Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set

by Grover Swank, Denise

  Slowed.

  His eyes moved over every inch of my body as his hands made a lazy trail up my legs, spreading them wider as he went until he was tormenting me with soft brushes inside my thighs, just beyond where I needed him, teasing me with what was to come.

  By the time his stare was on mine again, it was filled with more emotion and desire than I’d ever seen before.

  At that moment, I felt like I could take on the world.

  No outfit. No anything . . . just me and Sawyer and the way he was looking at me like I was everything.

  “So goddamn beautiful,” he whispered before brushing his lips across mine.

  My head fell back with a breathless moan when he finally trailed his fingers over where I was aching for him before sliding one inside me.

  And then another.

  Our lips met again in a fevered rush, the kiss such a contradiction from the way he was moving his fingers inside me. Fucking me slowly, thoroughly, giving me teasing brushes against my clit and driving me insane until I was writhing beneath him. Trying to get closer to his touch. Trying to reach that ecstasy he was keeping just out of my reach.

  An aggravated cry built in my chest and was met with a smirk that could have stopped my heart if it were still mine to control.

  Taking my bottom lip between his teeth, he slowly released it before moving down my body and lowering himself to the floor.

  Fingers masterfully playing me and making it nearly impossible to hold his stare as he pulled hushed moans from me.

  Eyes on mine.

  Hand cradling my heart.

  Soul wrapping around my own.

  My eyelids fluttered shut and I arched away from the bed when he leaned forward to taste me.

  The groan that escaped him and vibrated against me nearly had me coming undone.

  After another few teasing licks near where I was aching, he banded his free arm over my hips and sucked my clit into his mouth. His fingers moving harder, deeper, curling inside me and hitting that spot as I shattered against him.

  Weightless.

  At his mercy.

  I trembled against the bed as he devoured me, alternating between flattening his tongue against me and sucking against my too-sensitive clit until my first orgasm tumbled into my second.

  A cry of satisfaction and exhaustion escaped me when he removed his fingers and turned his head to make a trail of teasing bites down the inside of my thigh.

  More.

  Please . . .

  Give me you.

  Please . . .

  Fuck me.

  Please, please, please.

  Before the words jumbling on my tongue could escape me, sounds of him rifling through clothes filled the room and were soon followed by a foil packet tearing.

  He finished removing his boxer briefs as he unfurled to his full height, heated stare on me as he gripped his hardened cock in his hand and rolled on a condom.

  Everything was slow.

  His movements.

  The uneven rise and fall of my chest.

  But from the tension building in the room and pulling tight between us, I knew . . . God, I knew nothing about to happen would be slow.

  Sawyer knelt on the bed and reached for my hand as he settled between my thighs, his thick length sliding against me and pressing against my entrance. He intertwined our fingers and brought our hands up to lightly trail his nose along the inside of my wrist before brushing his lips across my forearm.

  The action warmed my chest and raised chills across my body.

  It made the backs of my eyes sting as I silently cursed him . . .

  For infuriating me. For intriguing me. For pushing me.

  For making me fall.

  In the next second, his hand tightened around mine before forcing ours to the bed as he slammed into me.

  The cry that ripped through me was quickly muted and consumed by our next kiss.

  And I was lost.

  In him.

  In the way he moved inside me.

  In this feeling like I’d found everything I hadn’t been looking for.

  That sickening feeling crept through my veins and coated them with a layer of terror at the realization, but then Sawyer’s free hand curled around my cheek, tipping my head back and forcing my gaze to meet his. And I wondered if I’d kept my heart from every other man so I would only ever truly give myself to this one.

  Each rough, demanding movement stole another piece of me until I knew I would never be the same. And I welcomed it—embraced it.

  Right then, with Sawyer Dixon fucking me so wholly, completely, I knew I would never belong to anyone else.

  Was it possible to fall so deeply in such a short time?

  Was it possible to fall in love?

