feel the pebbled nubs of her nipples against my front despite the layers of clothes separating us.
She opens her mouth for me, silently giving me permission to deepen the kiss, and I don’t hesitate.
My tongue sweeps into her warm mouth. Her taste blossoms on my tongue, and a sound escapes from both of us.
Hers is the sweetest moan to ever fall upon my ears, and mine is a low and deep sound I’m sure I’ve never made.
One that sounds like the beast she’s brought to life.
I pull away. We’re both breathing hard, inhaling one another’s air.
I take that moment to soak her in. Her eyes are still shut, fanned over the prettiest golden-pink hue that covers her olive cheeks.
Her full lips are parted, swollen from mine.
My heart flips on its side as her tongue peeks out to swipe at her lower lip, and a deep part of me gets off knowing she can taste me.
I’m close to losing my mind.
I pick her up, and she squeals as her hands round the back of my neck.
I walk us over to the closest wall and gently press her against it.
Push my thigh between her legs as I bend my body to cage her in, loving the way her hand moves up my shoulders and cups my face while the other one moves into my hair.
I’m making deep sounds I don’t recognize, but she doesn’t seem to be freaked out by it, so I don’t try to stifle them.
One of my hands finds the back of her thigh and the other dives into her hair. I need to feel her even closer. My lips take her harder this time.
Rougher.
Wilder.
Wet.
My control is as rocky as the Grand Canyon at this point.
The heat between her legs radiates against my thigh, and I’m hard enough to pound nails. She rolls her hips, and her breath hitches as she rubs herself on me.
My little sweet Stella needs relief.
Relief she will only ever find with me. Each and every one of her orgasms will belong to me if I have anything to say about it.