“I love it when you give orders.” He cocked a sexy grin and pulled her closer.
He stopped the truck in front of the iron gates that led to Logan’s driveway and set a narrow-eyed stare on Bridgette. “Where exactly are we going?”
She pressed a button on the key fob, and the gates opened. “You’ll see. My friend Logan Wild’s place.” She motioned with her hands for him to continue driving.
“Why does he have iron gates, Bridge?” he asked as the gates closed behind them.
“He’s a PI and ex–Navy SEAL. He has this thing about safety. Remind you of someone?” she teased. “He owns two hundred acres and has all sorts of surveillance equipment set up around the property. That’s how he found Willow skinny-dipping on his property.”
Bodhi laughed. “Seriously? I bet Zane loved that.”
“That was before she and Zane started going out. Besides, Logan and Willow became fast friends, and in the years since, his family has become like part of ours. Piper keeps a set of Logan’s keys to the cabin, and she checks on it when he’s away for long stretches of time.” She didn’t tell him that she’d asked Piper to come up yesterday and do a few special things for tonight.
“Surveillance? So, we need to behave while we’re here?” The darkness in his eyes made her body heat up.
“Hardly. Logan promised to turn everything off except around the perimeter of the property.”
“Nice.” He kissed her temple as he drove up the long, forest-lined driveway and parked in front of the rustic two-bedroom cabin. His lips curved up, and he sank back in the seat as if he’d just arrived home after a long trip away. “Bridge . . . ?”
He stepped from the truck and lifted her out. Even after being carried by him too many times to count, she still got a rush of adrenaline when she was in his arms. He set her on her feet and held her hand as they walked toward the cabin. Ever watchful, he scanned the property.
He stopped midway to the porch and hauled her against him.
“What is that to our right?” he asked with a serious tone.
She laughed softly. “A hammock. I had Piper put it up for us.”
He lifted her up to eye level, her feet dangling above the ground. “Someone is a very good eavesdropper.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist and brushed her lips over his, the way she knew drove him mad. “I’m really good at other things, too.”
“No, babe, you’re incredible at everything you do. I would have been happy to stay at one of our houses. I don’t care where we are. I just want time with you. But this? This is beyond what anyone has ever done for me.”
“I wanted to give you a night you’d never forget.”
“How could I ever forget a second we’ve spent together?” He traced her lower lip with his tongue, sending rivers of heat through her veins. “Everything about you is unforgettable.”
He kissed her again, and she soaked in as many as he’d give, hoarding them for later, when she’d be forced to survive on memories of his kisses.
“Before I open that door, give me an idea of what you have planned. Otherwise I’m taking you directly into the bedroom.”
“Forget my plans.”
He fumbled with the keys as they devoured each other. The door flew open with the force of their bodies, and he broke the kiss long enough to push it closed. Then his mouth was on her again, kissing her fiercely as he backed her up against the wall, crushing her with his hard body.
She tugged at his shirt. “I need to feel you.”
“Baby, I want to feel all of you.” He turned with her in his arms, looking toward the kitchen and the bedroom to the left. “Bridgette,” came out rough and disbelieving.
She followed his gaze to the ingredients for chocolate chip waffles sitting next to the waffle iron on the kitchen counter.
He took her in a demanding kiss and strode past the kitchen and into the bedroom. He laid her on the bed and came down over her, his gaze boring into her. “What are you doing to me?”
“Not nearly enough.” She curled her hand around the back of his neck, drawing his mouth to hers.
THEY KISSED AND kissed until Bodhi’s erection ached so badly behind his zipper he couldn’t stand it. He pushed from the bed and wrestled with their boots, tossing them across the room. He tugged off their socks, nearly falling over as he pulled his second sock off.
Bridgette laughed, and he silenced her with a kiss, stripping away her sexy cutoffs and panties and feasting on every inch of flesh as it was revealed until she was naked and flushed, her breasts heaving with every inhalation.
He made quick work of removing his clothes, visually devouring her gorgeous body and slowing himself down at the immensity of this moment. They were completely alone. There was no sleeping child down the hall, no reason to rush beyond the desires coursing through them.
He stood at the edge of the bed, gazing at her and trying to tamp down the grenades exploding inside him at the thought of leaving her. There was no holding back the truth, even if he had to love her from afar. “You’re so deep under my skin, I’ll never really be without you.”
She sat up and kissed his stomach. Her lips were warm and tender as she kissed around his erection. She wrapped her hand around his cock, with a wicked look in her eyes, and licked him from base to tip, causing his whole body to shudder. She did it again, and the air left his lungs with a hiss. She continued licking until his cock was slick and throbbing. When she finally took him in her mouth, it was hell trying not to rock deeper. He pushed his hands into her hair, letting her lead but holding tight as she moved in a torturous rhythm. She was exquisite, the pleasure immense, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
His love for her was too consuming to watch and not touch. “I need you.”
He lifted her into the middle of the bed and came down over her, perching on his forearms, their mouths a whisper apart. “Hi, beautiful.”
“Hi.” She smiled up at him.
He brushed his lips over hers. “You smell sexy enough to eat.”
