Back To Us (Shore Secrets 3)

by Christi Barth

  “Glad you approve.” He dropped back onto the bed alongside her. Threw one heavy leg across hers, as if needing to keep her there. Then his mouth descended to latch on to her breast. Piper arched off the bed at the sensation of the sucking pulls that created a matching pulse between her legs. Ward used his fingers to almost replicate the sensation with masterful pressure on her other nipple.

  A thought ran through her mind, like headlines scrolling at the bottom of a newscast. She should be doing more. Seducing him. Not just to be a fair lover, but because Piper absolutely wanted to touch Ward. Everywhere. To trace the definition of every single muscle. “I want to touch you, too. Make you feel as good as you’re making me feel. Let me—”

  One finger across her lips cut her off. “Let me love you.”

  Piper blinked. Nodded. Nodded because his request had robbed her of the ability to speak. Ward stared at her for a long moment, his eyes unreadable in the flickering shadows. They both just breathed, in sync.

  Then Ward carefully stripped off her blue chonies and the matching blue panties. Threw back the comforter to tuck her legs beneath it. Ran one hand in a feather-soft caress from her cheek, along her shoulder, down the line of her torso to flare out over her hips. “God, you’re so beautiful, Piper.”

  Back in the day—as well as now—she’d worried that her breasts would be too small to please him. That her generally bony frame wouldn’t be curvy enough to satisfy him. Piper knew she’d never wonder that again. The reverence in his voice, the awe in the curve of his mouth...it utterly convinced her that she was the most beautiful woman in the world to him.

  She trailed a hand down his amazing six-pack. “You’re so perfectly sculpted. You’re like one of those ancient Greek statues.”

  “Hard all over?”

  “Definitely.” Belatedly, Piper realized her strategic error. Canted her body to reach down and circle the tip of his penis with one finger. “No, I take it back. I mean...prove it.”

  Prior to this he’d ignored her pleas. But evidently Ward had hit the limit of his self-control, too. It took him a split second to rip open the condom packet with his teeth and roll it on. Another endless, torturous few minutes to kiss his way from her clavicle, around both breasts and then down her belly. Where he paused. Drew a single finger through her slickness with a slow precision that had her head thrashing from side to side.

  “How’s that?”

  “I need more.”

  This time he slid the finger into her wetness. Once in, back out, and then in again with a second finger, stretching her. “How’s that?”

  “Damn it, Ward, you know exactly what you’re doing and precisely how spectacular it is. Please, please get inside me right now.”

  His teeth flashed as he smiled. “Told you I’d make you beg.” And then the teasing stopped.

  Ward used one hand to position himself at her opening. Then he braced both hands by her shoulders and drove inside her. It was as if time stopped. Because the sensation of him entering her was endless. Smooth. Hard. Filling her. Setting off little miniature explosions from the tips of her toes to her fingers to her eyebrows. When, finally, he was seated all the way inside, Piper moaned.

  “Do it again.”

  His hips pistoned back and forth, the rhythm steady and insistent. Piper clawed at his back. At his hair. How could she be so full and yet still need so much? “More.”

  “I’ll give you everything I’ve got.” And with that, showing off muscle control that would no doubt blow her mind when she could finally think again, Ward lowered into a push-up to take her mouth. Their tongues twined, thrusting at the same pace as his hips. They were sealed together in every way imaginable. Including the invisible but every bit as tangible joining of their two hearts.

  The heat started there, in the heart she knew belonged wholly to Ward from this moment on. Passion, lust, love, they all churned together into a burst of joy and satisfaction and completion that spread through her limbs and finally detonated in a white-hot torrent of ecstasy as Ward shouted his release into the pillow and collapsed onto her.

  Slowly, Piper came back to reality. Noticed her shockingly dry mouth. The sound of their heavy pants. The crackle of the fire. Oh, yeah—and that nothing in her life would ever be the same after having made love with Ward Cantrell. Piper just didn’t know how to say it. This was one more instance where there was a gap between the whole being-best-friends thing and being lovers. A Grand Canyon—sized gap.

