Crushing on Love (The Bradens of Peaceful Harbor, Book Four)

by Melissa Foster

  “Grizz!” she yelled over the noise, and launched herself into his arms.

  He caught her and stumbled back, both of them laughing. “Now you’ve seen what the cabin will look like in the winter.”

  She squealed and pushed from his arms. Then she packed snow into the worst snowball ever and threw it at him, starting a battle of awful snowballs that fell apart like fairy dust. They laughed and ran around beneath the falling snow until they were out of breath, their skin pink from cold. He tackled her in the snow and spread her arms out wide. She was shaking, but not from the cold.

  He pressed his lips to hers. “My very own snow angel.”

  “You love me,” she said with a smile so big her cheeks hurt.

  “More than you know,” he said, and then he kissed her, melting the snow from her limbs. Just like that, the spark between them caught fire, and he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

  “Grizz!” She laughed as he turned off the snow machine and then slid her down his body and cradled her, kissing her as he carried her inside.

  He set her feet on the floor, and they stumbled into the living room in a tangle of limbs and crashing of teeth and tongues. Their clothes were drenched. Steve peeled her sweater off and tossed it aside, then fumbled with the tie on the back of her dress. Finally he gave up on the stubborn knot and tore the dress over her head. She’d purposely forgone underwear to remind him of their first night together. She was still wearing her boots, which made her feel naughty. He stepped back with a predatory gaze, drinking in her nakedness. His eyes moved slowly down her body, lingering on her breasts, and she felt her nipples rise in anticipation of his touch.

  “Grizz,” she said breathily.

  “Shh. I’m not rushing our last night together.”

  His words made her wanton and sad at once. Our last night together. His gaze slid lower, then lower still. She trembled with need and he hadn’t even touched her yet. He grabbed his collar with two hands and tore it open, sending the buttons pinging across the room, and dropped the black button-down to the floor.

  His abs flexed as she reached a shaky hand toward him. He caught her wrist and lowered it down to her side. Oh, how she loved when he took control.

  “I’ve been waiting to touch you all night.” He kissed her deeply, sensually.

  She watched as he unbuttoned and then excruciatingly slowly unzipped his jeans, exposing a hint of dark hair, his thick arousal outlined by the denim. She was so eager for him, her body felt electric. She’d watched him dancing with all those women, and all she could think about was getting back to the cabin and making love with him. Her insides quivered as he pushed his jeans over his hips, off his powerful thighs. He was a thing of beauty, a masterpiece.

  He pulled off his boots, stepped from his jeans, and slid a finger beneath her chin. One finger. A single touch—she felt a zing all the way down between her legs. He lifted her chin, bringing her eyes to his, and a sexy grin curved his perfect lips as he stepped closer. He gathered her against him with a heady grunt, one hand splayed across her back, the other sliding deliciously up and down her torso. His arousal grazed her belly, the hair on his legs tickled her thighs, and his hand slid over her hip and clutched her ass—hard.

  “I love you, Butterfly,” he said so softly she had to strain to hear it. His eyes were drenched in love, reflecting all of the emotions backing up inside her.

  She sucked in a breath when his fingers slid between her legs, teasing over her wet flesh.

  “I loved dancing with you,” he said, pushing his fingers inside her.

  She trapped her lower lip between her teeth as he moved in and out of her, treacherously slow.

  “I loved watching you dance in those sexy boots.” He pressed a kiss to the edge of her mouth. “Wanting you from afar.” He kissed the other side of her mouth, his fingers stroking over the magical spot inside her that made all her nerve endings flare to life. Her lip sprang free from her teeth, and a satisfied smile rose on his face.

  “The way you move your hips is like sex personified.” The hand on her ass moved between her cheeks, bringing her thigh tight against his, teasing her from behind.

  Her eyes fluttered closed, and he claimed her in a slow—oh, Lord, so slow—kiss. He moved his tongue at the same pace as his fingers thrusting inside her. Her thighs flexed; her hips bucked. She was almost there.

