Peering up at me, she tilts her head in the direction they went. “I love that my brother found Paige. She’s perfect for him.”
Her laughter is infectious. “And that makes you laugh?”
“If you knew what he used to eat, the fact that he’s going to go help make dinner for us is hysterical.”
Again, her relationship with her siblings only makes me regret how distant my sister and I are, and reminds me of the concern her brother expressed earlier. “Are you alright?”
Her smile fades. “Why do you ask?”
“Asher asked when you were in the cabin with Paige.”
Her expression softens. “It was nothing important. I needed to get her advice on something.”
I stop myself from telling her she could always come to me. As time goes by, I want to be that person for her, a sounding board and a confidant.
For now, I’ll focus on where we are today. “This place is something else.”
She rests her cheek against my chest and murmurs her agreement.
Moving back to New Hampshire when I did, I missed the fall leaves changing color. By the time I got back home, the trees were bare skeletons.
With spring upon us, those barren branches are now heavy with greenery. Illuminated by the afternoon sun, they cast their reflection against the lake’s surface.
“Do you come up here often?”
She steps away from me and offers me her hand. “When I can. Here, come with me. I want to show you something.”
My fingers curl around hers and together we make our way off the dock.
At the end of the dock, we turn right and walk across a small beach.
There’s a large grassy area that curves around it. “This is where Noah and Finley are getting married next month.”
My gaze follows the path she motions to with her hands. “Before Gideon cleared some brush and small trees, there was barely enough space to park down here. Now there’s enough room for canopies and seating for the wedding.”
“Gideon did a great job clearing everything. Did he have to grade the land to level it?”
She nods. “He did. I think the plan is for Noah and Asher to build a wooden platform for dancing. Paige is helping with all the designs. They’re going to wrap all the tent poles with fairy lights and lanterns and Gideon is taking care of all the flowers.”
“It sounds like it’s all coming together.”
She gulps. “Would you like to be my date?”
Leaning down, I press my mouth to hers. “Yes.”
She smiles against my lips and I gather her closer. Her arms coil around my neck and I deepen our kiss. My blood thrums through my veins as my desire for her intensifies.
When she breaks our kiss, I struggle to catch my breath as I stare down into the depths of her blue eyes.
She wets her lips. “I want you.”
Those words cause my body to immediately react. “I want you too.”
“Tonight?”
That long? Christ, I want to throw her over my shoulder right now and carry her right up to that loft bed. Hell, I’m even tempted to take her right here on this beach. Though, there’s a decent chance Asher would see us and then kill me. No, she’s right. If we started anything now, we’d be interrupted for dinner. I want to take my time with and fully enjoy each and every one of her curves.
“Are you sure?”
She nods and then asks, “Are you?”
This time, when I kiss her, I lift her, crushing her to me. At this point, I don’t care if her brother can see us.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Her words catch me off guard. Shoving my face into her neck I burst out laughing. Setting her back on her feet, I take a step away from her. “I’m not sure I can handle anymore kissing.”
With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she closes the distance between us. “What’ll happen if we don’t stop?”
My brows rise. “You don’t know?”
She grasps my hands and pulls them around her. “Tell me.”
Does she want me to talk sexy to her?
My mind blanks as pure panic sets in. “I-I-I would do things to you.”
Her lips part and for some inexplicable reason, my fumbling words seem to only turn her on.
“What kind of things?”
All at once, I feel light headed.
I sit, taking her with me. Ass planted in the sand, she ends up straddling me when I pulled us both down.
Her eyes are wide with surprise. “Spencer.”
She doesn’t seem to mind our current position so I decide against telling her I almost fainted. Given our height difference, having her on my lap is a vast improvement. Pushing her hair over her shoulder, I taste the delicate skin of her neck. She sighs, the sound making me light headed all over again.
“Hey guys. Um, hate to interrupt but dinner is ready.”
Both Paige and Asher stand on the deck to our left. Paige grins as she waves. Asher in stark contrast appears to be shooting daggers at me with his eyes.
Abby looks up at them. “We’ll be right up.”
Paige pulls Asher back into their house.
“Any chance your brother is poisoning my dinner right now?”
She laughs, tucking her face into the spot where my neck meets my shoulder.
“I wasn’t joking.”
That only makes her laugh harder.
Fear of my untimely death has any lingering light headedness vanishing. I stand, pulling Abby up with me. With her hand in mine, I lead us toward the steps, brushing sand off of my backside as we go.
“Want me to taste your food before you have any?”
Her teasing is one of the things I like most about her. I look forward to enjoying her playful side once we’re alone.
When we reach the door, she opens it and I hold it for her to pass through. The main cabin is reminiscent of the smaller guest cabin, only much larger and with more rooms. Given how quickly the temperature drops in the evening, it’s not a surprise that we’re eating inside.
The large table in front of a picture window is set.
“Is there anything I can do?” Abby asks.
Paige shakes her head. “We’re all set. Please sit down, both of you. Would either of you like any wine with dinner?”
My gaze moves to Abby and her eyes lock with mine.
