by Em Petrova
River cupped her ass and lifted her to the table just as he had in her kitchen. Had that been earlier today? Yesterday? She’d lost all track of time after her whirlwind decision that brought her to Alaska.
With one hand cupping her cheek, he eased the other to her breast. As he clamped his fingers on her nipple and pinched through the cloth of her dress, a dizzy need struck. She plunged her hands under his shirt to glide along the carved muscles she knew so well in all ways but this one act that would bond them.
This moment in time meant she wouldn’t be so alone anymore. But loving River Hepburn could end her if he lost his life too.
She’d take the risk, because she’d cared about him for so long it proved to be the only path in life.
Ripping away from the kiss, he latched onto her neck and blazed a path to her cleavage. He lashed his hot tongue over her skin for a mere moment before he gripped the hem of her dress and whipped it up to her hips. From her seated position on the table, she shifted her weight from one hip to the other to free the trapped fabric. When he yanked her dress off, his heated stare landed on her lavender bra and thong panties.
For a heartbeat, he didn’t move. Her heart thudded two more times and then he cast her dress to the floor and reached for her.
“Christ, you’re beautiful.”
She shuddered at the passion in his words. All those years ago, she knew River would be this kind of lover. He did everything with such intensity, she knew if he ever laid a finger on her, she’d combust under the force of his need.
She was burning up right now.
He skimmed his hand from her breast to her ribs and grasped her by the hips, yanking her across the table to him. She locked her ankles around his middle and kissed him.
Need pummeled her insides as she kissed him with a fever she couldn’t deny anymore.
“Sascha.” His rough whisper lifted all the hairs on her body. Seconds later, he tore off her bra and ducked to claim her nipple with his mouth. He sucked, and she arched. He groaned and she shivered with pleasure spreading through her.
He plucked at her nipple with his lips and then grazed the sensitive bud with his teeth. She cried out and braced a hand on his nape to hold him there for more. Her pussy pulsated. Her insides gripped. Before, he’d worked her into a frenzy from the first dark look he gave her.
Laying her back on the table, he swiped his tongue over her nipple and across her chest to the other, tormenting her for endless seconds.
She dug her fingers into his shoulders, biting off her cries of bliss to spare her new neighbors she hadn’t even met yet.
River brushed his fingers over her apex, across the damp crotch of her panties. Sascha groaned and shoved against his touch.
He pinched her nipple and then released it. A second later, she heard the chair drag across the floor. His eyes flashed at her as he dropped to the seat, spread her legs and tugged her panties off.
A cry escaped her lips, rough and echoing in the empty apartment. When his rough fingers settled on her inner thighs, and he spread her wide enough that she felt her soaking folds part, she glanced down her body at the man settled between her legs. His eyes burned. A crease of concentration nestled between his brows.
Then he lowered his mouth to her pussy.
She writhed on the tabletop. He held her captive in his strong hands and under the magic of his tongue as he buried it into her soaking center.
“Oh God! River!”
He sank deep, teasing her in ways she never experienced. Slamming her eyes shut on the pleasure vibrating through her body, she almost came on the spot when he removed his tongue and slicked it up her seam to grind down on her clit. Two callused fingers took the place of his tongue, stretching her.
Wet sounds filled the space, along with her rasping breaths. She rocked her hips to meet his thrust. He flicked his tongue over her clit in short swipes that had her ass lifting off the surface.
With smooth strokes of his warm, wet tongue over her clit, he brought her high…right to the edge of the cliff.
“Yesss!” She shook as her release rocked through her and he fucked his fingers into her in rhythm to the contractions.
“More! Oh God, more…” She sucked in a sharp cry and blissed out to the feel of his fingers and tongue taking her to heaven and beyond.
His self-satisfied smile was the first thing she saw when she finally opened her eyes.
“Pretty happy with yourself, aren’t ya?” she rasped out.
“Damn right.” He still sat in the chair where he’d feasted on her pussy. Eyes locked with hers, he unzipped his fly, shoved his jeans open and pulled out his thick, heavy erection.
Her breaths came faster, her breasts trembling with the effort it took to breathe.
He pulled her into a sitting position. “As much as I hate to admit it, baby, I’m worn out and need to sit.” He cocked a brow at her. “Can you do the work?”
She scooted to the edge of the table, shoving him against the chair back. Slowly, she slipped into his lap and straddled him.
“Do you want me to use a condom?” He stared at her lips, which she’d bitten to keep quiet, before sliding his gaze to hers.
“I trust you,” she whispered, sinking down over his cock at the same time she took control of a deep kiss.
Hepburn dreamed about this moment off and on throughout the years. The reality of spreading Sascha’s legs and eating her pussy lived up to those fantasies. Her flavors, along with her little noises of bliss, were etched on his memory.
But he never expected to be slammed with emotions so strong they threatened to knock him on his ass.
Having her naked in his arms…slowly sinking inch by mind-numbing inch over his cock…shouldn’t make his chest feel too tight, should it?
