He glanced at the clock. It was nearing 5:00 a.m. He left the bed and shuffled across the hall to the bathroom. More awake now, on his return, his head pivoted toward the soft light illuminating from the front of the apartment. Stepping down the hall and into the living room, there, over by the window, Sienna sat perched upon a barstool before her easel. He went to her. The slow dawn breaking outside the windows and casting shadows on the buildings across the street had been expertly captured upon her canvas. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he stood quietly and watched her work.
“Hope you don’t mind, I used a sheet as a drop cloth. It was the one item you forgot to get when you bought out the store,” she said without a pause in perfecting the fine delineation of gray mortar on the building depicted at the left corner down the block. Even the condensation on the buildings’ windows and the dampened pavement leftover from the heavy rain had been skillfully depicted in her artwork. Wow.
“That’s really beautiful. Like I said, you’re no amateur.” He stepped in close behind her and rested tentative hands on her shoulders. When she didn’t jerk away from his touch, he caressed and lightly massage the back of her neck with his thumbs. “Couldn’t sleep?” he asked softly.
“Something like that. I’ve been having dreams of that night.”
His hands stilled. “The shooting?”
“Um hum.”
“Sienna . . . I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t mention it.”
“You should’ve told me.”
She shrugged, brushing it off in that brave, warrior woman way that she did. “Painting helps me relax. With the art tour and then everything else that happened, I haven’t picked up a brush in weeks. I’m so behind.” She looked up over her shoulder. “And yes, I took my meds, but I was too wired from the dream to fall back asleep. Painting makes it all better.”
A gorgeous smile was sent his way that he returned ten times over. And she was speaking to him again. It felt good. Damn good.
“Glad to know painting helps, but I’m sorry you’re experiencing the dreams.” Thinking of the ass-kicking he’d put on Dale, very well-deserved. “I wish there was something more I could do to help.”
“There is, but . . . ”
Had he not been so close and had his hands not been upon her shoulders, he would have missed both her words and her faint shrug.
“There is, but what?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
Before he could push the question again, his head turned with hers as she looked out the window, then back at her painting, back and forth. His head pivoted back to the window upon noticing the sketchpad perched upon the low window seal. He picked it up, and hitched a breath. Studying the electric blue of his eyes, which was the only color used in the black chalk drawing of his likeness, it was impressively spot-on. “You drew me.”
She gave a look up over her shoulder again, meeting his awestruck gaze, then rose to her feet and faced him. “Had to get my sea legs back . . . or sea hands in this case.” A finger skated along the angled line of his chin scruff. “Great bone structure . . . you’re perfect.”
His skin instantly heated beneath her delicate touch. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but I can guarantee perfect hasn’t been one of them.” He returned the sketch pad to the window seal. “Hungry? I can start breakfast.”
“It’s kind of early for breakfast. I’ve been up for a couple of hours. I’m going to lie down and try to sleep a bit.” She took off the painting apron and hung it on the back of the easel hook. Re-tying her robe, she headed to the kitchen.
Gavin came up behind her as she washed and dried her hands. “Can I join you?” It came out in an almost plea, but he didn’t care. He wanted, no, needed her. An unmistakable longing for her overtook him. Palming her hips, he turned her so they faced one another. “These past days with you not speaking to me have been torture. When I woke and didn’t feel you near, all I could think about was how much I wanted to hold you, kiss you, and how incredibly miserable I would be if you were not in my life.” He leaned in against the contours of her long, luscious frame, allowing the hardness of his arousal to stroke at her belly. “I want to share your bed and feel the warmth of your skin next to mine every night.” Her eyes widened with a look of surprise, then hooded in recognition. More reassuring was the way her lithe body relaxed against his.
