by Kali Hart
“I’m coming back to take you home. Do not leave until I get here.”
I grab an apron to cover my exposed boobs since all the buttons have busted on my shirt, and lock the door behind him.
I’m irritated and horny.
I always thought the constant interruptions back when things first got started were signs that we weren’t meant to be together. I can’t help the niggling fear that the universe is trying to tell us the same message now.
Because I don’t want to think about it and I can’t leave, I do what I always do when I’m stressed: I bake.
7
NATHAN
I’m so fucking relieved we caught the jackass who tried to rob Audrey. Too often in cases like these, if the perp gets away without being identified, it’s hard to track them down. He was smart enough to cover his face and disguise his voice. But he was stupid enough to try another robbery.
I ended up calling Summer to escort Audrey home when I realized I was going to be at the station all night.
Now that it’s over, I can’t wait to see Audrey.
The Sweet Tooth is only closed one day a week, and it’s just my luck today is that day. I’m fucking exhausted, but the need to see Audrey is overwhelming. I need to tell her about the news, but I need to hold her in my arms more.
She opens the door before I can knock.
“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she says with a wicked smile that wakes me right up. “Get your ass in here, Chief.”
“Ten-four.”
Our lips are fused together before the front door even closes. We’re a tangle of arms and legs against it. I want to carry her to the bedroom and finish what we started last night. I warned the guys at the station not to bother me unless it was a true emergency.
Today, I’m claiming the one woman I’ve been in love with for well over a year.
“Audrey,” I say between hungry kisses.
“Take me upstairs,” she demands. “We can talk after you come inside me.”
Fuck, I don’t need to be told twice. I scoop her into my arms and carry her to the bedroom, unable to keep my lips from hers along the way. Our clothes scatter around the room, a sock landing on a lampshade and making us both laugh before we tumble naked onto the bed.
“Audrey,” I growl, sweeping my hand over her very naked torso. “I love you.” Her expression freezes, but it doesn’t lessen my resolve. I’ve known Audrey long enough to suspect how she would react to my declaration. “I know we still have some things to talk about,” I add before she has too much time to think and talk herself out of what is happening right now. “But I mean it. I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you this whole time.”
“Nathan, I—”
I gently capture her lips, allowing the sensual kiss to soothe her biggest worries. “You don’t have to say anything right now, sweetheart. I just needed you to know I’m not fooling around here. You’re it for me, Audrey.”
“Then get inside me already and prove it.” The fire reignites twice as bright in her eyes, the desire so strong it lures me on top of her. Our kisses deepen as our bodies align. She spreads her legs in invitation. She twists around my knees like a pretzel, locking me into place with her ankles.
“There’s one more thing I need to say,” I add, peering into her soulful eyes. The connection between us has always been undeniable, but it’s incredibly strong in this moment. “I have waited so long to claim you. I won’t share you with anyone else. If you don’t want this—”
“I only want you, Nathan.” She wraps her soft fingers around my cock, firmly guiding me to her slit.
I push into her channel inch by inch, allowing her tight walls to expand to my size. She moans as her fingers dig into my biceps. “You’re so fucking big.”
The words uttered from her lips are a massive turn on. “The massage was only a warmup of the pleasure I can give you, sweetheart.” I fill her the rest of the way, stilling inside her as deep as I can go. Committing this feeling of euphoric perfection to memory.
Audrey wriggles her hips, demanding I move.
I’ve waited too damn long to rush any of this. I thrust in and out with patience. As if we have days to make love. Everything about her sopping wet walls of heat enveloping my dick is a level of pleasure I’ve never experienced with another woman before.
Audrey Hamilton is it for me.
Whatever it takes, she will be Audrey Walker the moment she’s ready to say I do.
Our bodies rock in perfect, leisurely rhythm. We’re wrapped tightly together. Our lips exploring. Her fingers threaded through my hair. We roll together, never losing the connection, and Audrey takes over on top. Her tits swing in my face as she leans over me, and I don’t waste a second sucking on a hard nipple.
Everything about my curvy beauty is perfection.
“I fucking love your body.” After I’ve had my fill of suckling her tits, I roll her onto her side. She stretches one leg out in front of her, the other she hooks onto my shoulder. It’s erotic to see in her in this position as I hold onto her ankle and fuck her harder, watching her squeeze her own tits.
It’s when I add teasing her swollen bud into the mix that she starts to come undone. I feel her orgasm the moment it starts. Her walls convulse around my dick as she cries out my name loud enough to alert the neighbors. It’s all the permission I need to stop holding back.
I thrust one final time, deeper than I’ve gone before, and fill her with my seed. Cum pouring into her depths, claiming her as my own. Now and forever. “I love you, Audrey. You’re mine.”
“I’m all yours.”
8
AUDREY
If only I’d known how fucking wonderful sex with Nathan would be, I would’ve given in a lot sooner.
Well, that’s a lie.
We still have plenty to talk about, but I keep putting it off. Deep down, I think I’m afraid that a serious conversation is going to shatter the happy fantasy we’re living. I can forgive him for arresting my brother, but there are other questions and circumstances surrounding it I can’t so easily lay to rest.
