Chapter 8
Dustin
Vanessa was curled against his side with her head on his chest, blonde hair spread across his skin like silk, and the soft sound of her breathing was better than any alarm clock he'd ever owned.
Better than anything he'd ever known.
The morning light filtering through her bedroom curtains revealed things he'd been too distracted to notice last night. The way her skin looked pale against his, the small scar on her shoulder that he wanted to kiss and ask about, the satisfied smile that curved her lips even in sleep.
His phone buzzed on the nightstand, and he reached for it slowly, trying not to wake her. A text from Jake: Heard from Bill Tracy you might be ready to come back soon. Big payouts in Oklahoma next week. You in?
Oklahoma. Bill must have mentioned it when they'd talked last week about Dustin's recovery timeline. He'd been noncommittal then, still focused on healing. Now all he could think about was the woman sleeping in his arms and whether leaving would be the stupidest thing he'd ever done.
No. Not whether. He already knew it would be.
Vanessa stirred against him, her hand sliding across his chest as she woke up slowly. When she finally opened her eyes and looked at him, there was a moment of vulnerability before awareness replaced it. Recognition of what had changed between them.
"Morning," she said, and her voice was husky from sleep and screaming his name last night.
"Morning, beautiful." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, loving the way she leaned into the touch. "Sleep okay?"
"Better than I have in weeks." She stretched against him, and the movement pressed her naked body more firmly against his side. Her breast brushed his chest, and his body responded immediately. "You?"
"Best sleep in years."
It was true. Even when exhaustion should have knocked him out, he'd never slept as deeply as he had with her pressed against him. Like his body had finally recognized where it was supposed to be.
She noticed his phone in his hand, screen still lit with Jake's message. "Everything okay?"
He should tell her about the rodeo, about the choice he was going to have to make soon. Instead, he set the phone aside and rolled over, pinning her beneath him.
"Everything's perfect," he said, and kissed her before she could ask any more questions.
She melted into the kiss, her legs parting to cradle him between them. He was already hard from waking up next to her naked body, and when she rocked her hips against him, he groaned into her mouth.
His erection pressed against her core, and the contact made them both gasp.
"Again?" she asked, sounding pleased and a little surprised.
"I can't get enough of you," he admitted, trailing kisses down her throat. "I want you again, until I've memorized every sound you make, every place that makes you shiver."
To prove his point, he found that spot just below her ear that had made her gasp last night and was rewarded with the same breathy moan that had nearly driven him crazy.
"We should probably get up," she said even as her hands slid down his back to cup his ass, pulling him harder against her. "I have job interviews today."
"How many?"
"Two. Maybe three if the temp agency calls back."
Job interviews meant she'd leave him alone in the house to think about Jake's message and the choice he was avoiding. Job interviews meant going back to the reality where she was a woman looking for stability and he was a cowboy who'd never stayed anywhere longer than eight months.
Except he wasn't that cowboy anymore. Not after last night. Not after falling in love with her.
"Cancel them," he said against her collarbone.
"Dustin..."
"Stay in bed with me. Let me take my time with you."
Her breath hitched, and he felt her nipples harden against his chest. But looking down at her flushed face and kiss-swollen lips, he knew last night had meant as much to her as it had to him.
"I can't afford to miss these interviews," she said, but her body was telling a different story, arching into his touch as his hands roamed her curves.
"One more hour," he bargained, his mouth moving lower to trace the curve of her breast. "Give me one more hour, and I'll drive you to every interview myself."
"That's bribery."
"Is it working?"
Her answer was lost as he took her nipple into his mouth, tongue circling the sensitive peak until she was writhing beneath him. She was so responsive, so perfect, and he wanted to worship every inch of her body until she forgot about everything except the way he could make her feel.
He sucked harder, and she arched off the bed with a cry that went straight to his cock. God, he loved the sounds she made. Loved the way she responded to him like her body had been made for his touch.
"You're going to make me late," she protested, but her hands were already tangling in his hair, holding him closer.
