13. Claimed
THIRTEEN
Claimed
SAGE
I should have been thinking about how fast this was moving.
One minute we were eating pizza by candlelight like two normal people getting to know each other.
The next, Carter’s mouth was on mine and my hands were tugging at the buttons of his shirt like I’d been waiting years for this moment with this cowboy instead of days.
Thinking was the last thing I wanted. Not tonight. He was leaving in a couple of weeks. I had told him I could handle fun and nothing more. So I was going to let myself fall into this—into him—while I still could.
Regrets could wait until his taillights disappeared down the road.
His fingers skimmed under the hem of my sweater, raising goosebumps as he pushed the fabric higher.
I broke the kiss just long enough to lift my arms, letting him pull it over my head.
Cool air kissed my skin, then his hands were there, cupping my breasts, thumbs brushing over my nipples until they tightened into aching points.
“Fuck, Sage,” he hissed, kissing up my throat, voice as rough as his whiskers. “You’re killing me already, finding you braless this whole time.”
I smiled, a little breathless, and reached for his belt. “Then we’re even. Because I’ve been thinking about your hands on me since the night you showed up half-naked on the side of the road.”
“You mean, that night you first brought me here, you wanted me?”
“Guess I should have made myself more clear. Yes. I wanted you then, Carter.”
He groaned, a hungry sound that went straight between my legs. His mouth found my nipple, sucking hard and ending with his teeth grazing it to make me arch into him with a sharp moan.
While he worked one breast, his other hand slid down my stomach, dipping beneath the waistband of my leggings in one smooth motion.
“No panties either?” he growled, voice dropping. “Here I thought you were a good girl, Sage.”
“I am,” I purred, rocking against his fingers. “A very good girl… for you.”
His fingers parted me, stroking through the slick heat already waiting for him.
“You’re soaked,” he murmured, nipping at the underside of my breast before switching to the other. “Is this all for me?”
“Every drop,” I gasped, hips rocking against his hand.
I shoved his shirt open, palms gliding over the firm planes of his chest and down the ridges of his abs.
When I reached his jeans, I palmed the thick length of him through the denim, squeezing just enough to make him curse. “And this, cowboy? All for me?”
“Every fucking inch.” His fingers circled my clit with devastating precision. “But if you keep rubbing me, I’m not gonna last long enough to do this right.”
I laughed wickedly, even as pleasure coiled tighter in my belly. “Who said we only get one round tonight?”
That earned me another growl. He spun me to face the table and whipped my leggings down to my ankles. “Hands on the edge. Don’t move them.” His commanding voice thrilled me as I did as I was told. He pulled out my hips, grinding himself into me.
“Mm. Yes.” I moved with him, meeting him thrust for thrust, titillated by his mounting moans, fucking with our clothes on. If things were this good… how might it be when he was inside of me?
“We need to stop that, or I’ll come in my pants.” His arms circled me. One hand back to flicking my clit, the other tweaking a nipple. His mouth laid kisses and nibbles from my shoulder to collarbone. Everything built so fast inside of me, I could snap any minute.
“Mine. For now. Until I leave this town. No one else,” he whispered in my ear, and cupped my neck possessively. “Hear me?”
“Yes. Yours.” I hated his leaving. But I loved him commandeering my body until it shook, riding an edge I couldn’t back down from. I came for him, loud and moaning, clenched around his fingers.
He brought them to his mouth, tasting, sucking them at my ear. “Mm, baby, knowing how you taste. I’m going to need more.”
“Another time. Right now, I need you inside me.” I flipped back around, reaching for his jeans.
We finished undressing each other in a heated rush—my leggings and panties kicked away, his jeans shoved off, shirt tossed somewhere behind him.
Skin met skin, hot and urgent. Our mouths crashed together again, tongues and teeth and desperate sounds. I wrapped my hand around his bare cock, stroking him root to tip while he reached around, teasing my backside. I normally wouldn’t play there, tempting though with him.
