by J. H. Croix
When he said that, dragging out the word you with his eyes darkening, my heart spun in my chest and my pulse bolted. Dear God. This man could melt me with nothing more than his eyes. Heat spiraled through me, making me hot all over. I shifted my legs to ease the ache building between my thighs.
He squeezed my hand again. “Shall we go, sweetheart?”
Oh. My. God.
Every time he called me sweetheart, my heart did a little dance. My throat went dry at the look in his eyes. His thumb brushed across the back of my hand, the calloused surface sending streaks of fire over my skin. I swallowed and took a shaky breath, pointlessly attempting to get my pulse to slow down.
“I bet you call all the girls sweetheart,” I managed to tease.
His lips kicked up at the corner with a grin as he shook his head. “Nah, darlin’ is my go-to. Sweetheart is just for you.”
Oh. My. God.
Butterflies took flight, spinning wildly in my belly. “Oh,” was all I could manage to that.
“You never answered me, sweetheart.”
The blank look on my face must have cued him into the fact that I had completely forgotten what he asked me. With a chuckle, he repeated his question. “Shall we go?”
I dredged up my usual attitude and narrowed my eyes. “Sure.”
Suddenly, it occurred to me we had rather swiftly moved beyond the news he’d shared about his parents. I paused. “I don’t mean…” My words trailed off when he shook his head.
“It’s okay. It’s nothing to dwell on. Trust me, I’d rather not. Now let’s go.”
He stood from the table, catching my hand in his. He tossed a generous tip on the table before we walked away. His hand never let go of mine, even when he stopped to pay at the register, and my offer to cover half of the bill earned me an amused glare.
It didn’t even occur to me to contemplate the implications of how natural it felt for him to hold my hand. That was the thing with Remy. Everything seemed to just unfurl. By and large, I thought I had mostly gotten past the mess of my last relationship. It ended in a glorious disaster, but not before my self-esteem when it came to men had been shredded to pieces.
In most areas of my life, I was my usual self—nosy, perhaps a little bossy, and funny. Yet, I hadn’t even attempted to date in over a year. I’d resigned myself to the reality that I wasn’t even interested in dating. In fact, I was quite convinced that was for the best.
I could barely consider it consciously, but there was a part of me that savored Remy’s presence, the natural protectiveness he exuded. Once again, he had my door open before I could even reach for the handle.
I glanced up once I was seated, his gaze piercing in the fading light of dusk. “You’re quite the gentleman,” I said with a wink.
His mouth curled into a grin. That little bit of teasing attitude I’d latched onto burned up in the searing flame that spun through me. I could handle this, perfectly fine, as long as we kept everything superficial. It was just that nothing about Remy felt superficial.
“I’m a southern boy at heart. Maybe a bit old-fashioned. My mama raised me that way. She might not be here to give me hell about it, but I’m not about to let her down. I imagine she’d find a way to give me hell from heaven if I did.”
At that, he carefully closed the door before rounding the truck to climb into the driver’s side.
Chapter Ten
Rachel
The entire ride home, I gave myself a little pep talk. This was just dinner. I could handle dinner. This was good for me. It was good for me to try to push out of my comfort zone a little. And Remy was safe.
Safe, safe, safe. That word echoed through my mind. I was so busy telling myself I could handle this that I barely noticed the drive home and was almost startled when I realized he was turning down my driveway.
Glancing over, I studied his profile for a moment. His dark blond hair was a little shaggy. It was straight and glossy enough that it didn’t look too messy though. It teased along the back of his neck, tempting me to run my fingers through it. His eyes flicked over to me, and my pulse took off again.
My gaze fell down to where his hand rested on the steering wheel, hanging loosely across it. His hands were strong and sexy. I knew the way they felt, and I desperately wanted to feel them all over me. My eyes tracked down over his forearms. Who knew forearms could be so damn sexy?
