Page 44 of I Choose You (Wilder #2)

Reid

The smell of oranges tickled my nose. I opened my eyes slowly, adjusting to the bright sunlight. Claire was draped across my chest, her head on my pec. Gently, I pushed the hair back from her face. She was so beautiful it was painful.

A quiet hum of appreciation emanated from her as I stroked her hair, massaging her scalp.

“Good morning,” she whispered.

“Morning. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Not at all. And even if you did, this is the best way to be woken up.”

I couldn’t agree more. Anytime I could wake up with Claire wrapped around me, it was the best morning. The words that I wanted to say were on the top of my tongue. I pressed my lips to the top of her head, holding them in.

“I thought you were staying with your parents another night. What time did you get in last night?” I asked.

“About 2:00 a.m. I wanted to get home,” she said.

My heart stopped beating for a moment. My throat was thick with emotions that I was trying to swallow back. She had wanted to come home. To Calla Bay. To me.

“What time is it?” She pressed a soft kiss to my neck, and her hand trailed across my abs and around my waist. I pressed my already hard length into her belly, letting her feel the way she affected me.

“We have plenty of time.” My voice was gruff from sleep. I slid my hand up her little tank top, feeling the weight of her tits in my hand.

She pushed me onto my back and tossed her leg over me. Her center dragged along my shaft. I pulled her face to mine, kissing her hard and deep.

Living without this, without her, for a long weekend was painful.

How was I supposed to survive when she was gone?

She held my heart in a vise grip. I should have been smarter than that after everything that happened with Kayleigh, but Claire snuck through my defenses until she was burrowed so deep into my soul I couldn’t breathe without her.

Claire pulled back and glanced at the clock. “Ugh. We need to get ready for work. We don’t have time for this.” She hadn’t stopped grinding against me though.

I pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor.

“We’ll just have to make it quick.”

I freed my cock from my briefs and pushed her panties to the side, not wasting any time getting them off her.

She sank down on me, her warm, wet heat surrounding me. God, nothing had ever felt better than this.

My hands gripped her waist as she rode me hard. It didn’t take her long before her head fell back, her soft whimpers singing a song of ecstasy.

“Touch yourself, love. I need to see you come for me.”

“Reid.” She cried my name like a plea. “Right there. Don’t stop. God, don’t stop,” she chanted.

She looked so good, using my body to chase her pleasure. I thrust my hips up into her in time with her bounces, our bodies in sync. She cried out silently, her mouth open as her inner walls clamped around me.

My vision darkened as pressure built in my spine.

Her release coated my cock, making my head spin. Her core spasmed, pulling me deeper into her. I rolled us over and slammed into her one, two, three times. My orgasm ripped through me, and I emptied myself inside of her heat.

“Jesus Christ, love.” I collapsed on the bed next to her and brought my lips to hers. Every time with Claire felt like the best time.

She sighed happily and wrapped her arms around me. “That was amazing.”

Far too soon, she was getting up to get ready. The moment she was out of the bed, I missed her.

* * *

The library was almost fully finished. The last of the furniture was being delivered, and then we needed to work with Calla Bay’s town office to get the books restocked. Claire had some of the paintings remastered and had curated some new pieces to coordinate with the library’s new look and feel.

Our numbered days were getting smaller and smaller, but I pushed the thoughts aside. We still had right now. I wasn’t going to waste a second of our time together being pissed about the future before it even happened .

With Claire on my mind, I went to find her.

The office that she had been using was now a fully furnished meeting room.

The library was outfitted with three meeting rooms, from conference-sized spaces to smaller interview rooms. Claire’s desk had been refinished, her old, dusty chair replaced with a leather wingback-style roller chair.

Across from her, my old wooden chair that I would haul up to her desk, relishing the scent of her shampoo and trying to find ways to touch her, was gone.

In its place were two leather armchairs.

I opened the door to her office and was greeted with the sight of her perky yoga ass in my face. She was bent at a ninety-degree angle with her hands on the ground. She walked her hands back to her legs, essentially folding herself in half, and out again.

