River on Fire (River's End #5)

by Leanne Davis

  His breath expelled. “I didn’t think you’d say that. Okay. I can do it, if you can.”

  She nodded. “I can.”

  Stretching up on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips on his with care. Her fingertips wandered to his hairline where she combed through the mussy strands before pulling his head down lower and allowing him deeper access to her mouth. His hands followed her lead and tugged into her errant strands of hair. They stepped in unison, held together by their mouths, their tongues and their hands. He stopped at the bed and they separated far enough for him to lift her t-shirt off, and then his own. He fingered her bra, outlining the tip of her breast. She was a full C-cup and a perfect handful. He rubbed the smooth, silky skin, going under her armpit to reach the bra clasps in the back. He released them along with all of her former hang-ups.

  Her tongue delved deeper into his throat as he slid her bra off her back and shoulders. Seeking its contents, his fingertips cautiously accessed the alabaster orbs and both of his hands soon cupped her ample breasts in his palms. She moaned as he played, weighed, bounced, and rubbed her breasts. His thumbs fluttered over her now tightly pebbled nipples where his fingertips followed. Twisting, poking, pushing, and prodding until his lips released hers, he dropped his head down to take her breast in his mouth. His hands slid down over her stomach as his mouth clung to the ends of her breast and she savored sensation as he devoured her. He undid the snap on her jean shorts and the rasp of the zipper when it descended sounded loud enough to make goosebumps of anticipation break out all over her skin. She let her head fall back, pushing her chest forward to give him further access to her breasts. Her hands rubbed everywhere she could reach: his hair, the side of his face, and his neck and shoulders. She rested her hand against his jaw and felt the muscles, opening like a hinge and flexing, as he worked her nipples alternatively in his mouth.

  He tugged her shorts down her legs and she gingerly stepped out of them, without dislodging his mouth from hers. He slid his hands back up her legs until he found the source of heat in her wet core. His fingertips feathered through the tiny curls and hair, testing her, waiting for her response. She bucked on his hand, nearly causing his mouth to pop off her. Rising up higher, his mouth found hers, and his hands innocently rested on her waist again as he kissed her for several minutes. She was writhing in her eagerness underneath him. But there was no hurrying Joey. She could not squirm around enough to dislodge his hands off her waist and place them where she preferred. The heat of her body was growing unbearable and she needed to feel the pressure of his hands, his fingertips, his mouth and his tongue. She needed him. She squirmed and writhed in frustration. Yet he refused to do any more than kiss her. She finally dislodged her mouth from his and attacked his clothes. She wanted him to see how difficult it was to restrain himself while being so close, and naked as the cool night air, and so pleasantly warm when the heightened contact on his skin begins to build and then… nothing. How could she relieve all that build-up and need? Oh, God, the need.

  She tackled his shorts and quickly worked at removing the familiar uniform. Who knew polo shirts and khakis could entice her brain to become sex-drugged with need? He was so hot. Every inch of him ignited her entire body, brain, heart, and soul into a huge conflagration. Nothing else mattered. She needed him. All of him. Inside her. On top of her. Surrounding her in every way.

  Her hands were nearly shaking when she dropped down to slide his khakis off and he swung free. Huge and rigid with engorged blood, she could tell Joey was also in need of her. Her hands slipped over his massive stalk, feeling the length of him as he groaned and shut his eyes. Seeking her mouth with his, he cupped her face, brushing his thumbs over her jaw and chin in a gesture that was so soft and tender, her over-sexed brain cherished the detail that the man might want her. The sincerity of his reactions was also more mature, controlled, and sensitive than she was to him. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was leaning into hers. She held his erect penis in her hands while his fingertips ever-so-gently held her face, as if she were a delicate flower he could not pry his eyes off. Like a hummingbird he was trying to carefully hold, or a butterfly he intended to set free. The contrast of their hot passion coursing not only through her, but also his body, combined with the presence of something else, something so caring and tender, that made her heart melt. She felt it disintegrating into a puddle in her chest and oozing throughout all of her blood stream. He could not have seduced her more; not even if he put his tongue inside her. Which she wanted also… but this? This was way beyond words in the realm of being sexy.