My eyes lingered on the corded muscles as he steered his truck down the driveway, then I forced myself to look out the window. My driveway wasn’t too long. I lived a few minutes outside of downtown Willow Brook. I’d bought the house myself, right after I finished my medical assistant program. It was nothing huge, a small house on a few acres. By most standards, the lot might be considered big. By Alaskan standards, it was small. It was just enough that I had some privacy. My two closest neighbors were within earshot. I’d never even worried about that, but now it mattered.
When I moved into the home, one of those lots had been empty. After everything that went down with my ex, I’d been beyond relieved to have my neighbors build there. They were friendly and nosy, which worked out great. Before my ex turned my life upside down, I’d never once thought it would be good to have nosy neighbors.
I gave my head a shake. I didn’t want to think about that. Remy rolled to a stop in front of my house, and the first thing I heard was Henry’s welcoming bark. My house was a small, ranch style home. It was a perfect rectangle with cedar siding and a bright purple metal roof. The purple was what tipped me over to making the decision to buy the house. The owners had left a few things unfinished, but my father had promised to help me finish it, and he did within the first two months of me moving in.
When he cut the engine, Remy glanced over. “I’ll walk you in.”
The air inside the truck felt loaded—heavy with electricity snapping between us. This was my first date with someone in over a year. I didn’t even like to think about my last date.
Uncertainty gripped me, but I nodded. As I moved to open my door, Remy was there. For a big man, he moved fast.
Somehow, despite all the anxiety spinning inside me, his presence was comforting. I climbed out, his hand steadying me as my feet hit the ground. That little point of contact zipped straight to my core, coiling into the need that had been simmering inside me all evening.
It was close to dark now, the sun having set during dinner. There were a few lingering streaks of red, gold, and orange above the mountains in the navy sky, which my property offered a distant view of above the trees out back. The jagged ridgeline was visible with the stars glittering above it and a crescent-shaped slice of the moon rising.
I took a steadying breath as we crested the stairs onto my deck, wondering what Remy expected. I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t dare let myself think about it. I wanted to just lose myself in Remy. It was such a luxury to be with him, to feel the sense of ease somehow tangled up in the intense intimacy that had caught hold between us ever since he first kissed me.
My heart was pounding so hard I could hear the echo of it through every inch of my body. My low belly clenched, and those butterflies took flight again. I managed to get my keys out and then promptly dropped them. Not just once, but twice.
Remy scooped them up and slid the key in the lock himself. He was quiet though, and didn’t tease. Glancing up as I turned the knob, I said, “Hang on, Henry will be flying out the door.”
The moment I opened it, Henry did exactly as I warned and came racing out. He paused to spin around my legs and Remy’s, leaping up to kiss my face as I leaned down to greet him. Remy chuckled, running his hand across Henry’s back as Henry dashed into the yard to take care of business.
I simply stood there, my hand curled around the leather strap of my purse. When I looked up at Remy, my eyes snagged with his. I couldn’t look away. He was no more than a foot away, his green gaze darkening.
Before I even registered what was happening, he lifted a hand, trailing his fingertip over my lips, his t
ouch like fire. “I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” he murmured.
A raven called from the trees, the sound barely puncturing the haze of desire clouding my mind. “You have?” I heard myself asking, my voice all breathy.
Remy scrambled my thoughts and stole my senses whenever he was close. His hand trailed across my cheek, slowly tucking a loose lock of hair behind my ear. Stepping closer, he bent low to brush his lips across mine.
He drew back slightly, and a disappointed moan escaped to lose the feel of his lips against mine.
“I like you, Rachel.”
My heart gave a hard thump. As cynical and wary as I was, I liked Remy. A lot.
All this time, I thought no man could affect me again. I thought I’d said goodbye to desire because it wasn’t worth the bother and the emotional mess.
With Remy here, desire and need contained in his gaze, I forgot to worry.
“I like you too,” I said softly, thinking it sounded silly when it felt anything but.
