Page 125 of Fragile Heart

Don’t fuck it up this time.

As if the last time was actually my fault.

I roll my eyes and focus on the gorgeous woman in front of me again. Her jeans hug her ass in a way that has my mouth watering. She’s wearing a simple tee I’ve never seen on her before, but the dark blue is gorgeous against her skin. She picks over the rocks in the trail, her breathing growing ragged as we work up the worst of the grade.

“Nearly there,” I tell her, needing to soothe her.

She doesn’t stiffen this time, simply looking over her shoulder with pursed lips.

“Someday I’m going to find a hike that you have to work for, too,” she says, full of sass I’ve never heard from her.

Giddiness floods my chest. I grin and grab her hand, lacing our fingers together.

“Oh, I’m working for it,” I say, sliding my phone back into my pocket and readjusting my hard as fuck dick. Her cheeks flush. “Any trail where I’m behind you, I’m working for it.”

She shakes her head in exasperation as the trail opens into the small meadow. The creek runs lower than it did in June, and most of the wildflowers are gone, leaving only the longer prairie grasses and low growing shrubs behind. It makes it more green than before. I soak it in, committing it to my memory. Every single detail of this afternoon with her deserves to be remembered.

I slip my phone out of the pocket of my jeans and take a couple photos for good measure. As I’m putting it away, Brielle turns to me.

“So who did you bribe for this picnic?” she asks, another devious smirk on her lips.

She runs a finger along the backpack’s strap on my shoulder. I pull her to me and kiss her until she’s breathless and writhing against me, her lavender scent filling the air.

“Mom,” I tell her when I finally pull away. “I don’t want anyone else to know yet.”

Her look softens. “Know what?”

I kiss her nose and then cup her cheeks.

“That I’m claiming you today,” I whisper.

Her breath hitches, and her eyes widen. But her scent only grows stronger as she covers my hand with hers.

“Really?” Her voice is a whisper between us. I run my thumb along her cheek, soaking her in. When I nod, she smiles, the movement lighting up her eyes. “Well, at least I won’t accidentally drop into my heat this time.”

I laugh, and she leans into me, my hips bumping into her stomach. Shit, she’s tiny.

“Definitely a bonus,” I murmur. And then I’m kissing her again, not pulling away until I’m hard and aching and she’s whimpering into my mouth.

“Let’s at least get the picnic set up,” I say, humor dripping from my voice. “So I can pretend this was romantic and all that.”

And to keep me from pushing her up against a tree and taking her hard and fast. But I won’t admit to that out loud. She smiles and steps away, walking deeper into the small clearing.

It only takes me a few minutes to lay out the blanket and arrange the picnic, the small containers of food sitting centered between our outstretched legs. Once we’ve worked our way through most of the food Mom packed, Brielle relaxes on the blanket, leaning back on her hand in mirror of my own laid back pose. Her hand brushes mine, and cinnamon bleeds out from me. The forest moves around us, birds chirping and the wind brushing through the trees. The creek burbles, and I close my eyes, relaxing into the feel of it all.

“Strawberry?” she asks. My eyes flutter open to find her grabbing one of the large fruits from the dish.

I’m not overly interested in one, but I won’t miss a chance to flirt.

I let my lips brush her fingers as I take a bite, and her breath hitches, lavender swirling around us. Her cheeks flush, and her throat moves with her swallow.

“Caleb,” she whispers. It’s full of the same breathless anticipation that’s making my entire body focus on her. “Knot me.”

She doesn’t need to ask me twice.

I wrap my hand into her hair, palming the nape of her neck, and pull her to me. Her lips are soft but ravenous, and it’s only a few moments before I’m a raging inferno of need.

Her skin, her scent, her whimpers. Fuck, I need them all. I need her slick dripping down my my dick while I bond her, claim her like I’ve wanted to do from the moment I smelled her perfume in Mom’s coffee shop. I roll us until she’s sprawled on her back, her hair falling out of its ponytail and draping around her, falling over the edge of the blanket.

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