While I was completely lost in the feel of his hard, thick cock pulsing in my grip, I needed more. I pushed him back into the chair. His eyes darkened with want as I climbed onto his lap, straddling him.
I hovered there, teasing the head of his cock against my entrance. “Just the tip, please,” I begged, sliding his head inside before pulling back. And repeated the same move again. And again. Each time adding another inch.
“Sage,” he warned, hands digging into my hips. His breath came in ragged pants.“You’re playing with fire.”
“Then burn me,” I whispered, taking a little more of him before easing off again. “I like the heat you’re giving off.”
“I’m hanging on by a thread.” His head fell back with a groan, the cords of his neck standing out.
I grinned, loving the effect I had on him.
The sight of him beneath me, flushed, breathing hard, and completely at my mercy, was the most powerful thing I’d ever felt. But reality crashed in when I could tell how close I was to taking all of him.
“Sage, stop,” he hissed. He lifted me off him, chest heaving. “Shit. I don’t have a condom. My wallet got stolen, remember?”
I blinked, dazed and aching, with a frustrated laugh. “But Carter… it’s been so long for me. You feel so good.”
“How long?” His hands smoothed up my thighs like he couldn’t stop touching me.
I ducked my head, a shy smile tugging at my lips. “Long enough that I’m not above begging right now. And I’m on the pill.”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “See, I just broke things off with my ex right before I came to Montana. I haven’t been tested in some time. Maybe we should slow down.” His eyes met mine, conflicted but kind.
“Or maybe we don’t.” I took his hand and tugged him up, leading him to the bedroom.
Inside, my fluffy bed waited for us, with plenty of pillows and quilts. At the nightstand, I opened the drawer and pulled out a condom from the box.
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re prepared.”
“Leftovers from when Ivy lived here before me. But I keep them around because you never know when the mood might strike and I meet a handsome cowboy at the Sapphire,” I teased, trying to keep things light even as my heart raced.
He stepped close, cupping my face. “Nah. You’re a good girl, aren’t you? You don’t do one-nighters. Maybe you’re too good for me.”
I searched his eyes. “From what I’ve seen, you’re a good guy too.”
“You don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
“Then show me who you really are.” I kissed him again, pouring every emotion into it.
The desire, the fear of him leaving, and the desperate hope that this could be more than just tonight.
That there’d be no other women after me.
A fragile dream, perhaps, but a girl could wish. “Please, Carter, show me.”
I settled on the bed, writhing and beckoning him, my hands caressing my body, moaning his name as he watched.
“I’m going to make you feel so good, you’ll never forget me,” he promised, his voice thick as he rolled on the condom.
The sight of him, his golden skin, muscles, his hard cock—“I couldn’t forget you if I tried.” I reached down, hands on my ankles, and spread myself wider for him, welcoming him in.
He eased inside me at first, until it got tighter, stretching and filling me completely.
I kept my eyes on him while his hand rested lightly at my throat, thumb brushing my jaw so I couldn’t look away.
If only I could memorize every flicker of pleasure crossing his face, the way his jaw clenched, the way his eyes darkened as he thrust deeper inside of me.
“Mm. Carter, so good.” My hand slid between us to my clit, working myself up again.
“So fucking good. You’re taking all of me, and still I want to give you even more.
” With deep, slow, concentrated strokes penetrating my tight walls, he found the perfect rhythm.
His whispers continued in my ear, dirty things, lovely things, all the things he’d like to do with me.
Each one pushed me to the edge, higher and higher until a dam burst inside of me.
I came first and hard, clenching around him, wetness seeping out, legs squeezing his middle. He followed right after, burying his face in my neck as he spilled, moaning my name, holding me tight like he never wanted to let go.
I wished he never would.
“That was… incredible,” he breathed, chest heaving, his cock still hard inside of me.
“I’ll take the compliment,” I whispered, smiling against his hair.
“You most definitely should.”
We laughed, rearranging and staying tangled together afterward. With my head on his chest, his fingers traced figure-eight patterns on my back. The way he felt right here with me in this moment, I wasn’t supposed to like it this much. But I did.