I walked in and shut the door again. Not only did no one else need to see this, but they certainly didn’t need to see what I had planned for her next. Her skin was soft and warm under my palms.

“Mhh,” she hummed.

This was, by no means, the first time her yoga routine was interrupted by me, but it reminded me of that first time, at Wyatt’s house. I tightened my grip on her waist and hauled her to me. She stood up, pressed firmly against my body. I cupped her through her jeans, kissing a trail up her neck.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I let it go to voicemail. I couldn’t pull myself away from Claire to even bother looking at it. She reached her arm back and pushed her fingers through my hair. I went for the button of her jeans when my phone vibrated again.

Shit.

My rule was that if someone called me more than once, I had to answer it. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see Wyatt’s name.

“Hold that thought, love. I have to take this,” I said, then growled, “What do you need?”

“You’re a fucking grouch, you know that? What if I was just calling to talk to my brother?”

“You called twice.”

“Yeah, I know. I need a favor.” I rolled my eyes.

Claire had moved out of my grasp and was continuing her stretches.

Every move she made was full of grace and poise.

She dropped low, her feet flat on the ground, her knees spread wide apart, as she hovered on her haunches.

Thoughts of all the dirty things I wanted to do with her raced through my mind. “Are you even fucking listening?”

“What? No, sorry. I was, uh, distracted. What do you say?”

Claire laughed loudly.

“Tell Claire I said hi,” he said with a laugh.

“Hi, Wyatt,” she yelled back.

“Seriously though, Luke was supposed to babysit Jane today so I could take Maeve to her doctor’s appointment and then out to dinner, but he got called into work. He wouldn’t tell me what was happening, but it sounded like an emergency.“

“I’ll always take Jane, you know that.”

“Thanks, brother. I was going to pick her up around 2:30 p.m. and drop her off. Does that still work for you? Maeve’s appointment is at 3:15 p.m.”

“Yeah, we’re pretty much wrapped up here. The guys can finish moving the rest of the furniture into place. I’ll be home by then.”

Wyatt thanked me again and hung up.

Claire was moving behind the desk .

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.

“I have work to do.”

“Is that what you were doing when I walked in? Work?”

“It’s important to stretch throughout the day when you have an office job.

” She smiled at me, her dark blue eyes dancing in the sunlight refracted through the clean, clear glass windows.

She shooed me away, but before I left, I stole a kiss—and an extra cup to her core.

If I had to get back to work in a horny, sexed-up state, so did she.

In the last couple of hours before I had to leave, we managed to get two more rooms put together.

The tech room, although not historically accurate in function, looked fantastic.

Claire had helped blend the technological advancements that were needed in today’s day and age while still maintaining the historical elements.

The largest of the three reading rooms was also completed.

“Alright,” I said, “if you guys can finish the other two reading rooms today, that would be great. Monday, we’ll just have the children’s rec room and multifunction room.

After that, it’s book deliveries. We have two librarians on-site next week to ensure everything is going in the right spot and everything is cataloged properly, but it’ll be an all-hands situation to get all of these shelves filled up by the grand opening. ”

Only two weeks left.

Claire and I left together, having driven in together like we did every day.

“If you still need to get some work done, feel free to lock yourself in the bedroom. Don’t feel like you need to babysit Jane with me.”

“No, I’m in a good spot. I just have to write my daily email to Andrew, but I don’t want to send it too early, or he’ll get mad about me slacking off.”

“Didn’t you work all weekend? Even though you were visiting your parents?”

“Yeah. That’s why I don’t feel guilty about taking off a few hours early. I just don’t want to announce it. Does that make me a bad employee?” She cringed in the most adorable way.

“No, love. You are a hardworking, far-too-dedicated, talented, historical godsend. You are the best employee that man has ever had.” My words ended on a growl.

Just thinking about that douche weasel made me angry.

Claire truly was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and if he didn’t start treating her the way she deserved…

Then what?

In two weeks, I wouldn’t know how he was treating her.

My mood soured instantly. The air in the car changed as the tension I was exuding filled the space around us.