by Lili Valente
I shiver and nod, heart skipping a beat as he rolls on top of me, deepening the kiss as he reaches for the bottom of my T-shirt. We pull apart as the fabric whooshes over my head, but then his mouth is back on mine, kissing me breathless before his lips move to my neck, taking my racing pulse with his tongue before he moves farther down.
He draws my already tight nipple into his mouth, making me cry out as electric anticipation fizzes across my skin. I arch into his tongue, moaning as he drags his teeth over my already sensitized flesh, but the last thing I want him to do is stop. I don’t ever want him to stop. I want his hands, his mouth all over me. I want to be marked from head to toe with Tristan’s touch, his scent. I want to drown in all the incredible things he makes me feel and never, ever come up for air.
“Fuck, Zoey, you drive me crazy.” He groans as he drags my pajama pants down my legs and urges my thighs wider, revealing where I’m wet, swollen and so ready. “I can’t wait to taste you.”
My legs tremble as he presses a kiss to my left thigh and then my right, moving closer to the center of me. And then his tongue teases, ever so lightly, around the sensitive skin at my entrance, and I gasp. Just that touch, so feather soft, is almost enough to undo me. It isn’t just the physical things he’s doing to me that make my head spin. It’s knowing that it’s Tristan’s mouth between my legs. Tristan’s tongue circling my clit, Tristan’s hands spreading my legs farther apart so he can get closer, deeper, staking his claim on my most intimate places.
I’ve been head over heels for this man pretty much since the moment I met him. Now, after years of being so sure I would never be anything but his friend, he’s finally head over heels for me.
It’s intoxicating. Exhilarating.
And after only a few minutes, I’m soaring, so close to spinning out of control that when Tristan groans against my slick skin, the vibration of his voice is enough to make me shatter.
I call his name as I come, arching into his mouth, reaching for him because I can’t stand not to have my hands on him for another second. I thread my fingers through his silky-soft hair, holding on tight as he continues to pulse his tongue against me, drawing out the release until tears gather at the edges of my eyes.
I pull in a deep breath that shudders out, sending a tear slipping down the side of my face.
“Are you okay, baby?” Tristan asks as he moves back over me. “Are you crying?”
I swallow. “A little. It’s just…so good.”
“It is so good,” he echoes in a way that leaves no doubt in my mind that he feels it too—the beautiful, crazy, amazing thrill of being so close to someone who means so much to you. He holds my gaze as he reaches between us, his eyes never leaving mine as he fits his fever-hot cock to my still pulsing entrance and glides oh-so-slowly inside.
My lips part, my soft groan of gratitude and relief mingling with Tristan’s, making us both grin as he comes to a stop deep inside me.
“Did you miss me?” He guides my right leg around his hips, allowing him to sink just a tiny bit deeper, sending shockwaves through my core as he rubs against my clit. “In those three hours we were apart?”
“Yes,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around him. “I missed you. So much.”
“Me, too.” His smile fades as he begins to move, oh-so-slowly at first, each stroke a heartbreakingly beautiful step closer to the edge, closer to him, closer to the pleasure that waits at the end of this road. “I was dreaming about you. We were outside on a blanket, and you were riding me with the sun in your hair.”
“Maybe we can make that dream a reality before too long,” I say, lifting into him as he glides deep again, my breath coming faster. “We’re both taking a personal day today. Violet’s going to hold down the fort until the volunteers arrive and close up after the kitty meet and greet.”
“You’re brilliant. The best boss ever.” Tristan bites his bottom lip. “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any hotter…” His hand slips between us, his fingers finding my clit as he begins to move faster. I moan, clinging to his shoulders as he takes me there—up, up, up to the dizzy heights I’ve only glimpsed with him.
I come again, gasping and fighting to keep my eyes from squeezing shut as pleasure pulses through me in sharp, aching waves. I don’t want to close my eyes, I don’t want to miss a second of this—of Tristan’s handsome features twisting in pleasure-pain as he comes, of the way his hand shakes as he wraps his fingers around the back of my neck, pulling me in for a kiss as his cock pulses deep inside me.