Slowly, he lowered his head and brushed his scruffy cheek against the softness of hers. “Sie-Sie, sweetness, I’m not perfect, but I want to work damn hard to be perfect for you.” His lips brushed along her cheek, feather-light. Satiny soft and warm, damn, how he missed her nearness. It had only been a few days absent of her affection, yet he felt starved for her and could imagine the state he’d be in if she chose to walk away. “I want to be everything you would want,” he murmured and met his lips with hers.
Her hands came up to his chest, hard at first in objection, then lightened, allowing him to taste her unhurriedly. His tongue traced her lower lip before tunneling into her mouth, their tongues mating.
He arched his hips, allowing the severe prod of his erection to stroke her middle once more, and she pushed at his shoulders. With reluctance, he drew away from her mouth and stepped back, giving her space.
As she stared back at him, eyes roaming over his face, wary contemplation displayed in the crease between her brows. Then, she took his hand and led him to her bedroom. With her gaze locked with his, carefully, she removed her robe, and he helped her out of her tank top and panties.
He quickly stripped out of his boxers. They got in bed, and with a determined purpose, he settled his shoulders between her thighs, desperate to soak up her familiar scent, devour her.
He gave a sweep of his tongue over her clit, speared her pussy in long, measured strokes, repeating over and over before sealing his lips on her swollen bud, slowly swirling his tongue, taking his time, tasting her for so long, she cried out his name, panting heavily, shuddering, and arched up sharply through two distinct orgasms. Blunt nails pressed into his scalp as she rocked on his mouth, her silky inner thighs agitatedly rubbing against his shoulders.
He would have kept eating her out if his own need hadn’t reached a pinnacle of excruciating pain.
He skated his mouth up her body, nipped and kissed over her taut abdomen, and swirled his tongue around her pearled nipples. Glorious minutes were spent enjoying one then the other before he burrowed his face within the valley of her breasts. He slid his tongue along her neck and finally took her mouth, sharing in a delectably wet, open-mouth exploration, heads angling left and right, both nipping, licking, tasting.
Gavin drew back to simply look at her. “I’ve wanted to lick you all over from the first day I saw you in that tight black dress you wore at the art contest.”
“That was . . . was . . . ” she blew out a long breath, “incredible.”
“Believe that.” He grinned and planted feather-light kisses along her shoulder, from one to the other.
Balancing on his left forearm, being careful not to put too much of his weight on her, he guided his cock into her tight, wet heat, and sighed deeply, his breathing shallow and eyes shut for a moment. This was what being connected felt like, completely bonded. Whether she accepted him or not, he would be forever hers.
His thrusts were unhurried as he took her mouth once more in a crushing, hungry rush.
Her hands upon him demanded more, tugging, groping, and scratching across his arms and back. Seizing a tight grip on his ass cheeks, she raked her nails, embedding into his flesh, urging him deeper, harder, showing him the pace she demanded. Her sexual hunger stoked his. He spread his knees, forcing her thighs wide and thrust swiftly, losing himself in the feeling of her as she panted his name through a long quivering breath.
He gripped the sheets as wave upon wave of sensation took over his body until he could do nothing but ride the wild climax that tore through him with a thundering force. Her name came out amid swallowed breaths as he took his release. It
was that name that was now forever imprinted on his heart.
Trying not to collapse down on top of her, he moved off to the side and tucked himself in close, relishing in her warmth. Both stared straight up at the ceiling, breathing with a slightly steady rhythm. “Are you okay?” he asked through an exhausted exhale. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“I feel weightless,” she answered with a soft chuckle, then asked in a rush, “Is there someone else? You know, someone that you just can’t turn away from because you two have history. I don’t want to start down this road with you if you’re involved with someone on the side. It’s a complication I can do without. Been there, done that.”
The abrupt switch in topic took him by surprise, and he didn’t answer right away. She apparently took it to mean he was stalling. With an etched brow, she inched away. Coolness licked his skin where the delicious heat of her body had soothed. He closed the gap, came up on his left forearm, and leaned partially over her. “I’m not seeing anyone. You’re all I want. Can I have you, Sienna? All of you?”
