“If you don’t put me down right this second, there won’t be ‘some other time’!”
He twisted the knob of her closed bedroom door and welcomed the glorious coolness of the room thanks to the window air-conditioning unit. “You sure about that?”
She pinched his side. “You wanna try me?”
Dropping her on her bed, he pulled back and stared unabashedly as her breasts bounced. “I wanna try a whole lot with you tonight,” he said, his voice rough as he lifted a brow and dropped his hands to his fly. “You still with me on that?”
She bit her lip, her gaze raking over his bare chest before focusing on his stilled hand. “Well, hurry up, then.”
He wisely—but barely—kept in the laugh that wanted to burst free and shed his jeans and boxer briefs in record time, snagged a condom from his wallet, and tossed it on her pillow. Even with the packet landing next to her head, her gaze never faltered, her eyes wide and locked on his leaking cock. He was so hard it hurt and wanted to bury himself inside her with an intensity he’d never felt before, but he’d be damned if he rushed a second of this.
“I’m not gonna be doin’ a whole lotta hurrying tonight, princess.” He climbed up the bed and mapped a trail all over her body with his lips and tongue. “In fact, I have half a mind to jerk off right now just so I don’t bust as soon as I sink inside your pussy.”
“Oh,” she breathed.
He grinned. “Yeah, oh.”
“Um…are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Gonna…” She darted a glance down to his cock and sank her teeth into her bottom lip before expelling a shaky breath. “You know.”
Just to see what her response would be, he sat back on his heels and fisted his erection, groaning as he gave it a slow, leisurely tug.
She gasped, her eyes flying up to his. Her breaths came faster now, her gaze darting back and forth between his cock and his face as if she couldn’t decide where to look. He’d initially started jerking himself to tease her, to test out what she might like. Push those boundaries just a little since she’d obviously never pushed them before. But it didn’t take a genius to realize her reaction was one of interest. Of desire.
“You like that.” His voice came out thick and rough, his own arousal too difficult to conceal.
She squirmed beneath him, her body flushed. “I don’t— I’m not—”
“It’s okay if you do.” He closed his eyes, picturing Rory spread out on her sheets, her fingers rubbing circles between her legs. Did she moan when she was all by herself? Or did she keep herself restrained even then? “God knows I’d fucking love to watch you.”
“Y-you would?”
Goddamn, this girl. He’d never in a million years have guessed this gorgeous, no-holds-barred, ballbuster of a woman lacked confidence in the bedroom.
“Anytime you wanna give that a go, you lemme know.” He released his cock, because he was already going to have to mentally walk through each minute step for installing a faucet just so he didn’t come as soon as he sank inside her. He plucked the condom from the pillow, ripped open the packet, and rolled the latex down his length. “I was thinkin’ maybe we could do something else right now.”
Whether consciously or not, she’d covered herself with what little was available to her—namely her appendages. She’d draped one arm over her breasts and shielded her pussy with the other hand. How she could be self-conscious at all was a complete mindfuck for him. She was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen—in real life or not. And for however long he had Aurora Haven in his bed, he was going to make it his mission to ensure she believed that.
He nudged her hand away with his cock, guiding the tip through her wetness before swirling it around her swollen clit. “These plans okay with you?”
She nodded once, a jerky motion, and kept her eyes locked on where he teased her. Although, he was teasing more than just her—he was driving himself crazy, and his orgasm was already breathing down his neck. So with one last look at her face, making sure she was still on board with this, he lowered his cock to her entrance and eased his way inside her. He gritted his teeth as he rocked back and forth at an excruciatingly slow pace, inching deeper with each push until he was finally fully seated.
When he gave a tentative thrust, Rory let loose a loud moan, and he jerked inside her in response. While whimpers and breathy sighs had left her lips when he’d had his face buried between her legs, this unrestrained sound of pleasure was something new entirely.
