Chapter 20
20
Spencer
I never put much stock into what shape my heart was in until I started spending time around Cortney Powell. The way the damn thing hammers against my ribs has me about ready to check in to the local hospital for a stress test. With her hand firmly in mine, I kill the lights to the auto shop and drag her out with me. The door locks behind us with a deafening click.
My dick twitches at her proximity after a month apart. Need invades my system as if it was injected straight into my veins. It would have been easy to take the edge off with a quick fuck right there on her car in the vacant garage. But I’m not looking for a quick anything when it comes to Cortney Powell. Not anymore. I’m here for the long haul.
“Hope you’re confident in your choice to follow because your car is locked in there until morning.”
“This feels a little bit like a hostage situation.”
I look down to search her face, finding only the sarcasm that I love. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it the sexy kind.”
“Those are my favorite.”
I roll my eyes and lead her to my truck. “I know. I’ve seen your e-book library.”
She gasps in outrage. “When?”
“You left your Kindle on the patio when you went to shower one night before dinner.”
“Spencer Stone.” Her tone is all hot and bossy around my name. “That’s like going through a woman’s underwear drawer.”
“I plan to do that someday too.”
She pats me on the arm with hardly any force, and I repay her by tapping her ass when I open the passenger door to my truck. “Up you go, Kitten.”
She glares without heat, reinforcing her position when she swiftly plants a kiss on my lips as she settles in the seat.
My gut tightens pleasantly in surprise.
Fuck. Why did I deny myself her mouth for so long?
“Put away the claws,” I order against her lips as I grab the silver buckle. After strapping her in, I climb into my side.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” she asks over the purr of the engine.
“I feel like making it a surprise. It’s not far.”
I’m not lying. She barely has time to find a song on the radio before I’m pulling into the dark driveway of a modest rambler.
“Wait here.” I hop out of the cab and round the hood to open her door. Once she steps off the running board, I take her hand. If she can feel the sweat gathering in my palms, she doesn’t mention it.
She’s silent on the way to the front door. The scrape of the key in the lock announces our presence in the stillness. It’s almost like neither of us breathes until we cross over the threshold into the vacant house.
“Is this where you’re staying?”
“Yeah,” I answer nervously.
I stand in the entry and watch her absorb the space. If I know anything about Cortney, it’s that she’s soaking in every detail.
Everything is sterile as the owners were preparing to sell. The living room has a large bay window and the kitchen was recently refreshed with new white cabinetry and paint to go with the stainless steel. I agreed to replace the floors in exchange for a same-day move in, something the owners were thrilled about. It’s nothing special, but it’s a place to call home.
“For how long?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You don’t know how long your rental is?”
“I’m not… I mean, I’m renting, but it’s not short-term.”
The rent-to-own option was perfect for both me and the previous owner. I wanted something to show Cortney I’m serious about sticking around, but I couldn’t get a mortgage on such short notice.
Confusion clouds her features. “Then what is it?”
I scrub the back of my neck. “Permanent? I don’t know what else to call it.”
“Spencer. I need you to spell out for me what exactly it is you’re doing here.” Cortney’s breath hitches halfway through her sentence, but she powers on.
A hesitant step carries me farther away from the door. “I got off that plane and left you at the airport, and I thought it was what we both wanted. I waited for things to go back to normal, but nothing felt right. It wasn’t until I got your text that I realized I couldn’t walk away from you without seeing if we had something real happening here. Because I don’t know about you, but those two weeks felt fucking real to me. Felt like the realest thing I’ve felt in the last twenty years. Your voicemail just solidified that you felt the same.”
A red blush propels color into her cheeks. “It feels real to me too.”
“I tried not to. I really did. I was going to be strong and not fall for you, but fuck, Cortney. I loved you before I even knew the true meaning of the word. I needed you like I need the air to breathe.” I pause, my shoulders rising with heavy breaths. “I wanted you… in a way a kid like me never dared to want anything before in his life. Because I knew the second I latched onto that hope, it could be taken away from me.”
“But it wasn’t taken away from you. You left.”
I bite back the words on my tongue. “I know. And I regretted it every second of every day since.”
“That’s all true for me too. I don’t know what happens now, but I want to figure it out together.”
