Page 51 of I Choose You (Wilder #2)

Claire

“You’re here.” Reid jumped out of his truck and stalked toward me. His gaze was locked on mine. His long strides ate up the ground between us in the blink of an eye.

“I came back,” I breathed out. He hadn’t made a move to touch me yet. He searched my face, his eyes taking me in from head to toe. I couldn’t even imagine what I looked like right now. I woke up this morning in Michigan, and I hadn’t stopped since.

“Did you forget something?”

“No. Well, yes, I guess.” Reid’s gaze was intense. His Adam’s apple bobbed in the strong column of his throat as he swallowed back his emotions. “You. I forgot what it was like, living without you. I don’t like it. Not one bit.”

He stepped toward me slowly, like I might bolt away if he moved too quickly.

But the last thing I wanted to do was walk away.

All I wanted was to be here, with Reid. I wanted to feel his arms around me.

I wanted to wake up with him every day. Talk, fight, make love, watch movies, eat his awful dinners.

I wanted it all, as long as it was with him.

“You don’t have to.” His large hand wrapped around the back of my head, his dark gaze penetrating into my soul.

He had me so hypnotized I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

“I was coming to you. I was almost halfway there when Wyatt told me to turn around. I’ll go where you go.

I’m going to sell my house, the business, all of it. ”

“No,” I interrupted him with a quickness, my voice louder than I expected.

“Don’t do that.” His face dropped. I hurried to get the rest out before he came to the wrong conclusion.

“I don’t want to be anywhere else but here.

With you, but also with this town. Calla Bay has felt like more of a home to me than anywhere I can remember. ”

“Is Andrew going to allow you to work from here?” He looked so hopeful.

I steeled my nerves for my next part. I knew Reid. I trusted him. But telling him that I was now unemployed with no money and no prospects—what would a degree in history do for me now?—was toying with my emotions. My father’s words echoed in my head when he told me what a disappointment I was.

“You can’t sell your business because I already quit my job. We can’t both be unemployed.” I bit my bottom lip, waiting for his reaction. “Besides, Andrew was kind of a dick.”

Reid’s jaw dropped before his face morphed into a wide smile. “So you’re mine? Like here to stay? For good?”

I nodded my head as best I could with his hand still holding me tightly in his grip. “That was my plan.”

His lips crashed into mine. Our tongues collided against each other.

Reid took control of the kiss as I melted into him.

One second, I was firmly on the ground, and the next, Reid had his hands under my ass and hauled my long legs around his waist. He walked me to the front door of his house, devouring me with every step.

He didn’t bother unlocking the front door.

Instead, he pressed me into the hard wood while he continued his assault on my mouth.

He pulled his mouth away from mine, and I gasped, instantly missing his touch.

But when he sucked my earlobe into his mouth, adding a quick nip, I forgave him.

He kissed a trail across my jaw and down my throat.

My breath was coming hot and hard. He nipped at my collarbone, and stars lit up behind my eyes.

My hips rocked up and down along his hard length. The friction was exactly what I needed but also too much. We needed to take this inside, or I was about to come on his front steps for the entire neighborhood to witness.

“Reid. Inside. Now,” I panted.

He pulled at the waistband of my pants, slipping his hand under the fabric of my leggings. My breath hitched, and I whimpered as he found my clit, rubbing hard.

“Fuck, Reid. I’m going to come.” I could barely talk.

I continued to grind against him as he kissed up my neck.

He took my mouth in his just in time to capture my moans.

My orgasm ripped through me, hot and powerful.

Reid pulled his hand back and captured my face.

His kisses slowed until he nipped at my lip one more time.

My legs hit the floor, and my knees buckled.

“Just wait until I get you into bed,” Reid smirked, his arm around my waist, holding me up.

He fished his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

Before I even put one foot into his house, he scooped me into his arms and carried me across the threshold.

My arms wound around his neck, and I took the opportunity to taste his skin like he tasted mine.

I licked a path up his throat and let my teeth scrape over his jaw.

He nearly tripped over his feet when his steps faltered.

His answering growl made me desperate for him again.

I kicked my shoes off in the hallway somewhere. Luckily, the walk to his bedroom wasn’t far.

He threw me down on the bed unceremoniously, and his body covered mine in a blink.

I pulled his shirt over his head and flipped us around, letting my hands roam his torso, the featherlight touches followed up by my lips.

I took my time traveling down his body, savoring every inch of him.

Reid grasped at my shirt. I sat up, slowly lifting my shirt over my head and letting it drop to the floor.

Maybe it was because he already brought me to orgasm once, but I was in no rush.

I wanted this night to last forever, and we were just getting started.

Reid pulled off his boots, his hands going to the waistband of his jeans.

I pushed him back down on the bed before he could get them undone.

His hard cock strained against the zipper of his pants.

I kneeled between his legs, slowly releasing him from his constraints.

I placed light kisses on his lower abdomen, pushing his jeans down his legs and continuing my kisses along his inner thighs.

We finished getting his jeans off, and I looked at him through lowered lashes as I took him in my mouth.

I loved how he let me have my way with him. My hands were wrapped around his shaft, stroking him up and down. My tongue danced around the head of his cock. He was looking at me like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Like me on my knees for him was magical.

I took him to the back of my throat and swallowed.

“Jesus fuck. The things you do with this mouth. It feels so fucking good, love. You are a goddamn angel, do you know that?”

I did it again just to hear the pained noises that he made. I moved to his balls, licking between them and sucking one into my mouth and then the other. I could work him with my mouth all night.