  First things first. Piper tried to shove at his shoulder. Well, she did shove, but he was a dead weight. “If you’re interested in a round two—”

  His groan vibrated against her throat. “Babe. I’m a man, not a machine. Gotta give me at least sixty full seconds to reboot.”

  Only sixty seconds? The man really was a machine. A sex machine. “If at any point in the foreseeable future you want to do this again, it would be in your best interest to stop suffocating me.”

  Immediately he rolled to the side, but tucked one arm tight around her waist, keeping them connected. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. You made me forget for quite some time there that I actually needed to breathe.”

  “High praise indeed.”

  “Oh, are we to the heaping-of-praise portion of the evening?” Piper kept her tone light, friendly. Because as much as she knew Ward, this was the single side of him she didn’t know. Was he a cuddler? A talker? Or was he seconds from pretty much passing out? Would he want her to spend the night? Or was that a completely separate step in the relationship?

  “No. We’re to the serious part of the evening.” Ward disposed of the condom in the wastebasket at the side of the bed. Tucked the covers around Piper tightly, then spooned along her back. “I need to tell you something.”

  “A secret?”

  “I’m not sure. You might have guessed it by now.”

  “You secretly love sushi.”

  He tickled her ribs until she squealed. “Raw, smelly fish? In my mouth? Not in a million years. I said this was serious, remember?”

  “Sorry. My brain cells are still jellified from that truly excellent orgasm you just gave me.”

  Ward ran his hand up and down her thigh like a slow, sensuous boomerang. “When we started this whole thing, I said I wanted you. That was only half-true.”

  “Okay.” At least, “okay” is what she said. Because it seemed the best way to keep him talking. What Piper wanted to say, though, was “huh?” It didn’t make sense at all. He’d pretty much just proven his wanting her was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  “And I wanted to wait until this moment to tell you the rest of it so you wouldn’t think I was trying to get your panties off.”

  Piper moved his hand down to tuck it between her naked thighs. “That ship has sailed.”

  “I love you.”

  Her heart, which had barely stopped pounding, sped right back up. They’d been dating for exactly twenty days. Well, a year and a half, followed by a ten year break, and twenty days. Counting it the long way didn’t make it any more believable. Men, as a race, didn’t use the L word that fast. They didn’t offer it up without hints and prompting and a few occasions of pouting. So obviously she’d heard wrong. Maybe he was still in a post-orgasmic coma and only semiconscious. “What?”

  “I’ve never stopped loving you, Piper.” His breath was warm against her neck. “After you cut me loose, I tried to stop. Did everything possible to forget about your hair the color of a sunset. Tried to erase the sound of your laugh from my head. Throwing myself into work didn’t do it. Dating other women? It was fun, I’ll admit, but it didn’t do it either. Nobody compared to you. Nobody made me as happy. Even when you were making me miserable on a daily basis. Deservedly so,” he hurried to add.

  “You love me,” she murmured. Saying it out loud,
herself, made it all the more real. Still hard to believe, though. It definitely fell under the too-good-to-be-true category. Like believing you could lose weight just by switching to diet soda. Or that an after-Christmas sale would have the right size and color for her in absolutely everything.

  “I’m in love with you. That’s the real reason behind this crazy experiment. I had to try to make you fall in love with me all over again. Even though it was a long shot. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I hadn’t given it one more try before some other, less-awesome man snapped you up.”

  “No chance of that.” She fought the covers—and the heavy weight of his legs—to flip over. Because she desperately needed to see his face. To trace his lips if he said the words again. To feel his heart beat against hers. “I don’t settle, Ward. And I figured out a long time ago that there was no man who had all your qualities.”

  “Huh. Such as?”

  Oh, but he was adorable. And it settled her wildly racing heart to know that Ward was at least close to as nervous as she was. “Are you fishing?”