I let go of my worries, promising I’ll revisit them another time, and drift off to sleep in Nathan’s arms.
Who cares if it’s the middle of the day?
We have nowhere else to be but wrapped up in each other.
When I wake, Nathan is still out cold. I consider waking him with my mouth on his cock, but the man needs sleep. Instead, I slip into the kitchen wearing only his t-shirt to bake him his favorite peach pie from scratch.
A dozen text messages fill my phone screen, most of them from Summer demanding to know all the details I keep withholding from her. I send a reply, promising to fill her in on everything very soon. I almost tell her that Nathan and I are officially together, but my fingers won’t type out the words.
I believe that he loves me.
I think I love him. I think in some ways, I always have.
But I also feel like I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Stupid feelings,” I mutter, putting away the phone and focusing on the pie. Baking has always been an outlet for me. I can shut out the rest of the world when I’m focused in the kitchen. It’s my happy place.
I’m giddy with excitement at the work of art I’ve created, and bend to place it in the oven. It’s only when I close the oven door that I hear him.
“You’re not wearing any panties,” Nathan says in approval, coming up behind me. He wraps both arms around my chest, drawing me in for a breath-stealing kiss that instantly has slickness dripping between my legs. “How long before the pie is done?”
“At least forty-five minutes.”
“Good.” Nathan leads me to the counter. “That image of you bent over without any panties has me thinking very bad thoughts.”
“How bad?”
He drops his boxers and kicks them away. “Very bad.”
I bend over, hooking my fingers on the counter, and arch my back. Nathan lines his cock u
p with my entrance, pushing inside in one quick thrust. I gasp, raising to my tippy toes. He’s so fucking huge I should be afraid he’ll split me in half. But it all feels too good to make me anything but hungry for more.
Nathan fucks me from behind, the slap of our bodies turning me on in ways I’ve never experienced before. I always knew sex with him would be amazing, but it’s gone way beyond that simple word. It’s mind-blowingly good.
My legs go wobbly and I nearly collapse when my climax assaults me. Nathan’s firm hands shackled to my hips are the only reason I don’t crumple to the ground like an overcooked noodle who tried and failed to stand up straight.
I feel him still inside me, filling me.
I think about a future. A real future.
“You’re so fucking sexy, Audrey.” His words turn my attention to him. His massive cock standing at attention, shiny from being inside me. I’m exhausted and sore in all the best ways, but dammit, I still want more.
“I’m not finished with you yet,” Nathan says in promise. “But after the pie comes out. You know how I feel about peach pies.”
Now, while the timer counts down, would be a great time to talk. But the words still won’t form. Damn my fear for tying my tongue. I force out the only question I can. “What happened last night?”
“Got your robber,” Nathan says, shimmying back into his boxers. I’d rather he stay naked all day and consider making that a new rule in my house. “He’s been arrested and charged.”
“Who was it?” I ask, not sure if he can tell me.
“Clint Johnson.”
“The owner of Expresso of Love?”
“That’s the one. It took a few hours, but I finally got him to admit he was trying to sabotage your business. He tried to rob someone else last night so it wouldn’t look so obvious. But it backfired big time.” Nathan fills me in on more details, answering my many, many questions until the oven timer beeps.
“Hungry for some peach pie?”
“You know I am,” Nathan says with a giant smile that fills me with warmth and reassurance. Would it be so bad to let myself fall in love with him? “I’m also hungry for more of you.”
“Pie first, Romeo. Then you can show me more of your skills.”
“You have no idea how many I still have to show you.”
9
NATHAN
“Thought for sure you were going to bail on us,” Knox says when I arrive at his house with a six pack and large order of wings from Jax’s Bar and Grill to share with the guys. I am late, but not sad about why.
Audrey insisted I join the guys for the game tonight. She and Summer had a girls night planned anyway. But I didn’t leave her without a very good memory before I left. I still taste her on my lips. Fuck, she tastes divine. “What’s the score?”
“Your team’s losing,” Bentley, a local park ranger, calls out from his spot on the couch.
I crack open a beer as the commercial break ends and the game airs. I always have a good time hanging out with the guys on game nights. But it’s impossible not to miss Audrey right now. I’m a fucking sap, and I don’t care.
“You going to pop the question then?” Knox asks during a time out.
The other guys turn their attention to me thanks to Knox having a loud voice. But I’m not deterred by being called out. I already know the answer. “Yeah, I am.”
“You and the bakery girl?” Bentley asks.
“Audrey,” I correct. There is nothing girl about the woman who’s been screaming my name in ecstasy these past few days.
“Don’t you think it’s a little fast?” Ian Maxwell, our local doctor, asks. “Or are you worried that since she spent all that time hating you that you need to get hitched before she changes her mind?” The guys burst out in laughter, and I join them. No way in hell I’m admitting Ian might have a sliver of a point.