"I'll make it worth your while."
He proved it by kissing his way down her body, taking his time to explore every curve and hollow until she was trembling with need.
When he settled between her thighs, she was already wet and ready for him, glistening with arousal, but he took his time anyway, building her pleasure slowly until she was begging for release.
He started with long, slow licks, tasting her, learning her. Then he focused on her clit, circling it with his tongue while he slid two fingers inside her. She was tight and hot, and when he curled his fingers to hit that spot inside her, she nearly came off the bed.
"Please," she gasped, hips lifting toward his mouth. "Dustin, please."
He loved the way she said his name when she was desperate for him, loved the power of being able to reduce this competent, controlled woman to breathless need.
But more than that, he loved the trust she showed him, the way she let herself be vulnerable with him in a way he suspected she'd never been with anyone else.
When she finally came apart under his tongue, it was with a cry that sounded like his name and a prayer all at once. He gentled her through it, soft kisses and soothing touches until she pulled him up to kiss her deeply, tasting herself on his lips.
"I need you," she said against his mouth, and the words sent desire pulsing through him. "Inside me. Now."
"You have me," he said, reaching for the condom on her nightstand. "You've had me since the first day I walked into your house."
He rolled on the condom and positioned himself at her entrance. She was so wet that he slid in easily, but he still took his time, savoring the way she opened for him, the moan she made as he filled her completely.
"God, you feel good," he groaned. "So tight. So perfect."
This time there was no desperate urgency, just the slow build of pleasure as they moved together in perfect rhythm. He braced himself on his forearms above her, watching her face as he thrust deep and slow, pulling almost all the way out before pushing back in.
"So good," she breathed, nails digging into his shoulders as he hit that spot inside her that made her arch beneath him. "So perfect."
Perfect. That's what this was, what she was.
He'd spent ten years thinking he needed freedom, movement, the rush of adrenaline that came with eight-second rides and new places.
But this, being inside her, watching her face as pleasure built in her eyes, feeling her body respond to his, this was better than any high he'd ever chased.
This was everything.
"Look at me," he said when her eyes started to drift closed. "I want to watch you come for me."
She met his gaze, and the intimacy of it nearly undid him. They were connected in every way possible. Bodies joined, eyes locked, breathing synchronized as they moved together toward the edge.
He shifted the angle slightly, grinding against her clit with each thrust, and her eyes went wide.
"Oh God," she gasped. "Right there. Don't stop."
"Never," he promised. He'd never stop. Never leave. Never let her go.
When her climax hit, it was with his name on her lips and her eyes locked on his, her body clenching around him so hard he saw stars. It pulled his own release from him in waves that left him shaking and spent.
He collapsed beside her, pulling her close, and they lay tangled together in the morning light, neither wanting to break the spell that had settled over them. But reality had a way of creeping in, and eventually she stirred in his arms.
"I really do have to get ready," she said, though she made no move to leave the bed.
"I know." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo mixed with sex and satisfaction. "But first, tell me about these interviews."
She was silent for a moment, and he could feel the tension creeping back into her body.
"One's for a buyer position at a smaller chain, but the pay is terrible. The other is with a consulting firm that wants someone to help struggling retailers reorganize their inventory systems."
"That sounds like something you'd be good at."
"Maybe. If they actually want to hire someone instead of just going through the motions." She sat up, pulling the sheet around her. "The temp agency might have something short-term, but nothing permanent."
Nothing permanent. The words hung between them, loaded with meaning that went beyond job security. He thought about Jake's message, about the rodeo in Oklahoma and the choice that was getting harder to avoid.
The choice that wasn't really a choice at all anymore.
"Vanessa..."
"I should shower," she said, slipping out of bed before he could finish the thought. "Rain check on that conversation we need to have?"
She was running, putting distance between them now that the intimacy of morning sex was fading into daylight reality.
He wanted to pull her back to bed, make her talk to him, force the conversation they were both avoiding.
Instead, he watched her wrap a robe around herself and disappear into the bathroom.