My lips wrapped around his cock again, creating a seal.

I sucked hard, my cheeks hollowing out as I bobbed up and down.

Reid’s hand was on the top of my head, his fingers laced through my hair as he held me in place.

His hips pistoned, thrusting himself deeper.

My eyes watered, but I loved every second of it.

I reached my hand up, and he intertwined our fingers, holding on to me.

He pulled me off him with a curse, turning himself around so he was out from under me and instead was behind me.

“I will fuck that pretty little mouth of yours again, but I need to be inside of you, right now.” His voice was low, his chest rising and falling rapidly as I took him in over my shoulder.

“Yes,” I hissed. Reid’s arm wound around my waist, his fingers swiping through my arousal.

He inserted two fingers, stretching me open. My eyes fluttered closed, and my hips jerked in rhythm with him.

“You’re mine, Claire. Tell me you’re mine.”

“I’m yours. Reid, I’m forever yours.”

He swatted at my ass, and I yelped.

“Yeah fuck, you are. I’m yours, love. Only ever yours,” he said, leaning over me. Our mouths fused together at the same time our bodies did.

He fucked me like a wild man. Stars blurred my vision. Reid hit that special place inside of me like only he could. Before I knew what hit me, I was coming apart. Reid followed right behind me on a grunt.

I lay beside him, sated and relaxed. It wasn’t just the sex—although that probably played a factor—but it was more than that. It was a feeling of belonging, just as I was. A sense of rightness. I was right where I was supposed to be, with the person I was supposed to be with.

Reid caressed my hair as we snuggled together, my hands tracing over the lines of his abs.

“Do you think Wyatt will let me move back into the house?” I asked.

“You’re not moving back into Wyatt’s house. You can live here, with me,” Reid said with absolute conviction.

“I can’t just move right in with you,” I laughed. “We need to date first.”

Reid looked at me, his expression unamused. “I don’t need time to see where this is going or figure out how I feel about you. I’m in love with you, Claire. But if you need more time and want me to date you first, that’s fine. Just know, I’m already all in. I have been for a long while now.”

“Even if I’m broke and unemployed?”

Reid’s stare turned hard for just a moment. He rolled me onto my back and hovered over me, looking deeply into my eyes. “I choose you. Not the money or family legacy—fuck those. I. Choose. You. Only you.”

My heart burst, his words affecting me more than I could have expected. I couldn’t think of a single person that chose me for me. No ulterior motive. Nothing to gain by associating with me.

“I love you too, Reid. I am all in with you.”

“Good. Then you can just live here. At least for now.” He rolled off me with a smirk, but it didn’t help the panic that rose in my chest.

“What do you mean, for now?”

If he wanted space, I could understand that. We hadn’t officially been together before. This was different. I was his girlfriend now. If I lived here, he wouldn’t be able to get away from me.

“Just until I can build us our own home.”

“What? What’s wrong with this house? I like this house.”

“It’s just a house. And it was my house before it was our house. I want to give you a home. Somewhere that you feel like you belong. Not that you don’t belong here, because you do. But you deserve to have somewhere new.”

“Reid.” My eyes were wet with emotion. “You don’t have to give up your house for me.”

“I’ve been working on a set of plans for a new place anyway. Just something I would look at when I had the time. You can work off those, make any changes you want. Or you can scrap them. Doesn’t matter to me.” He shrugged.

I couldn’t believe this man. He was utterly serious. He just wanted to give me a home of my own. My throat felt tight as I blinked back tears. I nestled my head on his chest, wrapping my arm around his tightly.

“Hey, now. Don’t cry, love. We can stay here as long as you want. It won’t be big enough once we start having kids, but we’ll cross that bridge once we get there.”

A loud laugh spilled out of me.

“I love you, Reid. I will live in any house you want. But I would really love for you to build us a home together,” I told him honestly.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. Next time we get out of this bed, I’ll show you the plans I’ve been working on.”

“So next week sometime?”

“Damn straight.” He squeezed me tightly, pressing me into him. I took a small bite of his chest. His responding growl was exactly the sound I was hoping for.

* * *

When the light shined behind my eyelids after a distinct lack of sleep for the past two nights, I groaned. I reached out for Reid but found his side of the bed empty. My eyelids cracked open slowly, and I peeked at the alarm clock. 7:12 a.m.

I might be unemployed, but Reid still had a job to do. I could hear him moving about down the hallway. The smell of fresh coffee hit me as soon as I opened the bedroom door. I shuffled across the cool hardwood floors until I found Reid grabbing his boots.

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“No. The sun managed to do that all on its own.”

It had been unseasonably warm for a few days, so Reid had shut the heat off, but this morning had a chill in the air. Reid’s childhood blanket was perched on his couch, so I draped it over my shoulders like a cape and met Reid at the door.

I wrapped him in a tight hug, then lifted my face to him, seeking a kiss, to which he obliged eagerly. I had expected a sweet kiss to start the day, but it quickly turned dirty. Reid groaned when I whimpered into his mouth.

“You are making it really hard for me to go,” Reid said.

“Seems like that’s not the only thing that’s getting hard.” My hand trailed over the bulge in his pants.

He chuckled a deep laugh and shook his head at me. “You’re insatiable.”

He wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t get enough of him.

A knock sounded at the door, pulling our attention. Reid pulled the door open, and my face fell. Of all the things I expected today, seeing my mother on Reid’s—our—doorstep was not on the list.