  Ice splintered through my stomach at the unwanted thought.

  My chest pitched and a ragged breath ripped from me.

  Sawyer’s mouth brushed across mine once . . . twice. The action gentle and tender and matching the slowing rhythm of his hips. “Just you and me.”

  I searched his eyes in question at his hoarse words.

  “Whatever you’re feeling scares you, I know. I can see that panic creeping back in.” His thumb swept across my bottom lip and his voice dropped even lower. “Don’t let those fears push between us. Not now. This is just you and me.”

  My eyelids fluttered shut and a hushed moan slipped free when he pushed in harder than before.

  Then again.

  I turned my head into his hand to press my lips to his palm, then grazed my teeth across the base of his thumb, earning a rumble from deep within his chest.

  He moved his hand down my throat and over my breast, skimming across my body until he’d reached my thigh, gripping tight to hook my leg around his hip. His nose trailed toward my ear, his harsh breaths teasing my hair in wild disarray. “Let yourself feel, Rae.”

  Another moan climbed up my throat as he angled deeper than before, every thrust pushing me closer and closer to that bliss I so craved.

  He released me to grip the comforter beside my head, the muscles in his arms straining and twitching as he held himself above me. As he claimed me.

  Body.

  Heart.

  Soul.

  There was something about this man towering over me and looking down at me like I was his everything as he moved inside me, that made my heart beat wildly in a way that had nothing to do with exertion.

  I was no longer sure if I was more terrified or exhilarated by that.

  “Kiss me. Please.” The words tumbled out before I knew I was speaking, and then his mouth was on mine.

  Taking and taking and taking until I was gasping for air, but unwilling to let this end.

  I slid my hand around his neck, grazing his skin with my nails in a silent plea for him to keep going as warmth filled my belly and my core tightened until I was sure I would break.

  Until that sweet moment of bliss consumed me, making me feel like I was suspended in a sea of nothing.

  “Sawyer.” His name was a breathless cry as I shattered against him, trembling within his protective embrace.

  After one last pass of his mouth across mine, he leaned back, driving in harder, his movements becoming erratic as he neared his own release.

  I let my fingers slide from his neck, down his chest, resting my hand over the fierce pounding of his heart. Not letting myself reflect on the word that impulsively echoed through my mind with each beat against my palm.

  Mine.

  Mine.

  Mine.

  Not letting myself decipher the look in Sawyer’s eyes moments before they shut, a growl climbing up his throat as he stilled above me.

  Because I knew that look.

  I ran from that look.

  But I wanted that look from this man. I wanted to bask in it as long as possible before we inevitably fell apart.

  He lowered only enough to rest his forehead on mine, his mouth brushing my own with each breath.

  I tipped m
y head up to press my lips to his, deepening the kiss for a moment and relishing the way his heart took off in a chaotic rhythm when I did.

  The corner of his mouth lifted when I settled on the bed, his eyes dancing with mischief. “Smearing your lipstick might be my new favorite thing.”

  I pushed against his chest, a stunned laugh leaving me as I did. “It is not!”

  “My favorite thing? Of course it is.”

  “Smeared, you ass.”

  “Rae . . .” My name was all gravel and sex as he leaned down to capture my bottom lip between his teeth. “Fucking favorite.”

  Only I wasn’t so sure we were talking about my lipstick anymore.

  And suddenly my traitorous heart matched his.

  Before my mind ever had the chance to potentially freak out, a whimper of satisfaction and protest sounded in my throat when his body left mine.

  I didn’t watch him walk away. I wasn’t sure I could without showing any number of things coursing through me.

  The emotional wants. The physical needs. The unwelcome claims of him still gathering on my tongue.

  I just released a weighted breath and told myself to get a grip when I heard him cleaning up in the bathroom, then climbed off the bed and grabbed the kimono I had been wearing earlier that morning.

