by Tessa Layne
Shame sucked the air from her lungs. Sterling’s friend had died in his arms? How could he get through a day carrying that kind of a burden? She couldn’t comprehend the weight of that. Sure, she’d lost both her parents, and at least where her mother had been concerned, the grief had been overwhelming. But having a friend die in her arms? Like Luci? Or one of her sisters-in-law? She’d be wrecked.
She snuck a glance at Sterling, awe filling her. Pain pulled his face taut, and his eyes were lost in a far-off memory. “Sterling?”
He pulled her into a tight embrace, tucking her under his chin. She squeezed back, just as hard. Time slowed. It could have been ten minutes or an hour that they stayed that way. All she knew was that she was grateful for the way Sterling’s heart pounded steady and strong beneath her ear.
“I’m sorry. I never should have said that.”
His hand went to her head, fingers digging into her hair, rubbing in concentric circles. “It’s okay. I overreacted.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s not. My first response is to always get defensive around you.”
“Emma, you don’t have to–”
“No. I do. You always had to point out that you were better than me. Cleverer, smarter. More successful. Never interested in what I had to say. And I, and I… wanted so badly to show you otherwise. Sometimes I forget it’s not like that anymore.”
He tightened his embrace. “Hush. I was a prick at seventeen. Cocky and full of myself.” He leaned back to tilt her chin up. Her insides turned upside down when she met his intense gaze. “And I may have had a crush on you,” he said gruffly.
Her chest tightened. “But you, but you… I don’t understand.”
He tsked, shaking his head. “I thought we went over this a few weeks ago. My opinion hasn’t changed. On both counts.”
Her heart galloped as she stared into his gray eyes. It would be so easy to kiss him. She only had to stand on tiptoe. Heat flooded her, rushing through her body like a wildfire to settle in her clit which throbbed insistently. She let out a shaky breath. She would just have to ignore the tap dancing in her stomach, the tightening of her nipples, the longing to have him stroke her to the point she forgot her name.
He abruptly stepped back, running a hand through his close-cropped hair. “So, tell me about the symphony?”
She fought a wave of disappointment. “Every year the Kansas City Symphony plays a concert at different ranches in the Flint Hills. It’s a huge event. But they also have way more than hay bales. There are VIP tickets for seating and dining, and families bring picnics. It’s too late for this year, but I think any number of the ranches around Prairie would be excellent candidates. They typically have five to seven thousand attendees.”
Sterling let out a low whistle.
“It’s rustic, but dignified. More Jane Austin than Buffalo Bill.”
“Okay, I could get behind that.” He crossed his arms. “But I still want a poker tournament.”
“Enough with the poker tournament, already. Is there anything else you and your buddies are passionate about?”
“Easy. Army-Navy game.”
An idea popped into her head. “That’s it.” She clapped her hands. “That’s what pulls the pieces together. We need to play up the Army-Navy rivalry. Travis and Cash are former SEALs, right?”
He nodded.
“You and Cassie are Army. What if we host an Army-Navy contest? Place your money on your favorite branch, and the winner can be announced at the concert. We can have two tiers of raffles, people who bet on the winning branch are eligible for the grand prize raffle. But there are still good prizes for the losing branch. Everybody wins.”
“You’re brilliant.” Sterling caught her up and swung her around, narrowly missing the couch. “I love it!” he laughed. The sound slithered through her lighting her senses. Sterling let her down slowly but didn’t let her go. Her heart beat erratically as she met his molten gaze. It sizzled her blood.
She licked her lips and dragged her eyes away. “We need to set up an Army-Navy game.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own. It was a breathless, huskier version of herself. “I have an old boyfriend who plays first base for the Kansas City Kings. I can contact him about an exhibition game. Early April is just before the regular season. They may be able to squeeze us in. It would be huge visibility for the ranch.”
“No” He shook his head, mouth turning down. “No way.” Sterling’s voice was hard. Emphatic. And brooked no argument.
