Page 6 of Stripped Down at the Fair (Sweetheart County Fair #2)

DUSTIN

G o slowly.

The two-word mantra ran through my head over and over as I pressed my lips to hers. It was our first real kiss, and I wanted to make it exactly what she deserved. But that was a lot of pressure.

When Cate deepened the kiss, it told me I was on the right track. It also told me she wanted me as much as I wanted her, which was comforting to realize.

It was a gift just being here with her—let alone having the privilege of being her first time. I almost felt like thanking every man who’d come before. Men who hadn’t realized what they were missing. Thanks to their idiocy, I now had this amazing gift lying next to me in bed.

My hands slid over her back, but I restrained myself from going further. She wasn’t touching me yet. Her left hand was on my right bicep, but she wasn’t moving her fingers along my arm. I wanted to let her set the pace. She had to be comfortable before I’d take it to the next level.

Suddenly, she broke the kiss. “We forgot something important.”

Oh, crap. Unless it was an emergency, it was going to have to wait, whatever it was.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Protection. I’m not on birth control. I mean, you know I’m safe, but I don’t think you want me getting pregnant.”

Where had she gotten that idea? Wait—did I want her getting pregnant? I didn’t…right?

“I have condoms,” I said. “They’re in my drawer over there. Do you want me to get them?”

I couldn’t make out her expression as she said, “Not yet. I mean…you wouldn’t put that on yet, would you?”

She was so innocent to all of this, and I was looking forward to showing her the best physical pleasure she’d ever had. I’d show her every day for the rest of her life if she let me.

“No,” I said. “We can wait a little longer.”

“I don’t have sexy panties,” she blurted.

I blinked in surprise. What the hell? Where had that come from?

“They’re kind of boring,” she continued when I didn’t speak.

“I bought them in a bag on clearance a couple of years ago. They’re different colors, but they’re not really granny panties.

More like bikini briefs, which aren’t all that bad, I guess.

But you deserve something better. Sexy lingerie or something. ”

I deserved sexy lingerie? I was still trying to figure out what I’d done to deserve this beautiful woman in my bed.

“Darling, you could be wearing a trash bag and you’d still be the sexiest woman in the world to me.”

Was that relief that flashed across her face? She’d really been worried about the underwear thing. All I cared about was getting them off her as fast as possible, and any man in my position would feel the same.

“You could always take them off,” I said. “There’s nothing sexier than bare skin.”

“Do you want me to take them off, or do you want to take them off me?”

I groaned. “I’ll take them off you.”

Then I lowered my head and captured her lips in a long, passionate kiss. There was no tenderness to this one. The desire I’d been holding back since I first saw her came pouring out in one big burst.

It was tough. My hands wandered as I kissed her, and finally, I had to gently nudge her onto her back so I could have full access to her body. That was when her hands started wandering.

Nothing had ever felt better than her fingertips moving down my spine. Finally, they settled on my ass, moving over my cotton boxer briefs, which I’d also gotten out of a bag full of multiple sets. Only mine were all the same color. I’d tell her that, but my mouth was a little busy right now.

Eventually, I broke the kiss, but not to speak. Instead, I planted kisses along her chest, my hands settling on her waist. When I captured her left nipple in my mouth, she cried out and arched her back.

I looked up at her as I ran my tongue around her nipple, then flicked it over the beaded tip.

At the same time, I let one of my hands roam around behind her, but the positioning was too awkward for me to move to her inner thigh like I wanted.

She didn’t seem to have a problem with it, though.

Her hands dove beneath my underwear, running over my ass cheeks and making me realize just how hard it would be to keep holding out.

When I began moving down her body, her hand slipped out of my underwear and settled onto my back.

I kissed my way over her stomach as my fingers worked the elastic waistband of her underwear.

They were bikini briefs made from a thin cotton material.

As far as I was concerned, they were sexy as hell, but I could only make out a faint outline.

I looked up at her again. Her head was tilted upward, eyes closed. At least, I was pretty sure they were closed.

I needed her help to get the panties off, but I didn’t want to kill the mood. So I settled for keeping them around her thighs and sliding my finger inside her as I moved above her, looking down at her face.

Even in this lighting, the view took my breath away. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted, and her chest dramatically rose and fell. I settled my finger on her clit and began moving quickly over it, smiling that she was so damn wet for me.

It wasn’t enough, though. I needed to do more than touch her. So I moved to one side of her and took the panties all the way off. Once I got to her calf, she seemed to realize what was going on and helped, kicking them off, then reaching for me.

It was that last move that just about did me in. I never imagined that having a woman reach for me could be such a turn-on. But then everything about her was a turn-on, so I shouldn’t be surprised.

I settled back into place, but this time, instead of hovering above her, I moved my head between her legs.

She looked down at me and I held her gaze, wishing the room were more brightly lit.

I wanted to see the fire in her eyes, the heat.

All I could make out was slight curiosity.

She probably knew what I was about to do, but she wouldn’t truly know until I got started.

Sure enough, as soon as my tongue made contact with her clit, her eyes slammed shut and her head tilted back again. I waited for her back to come off the bed, but she held perfectly still—like she was taking in every sensation.

I closed my eyes and focused on the task at hand, taking in her heavy breaths and occasional sighs. I wanted to tell her she didn’t have to make an effort to be quiet. Nobody could hear out here. Not inside this well-insulated cabin.

She seemed to get that point without me even saying it. Or maybe she was enjoying herself so much, her restraints melted away.

