Page 17

Chapter seventeen

Splitting the grain

Mason

I should pull away.

Tell her to stop.

Give her every argument I’ve given myself for the last few weeks why this is a bad idea.

Fuck it.

The plastic of the bag crinkles when it falls to the ground before my hand wraps around her waist, drawing her body tightly to mine.

Her soft tentative mouth tickles over my lips, stoking the embers that I’ve been struggling to dampen.

A groan escapes me when I give in and crush her to me.

I want to taste every piece of her. To own that teasing tongue that she has taunted me with.

Pushing into her honey-flavored kiss, she yields to my probing and rewards me with a small moan.

That tiny sound shatters the dam of my resolve.

Finding the bare skin at the small of her back, my palm burns as I flatten it beneath her jacket.

With more eagerness than I expected, her fingers wind their way behind my neck, firming the connection of our mouths into a frenzied, bruising attack.

Every inch of me wants to touch her. To absorb her into me.

My hand shakes, stroking her back.

It’s been so long since I’ve held a woman in my arms. I hope I don’t screw this up.

Cupping her cheek with my other hand, my thumb finds the hollow of her throat and I tip her face up, pulling away breathlessly.

“If I knew this is how I’d get rewarded, I’d have written a book for you by now.” I watch the smile dance across her full lips before leaning down to taste the tender skin beneath her ear.

A shiver runs through her body, quivering when I brush her dainty lobe with a nip of my teeth.

“And I’d have made biscuits that first night.” The giggle transforms into another delicious moan as she arches her neck.

Her rapid pulse flutters, beckoning me to nibble at it, pulling me further down to the curve of her collarbone.

I want more. All of her.

My rabid cock throbs behind my binding jeans.

“Lori?” I murmur between mouthfuls.

Her nails rake through my hair sending tingles through me. “Hmm?”

That vibration almost does me in.

“It’s getting dark.”

“Mmhmm.” Her head is thrown back and lolling in my palm.

Giving me the control.

“If you don’t leave soon—” I pepper another line of whisker-tinged kisses up her jaw until my lips find the shell of her ear. “—you’ll be stuck here with me.”

Her green eyes are as dark as a twilight forest when she cracks them open. Tucking the corner of her lip between the white of her teeth, her deep inhale presses the swell of her breasts against my chest. “I know.”

This fucking girl.

With a growl, my palms cup her thighs and lift her knees to encircle my hips.

Pressing a hard kiss to her eager mouth, it’s a pleasant shock when I feel the pinch of her bite pulling my lower lip as I carry her to my bedroll.

Spread out on the warm sand and beneath the watchful eyes of the universe, it’s the perfect place to make her mine.

Away from the house. My kids. And the memories.

Lori is opening a new chapter in my life, in a book I thought was too old and dusty to be pulled from the shelf.

The nylon shell of her jacket crinkles when I lay her down on my sleeping bag.

She locks her ankles behind my waist and pulls me over her until my hard on digs into the hot hollow between her thighs.

I’ve been dreaming of this feeling of her moving under me for weeks, having sleepless nights and stiff mornings, wondering what it might be like.

It’s better than anything I could have imagined.

Propping myself on an elbow, any hesitation evaporates with the need to taste her.

Her zipper offers no fight against me, exposing a silky blouse that matches the color of her eyes when they’re lit by her smile.

With each button, she looses a small gasp when I follow the tidbits of skin with a slow kiss.

A battle rages within me. I want to rip her clothes off and rut her like a stallion, but savor every morsel and make this last all night.

When I pop the last clasp and reveal the smooth skin of her belly, a wave of goosebumps erupts under my touch.

“Are you cold?” I’m muffled against the heat of her body.

The wild tendrils of her hair spread across the blanket as she shakes her head.

“Good. Then, take these off.” I lean back so she can sit up.

Obediently, she raises her shoulders and works her arms free. “Yes, sir.” She peels the layers from her shoulders and finishes by tugging out the tie on her thick locks, letting them spill in a golden cascade down her back.

The white lace of her bra is the last barrier that slips when she unclasps it.

Not to be outdone, I toss my hat and rip my own tee off, flinging it to disappear into the darkness.

She pauses, her lower lip turned between her teeth, and reaches out a slow hand to touch my chest. “I didn’t know you had a tattoo.”

Her fingers trace a feathery path over the setting sun behind a lone horse walking towards it. She looks up with the embers of the fire dancing in her eyes. “That date beneath it. Is that when…” The words fade as she pulls the heat of her palm away.

No. I’m not going to let the past ruin the present any longer. I’ve lost too much to agonizing over what I don’t have.

A decade of living in grief.

I don’t want to scare her away with the scars I carry. Following her body to the blanket, I press the skin of our bellies and pin her hand against the image so she can feel my heart beating furiously beneath it.

“You’re the first person who’s made the pain go away. It’s only since you’ve been here that I’ve been able to breathe again. To feel like the day is worth meeting.” Tugging her fingers up to my lips, I kiss the tips of each one. “But, the nights, they’ve been so much harder, wishing for this—” Nibbling my way down her wrist, I put a soft nip at her elbow, and follow her arm up to the hollow of her throat. “—looking for any excuse to feel you—” Sliding my hand beneath the lace, my thumb finds her taut nipple making her jump. “—you’ve made my sleep torture.”

Her body arches against me as she lets me take the last slip of fabric from between us. “I have?”

The hard pink buds beg for me to taste them. “Mmhmm.” Letting one of her round breasts find its home in my mouth, the other draws a light pinch that makes her gasp.

When her knee moves up and wraps around mine, I know I’ve won her back.

Grinding my cock against her thigh doesn’t relieve any of the pressure building within me. It just makes the need more insistent.

Patience. It’s been so long, I don’t want to rush this.

I want to savor her until she comes undone.

“What made it so hard to sleep?” she asks in a breathy voice as her nails tingle through my hair.

Grabbing one of her hands, I crush it against my throbbing dick. “This.”

Her mouth makes a perfect “O” and a flush of pink rushes over her chest.

I might not be able to last as long as I was hoping. Her fingers gripping me through the denim is making my balls ache with the need to be in her.

Moving my hips down and away from her touch is the safest thing I can do. But, that leaves my nose at the button of her jeans. When I glance up, her eyes widen when I pop it open.

White panties hide behind it. I’m tempted to leave them in place to tease her.

Not this time.

Hunger drives me.

Food is long forgotten. All I want to devour sits just two thin layers away. Denim and lace.

Not for long.

With a low growl, I push to my knees and yank the last of her clothes down in one motion.

She props herself up and helps by kicking off her shoes.

I’m jealous of the stars looking down that they’ve seen her before I have. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Lori.”

Diving my hands beneath her warm thighs, my shoulders push between her knees so my lips can find the sensitive skin beneath her belly button.

Kissing my way down through the short curls, her sweet smell lures me closer.

Honey and lavender.

I’d stay here until I die, and I’d leave the earth a happy man.

Burying my nose against her, my tongue finally gets to taste the dessert I’ve been longing for.