“Why not? We could fill the bleachers at the high school and then some. Raffle away that Mustang your friend promised.”
He grunted noncommittally. “Why not get the football team?”
“I don’t have connections on the football team.”
“Find some,” he growled.
“Why are you sticking your heels in the ground? This is a great idea.”
“Not if you’re running around with your ex, it’s not,” he bit out.
“What?” She laughed incredulously. “Are you serious?”
One look at the tight set of his jaw said he was. “Are you jealous?”
A muscle over his jaw ticked.
“Ohmygod you are.” It was so shocking it was funny. Sterling jealous of her? She shook with laughter. Laughed until her sides cramped and her face hurt from grinning.
“It’s not that funny,” he grumbled.
She wiped an eye, still laughing. “I promise you. You have nothing to be jealous of.”
He captured her hand, pulling her close, and cupped her cheeks. “Yes, I do. You’re brilliant. And funny, and beautiful. And I’ve thought about nothing else for the last two weeks than kissing you again.”
She forgot to breathe.
Heat smoldered in his eyes, and when he spoke his voice came out in a rasp. “I know you’ve always felt the chemistry between us.”
She couldn’t deny it. Sterling made her want… things. Hot sweaty dirty-talking naked bodies tangled on the floor things. Her blood sizzled every time he touched her. “I’m just a challenge to you,” she whispered, heart racing. “Another conquest.”
“I would never play you Emma.”
The conviction in his voice surprised her. Weakened her resolve as her heart kicked harder.
“Just give me tonight. One night between two adults who know and like each other.”
Something in his voice cut through her defenses. She flicked a glance at him. Her mouth turned to sawdust and her pussy went slick with desire as she recognized the need in his eyes that mirrored her own. All she could hear was their rapid breathing and her pulse pounding in her ears.
“I…” Her voice died as he kissed her temple. Then her ear, nuzzling down her neck, setting off countless nerve endings. Making her dizzy with desire. “Is this a good idea?”
“We don’t have to make this complicated. Just two friends enjoying each other.”
“Everything about this is complicated.”
He raised his head to study her. “Or tell me to leave and go home, and I’ll never bring it up again.”
Her heart stopped in her throat. If she sent him home, she’d always wonder what it would be like with him. She was tired of wondering, tired of walking around in a state of constant agitation. If Sterling was offering to scratch her itch… why say no? How many nights had she lain awake fantasizing about this very thing? She fisted his shirt and raised on tiptoe pulling him close. “I want you Sterling… stay.”
CHAPTER 13
A four-letter word had never sounded so beautiful, and he readily bent his head to hers when she tugged. How long had he waited? How many times had he dreamed? And here she was, in the flesh, pulling him into a kiss. “I swear I’ll make it good for you,” he murmured against her mouth. He could devour her, but he was going to savor every second. Every sigh, every caress. He’d waited too damned long.
But she had other things in mind. Her hands dropped to his belt buckle, and in no time, she tugged his belt through the loops, tossing
it to the floor. She yanked his shirt out, sliding a hand across his skin, lighting a fire that wouldn’t burn out until he’d buried himself balls deep inside her.
“I want you right here, Sterling.”
The blood rushed to his cock, filling him with a primal desire to possess her, claim her. He captured her mouth, tongue licking into her sweet recesses with a fierceness that surprised him. She groaned into his mouth, and fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. “Yes. I want you inside me.”
He slipped his hands underneath the waistband of her leggings to discover nothing but a tiny scrap of material skimming the valley between her luscious cheeks. “So beautiful,” he muttered before taking her mouth again and squeezing her soft flesh.
She moaned into his mouth and pressed her hips against the bulge in his pants, notching herself against his erection, moving against him. Her hands were everywhere under his shirt, squeezing and pressing. Christ, it was like he’d lit gunpowder. “Yes, just like that,” she whispered as he tugged on her waistband and slipped fingers under the whisper of lace separating him from her pussy. She arched into him as he cupped her mound, a finger sliding along her slick seam. “Yes. Feel how wet you make me?”