Henry butted against my legs, dancing around our feet and bumping me with his head.
“Let me get Henry in. He likes a snack whenever I come home. Come on in,” I said.
This temporary break sent my pulse into the stratosphere, anxiety spinning into my desire. I couldn’t believe I was letting any of this happen.
Knowing it would be weird if I suddenly shifted gears, I stepped back, gesturing for Remy to follow me inside. He was quiet as I dropped my purse on a table by the door and walked quickly into the kitchen to get one of Henry’s favorite snack bones to toss to him.
Henry gobbled it up in a single bite. I laughed, catching Remy’s eyes where he stood by the door.
The front entrance led to an open style living room. There was a small woodstove in the back corner, and windows along the back offered a view of the trees and the mountains. I’d situated my sectional couch so I had a view outside from one side with the other facing the television on the side wall.
The living room was separated from the kitchen by one side of the three-sided counter in the kitchen. Stools for seating ran along that side. The space was open and airy. I loved it, even though I had considered moving out last year. I still thought I would, I just had to catch the timing right.
A vivid memory flashed as my gaze scanned the room, snagging on a spot where Bruce had punched a hole in the wall. The hole was fully repaired, the sheet rock sanded meticulously one evening when I was determined to erase any visible reminders of what Bruce had done. Only I still knew exactly where the hole had been, but then, I knew exactly where every one had been. There had been five.
“You okay?” Remy asked.
It was uncanny how easily he tuned into me. I didn’t know what to make of it. The kitchen was only steps away from the door. He took another stride, his eyes skimming over my face.
I took a shuddering breath, forcefully kicking those memories away. No matter what, I didn’t want to let the past ruin the present. My eyes shifted to Henry as he trotted across the living room to curl up on his favorite chair.
Henry always made me smile, and right now he had the same effect. Looking back to Remy, I commented, “I’m fine.”
I didn’t know what pushed me to do what I did next, maybe my desperation not to let my past crowd into the present. I closed the distance between us and leaned up to kiss him.
Remy didn’t miss a beat. As my lips brushed against his, a little sigh escaped, almost in relief. When he fit his mouth over mine, a thrill chased through me, straight to my core and radiating outward. On the heels of a low growl, he slid his hand into my hair. I gasped when his other hand slid down my spine to cup my bottom, and he pulled me flush against him.
His mouth slanted over mine, and our kiss became fierce. I couldn’t get close enough, pouring all the emotion and desire pounding through me into the tangle of our tongues. Stroke for stroke, nip for nip, I lost myself in Remy.
His hand threaded in my hair, a subtle edge of roughness to his grip that I savored. Shifting my thighs, my hips bumped the kitchen counter. In a smooth motion, he lifted me up on the counter without ever breaking our kiss.
Given that I was about to melt into a puddle at his feet, it was a relief not to have to hold myself up anymore. Although I knew without question he was a strong man, there was something so encompassing about his strength. I felt held and protected, yet not overpowered.
His fingers sifted through my hair, his palm sliding down my spine in a heated pass. He gripped my hip, tugging me close to the edge of the counter as he stepped between my knees. My skirt had fallen in a rumple just above my knees.
I could feel the hard length of him pressing against me, the denim creating friction against the thin cotton of my panties. I barely recognized myself. I was gasping, low moans escaping here and there, and flexing into him as he drew back slowly and caught my bottom lip in his teeth with a gentle tug. His lips traveled along my jawline, teasing in my ear before he blazed a sizzling trail down my neck.
Fire gathered inside, and my nerves lit up, sending a prickly awareness whispering over my skin. Remy murmured something. I gasped when he cupped my breast, his thumb teasing back and forth over the tight bead.
“Remy,” I gasped.
He lifted his head, his thumb still teasing me, and my nipple begging for more—tight and achy. “Yes, sweetheart?” he asked in that sexy southern drawl, yet another thing that nearly sent me over the edge.