She jerked like she’d been shocked, her eyes wide as one hand flew up to her mouth. Through her fingers, she said, “Oh my heavens, I didn’t mean to do that.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”
“Yes, I’m—” Her words cut off with another loud moan when he slid out nearly all the way then snapped his hips forward and plunged inside her again. With a yelp, she covered her whole face.
He breathed out a husky laugh as he pried her hands away. “You don’t get to be embarrassed now, princess. Not when you’re stuffed full of my cock. Not when this pussy is taking me so sweet.”
“Nash.”
“What?”
“You know what.”
He grinned at her scandalized tone, as if she weren’t working those hips in slow circles, trying to get him deeper. If he weren’t careful, he’d give her a heart attack during their very first time. He had so many more things he wanted to say, words of praise and lust and worship—and, yeah, most of them were utterly filthy. Instead of letting them fly, he clamped his mouth shut, locked their fingers together at her sides so she couldn’t cover herself again, and rode her. Slow and deep and sweet and dirty.
He’d had to recount how to install a whole fucking kitchen just to stop himself from blowing, but it was worth it when she started getting restless beneath him, the moans she no longer tried to hide coming faster with each thrust.
“Ah, sweet girl. What do you need?”
“I don’t— I’m not—” She shifted her head restlessly on the pillow, squeezing her fingers tighter against his.
“I know, babe. I got you.” He extracted one of his hands and brought his thumb to her clit, pressing down hard before flicking it back and forth in a quick rhythm.
Her eyes flew open, shock evident on her face, and her entire body locked down, just like earlier. She clamped her legs around his hips, her knuckles white as she gripped his hand, and held her breath while watching him with something that was awfully close to awe. And fuck if that didn’t make his cock swell even further inside her.
He clenched his teeth and held on by a thread, because he’d be damned if he came before she did. Not when she was this close. Not when she was looking at him like he was Superman and the Messiah all rolled up in one.
When she finally fell, when her body tightened so much around him, he had no choice but to follow, pumping hard and fast before emptying inside her as his name fell again and again from her lips.
After the world righted itself and he could see more than bursts of color, he stared down at her and brushed his thumb along her cheek. Took in her flushed face, her still-quick breathing, her mussed hair. Her glazed, lust-filled eyes that went straight to his cock. Goddamn, he was getting hard again, and from the look on her face, she felt it.
He raised an eyebrow. “How’d I do?”
She bit her lip and squirmed beneath him, her nipples tight little buds just waiting to be sucked. “Don’t you have to…” She gestured between them.
Take care of the condom? Yeah, he did, and unfortunately, he only had one more with him, which meant he wouldn’t get to fuck her as many times as he’d have liked.
He’d just have to hope this wasn’t a one-time thing for her. That she’d let him back between those gorgeous legs of hers, let him kiss her and hold her and be inside her.
Because, against his better judgment, he wasn’t done with her yet.
Rory never realized she could hate a job as much as she hated this one. She knew if she to
ld her sisters how she felt, they’d assume it was because of their daddy. And while, yes, he definitely played a huge role in it, the truth was, it bored her to tears.
All she did all day was sort files, corral an overflowing inbox—both in person and email—and reschedule appointments. She fetched forms and dealt with so much paperwork, she had at least five paper cuts on her hands at any given time. She was constantly busy, but she wasn’t the least fulfilled.
“You listenin’ to me, Rory?” her daddy snapped, his patience gone sometime around 1972.
“Yes, sir. You’d like me to rearrange your meetings and schedule you and Sheriff Halsey a tee time for two this afternoon.” Never mind that she’d be redoing work he’d just—as in, mere hours ago—asked her to complete. But sure, she’d redo that. No problem at all. She loved running around like a hamster caught in a wheel.
“Well…all right, then. When you reschedule those meetings, don’t tell ’em I’m goin’ golfin’, though. That’d do nothing but get their underwear in a bunch. Just tell ’em…” He leaned back in his plush, leather desk chair and swiveled from side to side, fingers tapping on the arm. “Tell ’em…”
“I’ll take care of it, Daddy. Nothing to worry about.” Wasn’t the first time—and certainly wouldn’t be the last—she’d had to lie so Mayor Haven could shirk his responsibilities in favor of an afternoon spent on the links.