He clutched her waist and helped her ease over him, giving her time to stretch for him. Fuck—she was tighter than any woman he ever had. And her eyes, blue fire blazing at him, made his lungs constrict.
“You’re…big,” she rasped.
“Take it easy, baby. Slow down.” He held her still with half of his cock filling her up. The agony of going slow with her almost stripped away his self-control. Cum seemed to boil in his balls, and he ground his teeth against the urge to rock his hips and pull her down at the same moment, filling her in one slick plunge.
She slipped down his shaft a bit more, and her eyes rolled back. She tipped her head to the ceiling on a sigh. Her lips called to him, and he captured them again. The instant their tongues meshed, she took full control and all of his cock.
Seated fully inside her, he battled a black need. His nostrils flared, and he clamped off the heavy pulse starting at the base of his spine.
Don’t think of being buried in Sascha Lacey. Don’t think of how fucking hot, wet and tempting she is. Or how much I want to make sure no man takes my place after this.
He jerked his hips up, thrusting the head of his cock deeper. Dropping her head forward on a gasp, she began to rock. Fucking him with slow, deliberate moves that had his balls clenching on each rise and fall. She was getting off on him—he saw it in her beaded nipples and heard it in her throaty moans.
“Fuck my cock. Take it, baby.”
“Yesss…”
Her eyelids drooped, and he couldn’t look away from her beautiful expressions that told him how deep she sank in the moment. The need to hold her all night long and see her shudder again and again for him burned.
Ducking his head, he lapped at her hard nipple. It swelled beneath his tongue into a tighter bud, and he sucked it into his mouth with a strong pull. She trembled at his touch. When he pinched the other nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it gently, tension hit her muscles.
She clamped on his cock, pulling the cum up from his balls long before he was ready. As he stiffened to ward off his release, the chair creaked under him.
“River…” She took him to the base again. “I wanted this…you…so long…”
He crushed his mou
th to hers, and she went wild in his arms. Jerking, twitching, shaking and crying out. When her first pulses hit, he lost it.
A shot of cum burst up his length and overflowed in a heavy pulsation. He barely restrained a roar as they rode their orgasms to the end.
With a final moan, she collapsed against him. He cupped the back of her head, catching his breath.
“How many…sponge baths…is that worth?”
A throaty giggle burst from her, and she nuzzled his jaw with a sweep of kisses. “At least two.”
“Goddamn, woman. You drive a hard bargain.”
Laughing again, she lifted her head to meet his eyes. He always avoided a connection after sex, but when she bowed her head to avoid his stare, he forced her to meet it.
And he held it.
A shiver coursed through her, rocking him too. He found the strength to stand with her in his arms, his cock still burrowed in her hot pussy. She squealed when he carried her to the bedroom but lay her on the rug instead of the hard box spring.
Her joyous laugh had him grinning like a damn fool. Right this minute, he felt happy, and he only felt a fraction of guilt for sleeping with Ethan’s little sister.
Sascha’s smile cut some of the icy chill of his past and made up for things he’d surely do in the future. What happened next, he had no clue.
Actually, he did. They were hitting a store and buying a mattress.
“You’re not getting soft yet.” She ran her fingers down his spine to clutch his ass.
“I won’t—not now that I have you under me. Christ, Sascha,” he ground out as her inner walls gripped his length.
“Don’t stop, River!”
He couldn’t if he tried. He wanted to pound into her all night long. Take her against the wall, bent over…well any way he could think up. Nothing seemed off-limits with this woman in this moment.
She angled her hips to receive his thrusts. Need blasted him. Her soft cries grew throatier, her moans longer. She scraped her nails over his back down to his buttocks and planted the points into his flesh. Her pussy clamped on his shaft. The tip of his cock pressed into a soft inner wall over and over until he felt the cords on his neck standing out.
Having Sascha twice would never be enough for him. The notion burrowed so deep in his mind that it became part of him. When he’d needed her help, she selflessly gave it. Now she needed his help—to feel alive again and he’d do the same.
He wouldn’t stop until she collapsed into an exhausted sexual haze.
He flicked his tongue over hers and reached between their bodies to thrum her hard, wet pearl.
Sascha’s orgasm hit with so much power, it rocked one from him too. He didn’t realize his release had finished until he found his throat scratchy from his roar.
Sascha shook, tucked against his side, her head on his chest. “The neighbors already hate me.”
He stared at her beautiful face half-hidden where it rested on him. His own laugh took him by surprise.
“Baby?” He stroked his fingers down her damp spine.
“Mmm?”
“Let’s go buy you a mattress or at least some blankets.” He chuckled, more carefree than he’d felt…well, in forever.
Her satisfied smile edged into his heart. “And food. I’m starved.”
Chapter Six
River tossed a pillow toward the head of the newly made bed, complete with a mattress in a box from a chain store, and Sascha leaned over to fluff it.
She felt his warm stare on her backside and glanced at him over her shoulder. “Are you staring at my ass?”
“Yes.” His voice didn’t carry a hint of apology either.
With the pillow settled where she wanted it, she sank to the edge of the mattress they’d used the hell out of over the past twenty-four hours.
