by Ember Leigh
“You’re too much,” he whispered, easing on top of her. “I’ll come if I look at you again.”
“Close your eyes then.” She brushed her lips against his cheek and down his neck. “If this ends now, I’ll hurt you.”
“Oh, naked jujitsu?” He arched a brow. “I’d be down for that.”
She giggled, and their lips met softly, the kiss starting tender but ending with hunger and need. His skin tingled where their bodies met, sending fast, hot thrills through his veins. Her legs splayed open as he settled on top of her. Their eyes locked.
Garrett saw the same swirl of passion and confusion in her eyes, could practically locate the exact source of bewilderment buried deep in her chest because it existed the same within him. Like a pulsating core burning fierce and hot, the connection to Rose in this moment made him both wobbly and empowered.
Her nails dug into his back, urging him nearer. The tip of his cock brushed against the slick heat between her legs, and his vision closed in. This woman drove him wild in ways he’d never felt before. She moaned softly, and her legs hitched open a bit further.
Pressing his lips to hers in a rough kiss, Garrett pressed himself into her, slowly and exquisitely. The velvety heat of her pussy made his mind’s eye fade to a distant black; time shuddered to a halt around him, the explosion of pleasure occurring between their legs and bodies becoming the only discernible moment of existence.
He sank in as far as he could go. As his eyes fluttered shut, he glimpsed Rose’s look of euphoria. Garrett tensed and then relaxed against her, his cock finding one final centimeter of space within her.
Their rhythm accelerated quickly, despite the way Garrett wanted to draw the pleasure out for as long as possible. She clung to him in a way that made his heart wrench in his chest. A hard and fast pace emerged, bodies slapping firm and staccato, practically a metronome. Soft gasps escaped her as they fucked, sending him closer to the edge.
Wisps of her brown hair fluttered away from her face as his breath came out in puffs. Something about this union stung as both unreal and terribly familiar. Rose fit with him like a glove he never knew he was missing.
She arched against him, and their hips connected, a jolt of pleasing pain zipping through him. Rose gasped again, nails appearing at his low back. Something deep inside of him uncoiled, a rush of warmth, and then it was too late.
“I’m coming, Rose,” he whispered, voice both guttural and completely foreign to his own ears. Pleasure pulsed quickly from all points of his body toward his groin, a heady rush he could actually hear between his ears. He pressed himself against her one last time as he came, harder than he ever had in his life.
Garrett’s breath caught in his throat as he groaned. Once his load had been released, his eyes drifted open. Rose looked back at him, face flushed and beaming. His heart wrenched in his chest, and he didn’t know what else to do other than kiss her.
Her eyelashes fluttered against his cheek as he pressed his lips to hers. They kissed deeply, passionately, until Garrett’s cock twitched with life once more from inside her.
“Is that what I think it is…?” Rose arched a brow.
“It can be whatever you want it to be.”
Rose’s eyes flashed, and her fingers dug into the small of his back. “Bring it, baby.”
Garrett’s head swirled as his cock went from soft to stiff inside of her. He thought briefly about the possibility that Rose controlled these events, like she had a remote to his penis. Not that he’d mind.
Rose moaned low and long. The hair on the back of Garrett’s neck stood up—this motel stay wouldn’t see a wink of sleep. They’d drive back to Pennsylvania the next morning haggard and sleep-deprived, but completely satisfied.
Hopefully satisfied enough until whenever their next rendezvous occurred.
Rose shifted beneath him, and he thought she looked guilty, like maybe she’d caught a glimpse of his thoughts without meaning to. He nuzzled her neck, reveling in the scent there, trying to make sense of the clamor of thoughts in his head.
On the one hand, their orbits might never cross paths again. They could part after this experience and never run into each other again.
But on the other hand, there were so many ways to ensure their paths did cross again. Garrett wanted to make an effort. Would Rose be willing? A week might not be long enough to make that determination for some, but Garrett felt both seized and possessed—seized with clarity and possessed by the notion that Rose would be a part of his life from here on out.