Her cheeks flushed, and he took her in a slow, tantalizing kiss. He cupped the back of her head, intensifying his efforts to feverish heights. He kissed her hungrily, nipping at her lips and searing a path down her chest, slowing to love all of her. Her hands moved in his hair, over his shoulders, as she arched and rose off the bed with every touch of his lips. He kissed around her belly button, slicking his tongue lower, around her damp curls, and down her inner thigh, sucking her soft skin until she bowed off the mattress.
“Bodhi, please. I swear you could make me come just like that.”
A primal growl rose from his lungs, and he lowered his mouth to her sex. He played her body like his favorite instrument, loving and teasing, unraveling her one lick at a time. He pushed his fingers into her tight heat, stroking over the spot that made her legs flex and his name fly from her lungs. “Bodhi—”
She fisted her hands in the sheets, bucking and making those sexy sounds that drove him out of his mind. He moved over her, settling his hips between her legs. She was trembling like a live wire, her hair fanned out on the pillow, and she was looking up at him like he was her world.
He gazed into her eyes, his chest full to aching. “Baby, I will love you until I have no more breath to give.”
Their mouths came together in wild kisses, and he buried himself to the hilt in one hard thrust. He pried her hands from his arms and laced them with his, holding them above her head. She bowed off the mattress, and he loved her hard and fast, then titillatingly slow, until she came undone. Her sex clenched tight and hot, and he was right there with her, so in love with everything about her, he couldn’t think, could barely breathe, as pure, explosive pleasure tore through him.
They lay wrapped up in each other’s arms for what felt like hours, their bodies damp from their lovemaking. Bodhi ran his fingers down Bridgette’s back, bringing rise to goose bumps and causing her to snuggle closer.
“I love when you touch me.” She pressed her
lips to his chest.
“I could hold you like this all night and be perfectly content.” He kissed her softly. “But that would hardly be fair, since we have only one night alone together and you’ve gone to all this trouble.” He kissed her cheek and worked his way around to the nape of her neck. “I want to experience everything with you.”
“Everything,” she said breathily. “I like the sound of that.” Her stomach growled, and her eyes bloomed wide.
He chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose. “How about we shower and then I make you some chocolate chip waffles?” He took her hand and led her into the bathroom.
He turned on the shower and kissed her while the bathroom steamed up around them.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he said.
Their mouths fused together as they stepped beneath the warm shower spray, their slick bodies sliding and grinding. His appetite for her was insatiable, and he was hard in seconds.
“I need you, baby.” He lifted her into his arms and lowered her onto his shaft. “Christ, I could live inside you.”
They made love beneath the warm shower spray, fervently taking everything the other was willing to give. Bridgette came again and again, pulling Bodhi over the edge as her third climax gripped her. He held her against the tile, resting his head on the pillow of her breasts as he caught his breath.
She smiled down at him, the water pounding against his back. “I really love you, Bodhi. I hope you feel it as strongly as I feel it from you.”
“I do, baby.”
He set her on her feet and turned so she was beneath the warm spray. He soaped up his hands, marveling at her body’s reactions. Even after they’d made love twice, her body trembled beneath his touch as he moved behind her, washing her shoulders and back and working his way south. He washed between her legs, and she spread her legs wider, turning and tempting him with her sex. He couldn’t resist taking another taste of her. Her back met the tile wall as she opened herself up to him again.
“Bodhi,” she pleaded as he ate at her. Her hands pushed into his wet hair. “I swear I love you for more than your incredible sexual skills, but ohmygod . . .”
She yanked him up by the hair and crashed her mouth over his, trying to go high enough up on her toes to sink down upon him. He lifted her into his arms again, falling deeper and deeper in love as they surrendered to their passion.
CHAPTER TWENTY
BRIDGETTE LOOKED CUTE as hell sitting at the counter in one of Bodhi’s T-shirts, eating chocolate chip waffles. Her hair was still damp, and she wore the sexy cutoffs she’d had on earlier. She had the hazy look of a contented lover, and he knew he’d remember that look forever.
She finished eating and pushed her plate to the side.
He leaned in for a sticky, syrupy kiss, and she laughed against his lips.
“That, Bridgette Dalton, is one of my favorite things about you.”
“Sticky kisses?”
He kissed her again. “You’re not afraid to laugh when we’re kissing. You’re not afraid to be yourself, or speak your mind, or talk about difficult subjects.” Or make hard decisions. “Bridge, I’m blown away by what you’ve done tonight. This cabin, the waffles . . .” He tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled her closer. “Thank you for not being afraid to let my memories of my father into our lives.”
“A very special man once told me that real love never dies. I think all love should be celebrated.”
He took her left hand in his, rubbing his thumb over her fingers. “I agree. Close your eyes for me, baby.”
She closed her eyes and sat up straighter. “What are you doing, Bodhi Booker?”
He took out the silver bracelet he’d had made for her and hooked it around her wrist. He ached even as he filled up with happiness, making the moment bittersweet. “Okay, open your eyes.”
