by Kaylee Ryan
“Less talking more touching,” I say, desperate to have his hands all over my body.
“Oh no, I need time. These hands need to roam over every curve, memorize every inch of your flawless skin.”
“There’ll be time for that later.”
“I’m not rushing this, Sawyer.”
“Another layer,” I mutter under my breath, making him laugh.
“You think so?”
“Yeah, teasing Royce.”
“Your Royce,” he immediately replies, and a swarm of butterflies take flight inside me.
I place my hand on his cheek. I don’t say anything, but I don’t need to. I know that the need and desire that I see in his eyes are staring back at him. We both want this with a need that’s indescribable.
“Make love to me.” It’s a bold move, especially since I used love, but that’s what this feels like. It’s intimate and personal, and it’s too late to take the words back, not that I want to. I just hope it’s not too much.
By the look in his eyes, he’s on board.
Chapter 18
Royce
There is a slight tremble in my hands that I hope she doesn’t detect. I want to touch her everywhere, taste her everywhere, but my girl asked me to make love to her, and although I don’t know if this is love, I can’t deny her anything. Besides, I’m all about taking things slow. I want to savor this time with her.
My hand roams over her stomach, not stopping my exploration until I reach her pussy. I slide two fingers through her folds, and she moans, a sound from deep within her chest. “You’re wet for me.”
“Please,” she murmurs, lifting her hips.
“I need you ready for me, babe. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I can take it. Just… take this ache away, Royce. I need you. All of you. Right now.” Sawyer’s words are choppy as I slide one digit inside her.
“Oh, God.”
“Royce,” I correct her. I only want her screaming my name.
Her eyes fly open, and the corner of her mouth tips up to one side. “Royce,” she says, almost on a moan.
My cock twitches where it rests against her thigh. She reaches for me. Her small hands stroke lightly, as she tests the feel of me in her palm. I’m not a saint. I’ve slept with more women than I care to admit, but never in my life have I felt this… magnetism that seems to flow between us. My cock grows harder at her touch, so much so that it’s painful. As bad as I want to bury myself deep, I also want to take my time. I want to cherish the gift of this beautiful woman lying beside me.
Dropping my head, I press my lips to hers. She bites down on my bottom lip, and my cock twitches in her hand. “We should hurry,” she breathes. “In case they come looking for us.”
“They won’t.”
“B-But what if they do?”
“I’ll give you what you want, under one condition.”
“This again.” She rolls her eyes playfully. The smile on her lips tells me she’s not as upset as she wants me to believe.
“When we get home, I get to take my time with you. I get to trace every inch of you with my tongue. I get to memorize every curve,” I say as my fingers continue to lazily pump in and out of her.
“I’ve already agreed to stay with you,” she reminds me, her breath catching.
I nod. “Yeah, baby, you did. But now you have to promise to let me cherish you.” She sucks in a breath. “What do you say, Sawyer? Do we have a deal?”
Her hand falls from my cock, and she cradles either side of my face. “That’s not what I expected you to say.”
“No?”
She shakes her head. “So many layers, Royce Riggins.”
“That’s all you, babe. You bring out so many different emotions inside me.”
“I want them all.”
It’s my turn to agree with a nod. I kiss the tip of her nose and sit up. I reach for the condom and slide it on before diving back under the covers and hovering over her. She grip’s my bicep as I line myself at her entrance. “Eyes on me, beautiful,” I say as I slowly ease myself inside her.
Her legs lock around my waist, and her fingernails dig into my arms. “Oh,” she moans, closing her eyes.
“Sawyer.” Her eyes snap open. “Eyes on me. I want you to see me. I want you to know who’s inside you.”
“Only you, Royce Riggins. Only you.”
I rock my hips, and she bites down on her bottom lip. “Jesus, Sawyer,” I murmur, burying my face in her neck. I’m about to lose my shit. That’s a first for me. I’ve never in all my life felt something as incredible as her.
My mind flashes to a conversation I had with my dad after my divorce. He asked me if I had ever felt magic? I told him he was crazy, that magic didn’t exist, and he just gave me a lazy smile. “That’s where you’re wrong, son,” he’d said. “When you experience the magic, you’ll know it. That’s when you know it’s real. That’s when you know you found her. I could see it in you. She wasn’t your magic son.”
“Magic,” I murmur in her ear. It’s as if the stars have aligned, and everything is right in my world. All because of the woman lying beneath me. I don’t have an explanation for how I feel about her. It’s been a hot minute, yet my heart beats faster for her, and the thought of losing her has panic welling up inside me.
“Hey.” Her hands roam over my back. “Talk to me.”
I’m buried balls deep inside her and realizing that she’s the missing part of me. She’s the reason for all the layers she’s always yammering on about. She brings out every single emotion. And every part of me wants her. All of me.
“You okay?” I ask her.
“Are you?”
“Never better,” I say, pressing my lips to hers. “Never felt anything like this, like you in all my life.”
“I’m a sure thing, Riggins,” she says when we come up for air. “No need for all the flair for dramatics.”
“Are you calling me dramatic?” I ask, pulling out and pushing in deep. A moan escapes from her chest.