They had a whole car ride tomorrow to talk things over. Or for him to broach the subject and for things to be painfully awkward until he dropped her off and they pretended like this never happened. Though he didn’t think that would be the way things went.
A small part of him was convinced she felt the same way. And the glimmer of hope pushed him to suggest one of the craziest propositions of his life.
****
The next day rose brilliantly pink and sparkling, a fact she and Garrett observed from the side of the bed in a rare moment of respite from wild sex. Sunlight dragged against the naked craggy branches of the nearby tree line, the world beyond both crystallized and fragile in the early beams. They had made the pact to sleep once the sun came up, even just for an hour, and then they would hit the road, but once the sun peaked it sparked a new fervor in them, a fear this night would actually end.
It seemed so to Rose, at least. Certainly, the first sunrise in history she had greeted with any measure of melancholy.
By the time she and Garrett had convinced themselves to get back on the road and leave the sweet, humid nest of their temporary home, the clock read nine a.m. They stopped for coffee immediately, and Rose loved the way they sauntered into the coffee house like old friends and intimate lovers. She could go anywhere with him and it would be natural. Comfortable.
Garrett offered to drive first. The ride alternated between pleasant conversation and easy silence that allowed Rose to let every care in the world drift away. The sleepless night affected her less than she’d thought it would, though she suspected the pending good-bye had everything to do with it.
The closer they got to the brothers’ hotel, the more panic rose in her chest. An unexpected week shared with a relative stranger had buried emotions springing up from the grave, things she had never expected to experience again, much less after a week. Maybe her rational mind had made a decision to unhinge, and the rest of her hadn’t been informed.
She tried to imagine what the good-bye would be like. Would they hug for a half hour and then she’d simply run away? Would they shake hands and agree to send annual Christmas cards? Maybe they could text each other for the rest of their lives, constantly at the opposite ends of the country, always trying but failing to meet up and rekindle the spark from that fateful winter in Pennsylvania…
Or maybe she’d do well to forget he ever existed and continue on with life as normal. Her heart wrenched in her chest at the thought. Though it seemed like potentially the easiest solution, it wasn’t the best.
Mostly because she knew, already, that no matter what happened, she’d spend the rest of her life thinking about Garrett. Maybe not every day, maybe not even consciously…but somewhere in the back of her mind, there would be a glowing, tender spot reserved for him. Dedicated to fond memories of their breathless connection, the sizzling sparks, the instant ease and comfort permeating their relationship from the first day.
God, she wanted to say something, anything. But she didn’t know where to begin. And what if he wasn’t thinking about any of this? What if he was content dropping her off and going along their merry ways? Rose wouldn’t risk looking like a fool first.
Garrett glanced over at her, and their gaze locked. She searched for some clue there but couldn’t discern anything from the shrouded green of his eyes. She’d wait, until the last moment if necessary, before she voiced anything.
He reached out for her hand, and she provided it willingly, relis
hing the way the warmth of his skin spread through her body, washing over her shoulder blades and up through her neck. She shivered. She could get used to sensations like this.
They switched spots about halfway into the drive, timed with a quick trucker lunch offering plenty of laughs and a plate of steaming hot chili fries. Once they were back on the road, miles melting away behind them, the panic rose quicker. The end of the reverie neared. Back at the hotel, it would be time to give up the fantasy.
The way her insides scrambled to avoid this moment surprised even her. She wanted to hang suspended in an unattainable dream, no matter the consequences. Such an inclination coming from within her own head frightened her. Rose didn’t entertain thoughts like that. She was famously clear-headed. She rescued kids and fought for her country. She didn’t run off with strangers after a week.
But what if she had to hear it out? Hang with the crazy idea long enough until it calmed down or otherwise shifted into something else more manageable?
That? She could hang with that.
