by K. K. Allen
I hook the lace at one hip with a finger, and then I do the same with the other side. Her back arches as I peel the fabric from her body, my eyes transfixed on her beautiful offering of shaved, pale pink skin. For an instant, my chest puffs at the knowledge that no one else has ever seen her this way, bare and spread open. Just me. I’m a fucking king. And I can’t wait another second to taste her.
My nose dips down first, catching her scent before I swipe my tongue against her center, pushing her hips back down as she jerks them in surprise.
“Ahh,” she moans.
I smile and take another taste, this one just as quick, figuring I’ll let her get used to me before I unleash on her completely. I can’t fucking wait.
Using my hands to part her legs further, I let my thumb fall to her clit, massaging it as I inhale her sweet scent again, shivering on my exhale. She moans in response to my warm breath and arches her back again.
“Jax, more.”
“Patience, Waterfall Eyes.”
The next swipe of my tongue is slow and long, and I follow it up with the suction of my mouth on her clit. A gasp explodes from her mouth. Fuck, she tastes better than the wine we forgot to finish downstairs. I can feel myself start to unravel as I drink her in, my tongue lapping eagerly against her, my arms now hooked around her legs, pressing her hips down to keep them from bucking wildly against the sheets.
Everything about Aurora is so pure, so tight, and so reactive. This is new for us. This type of intimacy. We came close many times when she lay naked beneath me. My lips would travel down her body, exploring her uncharted skin, stopping just above her glistening center. She’d be jerking from my finger already inside her, moaning from the feel of my breath hitting her right there. But I never took a taste, too afraid that she was too delicate to handle all the things I wanted to do to her.
Now that I have a second chance, I won’t let her down.
Her entire body is shaking, her breasts pressed into the air like she’s a woman possessed, and she’s crying out with a sound so guttural and filthy, I want to watch her come undone just as much as I want to continue devouring her.
But she wants more, and I’m not stopping until she gets it.
When her muscles begin to spasm around my tongue, I know she’s letting go. Her fingers dig into the comforter, gripping and pulling. Her legs quiver. Her cry comes out a rasp. And when she finally starts to come down, she comes down slowly.
I release her from my mouth. She slides her fingers through my hair and tugs me toward her onto the bed. I land on my elbows with a grin, her juices still fresh on my lips. She attacks them, nibbles them clean while clawing at my back and reaching for my briefs. She pushes them down, and my cock springs free. She wastes no time. I inhale sharply as her hand grips me firmly, groaning at the feel of her palm stroking me like she’s imagining me inside her.
I take the opportunity to unclasp her bra, releasing her supple breasts. They’re perfect, firm and big enough to fill my palm. My mouth waters at the thought of tasting them again.
She releases me from her hold, grabs her bra, and flings it to the side. I chuckle at her impulse, loving this wild side of Aurora she never allowed herself to show me at seventeen—the woman I was only able to imagine in my dreams for so many years.
I roll to the side to slide my briefs off completely, letting myself breathe for a moment before attempting to climb back onto her. She seems to be doing the same. I peer at her, a smile spreading across my face when I take in her naked form. My petite girl with curves that drive me mad, with long hair strewn about in a messy tangle around her shoulders. I roll back on top of her, lifting my weight with my elbows as I gaze down. She stares back at me with a knowing smile.
Everything is perfect.
“I love you, you know?” I swallow against the nerves rattling my chest. I don’t know why I’m shaking. We’ve made love before. I’ve heard her moans. I’ve watched her come apart for me, spine arched and neck stretched back as I filled her. But everything feels different now, like doing it again proves just how soul-crushingly real our love is.
Her eyes shine with emotion, and she cups my face with a small palm. “I love you too, Jax. I never stopped.”
This time, when I kiss her, it’s all heart and pent-up emotions I’ve been saving for her for seven years.
“That’s really good news,” I mumble against her lips. Then, I kiss her again, this time while her legs part and knees bend.
I push up on my arms to align myself just right and then guide myself into her snug opening. I push into her, edging my way in as she adjusts around me, squeezing me until my breath is coming in gasps.
I’m sweating by the time I’m halfway in, pumping my hips to push inside her as deep as her body will allow. Aurora isn’t complaining as she presses her heels into my ass, more impatient than I am to feel all of me buried inside her.
“Are you okay?” I ask against her neck.
She nods, lifting her pelvis again to take more of me. “I’m sorry I’m so tight.”
My laughter comes quick, pushing me the rest of the way in, and I groan before kissing her neck. “Baby, it’s a good thing. Trust me.”
I move slowly, desperate to feel every inch of her slide against every inch of me, grinding into her when I can’t get any closer. She palms my ass. I flex, hitting her core and forcing her to slide further up the bed.
Her body was made for me. I know it. The way it moves with mine. The way she fists the sheets like her body is on fire. The way she arches her back, her beautiful tits bouncing in the air.
I pull her toward me so her back is still pressed against the bed but her hips are in the air, forming the perfect arch. I thrust harder, hit deeper, and growl when I see her wide eyes staring at the point where our bodies meet.
“Hey,” I say gently to get her attention. “Eyes up here, beautiful.”
