“And where is that?”
He stepped towards me like he couldn’t stay away any longer, nuzzling into my neck. He replied, “I can’t give you all the surprises now.”
“Why not?” I moaned. The feel of him, large and hard, pressed against my back reignited the need that had been temporarily paused to open his presents.
He smiled against my neck. “Just keep opening, gorgeous.”
My hands followed his instruction, reaching for the second package and popping off the top. My mouth fell open at the dress inside.
Yeah, it was a dress.
But, holding it up, it was a lot more than that. Deep purple. Short. Long sleeves with a dangerous V in the front. Ally would cringe at my description, but I wasn’t good at that stuff. All I knew was that I could appreciate sexy… and classy… at the same time. And if I was going to wear a dress, it would be this one. All tight and bandage-y. Since my curves were minimal, I liked wearing anything that looked like it was painted on. When Wyatt was around.
I just… liked to drive my man crazy. And he more than returned the favor.
“Don’t you think I’m going to be cold in this?” I said, biting back a grin.
“I was hoping,” he chuckled, “because that means I get to warm you up.”
We both knew I preferred kissing to clothes when it came to staying warm.
“One more,” he rasped, his hand sliding up to cup my bare breast.
Screw the present.
My back arched into his hand and with a growl, his finger plucked at my nipple.
“Open the last one, baby,” he bit into my neck.
“You’re making me not want to,” I whimpered, rubbing my legs together. I gasped, practically shooting out of my skin, when his hand reached between them and firmly cupped my sex. “You’re making me… not able… to.”
His groan overshadowed mine as he rubbed over my slit. Heat and moisture soaking into my panties, they began to slip between my folds and rub right over my clit.
“Open. It. Now.”
Open it, close it—at this point, I’d eat the damn thing if it meant he didn’t stop the agonizing circle his fingers made.
Shaky hands peeled the lid off of the last box. I tore some of the delicate tissue paper in my unsteady rush to see what was inside.
If the dress was sexy, well… the lingerie in the last box was like a classy porno waiting to happen.
A black lace bodysuit. Sleeveless. The top reminiscent of a corset since it laced up the back and had a low V between the cups that matched the dress. The sides would ride up high on my thighs. But the lace… it was the softest thing I’d ever felt. Softer than snow. And it felt like it could melt just as easily underneath my fingertip.
Fragile. Feminine. Beautiful.
It was everything that I love to wear underneath my clothes. And Wyatt knew that. He knew beneath the short hair and lack of fashion-sense, the love of snowboarding and self-professed preference that I’d rather just hang with the guys than go shopping with the girls… was a girl who loved to feel like the sexiest woman on the planet in private. And to him, I was.
My suitcase was filled with matching, colorful lingerie that he’d bought for me during our trip. It almost outnumbered the snow gear I’d packed, which was saying something.
“Are you trying to turn me into a good girl?” I teased softly, eyeing up the beautiful things that he’d chosen.
It was the way he picked these things out, knowing they’d be just for him, that made my body ache.
I shivered when his lips pressed to the side of my neck again, planting kisses up along to my ear. I couldn’t stop my hips as they rolled back against his hard length. His hand froze and I whimpered, the pressure that had been building halted suddenly. Painfully.
“Don’t worry, gorgeous, I’ll still fuck you like a bad girl.”
Oh, God… “Wyatt…” I moaned.
“How much did you miss me?” He bit into my shoulder. Hard. But his fingers resumed their flicks over my clit. I couldn’t even mumble an answer before he growled, “Can I see just how much that pretty pussy of yours missed me all day?”
“Please.” I rocked back against him and he let out a low curse.
Shifting his hands to my waist, he tipped me forward, my arms darting out to prop on the edge of the bed. I felt his absence as he stepped back and the gentle chill of the air as he slid his shirt up higher on my back, exposing my blue-panty-covered ass to his view.
A deft hook of his fingers under the lace edge had them down around my ankles, my core bared.
“So beautiful, Channing,” he rasped.
More desire squeezed out of me. I’d never get tired of hearing those words from him.
“Spread your legs.” Goosebumps ran over every inch of me as I stepped out of my underwear and stepped my feet to each side, spreading my legs apart. “Fuck. You did miss me, gorgeous.”
“Did I?” I barely found the strength to ask.
“Your pussy is soaking for me. All pink. With the tiniest bit of red at the center. Like a rose.” Desire dripped down onto the floor. Peeking over my shoulder was a mistake because the look on his face was complete and utter intent to devour me. “God, I just want to eat you, but I don’t think my dick will survive if I do that right now,” he laughed harshly.
My neck cramped but I couldn’t look away as he undid his pants, shoving them down to pull out his long, thick cock. I could see the vein in it pulsing right up to the purple, swollen tip that glistened slightly with how much he needed release.
“Wyatt…” I cried, my arms shaking underneath me. “I need you inside of me.”
I heard the rustle of the condom wrapper tearing and my sex clenched in relieved anticipation, leaking more of my cum onto the floor.
His palm grazed over my ass before planting firmly on my back and my feet shifted in their spot, wondering why he wasn’t inside me already.