  “Open your eyes, baby,” he said gently. “Look at me.”

  Her eyes fluttered open, and his face was right there, his seductive eyes boring through her as he masterfully brought her to the edge of ecstasy. Her eyes closed again.

  “Open,” he said sharply, pressing his arousal firmly into her upper thigh.

  She fought to keep her eyes open, to hold his hungry gaze, as his finger pushed past the tight rim of muscles from behind, and the world careened away.

  “Open, baby,” he said gently but firmly. She opened her eyes, struggling to see through the lusty fog consuming her.

  “Come,” he said roughly, and pushed his finger deeper into her ass as his thumb pressed on her clit. A wave of heat and cold crashed over her, dragging her under. She was spinning into oblivion, clinging, panting, and pleading incoherently. He captured her cries in a loving kiss, invading her body everywhere. He slowed the kiss, making love to her mouth—and then she was in his arms and her boots fell to the floor with a clunk.

  He laid her on the bed and came down over her. “I need more of you.”

  “You’re a greedy boy. What if I need more of you?” She playfully pushed at his chest and he willingly flopped onto his back.

  “Take it, baby,” he said in a gravelly, lustful voice. “I’m all yours.”

  “I’ve wanted to taste you all night.” She kissed him, then turned, facing the foot of the bed, and licked the crown of his hard length, earning a guttural moan.

  He reached between her legs and she stilled, enjoying the slow sweep of his fingers. Our last night together. She forced her mind into submission.

  “I want to please you,” she said brazenly. “Then I want you to make love to me roughly, so I feel you long after I leave.”

  His hips pistoned up with her dirty talk, and he pushed his fingers inside her again. “Love me, baby, and I promise I will love you until you feel me in your sleep.”

  She lowered her mouth, taking all of him in, and he shifted them both onto their sides, driving deeper, hitting the back of her throat.

  “That’s it, baby. Love me like you never want to stop.” He gripped her hips, and then his mouth was on her, his tongue thrusting into her sex.

  “Ohgod.” Her eyes closed. “Grizz.”

  He rocked his hips, and she loved him with her hand and mouth as he ate at her throbbing sex. He shifted and rolled onto his back, bringing her up onto all fours over him. She took him in deep, sucking and stroking as he made sweet love between her legs with his glorious mouth. Then his mouth moved back to her other hole, and she groaned. He licked her there, then pushed his finger in deep, bringing his mouth back to her sex. Within seconds she was coming on his mouth as his finger invaded her. She felt him swell in her hands, stroked him faster. His thighs and abs flexed, and his hands stilled as the first salty jet shot down her throat. He groaned, bringing his mouth to her sex again, as she loved him through the last pulse of his release.

  He gathered her against him and wiped her lower lip with his thumb, then dragged his forearm over his mouth before taking her in a mind-numbing kiss. They kissed for what seemed like hours, though she had no grasp on reality. Her thoughts were frayed, her body was exhausted, and still, deep inside her core, she craved more of him. He pressed her into the mattress with his body, kissing her fast and hard, then feathery light and sweet.

  “I love you so damn much,” he whispered into her ear.

  She wrapped her legs around his hips as he entered her, and he kissed her again. His mouth was hard, but his lips were soft and warm. It was a kiss of possession, their emotion
s driving them up to a frantic pace. Each taking and giving in equal measure, staking claim. He loved her into the wee hours of the morning, and then they made love again until they were both sated and too tired to move.

  And as she drifted off to sleep, she prayed a miracle would happen and tomorrow she’d wake up and find they’d gone back in time and had another few weeks together…

  Chapter Nineteen

  THE NEXT MORNING Steve awoke alone and bolted upright. It’s too soon. He shook his head to wake himself up and jumped from the bed.

  “Shan,” he called out as he threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt.

  The cabin was too quiet. This was what it would be like after she left. An icy shiver slithered down his spine. He gritted his teeth against it and opened the back door.