She knew their time was up, though. She’d overheard his call during the wee hours of morning, and his agreement to meet up with his unit today.
“Sascha…”
“I already know,” she interrupted.
He arched a brow. “You know what?”
“That you’re leaving. I heard you on the phone. And I understand, River. You need to return to work, though it worries me that you’re still having headaches.”
“Those will pass.”
“And if the doctor doesn’t clear you to return to duty yet?”
“Then I’ll come back here.” He squashed a hand into the foam mattress next to her. “And give this bed another workout.”
She gripped his shirt front with both hands and hauled him down to kiss his hard lips. The caress deepened instantly, and after several seconds, she reluctantly pulled away. “How long do you have?”
“The guys will be here in about five minutes.”
She tried not to show her disappointment. She’d just found him again—now she had to let him go. The practical thinking part of her brain knew the seconds counted down, and she should take her time with him as a gift. If their relationship didn’t go further, then at least she had these sweet memories.
“You’ll be okay?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m going to get this place in order and work on my documentary. I’ll go out exploring and find some places to film. I’m also thinking about finding a couple new clients to work with the way I did in Texas. Extra cash flow would be nice.”
“Sascha, if you need money—”
“I don’t.” She squeezed his hand. “I took out enough in student loans to live. Having a side gig means I get to spend more money on coffee.”
“And plants?”
She grinned. “You know me already.”
His eyes seemed to darken with emotion as he leaned in and brushed a kiss between her eyes. Heart pattering, she cradled his jaw, running his thumb over the smooth skin. When he’d shaved this morning, she’d gotten a shock and the thrill of seeing her man all cleaned up.
He wore clean black cargo pants and a black T-shirt. The cotton stretched at the sleeves over his bulging biceps. Even the dips and swells of his abs were visible if he moved a certain way.
His phone dinged with a text, and he slowly straightened. “My ride’s early.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
Gathering her hand in his, he brought it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Heat slicked through her lower belly from the feel of his mouth on her skin. The smoldering look in his eyes made her stomach dip even lower.
“Don’t look at me like that, or I’ll take you back to bed.”
“Mmm. I love having a woman with a sexual appetite as big as mine,” he rumbled.
They walked to the front door. Already the little apartment felt empty without his big body taking up space.
He bent to pick up his bag already placed at the door. Then he curled his hand around her nape, drawing her against his chest. She smashed her cheek to his shirt and breathed in his scent. Would he come back to her? Things happened—she knew that firsthand from Ethan’s loss.
“I’ll come back, I promise,” River said as if reading her thoughts.
She nodded, rubbing her cheek against him.
“Do you want to meet the guys?”
“Not yet. We’ll save that for another time.”
He caught her gaze and smiled into her eyes. Then he planted a single kiss on her lips before opening the door and disappearing through it.
She didn’t watch him walk to the vehicle. She couldn’t bring herself to see him walking away from her.
Leaning heavily on the door, she let out a sigh. The apartment felt empty without River.
She couldn’t quite believe she’d arrived in Alaska, a place she’d never been interested in visiting. Now she had a place to live, food in the fridge and cupboards, and a new bed to share with her…boyfriend? What was River to her anyway?
This chapter in her life might be unplanned, but sometimes life rolled that way. And she was pretty excited to get started.
She fixed herself some lunch of red pepper hummus, baby carrots and pita brea
d. During their whirlwind run through the superstore, she’d loaded the cart with foods she normally ate, and River wrinkled his nose.
She found herself humming as she nibbled her food and scrolled through emails on her computer. After that, she turned her focus to the University of Alaska website and spent time looking up information about finishing her program here.
When she had a few more tasks finished, she glanced at the time. She’d promised to call her momma today. After hearing the tears in her voice yesterday during her call from the airport, she hadn’t exactly been excited to call her.
But her momma deserved to hear from her.
Her mother answered the call on the second ring. “Sascha! Did you make it?”
“Yes, I’m here in Anchorage.”
“Is it cold?”
She chuckled. “Colder than Texas. Look, yesterday I didn’t exactly explain my reasons for coming here.” She’d said nothing about River.
“I’m listening.”
Drawing a deep breath, she braced herself for more upsets about Ethan. Surely hearing River’s name would bring up so many hard memories for her Momma, who used to love having River over and took pride in heaping his plate full and delivering second helpings.
“I came with River Hepburn.”
Silence followed and stretched on.
“Momma?”
“River Hepburn! My goodness. I didn’t realize you were in touch with him.”
“We just crossed paths this week.” She pulled in another big breath, preparing herself for the next onslaught of emotions from her mom. Any mention of the military typically sent her into a tailspin, but she couldn’t leave out why Alaska was the destination of choice.
“He’s with a special forces unit in Alaska, Mom.”
“Oh.” Another heartbeat passed while Sascha counted down until the explosion of noisy tears.
“I’m glad to hear River’s doing well. And that you’ve reconnected.”
Sascha blinked at her empty surroundings. “Really?”
“Yes.” She chuckled.
She actually laughed.