Her eyes searched his first, and he wondered what she could see clearest, the ache or the love. A small smile lifted her lips. Only then did she look at the bracelet. Her brows knitted at the engraving.
“It’s the longitude and latitude of Sweetwater, and the date we first met at the bakery.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Bodhi.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I couldn’t love anything more. It’s perfect, thank you.”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve got something I’d like you to give to Louie after I leave.” He pulled his dog tags from his pocket and placed them in her hand.
“Bodhi . . . ?”
“It would mean a lot to me for him to have them. You can wait and give them to him when he’s older. Whatever you want.”
“Okay.” A single tear slipped down her cheek, and he embraced her.
“Let’s call Louie and say good night,” he suggested. “The walkie-talkies won’t work this far, and I don’t want him to be bummed. Then we can go outside and take a walk or hang out in the hammock.”
After they called Louie, who was having a marvelous time with Willow, Zane, and Dahlia, Bodhi carried in their bags from the truck, thinking about the call. He’d miss those few minutes of catching up each night. He wondered how his father had done it for all those years. Granted, he hadn’t always been away on tour, but Bodhi remembered him being gone more than he was home.
He set the bags in the bedroom and peeked into the bathroom, where Bridgette was blow-drying her hair. Her hair was so many shades of brown and blonde, even after all this time together he couldn’t come up with the right word for it. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, and she turned off the hair dryer and set it on the counter, smiling in the mirror at him. “It’s chilly tonight. You’ll need a sweatshirt.”
“Okay.”
He gathered her hair over one shoulder and kissed her neck. “I’ve been trying to figure out a name for the color of your hair, but nothing fits.”
She turned in his arms, her cheeks pink with warmth from the hair dryer, her eyes bright with love. She wrinkled her nose and said, “Boring and confused?”
He nipped at her lower lip, and she squealed.
“Don’t you call my girlfriend’s hair those things.” He kissed the spot he’d nipped. “Your hair is gorgeous. It’s like sand from all the world’s prettiest beaches blended together.”
“That sounds so much better than my choices.” She ran her hands over his chest, and his body heated up again. “Don’t you need a sweatshirt?”
“Hardly. You keep me so turned on, I’m surprised my clothes don’t burn off.”
“Best answer ever. Now get out of here and wait in the living room. I have a surprise for you.”
He held her tighter. “A naughty surprise?”
She laughed. “Maybe later, but for now . . .” She playfully shoved him toward the door. “Go.”
She joined him in the living room a few minutes later, carrying something wrapped in a blanket, wearing his sweatshirt, and smiling like she had won the lottery.
“Ah, a blanket. A perfect surprise to snuggle under on the hammock.”
She pulled the blanket out of his reach. “Your surprise is in the blanket.”
“Maybe once you’re under it, it will be.” He held her close as they went outside. “So now you’re a sweatshirt thief and an eavesdropper?”
“Do you mind?”
“Not even a little.”
Moonlight dusted the area in front of the cabin, providing just enough light to find their way to the hammock strung between two tall trees. He inhaled the scents of pine trees and crisp, mountain air, bringing rise to memories from his youth.
Bridgette set the bundled blanket on the hammock. “Can we skip the walk and hang out here? I just want to be close to you, and I’m excited to give you your gift.”
He lifted her onto the hammock in answer.
“Whoa!” She pressed her hands flat against the canvas as it swayed beneath her. “We need to sit up. How can we do that without flipping this thing?”
He shifted her so she was facing the side of the hammock and climbed up be
side her, causing the hammock to dip. With an arm around her, he pulled her against him in the center. “Like that.”
“Is there anything you can’t figure out?”
“I can think of a few things.” Like how to have you and Louie and my career.
Excitement rose in her eyes as she spread the blanket over their legs. “Are you ready?”
“Always.” He leaned in for a kiss, and she gave him her cheek.
“No lips until you see this, because once we start kissing, we never stop. Close your eyes.”
He did, and he felt her place something on his legs. “I like our endless kisses.”
She pressed her lips to his, taking him by surprise, and he held her there, deepening the kiss until she pushed away.
“Wow,” she said breathlessly. “Me, too. Okay, open your eyes.”
He found her watching him. “Lips,” he said sternly, and pulled her in for another kiss. “Thank you, babe.”
“You haven’t even looked at the gift yet.”
“I don’t need to. It’s from you. I’ll love whatever it is.”
She sighed. “You have ruined me for all other men. You’re the perfect mix of manly and romantic. It must be all those romance novels.”
Man, he liked hearing that, which made him a jerk, so he said nothing.
He lowered his gaze to the gift, and lost his breath at the picture of the three of them, taken at the baseball game, set in the center of a leather photo album. Bodhi had one arm around Louie, the other around her. Louie was smiling at the camera, and Bodhi and Bridgette were gazing into each other’s eyes.
He ran his fingers over the edge of the album. His throat was so thick with emotion, he didn’t even try to speak.
“Your mom sent me the pictures she took at the game, and I’ve taken so many, I thought you’d want to have them, too. Open it up.”
He opened the album and was met with a page full of red tulips, a declaration of love. His name was written above them, and below, Bridgette had signed her name.
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