Page 17 of Merry with a Ranger

And the whole time, he never took his eyes off me.

His mouth full of the taste of me—I knew because he climbed up my body, kissing me long and sweet afterward as he rolled on a condom one handed—Nash pressed his thick length at my entrance and pushed in. My fear evaporated by then, and I wound myself around him, my body and heart welcoming the man who held me together over an entire decade, showing me pleasure and pain, adoration after emptiness.

He started slow, but Nash never did anything sweet, not all the way. That edge of danger was always present, always there with him. Once he knew I was alright, his hips slammed into mine as he claimed me over and over. I kissed him back between the noises he bred from me, finding how our bodies and souls fit together after all that time.

This time when I screamed, it was his name into his chest as he cradled me tight to him. I licked the salt of him away as I came down, but he wasn’t done. Determination lit his darkened eyes as he marked me inside and out as his. I clung to him and rode the overdose of pleasure out, my mind a splintered mess only holding on enough to hear what he whispered, his lips pressed to my sweat-slicked skin before he roared my name over me, his grip as possessive as his last kisses as the sun rose and the fairytale shattered.

Three words I would cling to no matter what came next for both of us.

“I love you.”

Still.

CHAPTER 7

NASH

We both knew she couldn’t stay. Bonnie dozed beside me, one eye on the cheap bedside clock that went off the first night I stayed in the resort at the wrong hour that someone who stayed in the room before me set for some ungodly time and forgot to change before they left.

I promptly reset the thing and forgot about it. Now, I hoped the damn thing failed and never went off ever again.

Bonnie shifted, rolling to face me. “I can feel you watching me,” she murmured with her eyes closed.

I trailed my hand along her waist, over the curve of her hips, though she was so slight, there was barely anything of her. I swore I’d change that, at least a little. What her father did to her…he might try to protect the women in his life, but in his desperation he’d become selfish and cruel.

But that wasn’t her worry right now.

“So beautiful.” I leaned down and captured her mouth with mine, kissing her long and slow, savoring the sweet taste of her. All stunning and innocent, no matter what she seemed to think.

Years too late, I got the second chance with her I needed, always craved, and never expected to earn. Bonnie sighed beneath me as I pulled her in closer, discarding the notion of time or her father, or her watchdogs. Fuck them all. Right now she was mine, and I refused to give her up.

“Happy Christmas Eve,” I murmured against her mouth.

“Is it?” She stared up at me, confusion creasing fine lines around her eyes.

Somehow that made her more beautiful. I wanted all the years with her we missed in between and swore to her and myself silently in my head I’d find a way to make it work for us. Now I had her in my arms again, there was no way I’d let her go. Bonnie Little was the best Christmas present I’d ever had. If I had my way, she’d be Bonnie Mercer come the new year.

If she let me. But by the way her lips twisted prettily as her mind caught up said she wouldn’t push me away. At least, not right now. Neither of us put on clothes after I fucked her into the mattress earlier. What started slow blew out fairly fast, which meant I owed my girl an apology.

But when I pressed her onto her back, settling my weight over her, Bonnie’s hands shoved lightly at my chest. I backed up in a hurry, and it was my turn to frown. “Did I hurt you? Scare you?” I checked in, cupping her face, pressing my thumb over her pulse point, but her rhythm remained steady, and slow.

“Nope.” She popped the ‘p’ softly, shaking her head and pushed on my chest again. “Off.” When I still didn’t move, staring down at her intently, she clicked her tongue, the only sign of impatience she offered. “Nash? You got your fantasy time in. Now it’s my turn.”

Finally, a smile spread over my lips. “You got it.” I kissed her again as I peeled my body from hers, barely able to keep my mouth off her, sliding my tongue along hers.

She moaned as she let me roll us, settling her body over mine, her thighs spread to straddle either side of me. When I opened my eyes she sat over me, her dripping pussy rubbing gently over my cock that knew her heat like its own. I caught her hips, but she swatted my hands away, her eyes glowing.

“No, I want to do this myself.”

Swallowing back my need to control each grind of her hips along my stiffening length, I tucked my hands behind my head, lacing my fingers together with a supreme effort of willpower. “I’m all yours, love. Anything you want to do.”

“Anything, huh?” Bonnie rocked gently against me, slicking me with our mixed fluids, and earning herself a groan from my lips. I couldn’t hold back if I wanted to, and there was nothing I wanted to hide from this girl.

The way she looked at me made me wonder if I hadn’t just thrown myself in the deep end, but how much trouble could an almost-virginal, twenty-something cloistered ex-girlfriend be?

The moment she slithered along my body, gliding those kiss-bitten lips over my cock and licked my balls, I knew I was screwed. Or about to be.

I should have studied the ceiling. The light fixtures. An errant, missed cobweb.

---