Page 8 of Patio Lanterns (The Blue Canoe Cottage #1)

Rick

The aroma of coffee tickling his nose, Rick fought to pry his eyes open. He squinted at the bright sunlight streaming through the bedroom window before his brain woke up to the realization that he’d slept in for the first time in maybe forever.

His second waking thought brought a smile to his face. Robin.

He stretched as he rolled over. There was a shallow indentation in the pillow next to his, her side of the bed cool to the touch. It’d been a long time since his last one-night stand, but he still remembered the first rule of thumb: make an exit before the magic wears off.

But the thing was, for Rick, the magic still lingered in the light of day, and he was deliriously under its spell.

Hoping the scent of fresh-brewed coffee meant he might still catch Robin downstairs, he threw on a t-shirt and a pair of sweats, then eyed the pair of condoms on the nightstand. He shoved one into his front pocket, because, like Robin said, you just never know.

Shoulders back and chest puffed out, he hit the top of the stairs feeling like a new man, with more energy pumping through his veins than after an invigorating dip in the lake.

“Good morning.” Wrapped in a blanket, Robin greeted him from the couch with a sunny smile and a tip of her coffee mug. Mutt, lying under the bridge Robin’s legs made between the couch and the table, lifted his head and perked his ears in greeting too.

“Well, good morning,” he said. “Don’t you two look cozy.”

“I tried to be quiet when I got up to let Mutt out. Sorry if we woke you. It looked like you were having a good sleep.”

He wanted to go over and kiss her good morning, but hesitated, suddenly unsure about morning-after etiquette.

Would a kiss kill the easy, breezy vibe of casual sex?

Would it be misinterpreted, or make him seem overly sentimental?

Old fashioned? The longer he stood on the spot overthinking it, the more awkward it became. “I slept great. Amazing in fact.”

“Me too.” She giggled. “I put the coffee on. And I hope you don’t mind, but I raided your fridge to feed Mutt. I found some chicken and cheese, and I gave him some more cucumber too.”

“Of course, not. Glad you thought of it.” He smiled and continued toward the kitchen. She’d left a mug out for him on the counter and he filled it close to the brim. “Can I bring you another?”

“I’ve still got some, thanks.”

He slipped on his glasses before opening the fridge.

Feeling a little sheepish about neglecting his hosting duties and leaving Robin to fend for Mutt, perhaps he could make it up to her by making breakfast. She had to be hungry.

He had certainly worked up an appetite. “How about some scrambled eggs? Or if you prefer, I could whip up some pan—?”

“Rick, I…”

He turned to find Robin now standing in the kitchen, wearing nothing but one of his old t-shirts.

The worn, whisper-thin fabric draped between her lovely melon-shaped breasts, bobbling freely at the tiniest jostle, and gave away the pronounced outline of her perky, mouth-watering nipples. Definitely centrefold tits.

He’d popped wood, and now there was no hiding that either.

Her gaze fell from his face and landed on his erection. “I, hmm… I was just going to say, that, uh, I… wow.” She swallowed. “Fuck me, that is one beautiful hard-on.”

He looked down at the saluting soldier now at full attention in his sweatpants. “Guess I’m not used to having a gorgeous half-naked woman in my house first thing in the morning,” he said. “Sorry, you were saying?”

“I don’t remember.” She stared hungrily at the outline of his rigid cock, as if stroking it with her eyes. That would definitely not help matters. “No, yes. Yes, I do. I was going to say you don’t have to cook me breakfast. Really. Just go about your day like you normally do.”

“Today is already anything but normal,” he said.

“What I mean is, um…” she paused. “Don’t change your routine on my account. Say, if you wanted to go for a swim or something, don’t let me stop you.”

“What about you?”

“Well, if it’s all right, I’d love to grab a shower. Then I thought I might make some toast and then be on my way. Maybe I’ll pop over to the general store and say hi to your secret lover Mrs. Crawley,” she said with a teasing smile.