  “Yeah. I think it’s the...what did you call it? The heaping-with-praise part of the evening.” His heel hooked her legs beneath his. Always the need to pull her close, apparently. Not that Piper minded even one little bit. “I just laid all my cards on the table. My heart’s sitting there. Exposed. Yours for the taking.” His voice was a gritty rumble, like the engine on his motorcycle. “You gotta give me something here, Piper. Some scrap of hope. Or I’ll cut you loose. Won’t even make you play out the last ten days. If you don’t feel for me at all, then you should get up and leave.”

  The word love balanced on the tip of her tongue, like a ballerina on pointe about to jetté into the air. Piper loved Ward. She’d never stopped loving him either. Not for a single day. Not even during the long, dark months when she hated him with the unique fury of a woman scorned. They’d made love. Blissfully so. He’d poured out his heart to her. The stage was set, and she’d gotten her cue to say it back to him.

  But...she couldn’t. Or at least, was pretty sure that she shouldn’t. Ward had hurt her once. Terribly. Now that she knew the whole story, it turned out not to be the epic betrayal that she’d assumed, but it still gave her pause to wonder how fully she could trust him.

  She didn’t plan on spending the rest of her life second-guessing his every move. But the brilliance of Ward’s thirty-day experiment gave her the time to exorcise those particular demons. The ticking clock allowed her time to wallow and wonder and poke at every potential trouble spot. And when it went off? Piper was determined to firmly shut the door on the past and her doubts forever.

  So for tonight, and with more than a little guilt pinching at her, she’d leave him hanging. Out of self-preservation. Ward wouldn’t realize how much more it meant when she finally spit out those three little words on October 13, but she would. She’d be able to say them unfiltered. Pure and true. Like draining all the old, dirty water out of a pool before refilling it, instead of just topping it off. It was the right thing to do. They’d be stronger for it. No matter how much Piper yearned to blurt out how deeply she loved him.

  Pushing him onto his back, Piper clambered on top of him. Distraction was the name of the game. “No need to kick me out just because I can’t decide which facet of you I find the most appealing. Your loyalty is very sexy. As is your drier-than-my-chardonnay sense of humor. I definitely have all the feels for you, Ward. Growing stronger every day.”

  She scrunched lower, until her face hovered right between his legs. Right above the...oh, God. Tiny tattoo of an initial P that flared into a heart at its base. Right on his hip. Her breath caught at the sheer, overwhelming romance of it. He’d inked her into his flesh. Piper dropped a soft kiss onto the tattoo, then lifted her eyes to meet his.

  “I can’t quite find the right words, Ward. I think I’m going to have to show you what I like best about you right this very minute.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Early October frost made Piper’s breath puff into a cloud. Which she loved. Each change of season was its own beautiful mash-up. The leaves were an amazing mix of yellow, orange and green. Birds chirped overhead. Piper felt like she was starring in her own personal Disney cartoon. Except that in the wonderful world of Disney, princesses didn’t do the walk of shame. Not at all. And certainly not after oversleeping and having to jog along the road hoping none of her employees would spot her on their way to work.

  Okay, waking up in Ward’s arms had been totally worth it. Didn’t mean she wanted to be caught with bedhead by anyone, ever. She picked up her pace, Oxfords scuffing at the gravel along the edge of the road.

  A car slowed, made a U-turn, then pulled alongside her. One she didn’t recognize at all. Great. Actually, a kind stranger stopping to ask if she needed help was probably preferable to a friend stopping to tease the living daylights out of her. Piper plastered on a smile.

  “Thanks for pulling over, but I’m fine.”

  “Piper Morrissey? Is that you?”

  Piper bent her knees to lean through the passenger window. Resisted the urge to do a double take when she put together the stranger’s voice with a face that was almost familiar. Talk about an unexpected surprise. “Lori? Lori Cantrell?” She looked all grown up. No, more like a teenager playing at being grown up, with those bright green streaks in her hair. “I barely recognize you.”

  “Can’t say the same. You look the same as the last time I saw you, including the outfit.” With a snort, she continued, “Isn’t it kind of early to dress up for Halloween?”