Her long lashes flip up, and I almost come right there. “Switch with me.”
I pull out of her with a wince and roll onto my back, fitting her on top of me with two hands on her waist. She holds me at her entrance before sliding down and rolling her head back with a gasp.
I love the way her hair falls to her ass. The way her curves are on display for me and me only. I scoot back toward the window so she can press her palms against the glass, and she does. How I would love to be staring up at her from outside that window, watching her hips roll with as much grace and power as a trained dancer. Her breasts are soft and heavy beneath my palms, her tips budding to a full bloom as I draw them into my mouth, nipping and sucking as she bobs up and down my shaft.
My hands skate down her ribs, grazing her ass before pressing her hips harder onto me. She picks up speed, nearing her release. Her breathing quickens, her abs tighten, and her muscles clench around me. That’s all it takes to set me off.
We’re both coming, a tangle of screams and grunts as we claw our way to each other’s mouths for one last kiss as our release takes over.
And then we crash.
Jaxon pulls me to his mouth as my release fizzles out, my body abuzz with sensations. I’m filled with air, my head buzzing in a haze spun from love and sex. I feel like I’m floating. I kiss him from his neck down to his chest, unable to get enough. He still loves me. After all this time.
I hear a familiar growl coming from downstairs, and I laugh into Jaxon’s neck. “You think Lacey heard us?”
He smiles at the ceiling, teeth gleaming under the moonlight. “I think all of Balsam Grove’s wildlife heard us.” His eyes find mine as he sweeps my tangled web of hair over my shoulder. “You okay?”
My brows squish together in confusion. “Better than okay.”
His smile fills my chest. “I mean, did I hurt you? Are you sore?”
Heat crawls up my neck. “Oh.” I sit up and stretch my arms, testing them out and then letting them fall by my sides. I shrug. “I’m okay.”
Jaxon’s eyes shine with
amusement. He moves a hand over my thighs and squeezes. “I mean here.” He slips a hand to where we’re still connected. “And here.”
My blush deepens. “Oh. It’s a little tender. But I’m okay.”
This time his eyes narrow and his lip curls. He bucks his hips, and I gasp at the feel of him thickening inside me. “Let’s fix that.”
“Again?”
He bites his bottom lip and nods, eyes scanning my naked form. “I should have warned you. I have quite the sexual appetite. Don’t plan on getting any rest tonight, Waterfall Eyes.” His finger moves to my clit, and my entire body begins to tense all over again.
Another growl comes from below, this one so menacing that Jaxon stops his ministrations and turns his head. My pulse quickens.
“What’s wrong with her?”
The cottage isn’t soundproof in the least. We can hear every little sound coming from outside, so I’ve grown accustomed to the snapping of branches and the rustling of trees. But somehow, this feels different.
Lacey lets out another growl and then a sharp bark.
A light shines through the window, hitting my face and practically blinding me. “What the hell?” I scream and move my hands to shield my face as Jaxon pulls out and wrap his arms around me. He flips me around and pushes me onto the bed.
“Shit.” His panicked expression feeds my own worry as he wraps me in the comforter, searching the night for whatever is out there.
Lacey’s barks continue to grow louder.
“Was that a flashlight?” My voice shakes.
He looks over at me. “Sure as hell looked like it. Something spooked Lacey, too. I’m going downstairs to check it out.”
“No! Wait, Jax.” I don’t want him to go anywhere. Not while Lacey is going nuts downstairs.
He kisses my head and tucks himself into his briefs. “It’s fine. Probably a lost hiker who just got the show of his life.” He grins, clearly not as horrified by that prospect as I am. “I’ll just be a second. Don’t get dressed.”
I sigh and flip toward the window, keeping myself covered but moving close enough so I can scan the outside. Was someone watching us? A chill whips through me as I remember the whistling from the night before when I thought someone was watching me in the hot tub. Jesus. My heart pounds loudly in my chest at the possibility that someone could truly be watching me. Because there was someone in the woods at Hollow Falls, too. Jaxon was certain it was just a possessive local who wanted us gone from the falls, but maybe he was wrong.
Jaxon’s heavy feet land on the wood floor. He’s comforting Lacey, whose bark has turned into a light growl. Then I hear the sliding door open. Jaxon must be shining a flashlight into the woods because I see the spotlight moving steadily in a horizontal scan. He’s out there for a few minutes, five tops, before I hear the door close again.
The clacking of Lacey’s paws makes its way across the living room. I can hear her lapping up the water and crunching on the food in the kitchen as Jaxon climbs back up the ladder. He switches off the lamp on the nightstand, leaving us in solid darkness aside from the glow from the half-moon outside. No one will be able to see in now.
Jaxon climbs onto the bed, lifting the covers off me and moving his body over mine. I laugh as his chest practically crushes my front into the bed.
“Coast is clear,” he murmurs into my skin, his beard tickling my back. He kisses me between the shoulder blades before lifting himself to my neck. “You tired?” he asks into my ear, pushing his hips into me so I can feel him thickening again.
“Never,” I moan into the sheets.