I hum against his lips as the taste of us—of my sex and his mouth—teases my tongue. It’s a tangy, earthy flavor that calls to something primal inside of me, something deep inside my bones that growls its approval of this man, this taste, this fire that he lights inside of me.
If we were albatrosses, I would have already picked out a nest and started the mating dance ritual. He just feels…right. Everything about him, from the way he drives me wild to the way he pulls me close, tucking me into the smaller spoon position and kissing my shoulder.
I sigh, so content—and exhausted—I’m on the verge of sleep in seconds. The only thing that keeps me awake is the whining at the door.
The whining that gets louder and louder the longer Tristan and I lay quietly on the bed…
“I would say that he’ll eventually stop, but he’s fragile on nights when he’s managed to break out of his kennel.” Tristan kisses my shoulder again before slipping out of bed and reaching for his jeans on the floor. “At this point, I might as well go let him outside. Before he decides we’ve missed morning backyard time and leaves a puddle by the door.”
“I’ll wait up for you,” I murmur, my eyes already sliding closed again. “Hurry back.”
Tristan chuckles. “Get your rest, Sleeping Beauty. I’ll wake you at ten, and we’ll go get waffles and French press coffee and celebrate.”
“Oh yay.” I smile and hum happily as I snuggle deeper into the covers. “What are we celebrating?”
“Are you kidding?” He leans over to kiss my cheek, making me smile. “Six orgasms in less than twelve hours, of course.”
My brow furrows as my pleasure-overloaded and sleep-deprived brain does the math. I force my left eye to open, “But we’re on five, right?”
He grins down at me. “That’s why I’m waking you up at ten. That way we’ll have time for number six, with a few minutes left over to shower, get dressed, and make it to Rosewood Grocery before they stop serving breakfast at eleven.”
Luke whines louder from outside, clearly not approving of this plan. I giggle as Tristan mock-glares at the door. “I hear you, Luke. Keep your pants on.” Grabbing his T-shirt off the floor, Tristan turns back to me. “Don’t worry. I’ll leave the orgasm police outside until we’re ready to leave for breakfast.”
I smile, my lids heavy. “Oh, I’m not worried…”
Not worried at all…
In fact, as I slide into a deep, delicious sleep sweeter than any in recent memory, I’m completely at peace. Giddy with excitement, but peaceful at the same time. It’s not a combination I’ve experienced before, but Tristan is rapidly redefining reality as I know it.
And I couldn’t be happier about him or this brave new world…
Chapter 15
Tristan
It’s a morning of firsts—first morning-after, first couple’s shower, first brunch, first hike to the dog park at the top of the mountain—but it feels like I’ve done all of this with Zoey before. Not that anything is boring or predictable, it’s just all so natural, so easy. Zoey’s only the second woman I’ve ever slept with, so I don’t have much to compare this relationship to, but less than twenty-four hours in, I’m already having drastically altered feelings about my split with Kim.
Yes, it hurt like hell. And yes, I truly loved her, in the way you love people who have been in your life so long they’ve become a part of you. But what I had with Kim was two-dimensional compared to this. Compared to looking into Zoey’s eyes
and knowing she wants me for exactly who I am. Full stop.
Kim saw me, yes, but she’d made it clear from day one that there were things that needed to change to make me worthy of continuing to be her one and only. To Kim, I was a project to be improved upon, a lump of clay with the potential to become something special if molded correctly.
With Zoey, I’m already a prize, no modifications needed.
And I feel the same way about her.
She’s already perfect. From the way she giggles when she gets whipped cream on her nose after a particularly daring bite of extra thick Rosewood Grocery waffle, to the way she stops to let Luke sniff every signpost from downtown to the start of the trailhead, to the way she races him to the entrance to the dog park as soon as the familiar wrought iron gate comes into view. She is so sweet and loving and real.
And so incredibly sexy that I have to fight to keep memories from last night from my head for fear of rocking a hard-on at the dog park in front of half the little old ladies in Healdsburg.
I’ve always thought Zoey was pretty, and lately, “beautiful” is the word that comes to mind when I glance her way. And yes, since our first kiss, I’ve definitely been attracted to her, but I never expected it to be so white hot between us.
