Page 44 of Winning Bid

He smiles and nods. “Funny. When you’re young, it’s the most terrifying thing in the world to think about that. But … ” He sighs. “I’m ready to be a dad, and there’s just something animalistic about the whole process that appeals to me on a deeper level.”

“I get that, I think. If things were different, I’d … I’m ready to be a mom. Once the craziness has settled.”

He draws me close for a kiss. “Once the craziness has settled.”

Suddenly, I am dying to settle the craziness.

23

ANDERSON

It has been a long day but a good one. And an odd one. I’d never been much for the outdoors. Urban outdoors is different than rural outdoors, it seems. I’d grown up enjoying the urban outdoors for short stints, enough time to know I wanted to go back inside. But this was something else. When it came to June, the outdoors only increased my hunger for her.

She leaves to tidy herself, so I lay on my back, still staring at the stars. The fact she knows constellations and how they relate to the people and culture … there are multitudes in that woman, and I’ve scratched only the surface. I intend to plumb her depths for decades to come.

For a long time, I’d thought of myself as the luckiest man alive. Born into the right family, gifted with good genetics, and driven to succeed. When it all started to fall apart, I fell into the trap of self-pity. It was easy. Things with June went south, as did things with my finances and career, thanks to my father. I killed a man to defend her. And then I got shot. If I hadn’t felt at least a little sorry for myself, I might have been delusional. But now, at this quiet cabin in the woods, I’ve come to realize how lucky I am.

I have the greatest woman in the world at my side.

The rest of it matters, but none of it compares to her. Whatever comes of the murder investigation or my father’s ire for June, we will weather it together. Part of me hopes he gets pissed about us eloping. If he throws a fit over that, then Mom will see him for the petulant, abusive child he is. But she’s forgiven him more than anyone ever should, so I doubt it will make a dent in her opinion of him. Besides, I’m not doing it to piss him off—that’s just a side benefit. I will elope with June so we can start our life together without the interference of everyone else. It’ll be intimate and just for us.

Just thinking about it, I have the urge to drive to the nearest airport, jet to Vegas, and do it. Is there any real reason not to?

But then June walks out of the cabin, wearing only a blanket and a smile, and there’s my reason. She lays next to me, cuddling against my shoulder again and setting off something warm in my chest. There’s only one better feeling than this. She murmurs, “You got cold again.”

“Then warm me up.” I turn and kiss her. Must have taken her by surprise—she’s a little stiff at first. But then she melts against me, letting out those sweet moans that seem to have a direct line to my cock. As I kiss her, I wonder what’s on her mind. Is she thinking about elopement or the stars or something else completely? Sometimes, I think I’ll never truly know her, and that only spurs me to try harder. Dig deeper.

I move over her, relishing the sensation of her soft body beneath me. She lets out a gasp and breaks our kiss. “You’re hard again? Already?”

“You do this to me, baby.”

She leans up and bites my lower lip for that, and we’re back to kissing like teenagers in the backseat. The feel of my shaft straining on her warm thigh and the look in her brown eyes is seared into my brain.

My balls are a low throb that tries to steal focus. If I don’t get some relief, I will go out of my mind. I murmur into her ear, “I need to be inside of you.”

“Mm, fuck yes,” she whispers with that filthy mouth of hers. Her eyes light up, anticipating pleasure. But I love surprising her with something new. The fun we had in the hotel was one thing. Out here, though, we have a whole world to experiment with, and I’m not going to waste that. She thinks she knows, but she has no idea.

I cup my hand over her pussy, soft and wet for me. She sharply inhales—my hand is cold but quickly warms up against her as I dip my fingers deep. She grips my shoulders and writhes on my touch. Two fingers in and my thumb on her clit, and she’s bucking on me, trying to force her climax already. Oh, my poor, sweet girl is going to be so disappointed.

Briefly.

Just as she crests, her body goes tense, and that’s when I pull my hand away. Her whimpers are such intoxicating things I am this close to giving her what she wants. But not now. Not tonight. Tonight, I’m getting what I want.

I scoop my hands beneath her with one thigh on either side of my waist as I pick her up. Once we’re standing, I don’t thrust home. She’s grinding on me, trying to take me inside of her as I walk out onto the snow barefoot. The cold has become background noise. I hardly notice it. Not with her on me. She whimpers, “What are you doing?”

But I don’t answer. I’m a man on a mission, and when I find the right tree, I go straight for it. Smooth enough not to hurt her, wide enough to take it. When I brace her back on the tree, she gasps and shouts, “Cold!” But I thrust home, burying myself deep into her pussy, and the cold is forgotten. She screams in delight or in confusion, I’m not sure which. June looks baffled by this turn of events but also elated. Once I’m sure she’s not going to slide on the bark too much, I begin.

Short thrusts, long thrusts, rapid, slow, whatever I feel like at the moment. I’m keeping off-rhythm to draw it out. Savoring the moment is all I want. The hot, wet glide of my cock through her folds is heaven, and I don’t want to stop. Not ever.

She peppers me with kisses and curses, reaching back to brace on the tree with one hand and clawing my shoulder and neck with the other. Her hair goes wild with every thrust, dark brown curls unbound. Snarls pour up from her throat, and in this position, she can’t do anything to stop me from making her come. She can’t get tense or fight it. Her body is mine.

This time, when she crests close to her orgasm, I unleash myself on that pussy.

Her screams echo on the trees as she gushes on me, her body milking mine again and again. Her wetness pours down my shaft, and I let out a prideful growl. I did this to her. I made her lose control. And I’m not stopping.

I bounce her on my cock, memorizing the feel of her, the look on her face, the yearning. She can’t catch her breath. The faint light from the cabin shows her pink cheeks and puffing lips. But instead of slowing down, I press myself to those lips, devouring her cries. Every one of those sounds belongs to me. I earned them.

Her body tries to tense again, so I hammer into her harder, faster. This is why I do so much cardio. To give her the fucking she deserves.

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