Page 20 of No Place Like Home (Orlinda Valley #3)

Rowan

I t was almost nine when I pulled into the driveway of my temporary home.

After dropping off Darcie, I hung out at Jamison’s the rest of the afternoon and stayed for dinner.

It was good seeing him and Lilly together.

They made a perfect couple. And their girls—wow!

I thought Darcie was a lot to handle, but, damn, Darcie and Madelyn together were exhausting.

If Jamison and Lilly got married, which I was sure they would, they would have no peace and quiet until the two girls moved out for college.

I was still shaking my head at the fun, yet chaotic, night I had just endured at Jamison’s as I parked next to Summer’s car.

I glanced at it, and then at the house. Despite all our fun last night, my stomach seemed to curl into a scared little ball as I thought about what I might encounter once I ventured inside.

Summer’s attitude had been all over the place today. One minute she ignored me, next she was irritated with me, then she responded positively to my kiss for a brief second before she pulled back and became frosty toward me again.

I scrubbed my hands over my face and blew out a breath .

Opening up to Summer and telling her the truth had always scared me.

Hell, if I was honest, Summer scared me.

God help the one who was ever on the receiving end of her wrath.

But ignoring my feelings hadn’t worked. I’d tried that for over a decade, and every time we hung up after talking on the phone, I missed home even more than the last time we’d talked—and she was the main reason.

If I could only get her to see how good a relationship between us could be.

I sighed deeply and walked through the door of the small house.

Summer sat on the couch, watching television. When she turned to look at me, her expression was blank, void of anything—excitement, emotion, feeling.

“Hey Summertime. Whatchya watching?” I sat on the couch and lifted her feet into my lap.

“Nothing much,” she said as she sat up and curled her legs under her.

Fine. I sunk back into the couch and placed my feet on the coffee table. “You want some popcorn? A Diet Coke?”

She shook her head without saying anything or taking her eyes from the screen.

She seemed totally entrenched in whatever show she was watching—rich plastic women stomping around all dramatic and yelling about something.

It was so ridiculous, I couldn’t keep up.

“Who the hell wears heals and those clothes hanging around their house?” I griped. “What the hell are you watching?”

The glare she gave me was hot as a five-alarm fire—and not “hot” like let’s go to the room and get it on again , but “hot” as in shut the hell up and leave me the fuck alone . “Do you mind? I’m watching this.”

“Sorry,” I turned back to the television and tried to watch the train wreck that held Summer’s attention .

The tension in the room grew so thick you could cut it with a knife. When I couldn’t take the silence anymore, I jumped up and slapped my hands on my thighs. “All right, I can’t handle this. I’m taking a shower and getting ready for bed. I’m sure Mom will be here early in the morning.”

“No, we’re leaving at noon. Your mom and I talked before she left the salon.”

I stopped on my trek to the bathroom. “So, you do speak.”

“Just answering your question. Don’t get your dick all hard.”

Fuck. Just hearing her say dick made my dick do just that. “If it was, would you take care of it?”

She flipped me the finger and added, “Fuck you.”

“Promise?” I chuckled. Maybe I was a bit crazy, but her attitude turned me on. I winked and turned toward the bathroom. “I’ll leave the door unlocked just in case you decide to join me.”

I walked in the bathroom, laughing to myself as I pictured her pissed and seething. She hated to be taunted, and I knew for a fact that she knew I was completely aware of that, and still did it to piss her off more.

Once the water was hot, I stripped down and stepped into the shower. I grabbed the soap and washed, rinsed off, then put shampoo in my hair. I stood under the spray and let the pounding of the water against my body take the thoughts of Summer and what we could be doing from my mind.

Suddenly, the curtain pulled to the side and my eyes popped open.

“Thought I’d take you up on the offer,” Summer said as she stepped into the tub .

My eyes rested on her breasts, nipples hard as the water cascaded down her cleavage, over her tight stomach and shapely hips, and down her long legs to pool between those perfect toes.

“Are you done gawking?” she asked.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her, and words had fled my mind. “I’m not gawking. Just in shock.” Maybe I was in shock. Does that cause you to freeze, unable to move?

“Why? You invited me. No need to waste water on two showers. But if you don’t want me in here with you, I can leave.”

She pulled open the curtain and that’s all it took to yank me out of my trance. “No.” I reached for the curtain and closed it. “Stay. Please.” I placed my hand on her arm. It was slippery from the water, or maybe it was the shampoo still on my hand.

“Okay,” she said, voice all sultry and seductive. “You just had to ask.” She stepped closer and reached up to slide her hands through my hair. “You still have some suds,” she said, leaning my head back to rinse it.

She scrubbed slowly and massaged my head with her skilled hands. I closed my eyes and relaxed. Her fingers lingered at my temples, sending a slow, rush of desire deep in my gut. Who knew hands rinsing shampoo could be this sexy, this erotic.

Suddenly her lips were on mine and her hands laced behind my neck.

I groaned partly with surprise, but mostly with pure primal desire.

I pulled her under the shower with me and we devoured each other’s mouths, our tongues touched and curled around each other.

I couldn’t get enough of her. Her taste, her touch, how she felt against my body.

My hands moved to cup her breasts, which filled my hands with more to spare.

I played with her nipples until I could free my mouth from our frantic kissing and suck them in till they filled me.

