Love Loyal and True

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  Her brain scrambled to catch up. “What?”

  “I’ll be up for apology number two in about ten minutes.”

  Heat pulsed through her when she figured out his meaning.

  “And in the meantime…” His hand took up where his words trailed off, his fingers skimming down her belly, tickling her navel, then sliding lower.

  Orgasm number two was tallied in the reading room, and a third in the bedroom up in the second floor apartment where she’d accidentally climbed into bed with him a few short weeks ago.

  Minus the boots this time.

  Chapter 23

  Waking up with Roxanna Kent in his arms was something Loyal had never even considered to be a possibility. But for the first time in six years, he wanted more than one night of release. Specifically, he discovered, he wanted a hell of a lot more than one morning of her in his arms.

  She apparently didn’t sleep with the light cancelling shades drawn, and he found himself squinting against the first rays of sunrise while she still slept. Her long, glorious hair spilled across the pillow as her sooty lashes rested against her cheeks. He had to fight the urge to tug her closer so he could suck on that full bottom lip of hers.

  A deliberate shift of his shoulder moved the sheet enough to expose her breast closest to him, and he drank in the sight. Small and pert, they were the perfect size to fit in his hands. When she was aroused, her hard nipples pressed into his palms, turning him on even more.

  Hell, simply looking at her right now had his morning erection throbbing with need.

  He warred with that need versus the consideration of letting her sleep after how late they’d stayed up last night.

  The decision was taken out of his hands when she shifted, and the arm she rested over his across her stomach tightened. A smile curved her lips, and her eyes opened as she turned her head toward him on the pillow.

  “You’re up,” she murmured.

  Wry humor twisted his lips. “Yeah, I’m up.”

  Her gaze sharpened, the languid sleepiness giving way for heated awareness. “What time is it?”

  “A little after six-thirty.”

  She gave a soft groan of protest and closed her eyes. However, at the same time, she rolled onto her side away from him, then scooted back to spoon against him. “Why are you awake so early?”

  “The shades are open,” he complained.

  “I like to see the morning when I wake up,” she explained. “Not darkness.”

  Of course she did. With the dawn light illuminating her beautiful face, he shouldn’t complain. He wouldn’t ever again.

  Seeing her cheek crease from her smile, he lifted his hand to cup her breast and lightly pinched her nipple. “It also doesn’t help that there’s a naked witch beside me.”

  She wiggled her backside against his full-blown erection. “Take that back.”

  “No.” He gave a gentle tweak of her other nipple, and his scruff scraped her shoulder as he leaned in to nip her earlobe.

  Her sharp intake of breath had him pushing his hips forward. He loved teasing her like this—and he loved that she had relaxed her defenses enough to tease back.

  But things got serious when he couldn’t help but reach down and discovered she was wet and ready. He slipped a finger between her folds and massaged until she was writhing against him. She reached up and back to twine her fingers in his hair, and the pull on his scalp sent a tingle down his spine. Her ass pushed against his front, but when she shifted for him to enter her, he had to pull back with a rough sound of regret.

  “No more condoms.”

  He increased the pressure of his finger strokes until she gasped his name and came apart in his arms. As she came down, he lightly nipped her shoulder, then soothed with his tongue.

  Roxanna hummed as she turned over to face him, her hand moving over his chest, his abs, then lower. He hissed in a deep breath when her hand closed around his rigid length.

  “I’ve got two options for you,” she murmured in a husky voice.

  “I’m all ears.”

  “I can finish what I started last night, or—”

  “Yes.” The thought of her lips around him again had his blood pumping extra hard.

  Her fingers squeezed. “Let me finish.”

  “Roxanna, it doesn’t matter what the other option is. I’m good with either one.” When she released him and rolled away onto her back, his heart leapt in ridiculous alarm. “I’m sorry. Please—what’s the other one?”

  “I thought it didn’t matter?”

  When she simply arched her eyebrows in mutiny, he huffed out a breath and flopped back to grin at the ceiling. “You are definitely a witch.”

  Suddenly she loomed over him, her hair falling forward to caress his chest. “I’m on birth control.”

  His pulse skipped. Her cheeks flushed as she traced a circle around his nipple with her fingertip. “I told you there was only one other person besides you, and that was years ago in college, which means I’m clean.” Her gaze rose to his. “So, if you are…”

  The thought of sliding into her heat with nothing between them had him breathing like he’d just run a hundred yard dash—and he hadn’t done that since high school. Not used protection or run the hundred yard dash. He worked out, but there was no need to sprint when you weren’t on the track team.

  “I haven’t been with anyone in a while,” he got out. “And I had my yearly physical before I left Texas, so…yeah, I’m good, too.”

  A soft smile curved her mouth. “What will it be then, Mr. Numbers? Option one or option two?”

  Blowjob or bareback?

  “Two,” he replied without hesitation.

  Her smile widened, and she braced both hands on his chest while swinging her leg over to straddle him.

  Holy shit.

  He’d had her multiple times last night, and yet here he was, certain if his pulse raced any faster, he’d pass out before they got to the good stuff. His hands instinctively rose to grasp her hips, and her long curls flowed around her shoulders, trailing down to tickle his chest as she lowered herself onto his shaft until he was fully sheathed in her heat.