I managed to drag my eyes open, only to find his gaze waiting—dark, hooded, and so hot it seared me, a straight line to my sex. My panties were wet, and my hips were rocking reflexively against him.
With the full force of his intensity on me, I felt suddenly shy, almost overwhelmed at the mix of emotion and arousal coursing through me. I bit my lip and shrugged. “I don’t know.” He dragged his thumb across my nipple again. “I know that feels good,” I murmured.
Without ever once looking away from me, he eased his grip on my hip, lifting his free hand and flicking the buttons at the top of my blouse open. Cool air hit my skin, the contrast only serving to notch up the heat burning me up inside.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.”
I swallowed, caught in a wave of emotion. Having largely shut myself off from men, I was unaccustomed to this kind of attention. Given my last relationship had been nothing but an exercise in emotional, psychological, and physical abuse, I was utterly undone at the look in his eyes and his words.
“Don’t worry, we’re not taking this too far tonight.”
My brain interpreted that as if he were going to stop. I curled my legs around his hips. “Oh no, you don’t get to go yet.”
Remy’s laugh sent a shiver over the surface of my skin. “Oh sweetheart, don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. Not just yet.” He arched into me, the full length of his arousal pressing against my core and sending a sharp streak of pleasure through me. “I was about to ask if you wanted me to stop.”
He paused, his gaze boring into me.
“For the record, the second you tell me to stop, I stop. It doesn’t matter when that is.”
I swallowed, again overcome with a wave of emotion. Remy had come out of nowhere in my life, the electric desire I felt with him utterly shocking me. It felt as if an asteroid had landed on the planet of me. Attention, respect, safety, and burning desire were not things that went together in my world. With him though, they did.
I nodded and then he flicked another button loose, dipping his head and dusting kisses along my collarbone and down into the valley between my breasts. My sex clenched at the feel of every kiss, each point of contact sizzling through me. Another button and then my blouse fell open.
He drew back slightly, a low growl escaping. “More beautiful than I imagined,” he murmured, before dipping his head and sucking one of my aching nipples into the wet heat of his mouth, right through the silk of my bra. I cried out, the pleasure so acute, it pierced me.
After another hard suck, he transferred h
is attention over to my other breast. I buried my fingers in his hair and held on, clinging to my control and wondering if it was possible to have an orgasm from nothing more than this.
I felt the flick of his thumb on the clasp. My breasts tumbled free, and his calloused palm cupped a bare breast. I was murmuring his name and rocking into him, little bursts of pleasure striking every time I felt his arousal press against me.
His palm slid up my leg, sending shivers all through me and sparks skittering under the surface of my skin. He trailed his fingertips over the damp cotton between my thighs. All I knew was I wanted more.
He stilled, just long enough that I dragged my eyes open and finally let go of my death grip on his hair. “I want to make you come.”
His blunt words pierced through me. So direct, so straightforward, and so fucking hot, I almost didn’t know how to take it.
“Please do,” I finally said, just as my hips telegraphed what I wanted with a rock against his palm. His mouth hitched at the corner, and he dipped his head again, trailing hot gentle kisses mingled with sharp nips along the side of my neck.
With one thumb brushing across my nipple, he teased over the wet cotton between my thighs. I was frantic for more. I wanted all of him. Now.
On a low growl, he shoved the fabric out of the way, sinking a finger into my channel. I paused and shuddered around him. I was so slippery wet, he slid in easily.
Another finger joined the first, and the subtle stretch felt so good, I almost came right then. He held still for a beat when I cried out before drawing his fingers back and teasing over my clit lightly. I was so close to the edge, chasing the sweet relief. His fingers sank inside again, fucking me with a few slow strokes. The moment his thumb teased over my clit again, it was like detonating a bomb inside my body.
Pleasure exploded through me, hitting me hard and fast, and then radiating through the rest of my body. The piercing sensation of my climax was so intense, I cried out as my body quivered in its aftermath.