  He moved slightly backward, dropping his hands to her waist as he gently guided her to the bed and let her straddle him. Their mouths never left each other as her body moved on top of his. She rubbed her slick, swollen core over his rigid, engorged penis. It was the perfect post for her to rub herself against. She did it some more, using her hips gently and with complete control to titillate the inside of her lips. Teasing. Torturing. Not quite inside yet, but just enough to taunt her body with the prize. Fulfillment. Deep and strong and rough. But not yet. Their mouths remained open and their tongues still played together as their lower halves mimicked their top halves. There was so much she wanted to do with him. So many places on his body that she wanted to touch, kiss, and lick. She wanted him to do the same with her. She could no longer deny her need. Not now.

  While their mouths twisted and their tongues intertwined, she sank her hips down on top of his shaft. She felt his startled response when his entire body jerked before pushing deep inside her. His hands came to her waist again and he helped lift her up and then down. Harder this time. Slowly and torturously, she slid the hot, slick walls of her vagina off him before gradually, and excruciatingly slowly, sliding down over him again, drawing deep groans and excited sighs from both of their mouths.

  He gasped. “Condoms.”

  “I can’t get pregnant,” she replied as she slid off the heated point of him. He was like an arrow coming right through her to land directly on her bullseye every time. He plunged into the core of her, where an orgasm already waited for release. “Tubes tied, after I had Jacob.” Her lips were just millimeters from his before she sucked back onto his mouth and her body sank down just as fast and hard on him. He didn’t answer, but used his hands to anchor her hips before his hips took over from below. Coming up so hard and fast, he nearly jackknifed inside her. He continued until her body was trembling over his. He suddenly flipped her over, staying connected inside her, and pulled her leg up over his hip. By positioning himself like that inside her, she reacted with satisfied groans and physically responded to the new sensations. He pushed himself inside her fully. His body loomed over hers as she received him as far as her body would allow. Throwing her head back, she clutched his shoulders to keep him exactly there, oh-so-there as she nearly convulsed with pleasure underneath him, milking him dry as her entire insides tightened and squeezed. Fireworks and rainbows seemed to be bursting through her eyelids.

  Holy crap.

  She fell flat, utterly exhausted, and yet he pushed inside her still. She felt the stirring of raw emotions as he finally stiffened and groaned her name before his body spurted warm liquid inside her. She pushed her hips up higher to increase the pleasant sensations for him. He moaned and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

  The delightful afterglow seemed to ripple through both of them in lingering, long aftershocks. He kept his face down and she looked up at the ceiling. His hands moved and he lifted his face high enough to cradle her head again between them. His lips sought hers in a soft, gentle kiss. His warm breath tickled her neck and ear and temple. He kissed her hairline and rubbed her forehead. She sighed. He was so hot. But the gentle way in which he handled her? The tender touches, kisses, rubs, and caresses? They were an aphrodisiac like nothing else; not even his outstanding looks could hold a candle to them.

  He finally withdrew from her body and she turned towards his chest, letting his arms sweep around her. He nuzzled
her neck and whispered right into her ear. “That was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

  She closed her eyes and her arms squeezed him tighter in response. She had no idea what to say. Did she feel that way too? She didn’t know. She’d had good sex before that was deep and connected, when she was still with her husband. She could not truthfully admit that it never happened before with her. Did that matter? But maybe it was because they did not use any condom. Maybe it was all physical. If so, no wonder Joey said it was “like nothing he ever experienced before.”

  He kissed her temple.

  “You know I don’t live here. This can’t last too long.”

  He sighed. “Let’s not go there. Let’s not worry about what happens next. Let’s just be here.”

  “I can’t even do that though… the kids. I can’t stay here.”

  His head nodded against hers. “Then, enjoy it for a few hours. Don’t try and pretend this isn’t something, Hailey. I clearly feel the difference. And I think you felt it too.”