Because the longer she sat at Garrett’s side, the more she wanted to continue it for as long as humanly possible.
****
When Rose pulled up to the hotel, Garrett’s stomach felt like a brick.
A strange silence settled between them as she shut the car off. He hesitated leaving the car for fear of destroying their bubble of permanence, of somehow erasing the memories they’d created during their unexpected mini-pseudo-vacation. She looked similarly hesitant, which both perplexed and uplifted him.
“I sorta want to stay in here.”
“Me too.” She laughed softly.
He picked at the rough fabric of the seat. “So how soon do you have to be back on the road to…?”
In all their time together on the road, neither had mentioned what would be happening once they got back to the hotel. This way they could avoid the inevitable truth—well, for him at least. The longer he avoided it, the longer he could pretend she wouldn’t be whisked out of his life.
He didn’t want to confront what would remain once she left. How could anything ever compare again? She provided a gleam and sparkle to his days, and not because he lived in a hotel with a bunch of guys. Out of all the people he’d ever met, she rose above them all. Most interactions and experiences from here on out would be found lacking. It wasn’t hopeless or romantic—simply a fact resonating to the deepest flesh of his core.
“To where?” She lifted a brow.
“To wherever you have to go from here.”
She sighed. “I’m not really sure where that is, to be honest.”
“Don’t you have to get home?”
She shrugged. “My home isn’t really waiting for me. I mean, it’s there. Buttoned up, and ready for whenever I get there.” She paused. “But it’s not like I have vegetables spoiling in the fridge, or a dog waiting to be let out, you know what I mean?”
Hope sparked to life in his chest. He braced himself to say the words he’d been practicing in his head for eight hours. “Well, please, let me be very clear, you are—”
In the middle of his statement, the front door swung open, and Wesley poked his head out. He waved his hand toward the hotel and then disappeared inside again.
Rose laughed. “I guess that’s our sign to go in. And I can finally give him some shit about turning me into the cops.”
“Oh, please do.” He paused, thinking back to what he had been about to say. About how she was more than welcome to stay in the hotel tonight, and the next night, and every night she wanted until either of them thought something should change. He opened his mouth to say this, but Rose had opened the door, climbing out and heading toward the hotel.
Garrett silenced a grumble and followed her, already knowing Wesley would try to play the gallant, apologetic part as soon as she set foot inside the hotel. Not like they entertained mistaken-identity baby bounty hunters all the time, but Garrett thought he could predict his brother’s behavior in any situation on the face of the earth. And most likely with disturbing accuracy.
Rose put her shoulder into the door, and it swung open. Garrett followed, shoving it closed as Rose and Wesley met in the foyer.
“Welcome back, you two.” Wesley’s voice sounded abnormally joyful. “Rose, it’s great to see you again.” The two hugged. “I’m thrilled you’re not a kidnapper.”
“Well, thanks for giving me the chance to explain my side of the story,” she said wryly, winking at Garrett. “Man, I really learned my lesson to watch my step around you, huh?”
Wesley sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ll be saying this probably until the time I die, right? But it turned out okay, which is the most important part.”
“Yeah. It turned out really well as a matter of fact.”
Garrett’s jaw clenched. At least part of that comment was meant for him.
“So, will you be staying with us again? How long? Care to join our work force? You did a good job with that flooring.”
Rose faltered. “Well, I…” She turned to look at Garrett, and his heart wrenched in his chest again at the thought of her leaving. Please, give me a few more days, or weeks. Maybe even a year.
“You are welcome to stay as long as you need, or want,” Garrett said. “We—I, especially—would be more than happy to see you stay here a bit longer.”
His heart thumped against his chest as he awaited a response. Anything but leaving today. Please, God.
She cleared her throat and looked between the brothers. “Well, I suppose…I’d need to return the rental today. Maybe I could hole up here while I settle the score with my own car. I swear, I won’t be an intrusion. I’ll work for my stay, even.”