Fuck.
Her words fired his blood. Who knew that sweet Emma Sinclaire had a dirty mouth? She tipped her head back, eyes glittering with lust. Something deep inside him unraveled. “Take off your sweater. I want to see your magnificent tits,” he rumbled.
Giving him a slow smile, she complied, whipping her sweater over her head, then paused, hand behind her back. She arched a brow. “Tell me, what are you going to do once you see them?”
He gave her mound a squeeze, blood pounding at the way she arched into his hand. His cock was so hard it hurt. “First, I’m going to admire them. Then I’m going to lick them, and suck your nipples until you can’t take it anymore.”
Her eyes glazed.
“Then, I’m going to lay you down and taste every inch of you. And then, if you’re a good girl–” He winked.
Her mouth dropped open and her tongue swept her lower lip.
“I’m going to put my cock in you and split you like a goddamned peach.”
“Yes. Do it,” she hissed out, bra falling away to expose pale full breasts.
They were gorgeous, but his attention fixed on the dusky pink peaks, puckered into hard points, teasing him. Calling to him. “God, you’re perfect,” he groaned, lifting a hand to cup her fullness, skimming a thumb over the tight tip.
She shoved down her leggings wriggling her hips, and he paused to help her, snapping her lacy undergarment in two as he pulled. He wanted all of her laid bare before him. He walked her back until her legs bumped against the red velvet sofa. Gently he pushed her down, falling to his knees at her side, ready to feast. He raked his eyes over her form. She looked like one of those magnificent nudes in a painting, golden hair splayed behind her, curves pink and luscious waiting for the pleasure of his mouth.
He bent, taking a darkened nipple into his mouth, sliding his tongue over the tip, and again when she hissed out a breath, her hand coming to pinch the other one. He brushed her hand away, taking over, rolling the point and gently tugging. Her eyes fluttered shut. “Oh yes, just like that.”
“Tell me how you like it.” He wanted to explore every curve, every dip and crevice.
“I want your mouth on me,” she whispered harshly between shallow breaths.
He tongued a path through the valley between her heavy full breasts, teasing the underside and tasting her skin in concentric circles until she whimpered, arching into him. “Sterling,” she moaned.
He loved the way she said his name. Need and pleading wrapped in a husky sound that shivered down his spine tightening his balls. Her voice drove him wild. And her words. Her fucking mouth took him to the edge of his self-control. And still, he wanted more. “I’m going to need you to be more specific,” he muttered into her skin, tongue sliding over her taut peak.
“Suck it,” she uttered, a wild edge to her voice.
“Like this?” He sucked gently, scraping his teeth over the most sensitive part.
She arched off the couch, clutching his head to her. “Yes.”
“And how about this?” He skimmed a hand over the curve at her hip and down to her slick pussy, sliding a finger through her desire to circle her swollen clit.
She sighed audibly, hips arching to meet his hand. Crying out as tongue and finger swirled simultaneously.
“That’s it, baby,” he said tightly. His cock ached with need for her. “Ride my hand. Let me pleasure you. You’re so fucking beautiful like this.” He sought her entrance, coating first one finger then another in her wet heat.
She writhed beneath him, raking her fingers across his scalp. He mapped her skin with his mouth down her ribs, sucking and tasting, loving the heady scent of her. Nipping the skin, then tonguing the mark. Across the soft swell of her belly to where a light thatch of golden curls covered her skin.
“Open your legs, baby. I want to see your beautiful pussy.”
With a moan, she opened and he drew his hand down her thigh, pressing her wider. If he’d been a teenager, he might have come in his pants at the sight of her glistening pink pussy, swollen and waiting for his touch. His breath hitched as he lifted his gaze and met her eyes, dark and glazed with lust. “You are without a doubt, the most dazzlingly beautiful woman I have ever known.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she whispered, a light flaring in her eyes.
“Never,” he uttered hoarsely, giving into the sudden urge to bare himself. “Only you, Emma. There was only ever you.”