Her eyes closed, then, with a soft sigh, her gaze met his again. “Gavin, trust is important to me. I’ve had to live with disappointment from the lack of it all my life. Can I trust you?”
An unnerving chill washed over Gavin as she stared unblinking at him, expecting an answer. In time, he would tell her about everything—what he’d done to Dale and the assignments he had to do for his father, all of it. He just needed to get things between them on a leveled plane first. “I would never want to hurt you,” he finally said. “Sienna, I’m in love with you.” He’d been saying that in his head for weeks now. Her breath hitched sharply, eyes wide with a hand pressed at her side over her injury from the apparently sudden jolt his words provoked. “I don’t deserve you, I know, but it’s how I feel.”
Slender hands cradled his face and drew him to her, kissing him with incredible tenderness. Her thumb pulled down lightly on his chin, opening the way for her tongue to snake with his, moist and sweet. “I love you, too,” she whispered softly against his lips. “Make love to me again.”
Gavin experienced a momentary shock. It was the last thing he’d expected her to say and he wanted to screech like a damn girl from the jubilation of it. If he did, he’d likely start bawling like one, too.
Can I trust you? she’d asked. Reality bloomed, fissures forming deep gashes within his bliss.
As he joined his body with hers once more and had her writhing and moaning well into the breaking light of the morning, he pushed everything else out, and let himself get swept up in their shared moment, fearing he may not get another chance.
Chapter Twenty-five
“You’re painting my skin.” Sienna laughed. “You’re so bad at this.”
“Hey, I’m not the artist. You are.” Gavin brought up her right foot and blew lightly on her toes to help dry the pink polish. “It looks pretty good to me.” He flipped the bottle over. “Pink-ing of You?” He chuckled. “What happened to just calling it pink?”
Sienna took the OPI bottle from him and set it on the nightstand, then tugged at his bare shoulders to get him to come forward. “You did good, babe, thank you.”
“Anything for you.” He kissed his way up her naked body and settled over her. Their tongues met as their sexes came together in a familiar endless embrace.
They’d been fucking like rabbits for days. Sienna couldn’t get enough of him. With each day, she felt physically better, and each time their bodies joined as one, their intimacy intensified, surpassing anything she could have imagined.
“Turn over,” she said, and without hesitation, he lifted off her and stretched out on his back. Taking his cock in hand, she delivered several swift pumps to the smooth shaft before she drew him in between her lips and grazed her teeth along the length, then pulled back and sucked the bulbous crown.
He hissed sharply and bucked into her mouth repeatedly. “Woman, you’re killing me.”
“And you love it.”
“I do. I love you, don’t stop.” His breathing was choppy, and his eyes remained transfixed on her efforts of pleasing him.
She toyed with his balls as she took his thick shaft far to the back of her throat. Her jaw muscles locked on, sucking while her hand vigorously pumped and twisted his length at the base. Her tongue swirled along the wet slit, pre-come smearing her lips as she savored him, relishing the sounds of his moans and heavy breaths.
“Sie-Sie . . . baby.” A wild guttural groan tore out of him with his back arching sharply, and his eyes rolled back, looking like a man on the verge of exploding.
Grinning in wicked satisfaction that she’d pushed him so close to the edge, she freed his cock from her mouth’s assault and climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. She slid her clit up and down the length of his severely hard shaft, her dampness searing fevered flesh, while watching him grind his teeth, fighting his need. “Are you ready for me, baby?”
“Fuck yes! Now.”
She lifted and guided that massive part of him inside her. A rush of air escaped him from the heated friction their combined sex provoked. She began moving upon him with unhurried lifts and a slow rocking. He gripped her hips and raised his, encouraging the speed of her movements, but she pressed down to maintain control. “Not yet.”
He released a strangled breath. “Stop torturing me. I want to fuck you.”