Garrett wanted to scream with joy. He ushered her toward the rooms. “No worries, Rose.” Her eyebrow arched at the sudden movement, but he couldn’t wait to get her alone and preferably in his arms. “Let’s get you settled in again, okay?”
Wesley waved a good-bye as the two hurried away.
****
The door clicked shut behind them, and Rose looked up at Garrett, having enough of an idea of what came next.
“Sorry,” he breathed. “I…I wanted to be with you. Again.”
“Me too.” She bit her lip, wondering how much would be too much to admit. “It’s strange how you can miss someone from not looking at them in a ten-minute span.”
His laughter crackled through her body, setting her at ease. She’d presented the words as a joke, but she’d been surprised at how deeply they resonated inside her.
“Stay here. Stay with me, please.”
His tone had shifted from easygoing to firm. The look in his eye wavered between desperation and crazy.
“Garrett, I already said I’d—”
“No, I mean…longer than that.” He gulped and took her hands into his. “I mean, for way longer than that.” He squeezed his eyes shut as the words cycled through her body pleasantly, both shocking yet expected. Did she want to stay here, longer than the rental drop off, longer than a few days’ sex spree? She knew exactly what this meant, and every part of her already knew the answer.
“This is crazy,” he whispered, searching her for a response. Maybe she’d waited too long to respond. Obviously he wasn’t telepathically aware of the excitement circulating beneath her skin, and her face hadn’t moved to record any degree of recognition. “I’m sorry if this is too crazy, Rose.”
“It’s not. It’s just right.” She smiled up at him, the words hanging heavy and proud in the air between them. His face didn’t register anything at first, so she added, “I’d been thinking about it, too. I don’t know why it’s not crazy, but it’s not.”
The look on his face hovered halfway between terrified and melting with happiness, though slowly joining the later. “Are you serious?”
She nodded excitedly, the burbles of joy spreading from her belly to her limbs now. A rapid takeover. “I am. Isn’t that crazy? Isn’t it crazy it doesn’t seem crazy?”
He grab
bed the sides of her arms and swallowed. “Okay. So, like, we can see what happens. I mean, obviously, this doesn’t mean anything serious or…whatever. I mean, it’s…we’re seeing.”
“Right. We’re seeing. What happens, that is.”
“Right.” He nodded, a smile overtaking his face. “Right.”
An expectant pause settled then, unsure what to say next, but somehow not needing to say anything at all.
“I think you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met,” Garrett said, “and I’m excited to spend more time with you.”
She bit back a grin that threatened to eat her alive if she let it go all the way. “I think you’re one of the most incredible men I’ve ever met,” she said. “And I’m very excited to spend more time with you as well.”
“I’ve never done this before.”
“So you don’t invite all the stranded ladies to come live with you after a week?”
“You’re the first, Rose.” He grinned. “And hopefully the last.”
Garrett pulled her into a hug, and she buried her face in his chest, an unexpected surge of emotion arriving from the depths of her core. She clung to him, inhaling the heady scent of flannel and man and sweat, already finding a home there, a place more comfortable than any before.
She’d have no problem cozying up to Garrett, and somehow, he made the burden of vulnerability a lot easier to bear. The mere thought of it didn’t send her running to the hills to escape the unpleasantness of opening up, didn’t make her think she had to save anybody in order to circumvent her own grief, or that there would be any degree of lost cause even if it ended poorly.
“I have no problem being honest around you.” The words leapt out of her mouth before she’d realized they’d been in her head. “And I want to continue doing so. You make me feel really good. And I’m really thankful for that.”
“You took the words right outta my mouth, Rose.”
He took her face in his hand and pulled her into a tender kiss, one that blossomed slowly, organically, rising sloppily to a breathless fever pitch that nearly toppled her. When they parted, Garrett looked as frazzled as she felt. Whatever this was—this thing happening between them, the passion burning so bright and solid between them—it deserved to be explored to its deepest point.