He smiled. “Course you will. Just knew you’d be perfect for this job, Rory. Get to use that brain of yours a bit!”
If by using her brain, he was referring to when she secretly sketched design ideas at her desk, then yes. Definitely.
Because manners had been ingrained in her for the entirety of her thirty-three years, and because she really did owe her daddy for giving her this job since she wasn’t qualified for much else, she returned his smile. “Thanks again, Daddy, for givin’ me this opportunity.”
He hummed. “You know you wouldn’t have had to work here at all if you’d just taken that check from your momma and—”
Rory stood, gathering her papers and iPad in her hands. “I appreciate it. You know I do. But I prefer to do things on my own this time.” She shuffled toward the door. “If there’s nothing else?”
He stared at her for a beat before tipping his chin. “That’s it for now. You let me know if you’re able to get us in at that time.”
“Will do.” Rory turned and strolled to her desk, her head held high, even though it felt like a giant boulder had lodged itself inside her.
She tried to remind herself that her daddy had offered—continued to offer—that money because he loved her and the girls and wanted the three of them to continue living the lives they’d grown accustomed to. Her daddy excelled at throwing money at situations that were out of his control.
She wanted to believe he did it out of love, but in Rory’s heart, it felt like confirmation that he didn’t see her worth. Didn’t believe in her. Didn’t see her being able to succeed at anything but being a stay-at-home mom. Which, heavens knew, was hard work. The hardest, most demanding work she’d ever done. But it wasn’t the right work for her.
If there was one thing she’d realized since this situation with Sean had transpired, it was that somewhere along the way, she’d lost herself. Had settled deeply into the role of wife and mother and daughter, and had somehow forgotten how to just be Rory. And she owed it to herself to explore that. To find out who she really was without all the other labels tacked to her name.
She slipped into her desk chair in her open office, the dull ache between her legs making itself known. Again. It’d done that more times than she could count since she’d gotten in this morning, and each time it did so, it reminded her she’d done a bit of finding herself last night.
As earth-shattering as the evening had been, she’d woken up this morning to cold sheets and an empty bed. She should’ve been expecting it. She should’ve been relieved. Starting something with Nash was the last thing she needed to be doing, especially when she was desperate to get her design business off the ground since her freedom from town hall and the tedious day-in-and-day-out monotony was on the line. And he was a stepping stone to that very dream.
But instead of feeling relief when she’d found the space next to her bare, she’d felt this odd sort of longing deep in her chest, an ache she wasn’t quite sure how to fill. An ache she wasn’t quite sure she should fill.
She’d experienced a whole lot of firsts with Nash last night, but possibly the most powerful of all had been the notion that sex could be so much more than just a chore. It could be tingly and bone-melting and amazing, and if given enough grace and patience from a partner, she could enjoy herself too. She hadn’t known her body could work like that. Could respond to another’s touch as well as—better than—her own.
Nash had proven her wrong, and he’d done it all with a smug smile on his too-handsome face.
Rory’d just hung up from setting up the tee time for her daddy when Mac’s voice greeted her from down the hall.
“I swear, just walkin’ down the street takes ten minutes in this town, ’cause everybody wants to—” Mac jerked to a stop as she rounded the corner into Rory’s office. She pointed a finger and twirled it in Rory’s direction. “What’s happening here?”
It was only the years of practice at hiding her emotions that allowed Rory to maintain a blank expression on her face, greeting her sister with a bland smile. On the inside, though, she was in full-on panic mode. What did Mac see when she looked at Rory? Had it really been that long since she’d had sex that, now that she had, it was written all over her body language? Heavens, she’d walked down the street like this! Looking all sexed up for everyone and their dog to see.