  His fingers clenched as he let out a low growl. The feel of being inside her with nothing between them was fan-fucking-tastic. Her inarticulate response drew his gaze from the erotic view where they were joined as one, up to her face. The corner of her bottom lip was caught between her teeth, and she looked unsure. He reached one hand up to cup her cheek.

  “What?” he asked.

  Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, but she wouldn’t look him in the eye. “I haven’t done this before.”

  He was surprised at her sudden shyness, yet royally turned on by the fact she was brave enough to tell him. And even more ridiculously thrilled it was another first he got to claim.

  “I’m not sure what will feel good for you,” she added quietly.

  “All of it.”

  Her quick smile gave way for uncertainty again. He gave a little thrust with his hips and was rewarded by her soft intake of breath.

  “All you gotta do is move,” he encouraged. “Up and down, back and forth, side to side. Whatever feels good for you will feel good for me.”

  With her cheeks endearingly rosy, she tried each suggestion, and it didn’t take long for her to figure out what she liked. And what she liked, he loved. Every move she made sent white hot sensation rippling through his body.

  When she found her rhythm, he reached up to play with her breasts, then snuck a hand between them to ensure she finished before or with him. Her speed increased, and he began moving with her, his breath rasping in and out as her muscles tightened around him.

  “Holy shit, Rox…oh, God…that’s so damn fucking good.”

  Her head tipped back as she gasped her release, and he gripped her hips as his own release built. At his urging, she continued to ride him until he nearly blacked out from the force of his climax.

  As the morning filtered through the sheer drapes to
bathe the dark-haired goddess sprawled out on top of him in golden sunlight, he thought he just might fucking love this woman.

  Chapter 24

  Roxanna sent Mae a smile through the gaping hole between Lift Your Spirit and Honor’s soon-to-be bakery before carrying a mug into the back room. While the construction crew was making headway framing up the connecting arch with sliding glass doors, she’d been readying the shop to open in ten minutes, and Loyal had started reviewing her accounts in the back.

  She slowed her steps as she ran her gaze over his body in her desk chair. He’d left to shower and change at his hotel, and returned in a black button up shirt, medium gray dress pants, and black leather boots. Without a vest, his hotness was on display in a whole different way. He’d left the top two buttons of his shirt unfastened, and with his shirtsleeves rolled halfway to his elbows, his muscled forearms looked yummy as all hell.

  “Coffee’s done.”

  He glanced up as she approached, and the beauty of his smiling eyes got her right in the heart. Emotion swelled in her chest as he took the cup with its splash of cream and sugar. She wanted to step up between his knees, grasp his stubble-covered jaw, and kiss him with all the love in her heart. But, she also didn’t want to smother the guy and chase him away.

  She loved him, and yet she was still falling for him, too. If she fell too far, and he left her like her mother had, she wasn’t sure how the hell she’d handle that.

  When she started to turn back to the shop, he set the cup down and caught her by the waist. “Roxanna…”

  She ended up on his lap, one arm draped over his shoulders, the other braced on his chest. With his cologne enveloping her in its familiar, delicious scent, and the heat of him warming her butt and thighs, it was a good place to be.

  “You can’t leave before I get a chance to properly thank you.”

  He captured her lips in a slow, thorough, bone-melting kiss. At some point, he slipped a hand under the hem of her long-sleeved, lavender sweater.

  With his palm sliding up past her ribcage toward where her heart beat an unsteady rhythm, she murmured, “That’s the best thank you I have ever received.” May I bring you coffee for the rest of our lives?

  Hmm. Not falling too far might not even be an option any longer.

  “Told you I was exceptional.”

  She gave a soft shove against his chest. “You should’ve warned me you were egotistical, too.”

  His hand reached her breast, and he thumbed her nipple through her bra. Desire twinged in her core as he asked, “Did you really need a warning for that?”

  “No,” she confirmed with a soft laugh. “Definitely not.”

  She leaned in to press her lips to his once more.

  “Rox? Are you back—whoa.”

  Asher’s voice in the doorway shot Roxanna off Loyal’s lap at the same time he yanked his hand out from under her sweater. She hastily straightened her top as her best friend’s gaze bounced from her to his brother.

  “Morning, Ace.” Her face felt unnaturally warm, and her voice was an octave higher than normal. “I didn’t realize you and Honor were here yet.”

  “Obviously.” He leaned his back against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. “So, this is an ongoing thing now?”

  She met his gaze as the question made her heart go haywire. Loyal had said he wanted to see where things went between them, but between last night and this morning, they hadn’t specifically defined what that meant. Was this a fling for him to test the waters and see how long it lasted? Or were they boyfriend and girlfriend now?

  Soulmates ‘til death do us part?

  She didn’t want to presume anything—least of all that last bit.

  When she heard Loyal rise from the chair behind her, her heart raced faster. She glanced back at him as his firm hand on her hip drew her to his side.

  “Yes, it’s ongoing,” he said to his brother. “Is that a problem for you?”

  Her pulse skipped a few beats as she fought to not grin like a love-struck idiot.

