Page 10 of Fern’s Date with Destiny (Heart Falls Vignette and Novella Collection #4)
He chuckled low in his chest and shifted down her body, mouthing his way across her ribs, her belly. His fingers worked her jeans open, the button popping free so easily that she made a small, embarrassed huff.
“Problem?” he teased, brushing his knuckles along the waistband of her panties.
“You’re too good at that.”
He bit lightly at her hip bone in reply, then tugged jeans and panties off in one slow drag down her legs. The cold nipped at bare skin, but his mouth followed the trail, pressing hot kisses behind his hands until she was squirming and whispering, " Please, please, please .”
He settled back on his knees for a second, just to take her in. Hair dark against the old quilt, chest heaving, every inch of her soft and flushed and so damn his that it made his chest ache.
Fern reached for him, dragging him down until his mouth covered hers again, greedy and hot. She tasted sweet, her fingers fisting in his hair when he rocked his hips forward, the hard line of his cock nudging where she was already wet and ready.
She hissed at the contact, nails scraping his scalp. “Cody, oh?—”
“Shh, baby. I got you.” He slipped a hand between them, sliding his fingers over her slick heat, teasing her clit with soft circles until her legs trembled around him.
Every sweet gasp made him harder. He pushed two fingers inside her, slow and deep, watching her eyes flutter shut as her lips parted in a silent plea.
“Good?” he asked, voice like gravel now.
“Better than good,” she gasped, clutching at his biceps, her short left arm braced at his shoulder as she rocked her hips to meet each thrust of his fingers. “Don’t stop, don’t stop?—”
He didn’t. He ground the heel of his palm against her clit, pressing kisses into her throat as she came apart under him, soft cries muffled against his bare shoulder.
When her shudders eased, she dragged him down for another kiss, tasting him slow and deep until he was half-crazed with the need to be inside her.
Fern rolled her hips up into his, playful and daring. “Switch.”
“Switch?” he echoed, half-laughing even as she shoved at his chest.
She pushed until he gave in, flopping onto his back with a muffled grunt. She scrambled to straddle him, knees bracing in the hay on either side of his hips.
Fern fumbled for something beside the flashlight lantern.
“You ready?” she whispered as she held a condom in the air.
“Yes. But you’re not touching me or we’ll be done before we start,” he warned. He shoved down his jeans and underwear then snatched the condom from her and rolled it on with frantic speed.
The glow from the lantern caught the curve of her breasts as she sank down onto him in one smooth, wicked motion.
“Jesus— Fern —” He grabbed her hips, fighting the urge to buck upward. She felt too good, too hot and tight and wet around him, and her satisfied expression turned even more smug at his helpless groan.
“Payback,” she teased, leaning forward to kiss him as she rolled her hips, slow and sinuous, a rhythm that had him biting back curses.
“Gonna be the death of me,” he groaned.
Her laugh was pure mischief. She braced her hand on his chest and rode him slow, teasing at first, then faster as the tension coiled tight in both of them.
Somewhere beneath the hayloft, the first pop of fireworks split the air, startling a yelp from Fern that turned into helpless moans as coloured sparks danced against the loft window.
“You planned fireworks?” he gasped.
Fern moved over him with that perfect drag that made his eyes roll back. “I wanted you to see stars.”
He gripped her hips tighter. “Don’t stop, sweetheart, I swear?—”
The barn lit in flickers of red and gold and blue, loud pops echoing outside while they moved together in the shadows, tangled up in heat and secrets and muffled laughter they couldn’t hold back.
She bent low, pressing her forehead to his, breath breaking against his lips. “Cody—oh, God ?—”
He surged up, kissing her hard as the last tight coil in his gut snapped. Fireworks exploded in time with the shudder that ripped through him when she fell apart again, this time around him.
For a heartbeat, he swore he saw stars both inside and out.
Fern slumped over him, snickering against his sweaty chest as another distant boom rattled the old barn walls. Cody pressed a sloppy kiss to her temple, still trying to catch his breath.
“Fireworks and you. Overachiever,” he teased.
“I knew Tansy planned them. The timing was all destiny.”
Cody laughed so hard his ribs hurt.
Eventually, the cold found them again, nipping at damp skin and flushed cheeks.
Between kisses that kept them tangled longer than necessary, they fumbled back into their clothes.
Inside-out underwear, socks half lost under hay bales, her bra a twisted casualty until he helped hook it properly, their amusement a warm hug around them.
Fern tugged her sweater into place and gave him a mock glare when he caught her waist for one more lingering kiss. “We look guilty as sin.”
“We are guilty as sin,” Cody shot back, holding her close enough to bite her lower lip playfully.
She swatted his chest and ducked under his arm, flicking off the faux lanterns as they snuck back down the ladder. Outside, the party goers were returning to the bonfire, people bundled in jackets and cradling mugs of something hot now that the fireworks were done.
Fern drifted toward Charity and Dustin, cheeks glowing, eyes full of secrets only Cody would ever know.
He let himself remain near the barn’s darker edge, wholehearted happiness lingering as he watched her melt back into her friends, perfectly casual.
Nobody suspected a thing.
Later, back at Red Boot, the high still hummed under his skin as he walked through the main barn, trailing his hand along warm horse flanks.
He clipped a lead to Lonesome Charlie’s halter, murmuring praise.
Cody’s left hand opened—just... opened —without permission. The rope slipped free, flopping useless in the hay.
He flexed his fingers, frowning when they obeyed this time, perfectly normal, but with a sticky, slow-motion sensation that lingered like a ghost in his bones.
All the sweet joy of the day wiped aside. High to low. Heaven to dread. All in a heartbeat.
He swallowed hard, eyes drifting skyward through the barn rafters, whispering to no one, “ What the hell is going on? ”