In her day-to-day life, Zoey’s a relatively reserved person. She’s poised and classy, the kind of woman you could easily imagine running for office and not having to worry about any skeletons in her closet.
In my secret, not-safe-for-work thoughts, I’d assumed she would probably carry that restraint into the bedroom. Not that she wouldn’t be passionate or sexy, but that she might be the kind of person who finds it hard to let go.
But that’s not the case. Not even a little bit.
She’s wild. Shameless. Mind-blowingly sexy, and so uninhibited I have no doubt that we’re soon going to find ourselves in previously unexplored territory. At least for me. I want to do everything with her, memorize every inch of her gorgeous body, learn everything that gives her pleasure and makes her come for me, calling out my name in that way that makes me crazy.
Shit…
And now I’m hard. Again. For the tenth time this morning.
Willing the man downstairs to calm the fuck down, I take a deep breath and bend low, grabbing the stick from Luke as he bounds back across the grass from the other end of the park.
“You ready for a big one?” I ask, the words making Luke’s tail work harder. “All right, here it comes.” I draw back my arm and hurl the stick as hard as I can, sending it arcing up into the air, where it hovers for a moment in the blue, blue sky before tumbling back to earth to land just barely within the boundaries of the iron fence.
“Nice one,” Zoey says, nudging my hip with hers as she takes a sip of her coffee.
“Thanks.” I wrap an arm around her waist, loving the feel of her so close. “This isn’t my first time at the dog park. I’ve had time to perfect my form.”
“You really do have perfect form.” She glances up at me, her pink lips curving wickedly. “I would give you an A plus for form, in fact.”
I nod, fighting the urge to kiss the grin off her pretty face. “Oh yeah? And how about endurance?”
She wrinkles her nose and bobs her head side to side. “Pretty good. A solid B minus.”
My brows shoot up. “B minus? I was going strong until two a.m., slept a couple hours—not much more than a nap, really—and was ready to go again as soon as you got back in bed at four thirty. How is that a B minus, Childers?”
“I’m not saying it wasn’t good,” she says with a shrug. “I’m just saying there’s still room for improvement. I, for example, didn’t sleep at all until four-thirty.”
“Because you’re a vampire,” I say. “Clearly. And that’s an unfair advantage.”
She laughs. “I’m not a vampire. I usually go to bed no later than ten. Last night I was just…keyed up.”
I draw her fully into my arms as I bend my face closer to hers. “I like you keyed up. I would like to get you keyed up again in the very near future, in fact.”
Zoey links her wrists behind my neck. “Surely we can’t keep this up, can we? It’s not natural. We’re going to injure ourselves.”
“I don’t injure easily, and it feels perfectly natural to me.” I smooth one hand down to rest on the curve of her ass. “I can’t remember anything that’s felt more natural than being inside you.”
Her cheeks go instantly red as her eyes dart quickly to the left. “Stop. Someone will hear you.”
“No, they won’t,” I murmur. “I’m whispering.”
“And I’m sure I’m turning bright red.”
“I like you bright red,” I say, pulling her closer as I dip my head to kiss her neck. I’m about to describe all the ways I would like to get her even redder when my cell dings loudly in my pocket. I curse softly, making Zoey laugh as she pulls away.
“Whew. Saved by the bell. Is it Deacon with a cow watch update again?”
I frown hard at the unexpected text. “No, it’s Kim. She says we need to talk. To urgently talk is her exact phrase.”
Zoey’s brow furrows. “That’s strange…”
“It is,” I say, turning the ringer off before slipping my phone into my back pocket with a shrug. “But I don’t see how we could have anything urgent to discuss, and I refuse to let her rain on this day. This is our day, and it’s all sunshine, baby.”
“It is,” Zoey says, but a frown still knits her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, resting a hand on the small of her back because I can’t resist the urge to touch her for more than a minute or two.
She shakes her head. “Nothing, I just… I don’t know. It’s hard for me to imagine you with her. You’re so kind, and she’s so…difficult.”