There was an empty ache in his chest at the thought of the secret lover in front of him walking out his front door. “Don’t feel like you have to hurry, Robin. You and Mutt are welcome to hang out here as long as you like.”

“I’d love to, but I really should be going. I’ve got things I need to get, uh… done.”

She licked her lips, still entranced by his morning wood. Dirty girl.

“Think maybe you could add one more thing to your to-do list?” He showed her the condom he’d pocketed before loosening the drawstring of his sweats.

He eased them down his hips, stopping at the top of his pubic hair, just enough to give her a taste of what she could have if she wanted it bad enough.

“Well, I did say I needed to take a shower,” she said. She clasped her hands in front of her, pressing her tits together.

“As luck would have it, I have a shower,” he said, removing his glasses and discarding them on the kitchen island.

She batted her lashes demurely, but it didn’t disguise the lust in her eyes. “Do you think it might be big enough for two?”

“Trust me, it’s fucking huge,” he heaved.

In a blink, they were skin-to-skin and tongue-to-tongue beneath the gentle spray of the ceiling-mounted rain shower.

He’d indulged in a state-of-the-art system with triple shower heads, thinking it would take the place of a spa and masseuse to relax tired, aching muscles after a hard day’s work.

But now, with Robin’s nubile body, wet, slippery, and mashed up against his, he’d found a much more pleasurable benefit.

Water pelted his shoulders and cascaded between them.

He pressed his mouth on hers, kissing her deeply.

The slide of their tongues spread the heat of desire everywhere, especially straight to his cock, which was eagerly poking into her soft, yielding belly.

As her hands skated over his body as if mapping out every muscle, his memorized the dip of her lower back, the feminine flare of her hips and the feel of her firm, yet supple ass.

She reached between them and held his balls, playfully massaging and rolling them with her fingers until he brought her hand up and wrapped it around his needy dick, insisting on the exquisite pressure of her touch from root to tip.

Her fingers wrapped around his shaft, her thumb drawing drowsy circles around and around the thickened head before pumping in a slow, sensual rhythm.

It felt so fucking good, he swore his legs would give way.

“Now turn your sweet ass around,” he commanded.

She did as she was told. He didn’t touch her, but took a moment to admire the view as water streamed from her soaking wet hair down the gradient of her back.

His eyes traced the meandering path of the rivulets, sliding over her skin, down to the ivory rounds of her ass.

She looked over her shoulder and smiled devilishly. “Anything wrong?”

“Not at all,” he said, feeling up the globes of her delicious bottom. “Everything back here is definitely fiiiine.”

She popped out her ass and grinded against his cock, cooing as he slipped between her pillowy cheeks.

“I swear woman, keep that up, and you’re going to turn me into an ass man.”

“It’ll never happen,” she said. “You’re a boobs man for life.

” She squeezed a dollop of body wash into her palm and began massaging the slippery film over the glorious slope of her breasts and into the valley between them.

He insisted on taking over, lifting and kneading her soaped-up tits, the suds covering them thickening into foam.

Goddammit, she’s right.

As he lightly pinched and pulled her slippery nipples, the stiffened peaks poking through the halo of bubbles surrounding them, she reached back for his cock again.

She massaged, twisting her hand up and down, her handiwork quickly building up a foamy lather as she worked him into a frenzy until he was teetering on the brink of ecstasy.

Unclenching his jaw, he spun her around to face him, breathlessly diving back between her lips and kissing her until the water had rinsed them clean.

His hand slid down her belly, his fingers reaching out to graze the soft petals of her sex.

“Uh-huh, oh yeah, that’s the spot,” she murmured, placing her foot on the shower bench to grant him better access.

His fingertips curled inside her slick, wet heat, and he pillaged her as his thumb swirled around the hard pearl of her clit.

He loved the nuance of each sound and sigh she made in her building arousal as much as how eagerly her body responded for more.

Clasping her hands around his neck, she rolled her head back.

Her breathing quickened as her breasts rose and fell, hips rocking against his fingers as she chased after the satisfaction she sought.