  But as soon as I had it over my shoulders, Sawyer’s arm was curling around my waist and pulling me back toward him and the bed.

  A content laugh poured free when we fell to it with a bounce, and then he was climbing over me, situating himself between my legs with his mouth hovering just over my stomach, a wicked grin covering his face.

  “I’m nowhere near done with you yet.”

  Chapter 25

  Rae

  I tapped the pause button when a knock sounded on my door a couple nights later, the music immediately halting and leaving my room in silence that felt thick with the kind of frustration and exhaustion that only came from one thing.

  “Come in,” I called out as I pushed my laptop a few inches away.

  My brows rose and a tired smile shaped my lips when the door opened and Nathan popped his head in, wearing another well-tailored, slacks-and-button-down combo . . . at least he wasn’t wearing a tie.

  I’d seen him in the kitchen during breakfast the past two mornings, though he’d been leaving both times as I walked in. The other times we’d passed had been in the halls when Sawyer and I had been heading toward my room, but I’d been unable to take my focus off Sawyer, his hands, and my need for him that only continued to grow.

  “Hey,” I said, my voice lacking the proper brightness or excitement at seeing him, or anyone really.

  His head tilted as he read the room and my tone, and his stare drifted to my laptop. “Bad time?”

  “No. I don’t think I’ve ever needed a distraction more than I do now.” I turned my computer toward him so he could see the rows upon rows of pictures I’d been searching through for the past three hours and explained, “Stock-photo hell.”

  “Ah.” His head moved in a mixture of a nod and a shake. “I don’t know what that means, but I was wondering if you had some time to do a follow-up from the coffee shop?”

  “Of course, come on in.”

  He hesitated by the door, a look of uncertainty crossing his face before he gestured toward the hall. “I’m not really comfortable being in a bedroom with someone who isn’t Megan.”

  My chest filled with warmth and happiness for the girl I’d become friends with over the years. The corners of my lips lifted in a smile as I grabbed my laptop and walked over to the dresser to plug it in to charge. “Good man.”

  “Besides, I found this frozen yogurt place and grabbed enough for four of me since it’s the one place that couldn’t mess with my food.”

  I paused at the dresser, hand still on the cord and laptop. “You brought frozen yogurt, and we’re standing around talking about it instead of eating it?”

  He gave me a pointed look as if to say he was waiting on me.

  I snatched my phone off the bed as I walked across the room, then motioned to him with it. “Lead the way, suit.”

  “It’s all I brought,” he said defensively.

  I made a disbelieving noise that turned into a laugh at his playful glare.

  Once we made it into the large kitchen downstairs, I halted, eyes wide.

  “You said you got a lot, not that you bought the entire store,” I said slowly, accusingly.

  Nathan gave me a dry look. “The decaf tea was the nicest service I’ve had in this town.”

  “Seriously?” I knew the town wasn’t happy about him being here, but I hadn’t actually thought they would be so rude.

  He released a defeated huff and grabbed one of the shop’s bowls before filling it with a mixture of yogurts and toppings. “I’m surprised I was allowed to buy anything from the frozen yogurt shop at all considering they couldn’t affect what I bought.”

  “It’s really been that bad?” When he just lifted his brows in confirmation, I stepped forward and began filling my own bowl. “But Savannah’s been nice . . . right?”

  “Yeah, if you consider not saying a word to me since I checked in nice.” He shrugged. “But she lets me eat breakfast, and they’ve been some of the best meals I’ve ever had, so that’s a win in my book.”

  “And then I haven’t exactly been available to talk before now,” I murmured, feeling terrible for not making it a point to be there for him. “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. I’m usually gone, and when I’m not, I’ve had a lot of work to do. Besides,”—he leaned closer and lowered his voice after making sure no one was around—“I didn’t think it would be a good idea to interrupt your time with a Dixon.”

  Heat rushed to my cheeks as I elbowed him away from me.