Maybe I am rushing things because I don’t want to lose what we have after waiting so long to get it. But that doesn’t change how I feel about Audrey. How certain I am that she’s meant to be my wife. The future mother of my children. My forever.
“Bases loaded,” I say with a nod to the TV, happy to get the attention off me.
“You’ve picked out a ring already, haven’t you?” Knox asks, his voice a few notches quieter this time.
I look him square in the eye and shake my head in amusement. “You say that like I’m the only one of us who has.” Knox goes oddly silent. “Have you even asked her out yet?”
“She’s with some other guy,” he mutters, emptying his beer and going for another. “But he won’t last. None of them do. I’m just biding my time. Like you did.”
The conversation dies off as we watch the rest of the game. I try to pay attention, but all I can think about is getting home to Audrey. Stripping her naked. Sinking into her sweet pussy and filling her with my seed. Tomorrow, I have a romantic date planned. The date. The one where I’m going to ask her to be my wife.
10
AUDREY
I can’t stop staring at my phone, feeling enormously guilty that I missed Wade’s call while Nathan was balls deep inside me. My entire body shivers in remembrance of that feeling. It makes the guilt all the worse. It’s not like I can just call Wade back under the circumstances.
“More wine?” Summer holds up the bottle in offering.
This isn’t a problem wine can fix, but I hold out my empty glass anyway.
“You love him, right?” Summer asks as casually as she might ask me about what I had for lunch. “If you love him, you’ll figure it out.”
I want to believe her kindly reassuring words. But there’s a big hurdle I’ve been ignoring since the moment I decided to let Nathan back into my life. I love my brother, despite his poor decision to hold up our local bank at gunpoint. He was running with a rough and dangerous crowd, and that’s the only reason I can think he was willing to do something so terrible.
But would dating the man who arrested him be a giant slap in the face to Wade?
“Honey,” Summer says, taking my neglected wine glass from me and setting it on the table so she can grab both of my hands. “Love is a rare, beautiful thing.” Tears sparkle unshed in her eyes. Summer doesn’t talk about her past much, but I know she lost someone she truly loved in the most tragic way possible. “Don’t take it for granted.”
“Wade doesn’t have anyone but me who believes in him. I can’t—”
Summer squeezes my hands harder to shut me up. “Don’t you dare end things with Nathan this way. I will make your life miserable if you do.”
“Constantly reminding me terrible, or laxative in my coffee terrible?”
Our combined laughter breaks the worst of the tension. “If you need to hit the pause button so you can clear the air with your brother, fine. But don’t you dare end things with Nathan if Wade throws a fit. He broke the law, Audrey. Whether you want to believe it about him or not, he’s facing the consequences of his actions. You shouldn’t have to suffer for it.”
“You’re right.” I stare at my phone, willing for the call to come back through so I can talk to Wade tonight while I’m feeling my bravest. But it’s a text message from Nathan, announcing he’s on his way over. I snatch the phone from the coffee table hopefully before Summer reads the rest of the very inappropriate words hot enough to melt my phone.
“I’m going to go,” Summer announces. “Remember what I said.”
I’m left on the couch with my phone cradled in my hands when the front door closes.
Before I can figure out what to say to Nathan, I hear a knock. Dammit, I’m not ready for this. Why couldn’t the stupid game have gone into double overtime or something? I need time to find the right words so I don’t completely mess this up.
I know the moment I open that door, I’ll be helpless to send him away. My panties will fall off of their own accord.
“Pause button,” I tell myself. “It’s just a pause button.”
I open the door slowly, but it doesn’t st
op the inevitable from happening. Nathan steps inside, a wicked smile on those oh-so-kissable lips, and wraps me in his arms. I melt against him, yearning to memorize the perfect way this feels. Just in case.
“I’ve missed you,” Nathan growls into my neck, teasing me with his tongue in the spot that instantly drives me wild.
“Did your team win?” I ask, buying myself desperately needed time to clear away the clouds in my head. The clouds that are begging me to give in to him and talk tomorrow. But a chime from my phone—probably a text from Summer—reminds me: pause button.
“Does it matter?’
It takes every ounce of strength within me, but I place my palm flat against Nathan’s chest and push. Confusion swims in his dark, desire-drenched eyes. “Something wrong?”
“I—I need some time, Nathan.”
“Time.”
“It’s just that Wade—”
“You’re still upset about me arresting your brother.” Nathan’s tone has turned to ice as his warm hands fall away. I feel the absence of his touch like a cold front has moved between us. “Audrey, I told you I won’t apologize for that.”
“I know.” Words. Why are the stupid words I need failing me right now? Pause button. “I just—I need—I’m trying—”
Nathan folds his arms over his chest—never a good thing when you’re the object of his disdain. To anyone else, he’s fucking hot as hell when he’s pissed off. “I love you, Audrey. Does that mean anything to you?”
“Of course it does.” My words are uttered in a faint whisper. “I need to talk to Wade. Please.”
“Understood.” He turns abruptly toward the door, failing to look back at me before he leaves. It cracks my heart open. How did I screw this up so badly? There was nothing pause button about what I said.