  Shannon was sitting on the steps wrapped in a blanket. An empty Pop-Tart package was on the porch to her right. She looked adorable wearing one of his sweatshirts. It was so big it hung over her hands, between which she clutched a steaming mug of coffee. He smiled as he sat beside her and drew the blanket around both of them to ward off the chilly morning air.

  She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

  “You okay, baby?”

  She had on the pair of flannel pajama pants she planned on leaving at the cabin and her hiking boots, with no laces, since she’d left them for him. He caught a glimpse of bare skin and remembered the first morning after she’d come back to Colorado and how he’d known even then he wouldn’t be able to resist her.

  “Mm-hm. I just wanted to watch the sunrise.”

  “You should have woken me.” He kissed her temple.

  “We were up so late. I was just thinking about how different it’s going to be at home. Waking up to the smell of the ocean instead of the crisp mountain air. Everything at home is a two-minute drive or walk from my apartment. It’s going to be weird to go back to it.”

  “It’s home. It’ll feel good.” The statement sounded supportive despite the fact that he felt like her home was here now, with him. But he was determined not to say or do anything that would put pressure on her.

  “I guess, but I’m not so sure anymore.” She sipped her coffee. “I love the way the mountains come slowly to life in the morning. At home everything comes alive at once. Cars, people, noise. I knew I was going to miss you, but this morning, as I was lying in bed, I realized I’m going to miss all of this, too.”

  She’d fallen in love with the area, just as he had. He held her close, trying to stave off the ever-present plea for her to stay, which had been on the tip of his tongue for days. “I know, baby.”

  “I feel like I’ve finally figured out who I am and what I like.” She turned and faced him with warm, loving eyes. “Who I love,” she said. “Part of the reason I came outside was that I knew if we made love again this morning, I wouldn’t want to leave your bed.”

  His chest constricted. He wished she’d stayed in bed. “Our bed, baby.”

  “Our bed,” she whispered.

  “I’m going to miss watching the foxes. I want to see them grow up.”

  “I’ll text you pictures while you’re gone,” he said, feeling the ache of the three lonely weeks ahead of him.

  She lifted her head from his shoulder. “Thank you. Can you keep me up to date on Jo and Cutter, too? They danced a lot last night. I wonder if that will go anywhere. And why isn’t Cal with Rachel? What’s going on there?”

  He smiled. That was his girl, thinking about so many different things at once.

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure you’ll keep in touch with them and figure it out.”

  She fell quiet for a long while, and as the sun began to rise, she said, “You know I love you, right?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “And you know I’m only going back because I have to? I can’t just give up everything, and…”

  Her words faded, reality hanging in the silence between them. She was leaving in a few hours, and in the end, it was her decision.

  LATER THAT AFTERNOON they met Shannon’s family at the Weston airport to wait for their flight. Thank God they didn’t have to go to the Denver airport. The Weston airport had only one gate, and Steve was able to wait with Shannon until her flight was boarded. Everyone was clearly trying to appear as if they were in good spirits, but sadness hung like a cloud over the entire group. Steve and Shannon had spent the last few hours vacillating between promising to be there for each other regardless of the miles between them and staring silently into space, each lost in their own thoughts. Now, as their time together ticked down to minutes rather than hours, each passing second felt like a noose tightening around Shannon’s neck. She looked at Steve, talking with her parents, Cole, and Leesa. Steve was wringing his hands, his eyes hooded. He met her gaze, and the love in his eyes, the distance between them, it was all too much. She needed to be in his arms.

  “Shannon said you’re coming out to visit in seven or eight weeks,” her father said to him.

  “Yes, sir. That’s our plan.”

  Our plan sucks. “Excuse us, Dad, but they’re going to call our flight soon. Do you mind if I steal Steve for a few minutes?”

  “No, sweetheart, not at all.” Ace pulled Steve into an embrace. “We look forward to seeing you soon.”

  “Thank you. I do as well.”

  “Okay, now he’s mine.” Shannon dragged him over by a bank of windows, and the minute his arms circled her, she finally felt like the vise in her chest eased.

  “I’ve been dying to hold you,” he confessed. “But I didn’t want to take you away from your family.”