She lifts her index finger. “Just one please.”
Her implication is subtle but I don’t miss it. She wants to be clear-headed for whatever might happen tonight.
I nod. “Same for me please.”
I’d like to say I was an amazing conversationalist over dinner but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Things started off well but all went downhill the moment Abby rested her hand on my thigh.
“Spencer?”
I blink, my eyes moving to Paige. Shit, I think she asked me something. My attention is solely focused on Abby’s whisper soft touch.
“I’m sorry I missed that.”
Her gaze moves to Abby. “I asked what you thought of the place.”
Abby’s hand moves dangerously close to my crotch. “Oh, it’s great, fantastic actually.”
My ‘oh’ comes out a bit strangled making the beautiful devil woman beside me giggle.
Paige’s brows come together. “Thanks.”
Asher squints at me and I pray to God he can’t tell what his sister is doing.
“Spencer is going to be my date to Noah and Finley’s wedding.”
It’s Paige who laughs this time. “Geez, the wedding is only a month away. It took you long enough to ask him.”
My eyes move to her face. From what I understand, wedding guests normally RSVP months in advance.
“Is it too short notice?” I ask.
Paige shakes her head. “I was just giving Abby a hard time.”
Abby and I have been dating for close to two months. Given the newness of our relationship, it seems Abby was being prudent in waiting to ask me to be her guest. In aski
ng me, she is saying she expects us to still be together a month from now. That, and the promise of tonight make it safe to assume this trip has been a pivotal moment in our relationship.
Both are excellent signs.
After dinner, we don jackets, and as a group make our way back to the end of the dock.
As we walk, my eyes continually drift heavenward. Clear skies of starlight blanket us. With visibility like this, even Jupiter and Saturn are visible to the naked eye. With my telescope, Venus should be visible as well. Mercury and Mars will both be a long shot.
Paige brought her glass of wine out with her. “I’ve been living here for months and I still can’t get over the stars on clear nights like tonight.”
“It’s beautiful,” Abby breathes. She looks up at me. “What do you think?”
I tuck her close to my side. “It’s an awesome spot.”
The star-filled sky has nothing on the brilliance of her smile.
When we reach the end of the dock, Abby and Paige huddle next to each other on a bench while I point out various planets and constellations. Asher stands behind them, his hands on Paige’s shoulders.
Since he’s standing, I offer him the first go at the telescope. “Let Abby go first.”
Shit. Did I screw up by not asking her first?
She turns to glare at him. “He was trying to be nice to you.”
Not giving him a chance to change his mind, she stands. “I’ll still go first.”
Earlier, when I set the telescope up, I positioned it toward what I believed would be the most interesting things to see tonight. Crouching down beside her, I instruct her on what she’s seeing.
“You don’t have to whisper in my ear when it’s my turn.”
Shifting away from Abby, I look over to the bench and where Asher now sits beside Paige.
She raises her hand. “You can whisper in my ear.”
Abby laughs while Asher folds his arms across his unnervingly broad chest.
He’s going to either kick my ass or throw me in the lake. Given the current temperature, I’m hoping for the former.
“I’ll give you a hundred bucks if you whisper in his ear too.”
Even Asher cracks a smile at that.
Even though we’re pretty different, there are many similarities in the dynamic of our relationships. Abby and Paige are both fun-loving life of the party types while Asher and I are both more reserved.
From where we stand, I can smell the scent of her hair mixed with the perfume she wears. If we didn’t have an audience, I’d take her into my arms and kiss her again. Instead, I have to stand here and pray they can’t tell how much I want her.
She lifts her head. “Your telescope is awesome.”
Paige stands. “Is it my turn?”
Shifting up onto her toes, Abby holds onto my jacket as she presses her lips to my cheek. “Thank you.”
My hand covers the spot she kissed as she moves to claim Paige’s seat.
Paige motions to the telescope. “So, do I just look into it?”
“Here let me make sure the alignment is right.”
I look through the viewer and up into the night sky. For me, the sky must be as familiar as an engine block is to a mechanic, or as code is to a programmer. My hand moves to the focusing knob.
“There, that should be good.”
She presses her eye to the viewer. “This is so cool. Alright, what am I looking at?”
I laugh at her excitement and rattle off the stars and constellations they make up.
Asher moves to stand behind Paige, his hands on her hips. “Should we get a telescope?”
Turning her head to look up at him, she grins. “Definitely. Here, look.”
He bends to look through the viewer.
Paige moves his hands to wrap around her middle and takes over. “Okay, that big dot over to the top right is Jupiter—”
Six steps take me to the bench where Abby sits. Even though it’s spring, it’s cold at night, some cold enough to frost. I take the spot next to her and cuddle her close.
“Thanks for bringing your telescope.”
I don’t remind her my telescope was the reason she invited me up here. “Thanks to Asher for letting me set it up here. The dock is a great spot for it.”
Asher and Paige take turns looking through the telescope while I hold Abby tightly to my side.
Paige is the first to step away. “Okay, I’m going to head inside. It’s cold out here.”