“She can be difficult,” I agree. “But I grew up with difficult. My mom was always fighting with my dad, and when he wasn’t fighting with my mom, Dad was fighting with his other women of the moment. Deacon and his ex-wife were a match made in hell, and Rafe and Dylan were either best friends or fight-to-the-death mortal enemies—depending on the day and if one of them had forgotten to eat breakfast. Compared to all that, Kim was relatively calm.” I lift a shoulder and let it fall. “And I was young when we met. By the time I realized how much work Kim was, we’d been together for three years and infatuation had become something more. And she did make me feel loved and important. I liked that.”
Zoey nods. “Who wouldn’t? Feeling loved and important is good.”
“But it was never anything like this, like last night,” I find myself confessing, though I should probably keep my mouth shut until we’ve been together longer. But I don’t want to hide the way she makes me feel, and I’m not sure I could if I tried. “This feels…special.”
Her face breaks into a smile so bright I swear I can feel it warm against my skin.
“Does the smile mean you agree?” I ask.
With a giggle she throws her arms around me, hugging me tight. “Yes! I agree. You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that.”
“I’m getting an idea.” I wrap my arms around her with a grin, ignoring the repeated buzzing in my pocket. Kim doesn’t like being ignored, but what Kim likes or doesn’t like isn’t my problem anymore.
I don’t have any problems at the moment, in fact, except maybe how quickly I can invent a stick-throwing machine, so I don’t have to stop touching Zoey for even a few seconds at a time.
I mention this idea to Zoey after throwing another doozy for Luke, and she agrees that it’s solid. “Or we could learn to kiss and throw sticks at the same time,” she teases. “Take our multi-tasking to the next level.”
“You’re brilliant.” I kiss her again as my ass continues to vibrate. I make a mental note to block Kim’s number, and then I’m so caught up in Zoey’s kiss, her touch, her sweetness that there’s no room for anyone in my thoughts but her.
Chapter 16
Zoey
Hallowe
en
I’m awoken from my perfectly lovely dream featuring Tristan skinny-dipping in my favorite swimming hole by slugs squirming through my bare toes—hot, squishy, slobbery slugs.
I bolt into a seated position, a scream clawing up my throat only for it to end in a yip of surprise when I see Luke grinning at me from the end of the bed. Somehow, he’s managed to pull up the comforter, pull off my socks, and—judging from the amount of slobber surrounding my feet and dampening the sheets—has apparently been licking my toes for quite some time.
“Oh, man, Luke.” I scrunch my nose. “This is getting weird, buddy.”
“At least he didn’t eat your socks this time,” Tristan says sleepily. “They’re down there on the floor. I call that progress.”
“I call it gross,” I mutter.
“It’s not gross.” Tristan’s hand slips up the back of my sleep shirt, cool against my sleep warm skin. “You’re very lickable.”
“Ditto.” I grin at him over my shoulder, smile widening as I see that his hair is sticking up on one side and completely flat on the other. Call me crazy, but I love seeing him sleep-mussed and imperfect. It makes me feel special, to be one of the only people in the world who knows what Tristan looks like before he’s completed his meticulous grooming rituals. “So why isn’t Luke hot after your sexy man toes?”
Tristan rolls his eyes with a soft sigh. “Who among us can explain the mysteries of the heart, dear Zoey? It wants what it wants, and Luke’s heart clearly has a thing for your foot stink and yours alone.”
I reach out, slapping his leg beneath the covers. “I do not have stinky feet! At least I didn’t when I went to bed, before they were bathed in slobber.”
“I will remind you that you’re the one who lobbied for the dog in the bed. I was quite happy tucking Luke into his kennel downstairs with some tennis to send him off to dreamland.”
“But he got lonely down there.” I sigh as Luke leans in to sniff my ankle, then decides to give it a few kisses while he’s at it. “All right, that’s enough, psycho. Keep your tongue to yourself, or your dad is going to bring me around to his way of thinking and it’ll be back to the basement for you.” I shoo Luke off the bed as I reach for my robe on the chair in the corner. “Go on. Meet me at the door, and I’ll let you outside.”