  She sighed. He sure as hell wouldn’t let her get away with it just being sex. Which would have been so much easier, considering everything. “Yes.”

  He rolled to the side and pulled over some covers. She got up and went to the bathroom to clean up. She was freaked out by her reflection in the mirror. She hadn’t seen herself like that in so long. She stared in the mirror now at her sweaty hair, messed up by his hands, and observed the unsettling snarls. Her face was free of makeup, and she saw the beginnings of wrinkle lines around her eyes. She sighed and shook her head at the awful reflection. What could he possibly see in her? All she saw was a tired, middle-aged, average mother of two. How could he think she was something special? Something he never experienced before? She just didn’t see that.

  She slipped out of the bathroom and was slightly surprised to find the soft glow of a lamp burning. He sat against the headboard and stared right at her. He was awake. His chest still bare, the defined muscles looked so sexy to her with the bed covers barely over his hips. Her entire body was immediately flooded by burning hormones. Her embarrassment over her reaction flushed her skin. She didn’t expect the light to be on. Using her arms to cover up her boobs, she wished she could hide the sides of her hips that she called her “corners” because they hung out a little farther than they should have with small fat pockets that inexplicably showed up about five years ago.

  “I know what you look like, Hailey.” His voice startled her and she lifted her eyes to find his direct gaze fixed on her. His eyebrows were raised. She waited as his voice continued, “You don’t get to hide from me. You think I’m looking for beauty flaws? I’m not. I’m not comparing you to anyone either. I’m just… totally amazed you are here with me right now. Why can’t that be enough to convince you?”

  “Because it’s so surprising to me. No one who looks like you has ever given me a second glance.” She scurried towards the bed and ducked under the covers.

  He leaned towards her. “Like me?”

  She pushed the hair over his forehead. “It’s just stupid insecurity. It’s odd to me. You know? You being in your twenties, me so… far from there.”

  He kissed her mouth. “Don’t act like this is some kind of novelty. It’s so much more than that. I’m attracted to you. The person you are. The body you have. Thirty-eight years of it and all.” He kissed the corners of her eyes. She tilted her head towards his soft lips and kind compliments. Wow, he was good. The silky feel of his warm skin nearly had her body pulsating. “I’ve watched you in every light there is. In every way. From your arrival here, to seeing you in your swimsuits. If you think there’s an inch of you I failed to miss or stare at while thinking about all the things I could do to you, then you’re sadly confused over my interest in you. So you can waste your time by being shy and insecure, but that’s on you, not me.” His hands traveled over her waist to her thighs and he caressed where her legs connected to her butt. “And don’t try to use my age, or my stupid face, as a reason to trivialize me, or what I’ve clearly expressed and shown how I feel toward you, and the potential I see growing between us.”

  She nearly swooned at hearing his words. They were punctuated even more by his mouth kissing hers and his hands oh-so-expertly exploring all of her. Her thighs, her butt, even her “corners.” He relaxed and rubbed her, his hands tacitly reasserting his undivided interest, sexual and otherwise.

  And he was right about how she kept trivializing him. That’s what she expected, owing to her own insecurities. Joey earned a ten on any beauty scale and Hailey was so not. She was simply average, pleasantly attractive, and perhaps better than many but not particularly blessed with the beauty wand. Not like Joey was.

  “I have cellulite. Wrinkles. You can’t understand how hard it is for a woman like me to face a man like you, especially naked.”

  He lifted his face to stare at her. “I appreciate you not calling me a boy. You often tried to put me in that category before.”

  “How did you know that?”

  “Because you kept acting like I was Brianna’s age. Honestly, from the very first time I looked at you, I responded inside, and wanted this to happen. So you can list all of your imperfections to me. I’ve seen them already, Hailey. I’ve seen all of you. Just as clearly as you see me. You can be weird about it. I don’t care. Just don’t, please don’t, speak for me, or assume you know my opinion. Or my desires. I know what I feel. I know what I desire. And I desire you.”