Asher hesitates by the telescope before he must decide he’d rather be somewhere warm with Paige than with us out here in the cold.
“Would you like to go back to the cabin?” I ask.
Abby shakes her head and stands. “I want to look through the telescope again first.”
I move with her and when she stands behind my telescope, I move to stand behind her. She bends and I do the same, my body curving around hers.
My lips move to her ear as she looks through the viewer. “I’ve seen thousands of galaxies and you are still more beautiful than any of them.”
Her eye stays on the viewer as she exhales. “Spencer.”
Pulling her hair back, I nuzzle the spot behind her ear. “You smell so good.”
She shifts against me, her hand covering mine. “Mmm.”
“Do you know what the center of our galaxy smells like?”
Tipping her face up to meet my gaze, she stares at me. “What?”
I press my face into her hair and inhale before looking back at her. “It smells like raspberries.”
She squints at me. “Are you making that up?”
“No. There’s a dust cloud near the center that contains ethyl formate, or C3H602; which is the dominate flavor of raspberries. It’s funny since you’ve become the center of mine.”
Her jaw slackens and I wonder if I admitted too much.
“That may be the sexiest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
She lifts her head and spins in my arms, her lips capturing mine in a hungry kiss. Six steps backward have me back on that bench taking Abby with me.
She climbs into my lap, her warm palms framing my face as our kiss deepens. My arms circle her, holding her tight.
Even with the chill in the air, my body is aflame. Breaking our kiss, my lips taste the curve of her jaw and move down the slope of her neck. She’s wearing too much. All I want to do is take her back to the cabin, slowly strip her bare and taste every inch of her.
She squirms, grinding against me. At this point given our current positions, it’d be physically impossible to hide my arousal. Her fingers thread my hair and hold my mouth to her. I kiss down her neck until where her jacket stops me. My fingers itch to lower the zipper and spread it wide.
The beat of her pulse ripples against my tongue.
“We should go inside.”
I agree, standing. As much as I want to scoop her up into my arms and carry her all the way to the cabin, it’d be unwise to in the dark, that and the fact that I have to carry my telescope. She waits as I quickly disassemble it and pack it back in its case.
“Sorry about that.”
She takes my hand. “You take care of the things that are important to you. Trust me, that’s not a bad thing.”
I pause to press a hard and fast kiss on her lips. “I plan on taking really good care of you tonight.”
She shivers and I have no way of knowing if it’s from the cold or my words. Hurriedly, we make our way up the steps and across the path that leads back to the cabin. She pulls open the door and I set the carrying case of my telescope inside it and close the door behind me.
For a beat we stand there, staring at each other. The next moment she’s in my arms. She pulls off her jacket and reaches for mine, sure hands pushing it off over my shoulders. Our mouths kiss, taste and nip at each other.
Once my jacket is off her hands go to the hem of my sweater. Breaking our kiss, I pull it off over my head and move to kiss her again. She’s not done though, her hands now tugg
ing at the t-shirt I wore under it. Groaning at the delay in resuming our kiss, I pull it off as well.
Her hands, cool from our time outside move across my skin, exploring me. Her gentle touch sparks a trail of heat in its wake. My hands slide down her back, and I’m frustrated at all of the fabric covering her. Here I am already half naked and she’s still fully clothed. That’s about to change.
17
Abby
Good God, I could tell Spencer Hill was built just by the way his clothes fit. That knowledge didn’t prepare me for just how spectacular his body is once he’s out of them.
My mouth waters like he’s fresh baked bread and I’m on a no carb diet. My lips move to his pec and I lick and kiss my way across his chest. He smells good and tastes even better. When he begins to tug at my shirt, I lift my arms for him to pull it off me. Standing in front of him in one of my prettiest bras, my gaze moves to his face so I can decide if he likes what he sees.
His eyes are locked on my body, his expression so hot I squirm under the intensity of it.
I wet my lips and reach behind me to undo the clasp of my bra. His eyes widen as his lips part. Slowly, I drop my arms to my sides. The cups of my bra cling to my breasts as the straps one by one slide down my arms. Unable to hold on, my bra falls to the floor in front of me, its straps caressing my arms along the way. The cool air of the cabin kisses my nipples making them tighten into little buds.
Spencer seems frozen where he stands.
“Please.”
My plea frees him and he erases the space between us. Strong, warm arms envelop me as he crushes my chest to his. I cling to him as he carries me to the sofa, my back hits the seat and he covers me. Pressing the heel of my palm to my eye, I groan when his lips meet my breast. He doesn’t just kiss my breasts; he worships them making my back arch off the sofa.
He shifts off me when I push up to sit. “The loft.”
As amazing as what he’s doing is, there just isn’t enough room on this sofa.
I don’t wait for him to answer; I just go, pausing at the base of the stairs to toe off my boots. The sound of his footsteps behind me lets me know he’s following me.
“Um, can you carry my bag up? I have some condoms.”
His steps pause, and then pivot as he retrieves my bag.
Fix My Fall (The Fix Series Book 3) Page 16