“Y-Yes,” she replies.
“Yes, what, baby?” I ask as I pull out and push home once again.
“Yes, you’re being dramatic.”
“That’s what you do to me,” I confess. “I don’t talk during sex. I sure as hell don’t think about my future when all I should be thinking about is my release, but with you, my mind wanders. My cock is buried in your wet heat, and your body is wrapped around mine, and all I can think about is the next time I get you like this. Not just the next time, but the time after that, and the time after that, hell, fifty years from now.”
“Those are big claims, Riggins.”
“It’s the magic.”
“You feeling okay?” She laughs, placing her hand against my forehead.
“Your pussy is magic, Sawyer,” I say, pulling out and pushing back in. It’s the start of a rhythm that takes our breath and our ability to speak. We’re both chasing the high.
“Faster,” she pants, and who am I to deny her anything?
I lose myself inside her. I let the chemistry that’s been sparking between us since that very first day take over, as I give her all of me. It’s not long before she’s tightening around me.
“Please, don’t stop. I’m close… so close,” she breathes as her nails dig into my back. I bend my head to kiss her neck, and as soon as my lips reach her skin, she tightens around me even more, at the same time as she cries out my name. Not able to hold back, I follow her over the edge.
With my arms braced on either side of her head, I rest my forehead against hers. “You’ve ruined me,” I tell her.
Her soft laughter fills the night air. “Yeah? The spell I cast on you must have worked.” She grins, her hands tracing up and down my back.
“Magic, baby. That’s the magic.” I kiss the corner of her mouth and pull out of her. I quickly tie off the condom and toss it to the side for now. I lie down on my back and pull her into me.
“I wish we could see the stars,”
she says after a few minutes of silence.
Tossing the cover off us, I smile as she shrieks. I stand and pull her to her feet. I reach down for the quilt before guiding her to the railing of the gazebo. Stepping behind her, I wrap the quilt over my shoulders, pulling her into my chest, and wrapping it around the both of us. “I give you the stars,” I say, kissing her neck.
“Wow,” she breathes. “They’re so bright. It’s so quiet and peaceful out here.”
“I love it here. Always have. This place holds so many special memories from my childhood. And now…” I hold her a little tighter. “…it holds something special for us too.”
She manages to turn in my arms, and my cock comes to life, pressing hard against her stomach. “Are you telling me you have a sentimental side, Royce Riggins?” she teases. Her green eyes are sparkling under the rope lights and the light of the night sky.
“Only when it comes to you and my family.”
“I’m honored to be included in that.”
“My sweet Sawyer.” I brush the hair back from her eyes. “You’re at the top of the list.” Her reply is to rest her head against my chest, right over my rapidly beating heart, and wrap her arms around my waist. I hold her close, sure to keep the blanket held tight around us, shielding our naked bodies from the cooling night air.
We stand here in silence, just holding one another. My mind is replaying tonight, hell every moment I’ve ever spent with her. Not that I need to. Tonight proved to me that Sawyer Gibson is my magic. She’s everything I never knew I needed or wanted. Standing here under the moonlight and the star-filled sky, I vow I’ll do whatever it takes to make her mine. For now and for always. She doesn’t realize it yet, and it’s too soon to tell her, but Sawyer stole my heart tonight. Here, in my favorite place, on my family’s property, I found the love of my life.
“Thank you for tonight,” she says, smiling up at me. “I’ll never forget this as long as I live.”
“There will be many more just like it,” I assure her. I’ll make sure of it, I silently promise.
“We should probably be getting back. I’m sure your brothers have already come to their own conclusions as to what we’ve been doing,” she says, looking down.
“Hey.” I lift her chin with my index finger. “They know I would never have brought you here if you didn’t mean something to me. That’s not what we do. We don’t bring casual dates here. The five of us, we love this place. They know me, and they know that you’re not just some random woman.”
She nods and pulls out of my hold. I don’t stop her. Instead, I drop the quilt and begin to get dressed as well. Once dressed, I grab the condom and shove it into my pocket, and together we fold the quilts and place them back in the box beneath the bench seat.
“I feel like we should take them with us to wash them,” she says once I shut the lid to the seat.
“I’ll come back out tomorrow and make sure it gets done. If we take them with us now, my brothers are going to give you even more shit. I’m fine either way, but I figured you wouldn’t want that kind of attention.”
“No, I don’t.” She steps forward and slides her arm around my waist. “I know what happened here tonight makes things awkward, but, Royce…” she looks up at me, “you’re worth it.”
This woman has effectively brought me to my knees. I swallow back the lump in my throat, kiss her forehead, and guide her back toward my brothers and the fire. There are so many emotions racing through me, and I can’t seem to settle on just one. The only thing I can be certain of is that Sawyer Gibson is mine.
“We were getting ready to send out a search party,” Conrad says once we’re back in their line of sight.
“I know this land like the back of my hand,” I remind him.
“Oh, we know.” Grant smirks.
“The search party was to save Sawyer from you,” Marshall chimes in.
“All good?” Owen asks. His eyes are on Sawyer. I don’t take it personally. He knows I would never hurt her. I’m proud that my brothers, my best friends, are looking out for her, even when it comes to me.