Her eyes grew wide as she processed his admission. “I don’t believe you.”
“I’ve never wanted anyone the way I wanted you, Em. Never.” A crease formed between her eyebrows and she bit down on her lip. He stroked her thighs, bending over her. “You don’t have to believe me. I’ll show you.” He pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh, inhaling. Her scent intoxicated him. Set his blood on fire. He shifted, bending to taste her sweetness.
She arched her hips to meet his mouth as he tasted again. Her desire flowed over his tongue, balm for his soul. A homecoming. Diving deeper, he lapped her up, exploring every hidden recess, at last sealing his mouth over her clit, making love to the most sacred part of her. Her body went rigid and she cried out loudly. “Oh yes, that’s so good. I fucking love that.”
Her words spurred him on and he continued sliding his tongue through her wetness, dipping in deeper for a taste, then gliding around her clit, pouring all he had into her pleasure until she shattered against his mouth with a shriek and a peal of laughter.
“Oh Jesus,” she gasped between heaving breaths, a goofy grin lighting her face.
“Jesus had nothing to do with that, darlin’.”
She giggled and he kissed her belly, continuing to stroke her legs, her hips, the soft underside of her breasts.
“I hope you’re not through,” she uttered hesitantly. “That was… amazing.”
“We’re just getting started,” he hummed as he kissed his way to her collarbone. Her skin was like satin under his fingertips. For the first time ever, he wanted skin on skin. Nothing between his cock and her slick little pussy. He wanted to slide through her wet folds, coat himself in her desire. “Condoms,” he rasped. If he didn’t ask now, he’d lose himself in the moment. He was already so close.
“No need,” she murmured. “I’m on the–”
“Are you sure?” He didn’t want her saying that just because he’d given her the orgasm of a lifetime.
She nodded. “I’m safe. You?”
“I’ve never–”
She grinned up at him. “Me either.”
Fuck.
A first for them both. He gathered her up and dropped onto his back, dimly registering the scratch of the wool rug beneath him. “Then get your gorgeous ass right here.”
With her hair tumbled over her shoulder, she pounced on his
zipper, helping him shrug out of his jeans in one move. She gasped as his cock sprang free and then clasped at the root, running her hand along his length. For a moment, everything went mind-numbingly dim. “If you do much more of that,” he gritted through a clenched jaw, “I can’t promise you’ll appreciate the outcome.”
“Sterling,” she said in hushed tones, as she ran a finger around the slick head of his cock. “You’re… huge.”
His chest shook and he gave her what he was sure was a cocky smile. “Like what you see?”
She looked at him dead-on and licked her lips. “I want to taste you.”
He clasped her hips, dragging her slick center over his cock. “Christ almighty, you feel good,” he panted.
“But Sterling…”
“Next time,” he panted. “I won’t last if you put your naughty mouth on me.”
She huffed out a laugh and wriggled against him, making him groan. “You like my mouth?”
“Fuck, yes.”
She rolled her hips against him, sending another bolt of lust straight through him. “Just so we’re clear,” she panted. “You like it when I talk dirty?”
“Yes,” he groaned, arching his hips into her and pulling his cock through her slick pussy lips. “The dirtier the better. Use that amazing imagination.”
She bent forward, letting the tips of her hair brush against his collarbone, as she pressed her hands into his shoulders, sliding her pussy over his cock and stopping when her entrance hovered at the tip. She gave him a dirty grin that went straight to his soul. “How ’bout this? I want to slow fuck you until you beg for mercy. I want your big cock to fill me up. And while I’m riding you, I want you to suck my tits.”
He shut his eyes as they rolled into his head, clenching her hips hard to refrain from impaling her on his aching cock. “Now, Emma. You’re killing me.”
With a sexy low laugh, she slowly took him into her hot, slick channel.
“Oh fuck, you’re so tight,” he panted. “So hot.” She clenched around him and drew herself up. “You’re fucking incredible, Em.”