But finally, she spoke. “Oh, fuck, Dustin. That feels so good.”

Hearing her use the F-word jerked my dick to attention. Okay, I was already hard as a rock, but now the throb was almost painful. I needed release, and I needed it soon. I didn’t let up, accelerating my movements until she was gasping and writhing beneath me.

“Oh, oh, oh!” she cried out, letting me know my hard work was paying off.

She hadn’t said for sure, but I wanted to believe this was her first orgasm ever. If not, it was definitely the first a man had given her. The look on her face when she finally stilled confirmed it.

“Wow,” she said. “I’m going to have to catch my breath after that. Did I make too much noise?”

I rose above her so I could get a better look at that flushed face, then I planted a kiss on those swollen lips. “You were perfect. But feel free to make all the noise you want. I sure will.”

She looked down. At first, I thought she was admiring my chest, but then I realized her attention was below that.

“Can I see it?” she asked.

I started to ask what, but I knew exactly what she wanted to see. “Sure.”

I moved to climb off her so I could remove my underwear, but her hands on my waist stopped me. I froze as she slid her thumbs underneath the elastic and pushed.

It was almost a relief when my cock was free, even though my underwear wasn’t all that restrictive. When I felt her hand around me, I realized just how tough this would be. I had to hold out. I had to come inside her—not all over her stomach.

I nearly lost it at that thought. It was a dirty one, and no way would I share it with her, but damn, the image of my cum on her soft, perfect skin did things to me.

“Does it dull the sensation?” she asked, frowning.

Dull sensations? There was nothing dull about the sensations I was feeling right now.

“The condom,” she prompted. “When you put it on, will you feel less?”

Oh, that. Yes, it dulled sensations, which could be welcome in this case. But it also meant I wouldn’t fully feel her surrounding me. Plus, I wouldn’t be able to fill her with my seed.

“Yeah, but it’s never bothered me before,” I said. “If it kept me from getting a woman pregnant, it was worth it.”

She tilted her head, brow furrowing, making that cute little wrinkle at the top of her nose. “You’re speaking in past tense. You don’t want to avoid getting a woman pregnant anymore?”

I opened my mouth to say hell no, but the words didn’t come out. I wanted to get a woman pregnant. I wanted to get this woman pregnant. I wanted to fill this cabin with kids—or hell, maybe we’d have to get a bigger cabin. This only had two bedrooms and one bathroom, after all.

I loved this cabin, though. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life alone here. But meeting her had done something to me. It had changed everything.

I wanted a baby. I wanted a baby with her. And I wanted to go through this life with her by my side.

“Do you want kids?” she asked.

That was when I realized she’d mistaken my silence for something it wasn’t. “I want kids,” I rushed to answer. “At least two. But only if I can have them with you.”

I held my breath in the silence that followed, trying to grab anything I could from her expression. It was too soon. She’d freak out. And I wouldn’t blame her. If any other woman had said words like that to me, I would’ve been looking for the exit sign and sprinting my way out of her life.

But not Cate. And that made her the one woman in history who could totally and completely crush me.

But as I watched her face, fear wasn’t what I saw there. If anything, she seemed to relax. That was a good sign, right? It could’ve been a trick of the lighting, but I was close enough to her that I could make out detail a little better, so I doubted it.

“Me too,” she finally said. “I didn’t think I’d want kids this soon. Eventually, yeah, but since meeting you, I see everything differently. With you and this town, I’ve realized what I’ve been missing all my life. This sense of community. Family. People taking care of each other.”

“I’d never ask you to move here unless you want to.”

“I want to.” She bit her lip, then added, “But I don’t want to scare you off.”

“Nothing you could do or say would scare me off,” I said. “Unless you have a husband hiding somewhere, and I know that’s not the case.”

She laughed. “I couldn’t even rustle up a good ex-boyfriend if I needed to. I’m all yours.”

“I’ll get the condom,” I said, moving away from her.

She reached out, placing her hand on my forearm. “As long as you’re clean, I want to do this without it. If you’re on board with that, of course. If we make a baby tonight, I’d be the happiest woman in the world.”

“I’m clean, alright,” I said.

I didn’t want to tell her how long it had been since I’d had a woman in my bed. Or any bed, for that matter. And when I was active, I’d always been extra safe.

But what surprised me most was that I was okay with us making a baby tonight. Beyond okay. In fact, I couldn’t imagine anything that would make me happier.

A smile briefly flashed across her face before she clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. “Let’s do this.”

I frowned down at her for who knew how long before I finally said, “It’s not a root canal. It’ll hurt, but I’ll go as slowly as possible.”

Her eyes popped open. “There’s no way it won’t hurt like hell.”

I looked down, then reached over and took her right hand, placing it between us. “Have you ever done that before? Touched yourself?”

I looked up at her. Her eyes were wide. She shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I mean, I knew I could. I just never…I don’t know.”

“Trust me?”

Again, our eyes met and held. This wasn’t just about getting through her first time. This was about her knowing that she could always trust me to look out for her. Her safety and happiness would be my top priority for the rest of my life.

Finally, she nodded. Her eyes slid closed. I knew then that she was touching herself, which meant my eyes had to close too. I couldn’t watch. Just knowing what she was doing had me fighting to restrain myself.

As I entered her, one thought flew across my mind. This was it. This would change everything. And the funny part was, she was the one losing her virginity, but I felt like it was my first time.

The first time that counted, anyway.