I force in a breath and let it out.
He thrusts again, sinking in a little more this time, the stretch of him exquisite, like nothing I’ve ever craved. There’s an edge of discomfort, but I need more at the same time.
He strokes up my spine, soothing me with his touch, then combs his big fingers through my hair again, gathering afistful. The sting makes me gasp, but I arch my back because whatever switch he’s just flipped, it makes me feel brave. Powerful.
“You like that,” he coos.
“Yes,” I pant.
He’s not even all the way inside me and my orgasm is starting to unravel at the base of my spine.
“Fuck, you’re close, aren’t you?” He cradles my hip with his other hand, like he knows I need him to hold me steady.
“More,” I beg.
“Baby, you’re doing so good.” His fingers tighten around my hip as he rocks into me again, firm, the hot stretch of him intense but exactly what I need.
We breathe together while I adjust. And then with a low grunt he thrusts all the way, tapping the deepest part of me.
I try to hold on, try to keep it together just a little longer, but I’m so incredibly full, on the brink of feeling so much. Everything else fades away, leaving me bare and exposed to this man who has unlocked something beautiful and reckless inside me, something pure and unbelievably good.
His grip on my hair only seems to enhance the intense sweetness coiling up inside me. In just two thrusts, I’m coming, my whimpers turning to tense cries. He moves with me, breathes with me, and when I come down, he folds over me, panting.
“That was fucking incredible.” He kisses my shoulder, still so thick and full inside me. He kisses down my spine. When he pulls out I suck in a shaky gasp because it’s almost painful how badly I want him back. It’s not fair that he can do this to me. I’m a complete and total mess of raw emotions and desire all spinning into one. If I was a color, I’d be ultraviolet, burning a hole in the sky.
“Shhh,” Linden whispers, caressing while he kisses down. “I’m going to give you everything you want.” His kisses all the way down my back, over my bottom, to my still throbbing flesh.The soft, wet glide of his tongue where I’m on fire is at once soothing and passionate. The tender ache inside me revs up.
Nobody’s ever kissed me like this, make promises like this. Wanted me like this.
His tongue and the friction from his whiskered jaw against my inner thighs has me trembling and fisting the sheets. And then he’s kissing back up and gliding slow and firm inside me again. The delicious fullness of him and the lingering buzz from his tongue funnel into a powerful and delicious desire. He caresses and kisses me, whispers dirty little praises, his low tone like a beacon in the darkness, guiding me home.
I come again, Linden’s name on my lips while the release bathes me in liquid heat and tremors rattle down my thighs. Linden holds me close, one arm wrapped around my middle while I catch my breath.
“So fucking perfect,” he murmurs, stroking up my back to cradle my shoulder. He rolls his hips against my thighs, firm and deep. The pleasure builds again, my anticipation expanding inside me like a kite in the wind, until he comes with a restrained plea, pulsing hard inside me.
Breathing fast, he gently rocks back, then plants a soft kiss on my spine. And then he tucks his forearm under me and gently rolls us sideways to the bed. We catch our breath while his big hands roam my body and his kisses pepper my shoulder and the back of my neck.
Linden slips from the bed to clean up, but he’s back just as fast, his firm, strong body like my own personal heater. We settle under the covers and he draws me close, caressing up and down my back, lulling me to a sense of such relaxation, it’s hard to resist the tug of sleep.
“I’m on shift tomorrow,” Linden says, stroking my shoulder. “I’ll try not to wake you in the morning.”
“Forty-eight?” I ask, curling closer into him. Most of the time,Linden works two full days in a row, but sometimes he’s gone for three.
“Yeah.” He caresses down my back.
We lay in the dark together, our bodies warm beneath the covers.
He urges my thigh across his. “My family’s having a birthday dinner for Greta at Ruby Gulch the Saturday after next.” His tone carries a hint of an emotion I can’t place. “Would you come with us?”
I smile up at him. “I would love that.”
He closes his eyes and kisses me, and when he leans back with a tender smile on his lips, it hits me. “As your fake date?”
“No, shortcake. This isn’t fake for me. It hasn’t been for a long time.” He caresses my face, tucking a damp curl behind my ear. His lips twitch but his eyes stay fixed on mine with a look of tenderness and something else. Something raw, almost vulnerable.
“Is that something you’d be willing to try?” he asks in a soft tone. “With me?”
“You need me to be your somebody, cowboy?”