  Great. Caught by a family member in the walk of shame, no less. “Definitely. The high school honored your brother last night. A few of us dressed up to support him.”

  “Last night?” Lori gave Piper a once-over. Looked at the farmhouse in plain view behind Piper. Looked at the direction Piper had been heading. Did the geographical math. “And you’re still dressed like that at nine in the morning? Wait—are you and Ward sleeping together?”

  That sounded all kinds of wrong. It wasn’t a hook-up. It wasn’t even a long-term fling. Ward loved her. And even though he didn’t know it yet, Piper loved him right back. It wasn’t about the sex, no matter how breathtakingly glorious that had all been. All three times. And all four orgasms. “We’re dating. It’s kind of new. Exciting. And sort of weird to gush to Ward’s baby sister about what a dreamboat he is, so I’ll stop right there.”

  “Yeah. Weird.”

  “I’m sorry you missed the ceremony last night. If he’d known you were in town, Ward would’ve loved for you to come and be a part of it.”

  Lori’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “He knows I’m here.”

  “Really?” Odd that he hadn’t told her something that big. Really, really odd. In fact, it set off alarm bells in her head.

  Why on earth would Ward keep his sister’s reappearance a secret? Lori used to trail around after Piper with something close to hero worship. As an only child, Piper enjoyed Lori’s attention, and played with the girl quite often. Ward knew how close they’d been. He knew how devastated Piper had been when Lori and Mrs. Cantrell left town. This made no sense.

  “Well, I’m sorry I didn’t know. But I’m very excited to see you now.”

  Lori wrapped a strand of green hair around one finger, then another. “Are you?”

  “Of course I am. In fact, get out of that car.” Piper ran around to the driver’s side. The moment Lori stood, Piper gave her a tight hug. “Look at you. We’re the same height now. Finally. Remember when you used to borrow your mom’s heels to be as tall as me when we made cookies together?”

  Lori nodded. “Snickerdoodles.” The first smile broke across her face, making her look all the more like the girl Piper remembered. “They were so yummy.”

  Did it matter that thinking of cookies made her smile, but seeing Pi
per hadn’t? Sure. It stung a little. But reunions could be awkward. You never knew if the other person had transformed into someone completely different or not. They’d feel their way through this. And after work tonight, Piper would put Ward on the spot about why he hadn’t mentioned Lori was back.

  “Maybe we can make some while you’re here. Not today, I’m afraid. Saturdays, especially Saturdays in October with the harvest and all the leaf-peepers, are wild and crazy at the winery. On top of that, we’re short-staffed. Sophia went back to college a few weeks ago and I haven’t managed to find a replacement. I don’t suppose you want a job?” she joked.

  Lori shifted from one foot to the other. “That’s sweet of you.”

  “It’s entirely self-serving of me,” Piper said with a laugh. The wind swirled leaves against the back of her bare calf. Yet another reason not to wear a skirt designed to be so short that people could read the SLHS stamped on the back of her chonies.

  “I’m not moving back here permanently.”

  “Too bad. What did bring you back?”

  “My boyfriend, Rich. He has a band. They had some gigs here, well, all over in the Finger Lakes for a while. Yellow Snow will be going back on tour soon, and I’ll go with them.”

  “Well, I’d love to have lunch and catch up with you. How long are you staying?”

  A harsh laugh. “Depends on Ward. On how fast he comes to his senses.”

  Hmm. What could that be about? Maybe he’d told Lori that she shouldn’t throw her life away being a groupie. It was certainly on the tip of Piper’s tongue. “Your brother can be stubborn sometimes. Anything I can help with? Not that he always listens to me. But he does listen to reason. Eventually. If you hit him over the head with it enough times.”

  “I don’t know. Rich said to keep this a secret.” Lori bit her lip.

  Her boyfriend was involved? In something Ward wouldn’t budge on...oh. Now she could put the pieces together. “Lori, do you and Rich want to get married? Is Ward objecting because he doesn’t know Rich?”