“Good.” In one quick movement, he lifts my hips to bring me to my knees, my hands and chest still pressed forward. I gasp as a finger brushes over my opening. “’Cause I’m wide awake.”
The chirp of my alarm comes too early the next morning. The worst part? I have to leave Jaxon, gorgeous and naked in my bed, to go to work, and I’m hating every second of it. Last night was both reward and punishment for seven years of missing the way his limbs entangled mine. I’m still lightheaded from the marathon our bodies took part in last night, and I’m still raw from “one more time” never being enough.
We passed out around five in the morning, giving me only a few hours of precious sleep before I have to get up for work. I move a hand over my face to cover the bright and burning sun. Birds are already chirping loudly outside the cottage walls. I’m still exhausted two coffees later.
Yawning my way through the first few hours of an unexpectedly busy day, I crave the instant I can be free from work and drive home to crash in my bed. I’m pretty sure I’ve been pouting since I clocked in, but I smile when Jaxon breezes through the door with narrowed eyes, telling me I’m in trouble.
I’ve just finished serving the last customer in line when he walks around the counter and pulls me into his arms, fusing our lips together as if nobody is watching. “Good morning, beautiful.”
I blush. I will never get used to hearing him say that. “Good morning. And no PDA when I’m working.” I make a lazy attempt to push him away, my grin revealing my truth.
He grins back and looks around the café with a sly glance before pulling me to him again. “There’s barely anyone here. Besides, the boss—me—says I must grope the new barista.”
I giggle and lift my eyes to his. “Well, in that case, you should really take the new barista home after her shift tonight. She’s a little sore, but nothing a soak in the hot tub can’t fix.”
“Deal. But why didn’t you tell me you had to work this morning?”
I bite back a smile. “And miss out on all the fun? No way.” He grins and I shrug. “Amber couldn’t come in today and I forgot I’d agreed to cover for her. Claire wasn’t feeling so hot yesterday when she left the café.”
“That’s no good.” He frowns before glancing back at me with a teasing smile. “Well, sorry about that. You can take out all your frustrations on me later.” He winks. “I’m going to work in the studio today. I’m suddenly feeling inspired.”
Another grin stretches my lips. It seems I can’t stop smiling. “Glad to hear it. Rumor is the drought has been long and hard. The world is starved of Jaxon Mills originals.”
Jaxon throws me a wink as he leaves for the studio, and I’m back to work. I call Amber to see if she wants to take my shift tomorrow, and she agrees, thank goodness.
It’s about an hour before the start of Canvas and Wine night when I get my second wind. I’m not sure how it happens, really, although the three cups of strong coffee I’ve had and the extra pep in my step from last night might have something to do with it. There are only a few customers scattered around the café, so I fill the quiet time with cleaning.
The café door chimes as I’m dusting the frame of the bridge painting near the glass case. I smile before turning to welcome the new customer, but when I see who it is, the air freezes in my throat and my body goes stiff with dread.
Scott stands there in the same green button-down dress shirt and tan slacks he wore the other day. His hair is in complete disarray, his eyes are worn and bloodshot, and he smells like he hasn’t showered in days. It looks like he hasn’t slept, either.
“Scott? What are you doing here? I thought you went home.”
He rubs his eyes and shakes his head, swearing under his breath. “Nope. Just grabbing some coffee. Didn’t realize you worked here.” He’s an awful liar.
I scrunch my face. Why didn’t he go home?
“Have you been staying at the hotel down the road?”
He looks down, ashamed. “Yeah, checking out today. I haven’t been in the best state to drive. So, I…” His sad eyes wander over me and my heart drops to my stomach. “Well, it doesn’t matter, does it?”
“Have you been drinking?” I can’t hide the worry in my tone.
He shoots me a glare as his face twitches slightly. “Not really your business, now, is it?”
I didn’t think it was possible
for my heart to break over Scott, but it does. Not over love lost, but over the fact that I’m the one doing the breaking, and I can see it happening right in front of me. This isn’t like him at all. What have I done? I’ve been so unfair to him for so long.
“Scott.” My voice cracks.
He steps closer, then pauses, like he wants to reach out to me but knows he shouldn’t.
My eyes catch on his shirt again, on a tear across his sleeve, and something hardens in my throat. He smells of whiskey beneath a shower of cologne, like he tried in vain to hide the stench. “You don’t look like yourself.”
His laugh is filled with sarcasm. “I don’t feel it.” He looks around the café, taking it in like a houseguest visiting for the first time. “So, this is the new job, huh? It’s nice, Aurora.” He sounds so deflated, but his voice still carries a twinge of sarcasm.
I look around too, combatting the conflicted emotions running rampant in my chest. Scott has never made me feel unsafe, but this confrontation is unsettling, to say the least.
“Thank you,” I say carefully. “I’m loving it, actually.” I continue to mask my anxiety with a small smile and steady exterior.
His gaze shifts to the front window where his SUV is parked. “Great.”
I shake my head, trying to get his attention, but he’s got a glazed look in his eyes. He’s still drunk. Still holding out hope that I’ll find my way back to him. To us. My heart clenches.
“Can I make you something?” I offer. “Maybe it will help.”