He quite literally had her in the palm of his hand.

She released a deep, guttural moan and pushed against him as she spasmed repeatedly on and around his fingers. “Fuck me,” she wheezed, the aftershock tremors so strong throughout her body that they caused a ripple effect in his.

He backed them up to the built-in shower bench. “I need you now,” he said, his voice shaking with urgency. The moment his ass smacked down on the cool stone, she crawled onto his lap, her knees parked on either side of his thighs.

“Wait, wait,” he pleaded, tearing open the condom.

“Hurry,” she insisted, wiggling her tongue in his ear. Good God, this woman.

She’d barely allowed him time to roll it on before she inserted his cock, eliciting pleasurable groans from them both. He clamped his hands down on her ass, urging her to stay still as he revelled in the exquisitely tight fit of her heat.

He looked up and met the desire in her eyes.

She threw back her shoulders and shoved her bountiful boobs in his face, signalling that her nipples were in urgent need of attention.

With both hands gripping her ass cheeks so tight she’d surely be branded with his fingertips, it left only his mouth free to satiate her desire.

He slurped up one wet nipple, working it back into a rigid state with his tongue, before moving to the other, lapping until saliva coated his chin.

Just as he popped off one tit, she shoved the other back into his mouth.

Bouncing between her boobs left little time to breathe, but he revelled in being smothered by her generous breasts. Death by ecstasy. What a way to go.

Burying his face between her fleshy mounds, he gave them a playful motorboating before returning to give individual attention to the bullet points aimed at him.

As his licks and sucks graduated to teasing nips and gentle bites, she spread her thighs further apart, a heated “yessss” escaping her lips as her body stiffened and she began to quiver.

“Argh, you’re going to make me fucking come again, aren’t you?

” she grunted, furiously grinding on him.

Their breathy moans echoed off the surrounding tile and glass as she began to fuck him senseless.

Skin slapping against skin, she held on tight and begged him to give it to her hard and fast. He met her thrust for thrust, giving all he could give.

He’d been primed for this, his engine revving high long before they’d even hit the starting line.

Her body clenched tight, her mouth opened in a silent moan of euphoria. Watching her let go and completely surrender to a pleasurable release was a beautiful thing, but knowing he was able to give her what she needed made it even more gratifying.

As she quaked in his arms, the bliss of being sheathed in her pulsing heat caused his eyes to roll back, her velvety vice milking his cock like both their lives depended on it.

The utterly carnal experience of fucking this woman was so incredibly good, it deserved to be savoured, and he would do everything in his power to bottle each moment, every sensation, saving them to enjoy endlessly for the rest of his earthly life.

She changed up her rhythm and her inner walls squeezed and released him.

He hissed, unable to hold back any longer.

He pumped faster, slamming into her heat again and again until his aching balls pulled taut.

Heart pounding and mind reeling, his tense, fiery muscles pulsed until finally, he let go with a shuddering gasp, a release so intense it knocked him back against the tiled wall.

They clung tightly to one another, catching their breath as water rained down on them from above. Sweetly, she cradled his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly, her tongue lightly grazing his lips before it playfully caught a water droplet on the tip of his nose.

Rick gazed up at her face and fell into the depths of Robin’s eyes.

Out of nowhere, he was overcome by a rogue wave of warmth and affection that knocked him off balance, rendering him powerless against being swept away.

With every fibre of his being, he wanted to beg her not to leave.

He wanted to tell her that she could keep his shirt and claim one side of his bed and that he would bring her to orgasm whenever, however, and for as many times as she demanded.

That he’d give up the next ten years if she would stay with him for just one more day. That she already fucking possessed him.

Scary to think that in only a matter of hours, he was willing to turn his entire life upside down for this remarkable woman, and yet, he couldn’t remember anything feeling more right.

In that moment, there were a thousand things he wished he could tell her, but now, looking into Robin’s smiling eyes, he only managed one. “Thank you.”