Sienna laughed. “Greedy.” Moving up and down on his ridiculously stiff penis in a measured glide, she took her time. The way he felt inside her, stroking along her hot, wet, clenching channel, she wanted to drag out the euphoria for as long as possible. But he grabbed her hips once more and slammed up hard and deep, again and again. Swiftly, he sat up, and circled an arm around her waist. The other held her buttocks tight as he pumped her on his dick.
“Like that?” she panted against his lips, locking her thighs at his waist, rocking her hips swiftly to match his quick hard thrusts.
“Just like that. You’ve gotten me so worked up with your teasing that I can’t hold out. I’m going to come inside you.”
He said her name repeatedly, a husky welcoming hymn as their bodies moved in perfect sync to the end of their shared quivering release. Panting with lips pressed together, sucking in shared breaths, they stayed that way through several racing heartbeats.
Sienna reared back and palmed his cheeks. His face was washed with rosy color from their rigorous lovemaking. “You’re amazing.”
Light fingers brushed at the damp hairs at her temple. Still burrowed deep inside her, his hand pressed at her buttocks to prevent himself from slipping free of her body. “Sie-Sie, sweetness, you’re the only one for me.”
“Who knew you were such a sweet romantic?” She kissed the side of his damp neck, then drew back. “I’m hungry. We were so busy having sex that we missed breakfast.”
“Yeah, you’re insatiable, Miss Keller.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m insatiable? Your cock gets hard a second after you come.”
“Only for you, believe that.” He delivered a quick peck on the lips. “What would you like? Name it. I need to make a run to the market. We’re out of a few things.”
“That soup from Filomena’s was really good. Couldn’t you just have the groceries delivered? There’s PEAPOD.”
“Then Filomena’s it is.” He tapped a finger on the tip of her nose. “And yes, I could, but there’s something I want to get you while I’m out.”
He would get her flowers, Sienna knew. A fresh bouquet was stationed on the nightstand next to her side of the bed practically every few days or so. Such a sweet, romantic, caring man, and he was hers. All hers.
She rose to get off him and a stream of their combined fluid spilled from her body onto his thighs. He used the bed sheet to clean them both.
“I guess I have laundry to do when I return from the market.”
“Let’s shower, and then, while you’re out, I’ll get it started. It’s time I begin earning my keep, Mr. Crane,” she said
with a playful wink.
“Oh, you’ve more than earned it, sweetheart.” Squeezing her butt, he gave it a light, yet resounding whack.
“Ow,” she chirped with a slow grin. “You want to get rough, is that it?” She took his semi-flaccid penis in hand and delivered the long length several swift pumps before she guided it back inside her. Feeling him thicken and pulse deep within, an enticing shudder of anticipation rushed through her.
Her short snatches of breath fell in sync with his as she grinded down, filled full to bursting with him once more. “I’ll get started on the laundry, but first,” her hips rocked with tiny, measured lifts, then she grew swift and aggressive. “I’m going to fuck you senseless, Mr. Crane.”
His grin stretched wide. “Oh yes, that’ll work.”
• • •
As she loaded the washer with the sheets, Sienna thought about how great things had been between Gavin and her over the past few weeks. Never could she have imagined feeling as happy, content, and safe with a man as she did with him.
And the sex . . . wow, he was such a randy man. Earlier in the shower, she’d ended up pinned against the marble as he took her from behind, and then once again in the bed as she’d attempted to dress it with fresh linens. She had to shove him out of the apartment; otherwise, he would’ve had her braced against the washing machine.
In the beginning, she’d found him disturbingly fixated on her and wondered what his game was. Turned out, patience and determination was his only weapon. During their three weeks on the road for her art tour, he hadn’t missed a single showing and saw to her every need. Add to it how he’d been determined to see to her recovery, how he’d catered to her every whim. He was such a wonderful, caring man. How could any woman not fall in love with him?
She didn’t let many men get past her fuck-off defense barrier. Her trust was like a tightwire. Many man ended up falling, yet Gavin Crane had managed to scale it without falter.
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