  Nathan’s responding laugh only made my face burn hotter as pieces of the last few days with Sawyer flashed through my mind. I ducked my head to hide my blush and unrestrained smile and busied myself with gathering the toppings and yogurts to put them away.

  “He was mad,” I whispered playfully as I finished putting the lids on all the containers and grabbing the handful that needed to be stored in the fridge. When I caught Nathan’s eye, I raised a brow. “That we’d talked. That I knew you. When I explained how, he asked what kind of readers I had if their boyfriends were in the business of stealing family land.”

  Despite the cold reception he’d had, and whatever else may have happened on his trip so far, Nathan’s head tipped back to loose another laugh. “Right, because my job directly reflects on my girlfriend’s reading habits.”

  “Clearly.” I shut the fridge as he closed up the freezer and gave him a more understanding look. “He’s over it now. Not what you’re here for, but, you know, the whole us-knowing-each-other part.”

  “One less thing I have to worry about,” he mumbled sarcastically as we made our way to the large farmhouse table with bowls in hand.

  Once we were seated and had taken a couple bites each, I said, “Tell me what’s happened.”

  A breath that bordered on a laugh fled from him as he tossed his bowl on the table. “Went to the ranch yesterday morning.”

  From the slow, frustrated tone, I knew it hadn’t gone how Nathan had hoped, but I couldn’t help but hold my breath as I waited for him to tell me the news everyone else was waiting for.

  He rubbed at his jaw, his stare set on the table as he thought back. “I was expecting it . . . really. I’ve been told this is how Hunter Dixon responds every first visit. Still shocked the shit out of me.”

  My eyebrows drew close when he didn’t elaborate. “What did he do?”

  “I’d barely rounded my car when he came out of his house with a shotgun aimed at me and told me to get the fuck off his property.”

  My lips parted and the spoon slipped from my fingers and fell into the bowl I was holding close to my chest.

  “Tried to tell him who I was so he wouldn’t think I was a random trespasser,”
Nathan continued. “He just said, ‘Know who you are, told you to get the fuck off my property,’ then he racked the shotgun.”

  I tried to imagine it.

  Tried to picture a man I’d never seen, but a man who had been described as sweet, do what Nathan was recounting . . .

  And couldn’t.

  Then again . . . I could perfectly see Beau doing that. I could even see Sawyer, if only to save his family’s ranch.

  “What’d you do?” I asked, the words hushed as I waited to hear the rest.

  “Got the hell out of there,” he said with a mixture of frustration and amusement. “Again, I knew it would happen. I’ve been warned. Still different when that barrel is aimed at you.” He ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. “Apparently, it’s what Hunter Dixon has always done. My partner used to give him a couple days before going back, and then Dixon would let him talk and do his pitch sans shotgun, but Dixon’s answer was always the same.”

  “And what was that?”

  “From what I’ve been told: ‘Around here, family actually means something. You’re out of your goddamn mind if you think I’d ever give this place up.’”

  Shock ripped through me so swiftly that I struggled to keep my expression neutral.

  I grabbed my spoon and dipped it into the frozen creaminess to give me something to focus on as my mind ran wild. Granted, I didn’t know much—but what I’d heard didn’t match what Nathan was telling me.

  Savannah was worried, to put it mildly.

  I hadn’t flat-out asked Sawyer, knowing he would tell me if he wanted me to know, but Nathan’s presence in this town had him distracted and restless. I’d walked in on more heated discussions between him, Beau, and Savannah in these last few days than in the entire week before.

  If they knew what Nathan had just told me, everything would be different.

  And for a moment, I wondered why Hunter wouldn’t just tell them—or Sawyer, at least—that he had no intention of selling the ranch. Then Savannah’s words flitted through my head again, quieting those thoughts.

  “There’s a lot of animosity between those brothers, and a lot of it comes down to that ranch and that business. I wouldn’t put it past Hunter to sell it just to piss the rest of them off.”