Page 12 of Her Grumpy Cowboy

“It’s okay. It all worked out. Lindsay was already planning to move back here after graduation. She convinced me to come with her. Around that time, she heard about a new ballet school opening in Cooper Hills. They needed teachers, and with my dancing dreams sidelined, it felt like the universe was giving me a second chance. Almost like a sign.”

Luke nods, understanding softening his gaze. “I’m glad she did. I can’t imagine Cooper Hills without you now.” His words send a ripple of warmth through me.

“I’m glad, too,” I say softly.

In the next heartbeat, Luke shifts closer, cupping my face with his hands. His thumb grazes my cheek as his eyes flick down to my lips.

And then he’s kissing me.

Luke kisses like he does everything else - with absolute focus and devastating skill. His lips move over mine, coaxing and teasing, until I open for him with a sigh. He licks into my mouth, exploring me with a sensual hunger that leaves me weak.

As his tongue tangles with mine, I forget that he’s nearly a decade older, that I’m his daughter’s teacher, that we’re from completely different worlds.

In this moment, none of it matters.

There is only Luke and the scorching heat building between us with every slide of our mouths.

His hand finds its way up my thigh, between my legs, and just like that, I’m on fire. My murmur of pleasure spurs him on, and he cups me through my leggings.

“Can I touch you here, baby?” Luke rasps. The desperation in his tone sends a flood of heat straight to my core. “I want to feel how soft you are inside.”

“Yes.” My hips arch instinctively toward his hand. “Please.”

With a groan, Luke slips his hand beneath the waistband of my leggings. His rough fingers slide over my slick flesh and I gasp, my head falling back against the blanket. He teases me with feather-light caresses, tracing the shape of me until I’m writhing beneath his touch.

“You’re so wet,” he murmurs, wonder and desire mingling in his deep voice. “So ready for me.”

I can only whimper in response, lost to the exquisite sensations he’s creating with every stroke of his fingers. When he finally slides one thick finger inside me, I nearly come undone right then and there. My inner muscles clench greedily around him, drawing him deeper.

Luke sets a maddeningly slow pace, pumping his finger in and out as his thumb finds my aching clit. He rubs the sensitive bundle of nerves in tight circles, and I see stars, pleasure coiling tighter and tighter in my belly. His touch is electric, igniting every nerve ending until I’m nothing but a trembling, desperate mess.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he coaxes. “Make that sweet sound for me.”

His voice is a warm rumble, grounding me even as my body floats on the edge of something spectacular.

A second finger joins the first, stretching me deliciously, and my back arches off the blanket. I cling to him, fingers digging into his shoulders as my moans fill the space between us.

He leans in, his lips brushing against my ear as he whispers words of encouragement that I can barely process. My world narrows to the points where we are connected—his fingers inside me, his thumb over my clit, the solid warmth of his body beside mine.

“I’m gonna?—”

My breath catches as the tension snaps, sending waves of pure bliss crashing through me.

I cry out his name, clutching him tight as pleasure consumes me.

He doesn’t stop until I’m spent and boneless beneath him, panting and pulsing with aftershocks. Slowly, he eases his fingers from me, leaving me feeling empty and aching for more.

“You look so pretty when you come,” Luke murmurs. His eyes are dark with desire as they roam over my flushed face. “So gorgeous, falling apart for me like that.”

A shiver runs through me at his words. I’ve never felt more exposed, more vulnerable. But with Luke, it feels right. Safe. I reach up to brush my fingers along his stubbled jaw.

“You make me feel so good,” I whisper. “I want more.”

Luke’s eyes go dark with lust. “How much more, baby?”

“I want you inside me,” I tell him. “I want to feel you come.”

Luke inhales sharply. “Are you sure, baby? We don’t have to rush this.”

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