  “The only one I want to be near is you.” She pressed her hands to his chest, reveling in his strong, steady heartbeat.

  He gazed into her eyes, and sadness overcame her. She touched her forehead to his chest as tears slid down her cheeks.

  “I would move to Peaceful Harbor if I could find work.”

  “I know you would.”

  He slid a hand to the nape of her neck and whispered, “Don’t go.”

  She held her breath. He’d asked her to stay so many times, but he’d stopped asking recently. She lifted her eyes, feeling her heart shred anew. “We have now. We agreed to that. I have my—”

  “Your apartment, your job, your friends. I know.” He ground his teeth together. “Goddamn it, Shan. I would go if I could. Please stay. You can get a job here doing any number of things. Stay with me. We’ll go back and get your stuff.”

  “We…” We what? Agreed? Agreed not to fall in love?

  He drew in a deep breath and pressed his hands to her cheeks. She loved that. That possessive, look-at-me-I-love-you hold.

  “What if now’s not enough?” he asked. “What if I want tomorrow, next week, forever?”

  She was shaking all over. Tears flooded her eyes. “Steve, we agreed…”

  Shannon’s flight number rang out over the loudspeaker. They were boarding the plane.

  “Shan, we promised these weeks together would be enough. We agreed. I know. I get it. I’m sorry. But we’re humans. Fatally flawed. Remember? We made an error, but it’s fixable. We need more. I need more.”

  “Shan, honey.” Her mother waved her over to the line, which was moving way too fast. What ever happened to airports dragging ass? Everyone was there, watching them. Waiting for her. Sam tapped his watch and mimed a kiss. Faith grabbed his face and kissed him. For three weeks, Shannon wouldn’t be able to kiss Steve like that.

  “Damn it. I’m sorry, baby. I promised I wouldn’t pressure you.”

  She couldn’t process her thoughts. They were clouded, and her family was waving her over, shouting her name, getting in line to board the plane.

  He pulled her against him, holding her so tight she could barely breathe again. Maybe that was because of how conflicted she was; she couldn’t be sure.

  The announcement rang out again, and she clung to Steve, afraid to let go and equally afraid not to.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I just can�
��t imagine a day without you.” He took her by the shoulders and put a few inches between them. She wanted to climb beneath his skin and stay there.

  “I shouldn’t have pressured you. You’re right. We’ll be fine. Three weeks isn’t the end of the world.”

  Now she wasn’t so sure.

  “Shannon!” Sam hollered, waving her over. The rest of her family had already disappeared down the Jetway.

  This was it. This was really it.

  How can this be it?

  “Kiss me goodbye, baby.”

  Grizz. She couldn’t speak. Her voice was lodged beneath her heart, which had clogged her throat. Gripping his chest, she went up on her toes, and he met her halfway in a toe-curling kiss that tasted salty from her tears.

  “I love you, baby.” He guided her toward the Jetway. “Call me when you get in so I know you’ve arrived safely.” He hugged her again, speaking into her ear. “You’ve changed my world, Butterfly. I don’t know how I existed without you for so long, and I’ll count down the minutes until you’re in my arms again.”

  And then she was in the line, following strangers through the narrow Jetway.

  “There you are.” Tempest was pressed up against the side of the Jetway, waiting for her. “Are you okay?”

  No. Did she say it? She looked over her shoulder, staring into a sea of people. “I can’t,” she said. Her feet stopped moving. People bumped into her, pushing her farther away from Steve.

  “What?” Tempest asked. “Did you forget something?”

  She spun around and pushed through the crowd. “Grizz!” she yelled. “Grizz!”

  “Shannon!” Tempest called after her.

  She kept going, bumping into shoulders, saying sorry as she pushed between families and couples. She saw the entrance to the Jetway. “Sorry. Sorry. Sorry,” she said, pushing through. Her heart thundered against her ribs as she ran out of the narrow tunnel.

  “Grizz!” she hollered, scanning the waiting area. Her stomach plummeted.