She swallowed down her horror and smiled at her sister. “Nothing outta the ordinary’s happened, so I’m not sure what you mean.”
Mac only grew more suspicious at Rory’s denial, her eyes narrowing as she stepped farther into the office and dropped her purse on one of the chairs in front of Rory’s desk. “I’m talkin’ about your hair. You left it down, and you never wear it down at work.” She braced her hands on Rory’s desk and leaned forward, scrutinizing every inch of Rory’s face. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“Oh.” Rory tucked her hair behind her ear, willing her cheeks not to bloom with heat. Turned out staying up until all hours of the night to engage in bed-rocking sex wasn’t conducive to an early wake-up call. She hadn’t even had time to wash her hair this morning in the shower, let alone style it. “I read somewhere that wearing your hair in updos too often can lead to premature hair loss.”
From the look Mac shot her, that sounded about as good out loud as it did in Rory’s head, but she certainly couldn’t tell her sister the actual reason she hadn’t had enough time to put her hair in a twist. That’d go over about as well as a fart in church.
“Did you now?” Mac stood to her full height and crossed her arms over her chest. “And where was that?”
“Um…where?”
“Mhmm. What magazine did you see it in? Sounds like something I should be readin’ up on.”
Well, shit. Rory hadn’t thought this through, and she certainly hadn’t imagined Mac would press her on it. But if there was one thing she’d learned from her years as a mom, it was being able to lie on the spot.
“It was in that stack of magazines Momma gave me. I’ll look for it tonight and get it to you.” Never mind what an impossible task that’d be, considering there was no such article. There wasn’t even a stack of magazines from their momma. What was happening to her? All this twisting and turning and bald-faced lying just to keep—
“Mornin’, ladies.” Nash strolled into her office like he didn’t have a care in the world. Like his mouth hadn’t been all over her breasts only eight hours ago. “Y’all’re lookin’ beautiful as always.”
“Well, if it ain’t Nash King, Mr. Sweet-Talker.” Mac turned toward him with a smile.
“Sweet-Talker?” Nash dropped
into one of the chairs in front of Rory’s desk, hooking his arm over the back, casual as you please. “You know that as recently as yesterday, I got told I had quite the dirty mouth on me?” With a grin that spelled trouble with a capital T, he shot Rory a wink. “You believe that, Rory?”
Rory choked on nothing but air and started sputtering, fumbling around for something to do with her hands other than strangling Nash.
Mac laughed, shooting Rory a quick glance, probably to ensure she hadn’t inhaled her own tongue. “I think just about everyone would believe that.”
He rested his hand over his heart. “You wound me, Mac.”
“Yeah, I bet.” She rolled her eyes and shuffled her purse out of the way to sit. “What’re you doin’ here?”
Rory busied herself with whatever she could find on her desk. Random papers? Time to go ahead and alphabetize them. Backward. That should keep her mind occupied enough not to blurt out something highly inappropriate in front of the guy who’d had his cock and tongue inside her, and her sister who couldn’t know anything at all about the aforementioned acquaintance.
Of course, Rory had known the time would come when she’d have to interact with Nash in a business setting. He was at town hall all the time, securing the proper permits and such. She just thought she’d have more than a couple of hours to get used to the fact that he knew what she looked like naked. That he knew what it felt like to be inside her. That he knew what sounds she made when she came.
Sweet fancy Moses, he knew what sounds she made when she came.
“…and since I can’t figure out a way to get it all in at once, I thought I’d swing by to see if Rory had any ideas.”
Rory snapped her head up at the sound of her name, the tail end of what Nash had been saying seeping into her brain. It reminded her of all the “getting it in” they’d had to do last night and caused all sorts of completely inappropriate things to happen to her lady business. Oh, this was not good. Not good at all.
“I’ve no doubt y’all’ll be able to work it all in,” Mac said without a hint of humor, and Rory nearly fell off her damn chair.
Hometown Troublemaker (Havenbrook Book 2) Page 11