  “Not for me,” Asher replied, his gaze locked with Roxanna’s. “So long as you both know what you’re signing up for. Because as I recall, only a few weeks ago you two couldn’t stand the sight of each other.”

  “We’ve worked things out,” Loyal said in a tight voice. “We’re good now. Really.”

  She gave a short nod of confirmation, and finally, Asher said, “If you say so.”

  Hating the distance between them, she lifted her eyebrows and forced what she hoped passed for a carefree grin. “So, what’s up?”

  “Nothing. I’ll talk to you later.”

  She frowned as he left abruptly, and then slowly turned to look at Loyal. “What exactly are we signing up for here?”

  Before he could answer, Asher returned to the doorway, startling her yet again. “How about we have dinner Saturday night?”

  “You and me?” Roxanna asked for clarification.

  “You guys, and me and Honor.”

  Loyal’s hand flexed on her hip. “If it’s okay with Roxanna, I’m game for the inquisition.”

  She shot him a glance, and he shrugged his shoulder. She turned back to Asher. “I’m good with dinner, but not an inquisition.”

  He didn’t even smile. “My house at seven?”

  They both agreed, and he was gone again.

  Suddenly, her stomach was flopping around like a fish out of water. Dinner with her best friend and his new fiancé was something she’d done a half-dozen times over the past four months, but this would be different. She and Loyal would be there together. As a couple.

  And he hadn’t answered her question from before yet. What exactly was their status? Was he going to love her and leave her, or had he truly meant to go against his own rule of no relationships?

  When she lifted her gaze, she found his gold-flecked one on her. He looked like he was about to say something, but instead his gaze rose to the clock hanging above the door, and his hand fell away from her hip.

  “It’s nine o’clock.”

  “Yeah. I better get out there and unlock the front door.” She did her best to squash her disappointment as she turned to leave. Then she decided the door could wait another minute or two and swung back.

  “I thought I knew the score here, and I was ready to accept it, but then you said you wanted to see where this”—she gestured between the two of them—“goes. I know this is crazy early to push, but I need to know if this is still just sex, or if it’s more to you?”

  “Just sex?” he asked with a little smirk.

  She wasn’t in the mood to tease no matter how cute the damn man was. “You know what I mean. What are we doing? What do you want out of this? If it’s just going to be a fun fling, fine. But I need to know so I can—”

  His finger pressed against her lips to stop her from talking. Then he stared at her for a long moment, his gaze moving over her face as if he were committing it to memory.

  “It hasn’t been just sex since the stables, Roxanna.”

  “It hasn’t?” she barely managed to ask past the lump in her throat.

  “No. As to what I want? The simple answer is you. I want to spend time with you. Most especially if we’re having sex, but also, even when we’re not. I want to know the things you like, the things you don’t like, what makes you laugh, and what makes you cry.”

  Him. He was going to make her cry any second now.

  “I want us to be together. As a couple.”

  She swallowed hard. “Exclusively?”

  “One hundred percent exclusively.” His tone dropped considerably. “I do not share.”

  The rough possessiveness in his voice sent a little thrill down her spine. The thought of him wanting her to be his—and only his—spoke to her heart on a soul-deep level.

  “What do you want?” he suddenly asked.

  She tilted her head the slightest bit and saw a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. Knowing he wasn’t so cocksure about her reply brought a happy smile t
o her lips. It meant her answer mattered to him.

  “I want the same.”

  After a split-second flash of relief, he grinned back. “Good.” He grasped her shoulders for a quick kiss, then set her back a step. “Now, go open your damn door, witch, and let me get back to work.”

  She narrowed her eyes and shook her head at the witch part. If she hadn’t still been smiling when she left, she might have convinced him she was annoyed. But the truth was, she kind of enjoyed the teasing, especially since it was their own secret joke.

  Darcy arrived to start her shift at ten, and the blond part-timer wholeheartedly approved of the new accountant in the back room. “Holy hotness,” she whispered as she joined Roxanna over at the coffee station with Honor and Mae.

  Mae pointed her stir-stick at Roxanna. “I told you it was Loyal.”

  I know! her heart squealed with joy.

  “It’s way too early to even say that,” she warned them and her already lost-cause heart.

  They all chatted a few more minutes, and with a promise to bring wine at dinner on Saturday, Roxanna went back to work as a customer stepped up to the register.

  Her first reading in the afternoon went from bad to worse when she couldn’t shake memories of her and Loyal horizontal on the chaise lounge the night before. She fibbed she wasn’t feeling well, and sent the woman away with apologies and a free booking for the next week.

  She managed to get through the rest of the afternoon by putting her chair on the side of the table where her back faced the chaise lounge. Even then, concentrating was exhausting, and when Darcy clocked out after her final reading, she leaned against the register counter, wishing it was six o’clock instead of five. Thinking of another whole hour before she could go take a bath and then a nap, she uttered a soft groan.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She jumped slightly, then gave her dark, tall-drink-of-water accountant the side-eye. “Someone kept me up late last night. And after last night in my reading room, it’s been a little hard to concentrate on work in there today.”

  “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.” True to his word, his grin held not one smidgeon of remorse.