“Maybe just one taste…”
Then I felt it—his tongue pressing flat against my clit and sliding slowly up the length of my slit, licking every drop of my desire along with it. My lungs gasped for air like my desire was holding them hostage under water—the rest of my body fully content to drown.
“I just need you, gorgeous.” He pressed a soft kiss against the small of my back. “Always.”
This. Every moment with Wyatt was this—the kind of unbelievable reality that said I could fall off a mountain tomorrow or explode into a million pieces right now, but I would die happy.
His mouth disappeared a second before the blunt head of his cock pressed against my slick entrance and he drove inside me. I was up on my tip-toes, the way he held my hips so that he could plunge in deeper and touch the most private part of me—the one that only belonged to him.
I cried his name over and over again as he thrust into me with long and steady strokes. We both wanted release, but this moment where we were both joined and needed each other beyond words was something that we both found we loved to prolong.
One hand trailed around to my front as he stilled his movements inside me.
Wyatt loved to do this, too. Even when he was shaking with the need to orgasm, he loved to draw out every last drop of pleasure that he could from my body. Only then would he let himself go.
Tears began to leak down my face when his fingers found my swollen clit, sliding easily back-and-forth over the tiny bud, sending fireworks out through my body that made my pussy explode around his cock, quaking with the desperate attempt to climax.
“Wy…” I couldn’t breathe. I shook underneath his hand and around him as my body raced towards where he was leading me.
He felt me coming apart. He felt the first strands of my body beginning to disintegrate and that’s when he began to move. Slamming inside of me, he hit my sweet, secret spot with the head of his dick over and over as he flicked over my clit relentlessly.
I screamed his name as I shattered.
I always screamed his name.
When I recovered from this, I’d have to check the lake outside and make sure my scream hadn’t cracked right through the ice.
Seconds later I felt him tense and jerk against me with a roar as his orgasm broke through him. His cock pulsed, spreading the muscles inside me even wider as he came.
We flew. Up in the air. Together. And we held onto each other as we came back down.
He slipped out and my muscles contracted against the empty space in protest. Without him, I slowly became aware of the rest of my body and the way my arms were tingling from supporting my weight against his thrusts for so long. But before I could do anything about it, Wyatt did.
Pulling me up, he held me tight against his chest, his erection softening between us.
“I love you so damn much, Channing.”
I tilted my head up to his. “I love you, too, handsome.” The smile he gave me took the rest of my strength from my legs. “And I like when you miss me,” I said with a shy smile.
He chuckled, dropping a swift kiss on my lips. “I do, too… too much.”
“What do you mean?” My brow furrowed as he walked into the bathroom to throw away the condom he’d filled. I picked up my underwear and, realizing that they were not salvageable, tossed them in the dirty laundry bag before following him in.
“Just that I come home to you—in my shirt—where I can see exactly what dick-throbbing underwear concoction you are wearing right through it.”
“And that’s a problem.”
“Never,” he growled. “But next time I need to make note of what I want to talk to you about before I lose my fucking mind over you.”
I bit down on my lip, but the smile still took over my entire face.
He handed me a warm washcloth and I quickly wiped myself down.
“So then, before I distract you again, what did you want to talk to me about?”
He looked up at me through hooded lids, giving me a tight smile which told me that whatever it was wasn’t nearly as feel-good as what just happened between us.
“You should get dressed first, baby,” he said softly, cupping my cheek and nodding back to the bedroom where my fancy gifts now lay in a crumpled pile on the bed. “I don’t want us to be late for dinner.”
“That was… the most amazing steak I think I’ve ever had,” I gushed, staring down at the empty plate that I was about to lick clean if someone didn’t take it away from me.
My gaze rose to lock into the tense, brooding gaze of my delicious date. If I had thought that the dress he had bought me was sexy, it was nothing compared to this man in the navy suit he had on.
But I did have that smoking onesie on underneath, so it looked like I was going to come out on top. Hopefully.
“W-was your meal ok?” I asked, reaching for my almost-empty glass of red wine. Not something I usually would order, but when Wyatt told me to try it with the steak, I couldn’t say no. And I’m glad I didn’t. The way the flavors mingled in my mouth was like nothing I’d ever tasted before.
Perfect. Just like him.
Wyatt had taken us to the most expensive restaurant in the resort for dinner. More lakeside views along with unbelievable food. I hoped his meal was as good as mine.
“My meal was fine.” He wiped the tight line of his mouth with his napkin. “It was your meal that killed me.” My brow scrunched together as I continued to stare. “You moaned with every. Single. Bite. And you have no idea what that did to me, gorgeous, but if I stand up right now, you might have an idea.”
My knee jerked up, hitting the underside of the table, as I attempted to cross my legs as my sex clenched with need.
“Well… then I guess we’ll just have to get dessert,” I said with a teasing smile.
“Oh, I’ll have dessert later,” he said with a low growl, reaching across the table and grabbing my hand. He pulled my palm to his mouth and placed an open-mouthed kiss in the center, not releasing my gaze the entire time. “But you can order something now, if you want.”