“Yes. This place is gorgeous.” She looks up at me. “Magical even.” There is a small smile playing at her lips, and I have half a mind to lean down and take her lips with mine.
Owen’s eyes find mine, and he nods. I know what that nod means. My brother approves. None of them liked my ex-wife, but I was too blind to what I thought we had to see between the lines. This time, my eyes are wide open. I’m not letting my head choose for me. Instead, I’m following my heart. My head tried to talk me out of it, but my heart won.
“Beer?” Owen asks.
“Nah, I’m driving us home. Babe?” I raise my eyebrows in question.
I have no doubt there is a light pink shade of her cheeks from my calling her babe. “Yes.” She nods. “Thank you.” Owen reaches into the cooler and hands her a beer.
“You cold?” I ask her.
“I’m fine.”
I nod, leading her back to the same chair we were sitting in earlier, and pull her into my lap. To my surprise, my brothers don’t give me shit. Instead, they welcome Sawyer into the fold of our family. They include her in conversation and ask her about her life. They share stories about me when I was younger, the havoc the five of us used to wreak. It’s the best night of my life. Hands down. The beautiful woman in my arms gave me a piece of herself, and in turn, I gave her all of me. I have never felt this kind of peace or contentment. I owe that all to her.
We spend hours sitting by the fire, drinking beer, and sharing memories. Sawyer tells some of her own, vacations with her parents, her college days. I soak up every tiny morsel she’s willing to share with us.
By the time the fire has died down, it’s well into the morning hours, and Sawyer has long since passed out against my chest. With a wave to my brothers, I carry her to my truck and drive us home.
“Royce.” Her sleepy eyes blink open before closing again.
“I got you, babe. We’re at my place. I’m taking you to bed.” She nuzzles into my neck as I carry her bridal style to my room and place her on the bed. “Let’s get you into something more comfortable,” I say, pulling off her shoes. She sits up and raises her arms in the air, allowing me to pull her shirt off. I move onto her shorts before reaching behind her and unclasping her bra. Her ample breasts are on full display, and I’m cursing the fact that I didn’t turn on the lamp. “Let me get you a shirt to sleep in.”
“No, just you,” she says over a yawn. She lies back on the bed and snuggles into the pillow. “Will you hold me?” she asks, her voice low.
“Give me just a minute.” Kicking off my shoes, I strip out of my shirt on my way to the bathroom. I toss the condom in the trash, wash my hands, and throw my shorts into the dirty clothes basket. Sliding into my bed with us both in our underwear causes my cock to stir, but she’s exhausted, and the truth is, so am I. Pulling the cover over us to ward off the chill of the air conditioning, I wrap my arms around her and tug her close. For the first time in over four years, I fall asleep with a woman next to me in my bed, and my final thought before sleep claims me is I want to do this exact thing every night.
Chapter 19
Sawyer
We spent most of the day yesterday in bed, and I don’t feel the least bit sorry about it. Royce tried to convince me to stay in bed all day, but all I could think about was washing the quilts from the night before. It took me a few hours to convince him, but eventually we made our way to his parents’ place. We grabbed the quilts, and took them back to his place to wash them. Once they were done, we dropped them off and picked up some takeout. The rest of the day was spent in his bed.
Today, however, I had things to do. Laundry and grocery shopping for the week were at the top of the list. Royce went to the store with me, and picked up some things for his place as well. After dropping them off, we unloaded my groceries and snuggled on my couch in between loads of laundry. Every day with him is better than the one before.
> “We have to be at Mom and Dad’s at five,” he tells me casually.
“For?” I ask, but then I remember their Sunday dinners.
“Sunday dinner.”
“That’s a family thing.”
“You’re right, it is. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re my family. Sunday dinners are just as sacred as the lake. It’s serious members only,” he says, his eyes boring into mine.
“You really want me to go?”
“Yes. And before you ask, Mom will be thrilled, Dad and my brothers too. You already know Mom cooks for an army, and you’ve already claimed your seat at the table next to me.”
“That was one meal.”
“It’s your spot, babe.” He grins. “What do you say? Will you come with me?” He bats his eyelashes and we both know that I can’t say no to him.
“Yes,” I say before I can talk myself out of it.
Two hours later, we’re walking into his parents’ place. The smell of the grill hits me as soon as we walk in.
“It’s about time you two got here. We were going to start without you,” Lena says, coming around the island and giving first me, then Royce a hug. “Go on and make your plates.” She waves her hands toward the spread she has laid out.
Not needing to be told twice, all four of Royce’s brothers grab a plate and dig in. Royce and I stand, his front to my back, his arms around my waist just watching them.
“Y’all look like you’ve never seen food before.” Royce laughs.
“It’s Mom’s potato salad,” Grant defends. “You know if you don’t get it, it will be gone.”
Lena comes to stand next to us. “I have two more bowls in the fridge,” she says, leaning her shoulder into mine.
“Bless you, woman.” I smile at her.
“I’ve learned a thing or two over the years. Feeding five teenage boys, I had to always be prepared.”