A breath of relief rushes from my lungs. “Then I don’t know what you’re doing all the way over there. Because if you don’t come over here in the next five seconds—”
I can’t even finish my sentence because the next second, she’s burrowing into my chest and yanking my mouth down to hers.
A deep groan breaks free when we resume what we started back at the shop. I yank my mouth away and rest my forehead against hers.
“I think I'm in love with you. I think I’ve been in love with you for the past twenty years.”
Cortney nods, craning her neck in order to reach my mouth. “I might still be in love with you too.”
“Shit,” I laugh, squeezing my eyes shut as I grip her against my body. Her proximity soothes the adrenaline firing through my veins.
“What?”
“Your brothers are going to kill me.”
The longer the silence stretches, the harder it is for her to deny.
“We don’t know that for sure.”
Gripping her shoulders, I put enough space between us to see her face. “Did you tell them that I fucked you after graduation and left the next day?”
She looks to the side, avoiding my eyes. “I didn’t quite say it like that.”
“Right.” I nod, resolute.
“So we won’t tell them.”
“That’s not right.”
“No, it’s perfectly right. Do you think I want to deal with all the pitying looks and the questions and the assumptions about how I’m moving on too fast? Maybe I just want to enjoy this for a little bit. Enjoy you.”
Her hand cups the bulge in my pants that didn’t escape her notice. I grunt and sink my teeth into the tantalizing strip of skin at her neck.
“Spencer,” she gasps.
“We can tell them tomorrow.” I trace the shell of her ear with my tongue.
“Then you better spend all night convincing me that it’s the right idea.”
Her round ass feels heavenly in my hands as I hoist her into my arms. Tight yet at the same time soft enough for my fingers to sink into. Her shapely legs cinch snug around my trim waist.
“Is that a challenge?”
“That depends on if there’s a prize.”
“Me,” I growl, taking her plump bottom lip between my teeth and giving it a tug. Releasing it, I lick across the red indent I left. “I’m your prize.”
The banter dies as she starts kissing me again, spurring me on a fast track down the hallway to the main bedroom. It’s the only room I’ve furnished. Lucky for us both, as I’m not the type of man to dick down the woman he loves on the floor if I can help it.
Give me a pool or an airplane bathroom, and I’m all for it. But something about the floor just doesn’t do it for me.
Her back bounces on the plush mattress once before I yank off my tee and follow her down. Her hands feel like heaven against my bare chest. Her neatly trimmed nails scrape gentle lines across my flesh.
“Lose the shirt, Kitten.”
She leans up on her elbows, giving me adequate space to wrap my eager fingers around the hem and yank it away. The fabric floats behind me where I toss it on my impatient quest to release her bra clasp next.
The catch releases beneath my nimble fingers. Cortney drops to her back, allowing me to slide her purple lace bra off her arms and toss it to the bed.
“Spencer!” she gasps, her chest arching. Her immediate reaction to my mouth on her tit sends blood surging to my cock.
I alternate swirling my tongue around the tight nipple and licking it with it flattened. Her sensitive breasts have her hips rising and falling off the bed, seeking relief from the arousal.
“Feel good, baby?”
“Uh-huh,” she pants. “Need more.”
With my elbows planted in the bed for support, I use my fingers to tease her other nipple. “Like this?”
“Spencer,” she whines. Suddenly, my cock can breathe as she flicks the silver button on my jeans free and yanks down the zipper.
“You taste fucking sweet.”
In retaliation, she wraps a sure hand around my solid cock. My head falls to rest against her sternum. Her thumb swipes against the slit, gathering the moisture there. A shiver wracks my body.
When she licks me off her thumb, I nearly combust.
I kiss my way down her silky skin, pausing to run my tongue around her belly button and again to trace the C-section scar across the dip of her hips. Even though I’ve previously explored every inch of her nakedness, I want to do it again and again.
“Spencer, please hurry, baby.”
“You want me to lick you?” With controlled slowness, I strip her pants and underwear down her legs.
“Yes.” Her fingers slide into my dark hair.
“You want me to taste you?”
Those fingers tighten.
“You want me to make you come with my tongue?”
I don’t wait for her to answer. I toss her calves over my shoulders and bury my face between her thighs.