  She sighed, letting her fingers play in his hair. Her eyes shut when his hands slipped between her legs. “Oh, my God, you are so good with words… among other things.”

  “Then let me. Quit questioning my motives. Quit being insecure about it. I swear to you, I’ve never been into a woman as much as I am into you. No one. No one in the past and no one who could walk up and steal my heart. I’m not a flake. I’m not untrustworthy, and once I decide something, I rarely change my mind. You can trust me, but whether or not you choose to, or continue to use this shallow bullshit of our age gap, and my fucking face—”

  “And your body. They’re both pretty spectacular,” she interrupted.

  He nearly groaned. She smoothed her fingertips over his frown and coaxed out a smile finally that filled her heart. Even her brain relaxed, and weirder still, she actually believed him. His integrity was every bit as deep as his beauty. She leaned forward and kissed him.

  “I’m sorry. I believe you. It is bullshit. When it’s like this between you and me. Alone. It can be bullshit. But outside of this, when I’m with my kids, and back to my old life, I have no idea how this will work out or fit. But for now? I think I do trust you, Joey.”

  “And this?” he asked. Hanging his lips above hers, he probed two fingers inside her body, and her legs opened to greet him.

  “And this,” she whispered, her gaze clinging to his. He had control; she was at his mercy. She was his. Now? She wasn’t the grown-up adult anymore, he was. He had complete control of her like this. She didn’t release his dark eyes, which were fastened on hers as the familiar sounds of total release started to drift from her mouth. Using his fingers inside her, he kept pushing and touching until finally filling her with unparalleled pleasure. Building her up into an orgasm that had her screaming his name, she was clinging to his shoulders. To bring her down from it as her blood stream sizzled, he turned her to the side and filled her up from behind, slipping into her wet, slick folds. Almost instantly, her body was climbing back up toward the impossible height and spiraling depths of another orgasm. He spooned her from behind, using his body to envelop hers, and wrapping his hands protectively around her. He grasped her breasts as his body moved inside her and she thought she’d die quite possibly of sheer bliss.

  After she fell asleep in his embrace, she remained right up against him as his semen dripped out of her into a cool, wet puddle. She didn’t even care when it dried on her hips and inner thighs. Embraced in his arms, she kept her eyes shut. For so long, not just months, b
ut years actually, she’d been feeling so alone. Empty. Hollow. He was filling her up again, protecting her and connecting with her. And his softly spoken words of hot compliments along with his groans of pleasure from her were the greatest aphrodisiac she could imagine.

  When she awoke, the pleasant aches she felt when she shifted made her happy. She lifted her head as the sunlight filtered inside, making squares on the floor and she saw shadows twittering in the morning sunrise. She groaned when she noticed the time on the clock. Six.

  Joey still clutched her closely in his sleep. Deep, regular breaths raised and lowered his chest. She leaned forward and planted her lips on his. He stirred, his sleepy eyes blinking open as his hand came up to the back of her head. He pressed her closer so their tongues entangled and distracted them for several minutes. Finally, she shifted back. “I have to go now. If the kids show up at the cabin and I’m not there…”

  He nodded. Reality. Kids. The main difference between them. All the pretty words from the night before suddenly spoiled in the face of day, even though his body was physically ready to reinforce whatever existed between them. He sighed. “I know. I’ll walk you there.”

  She watched him slip from the bed, still fully erect. His ass was strung so tightly, not an ounce of shyness did Joey suffer as he went to the bathroom without bothering to fully close the door. She heard him start to pee and the toilet flushing. He came out still rubbing his eyes. Nearly half asleep, he wandered to his closet. She felt a smile on her lips. Joey wasn’t a morning person. Hailey was. Bright and early she could wake up and be ready to talk. Probably owing to years of little kids interrupting her sleep.

  Arising, she went to clean up her lower end again before slipping her clothes back on. “Time for coffee?” he asked as his hand took hers and tugged her towards his kitchen.

  “No. Better to be safe, just in case.”