My mouth opened and shut, unable to make a sound over the lump of pure need that balled inside of it.
“She’ll have the chocolate lava cake,” Wyatt’s deep voice spoke to our waiter; even though his accent was everywhere, no one’s words came out quite like his.
I rubbed my thighs together again, pulling my dress down like it could stop my desire from leaking out.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about earlier?” I said hoarsely, trying to focus on anything to distract me until we were alone again.
His intense stare flicked to his watch before he tapped on the table like he wasn’t sure he wanted to ruin the night with.
“Wyatt…” The thread of worry that entered my voice was unstoppable.
“Your brother. He hasn’t been answering my calls.”
The mountain may have broken his knee, but I was going to break his head if he was really going to be stupid about this.
“What do you mean?”
The waitress set a giant mound of melting chocolate in front of me and the smell of the sugar alone almost sent me on a high.
“I thought maybe if I kept him up-to-date during this whole,” he waved his hands around indicating our trip that was partially business and partially not, “that he would be more willing to take the job… if he felt like he was a part of it all and not just some hire out of guilt.”
I dug my fork in. “He’s going to think that no matter what.”
“I… ahh… spoke to Ally earlier, too.” He cleared his throat before stealing a bite of my dessert with a playful grin. “Trying to get ahold of him.”
“What did she say?” I asked with a mouthful.
You could dress me up, but you couldn’t take me out.
“That he was still at Nick’s. That she hadn’t spoken to him or seen him much lately. We didn’t talk for long; she was on her way to go shopping with Jess… Jessie…”
My fork clattered to the plate. “Jessa?”
“Yeah, that’s it.” His brow scrunched together. “Why?”
Oh, God.
“I forgot… I mean, I knew… I knew she moved back, but it slipped my mind. And with Chance gone it didn’t even matter. But he’s back now. And no one told him. No one warned him.”
“Woah, slow down, babe.” He grabbed my hand and cupped it between his. “What are you talking about?”
“Jessa… she’s one of Ally’s best friends now. But she used to be Chance’s girlfriend back in high school.”
He still stared, perplexed. “I’m sorry. I don’t get it. They used to date? And that’s a problem?”
“It is when it didn’t end on good terms.” I sighed. “It is when she cheated on him with Nick.”
He couldn’t have looked more surprised than if I’d thrown the chocolate cake in his face.
“And now she lives in the same town.” He spoke as he put the pieces together. “Uncomfortable. I get it. So why not take the job to at least keep yourself busy?” He shrugged.
He didn’t get it. But I loved him for trying.
There were things I would never understand about my brother. There were things that I didn’t think even God understood about Chance Ryder. But the connection between my brother and me made me feel certain things—things that he felt so strongly about but would never admit to.
Like when he’d left. I felt his safety just as surely as I felt his need for isolation.
I hadn’t been happy about it. The twin-thing wasn’t selective on the emotions that it passed along.
But more than the bitter solitude. Heck, more than anything else I’d felt from him, his feelings for Jessa felt like my own heart was ripping in two. Pulled between love and hate. Between hurt and hope.
And what happens when you pull a string too tight?
It snaps.
She was more than the mountain to him. And that’s why her being back would not only rub salt in the wound of his career-ending injury, but it would remind him that, in addition to losing the one thing tha
t he loved, he also lost the only person he’d ever loved.
Chance never lost.
That’s why they called him ‘Pride’.
It was all he had left and I was afraid that he would burn down anything and anyone to keep from losing that, too.
“Alright, so he doesn’t like her.” Wyatt brought me back to the moment.
More than anything, I wished for my brother what I had.
“I wish… I wish that were it,” I said slowly. “He doesn’t like her, but that’s not the problem.” I paused, hearing Wyatt’s phone begin to buzz in his pocket. “The problem is that he loves her.”
Our eyes remained unbroken for a second, letting the gravity of what I said soak in. But then his phone began vibrating again. He pulled it out with a muffled curse and I could see his indecision written all over his face.
“It’s Chance.” Speak of the devil.
I nodded to him to answer it. My brother was in a dark place right now and even though he wasn’t reaching out to me, at least he was reaching out to someone.
“Don’t go anywhere, gorgeous,” he said as he stood, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I have one more surprise for you yet.”
Wyatt
“Hello?”
“You’ve been blowing up my phone, Canada. My sister better be ok,” Chance’s irritated voice rasped on the other end of the line.
I hated that he called during our dinner. If it was any other person and any other call, I would have fucking ignored it. But it wasn’t.
It was her brother. And he was returning my call from earlier—a call that really had nothing to do with business.
I sat at the jewelers, staring at the giant diamond that sparkled back in my face. I bought it back in Montreal, but I wanted it cleaned again before I gave it to her. I’d already asked her father. I called him the day before we left for Canada and told him that his daughter was my world and asked for his blessing to let me keep her forever. But even after that, I still felt like it wasn’t enough. Her siblings were such a huge part of her life; I couldn’t ask her without asking them, too. Or in Chance’s case, maybe just telling him.
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