The moans that escaped her made the desire that was churning in my gut release itself and filled my entire being with need.

Suddenly, she pulled away and her hands brushed down my neck, caressed my chest, and slowly made their way down to the area I needed them to touch the most. As she cupped my hardness in her soft hands, I sucked in a deep breath and breathed out, “Summertime.”

Then she was on her knees in front of me, licking from the base of my dick to the head.

I glanced down, and the wicked smile she sent me made me harder, if that was even possible.

When her mouth surrounded me, my hands went into her hair and guided her as she sucked and licked and drove me wild.

“God, Summer.” My insides became warm, then hot as an inferno.

My dick throbbed, and the shock that went through my body caught me off guard.

Summer pulled away and kissed a trail up my body while her hand finished me off.

An earth-shattering orgasm shook my core as her mouth finally found mine. The kiss was intense, deep, needy.

I rinsed off and reached behind me to turn off the shower. My body was hot for her, but a part of me was concerned that she might overthink things and pull away again—or worse, shut me out. No way in hell did I want that to happen.

I held her hand as we stepped out of the shower, then grabbed a towel and started drying her off—first her shoulders and arms, then her chest and stomach, and finally her breasts, which I lavished with my lips and tongue.

“You’re beautiful Summer. Perfect. ”

She combed her fingers in my hair, and I lifted her onto the counter.

“My turn.” I kissed her mouth briefly before I traveled down her body, stopping here and there along the way to nip at her skin and enjoy the taste of her.

She leaned back against the wall as I kneaded her breasts, moaning in the sexiest way.

Finally, I separated her thighs and found what I searched for. My thumb moved over her most sensitive spot as my tongue tasted her. She was delicious—everything about her tasted so sweet. Her breathing quickened as I picked up my pace. “Come for me, Summer,” I said.

Her breathing became rapid. “Rowan, yes.” She convulsed and moaned her pleasure.

I stayed there a little longer to make sure she was finished, then kissed my way back up her body, enjoying the sound of her panting, the rise and fall of her breasts, and the flush in her cheeks.

She looked even more beautiful than ever.

My mouth found hers again. I lifted her and carried her the short distance to the room, our lips locked together. I laid her down gently and reached for the condoms, hard as a rock again and ready for more. “I want you now, Summer.”

“Yes, Rowan. Take me.”

I rolled on a condom and slid inside her. She was wet, slick, warm—heaven.

I thrust into her as she wrapped her legs around my waist and pushed me deeper, her hands on my ass. I tried to go slow, enjoy the feeling of Summer beneath me. Our eyes met and we held each other’s gaze.

She pulled me to her and kissed me. Her hips found a rhythm to match mine and she pushed me deeper. “Rowan,” she whispered.

I felt her release and she cried out in my ear .

“Rowan, yes,” she said as she pushed me harder into her and I let go of all control.

Pulse after pulse, I came until my body was taken over by tremors. Finally, I slowed my movement and peered down at her. We both breathed heavily, and she looked at me through her eyelashes, lips parted as she basked in her own feelings.

She was stunning, and I was speechless.

She leaned up and again her lips met mine.

It was a tender, affectionate kiss that I didn’t want to end, but it had to.

“Hold that thought,” I whispered, “I’ll be right back.

” I lifted myself away from her and went into the bathroom to dispose of the condom.

Then I crawled under the sheets and pulled her to me.

She laid her head on my chest and her hands traced circles on my abs. My breathing became even, relaxed. This was exactly what I hoped it would be. “Thank you, Summertime.”

She looked up. Her eyes were bright, happy, full of life. Not something I saw in her often. “Thank you for what?”

I shook my head and brushed hair from her face. “For not blocking me out, not pushing me away. But most of all for that fucking amazing blow job in the shower.”

That got a loud, hearty laugh from her. “You challenged me.”

“You’re right. But I sure as hell didn’t think you’d take me up on it.”

“Why not? When was the last time you knew me to back away from a challenge?” Again, she leaned up.

I thought about that, and didn’t have an answer. “Don’t know, but you were all over the place with your emotions today.” I shrugged. “I didn’t know what to expect when I got home tonight. ”

“Yeah, well, as usual, I spent my day overthinking things. Stressing over why I should make sure to not do anything rash. Why this isn’t a good choice. But as soon as you sat down on the couch, my body reacted, and my brain put all my overthinking on hold and finally listened to what I wanted.”

“Well, your brain made a good decision.” We held each other’s gaze for a long beat.

“Yeah, it did.” Summer closed the space between us with a long, deep kiss—which once again made me hard, and we took no time going for round two.

This time, though, when I crawled back in bed, Summer kissed me and rolled over.

She pulled my arms around her and cuddled into me.

I fell asleep with the warmth and softness of her skin against my chest, and the smell of her filling my senses.

I closed my eyes and pulled her even closer.

I didn’t know how long this Summer would last before she doubted herself—and us—again.

Hell, I didn’t know if she’d even acknowledge any of this in the morning.

But I was determined to keep all those negative thoughts at bay and enjoy whatever I could get from Summer, for as long as I could.

After all, tomorrow I would be spending it with her and my mother together, and I was sure something would go wrong enough to make tonight seem like a dream—like a fantasy that never really happened.