I run my knuckles over the warm center of her, touching her softly on the outside as we look at each other. When her breathing stutters and her eyes start to go glassy, I slip beneath the fabric and kiss her again, slowly circling my tongue around the inside of her mouth as my fingers circle the entrance to her pussy.
With a small moan, she gives in, sliding her fingers into my hair.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” I keep my touch surface level, rubbing up and down her soft, wet slit with my fingers. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I’m gonna make you feel so good you’re going to wish you’d told the truth a lot sooner.”
Her eyelids flutter shut, her mouth dropping into a perfect O. Desire burns through me like a hot, consuming fire and I lick into her mouth again, sucking her tongue and swallowing all the little sounds she’s making. When my thumb sweeps her clit, her hips jerk, moving to meet my hand. Sensing that she’s close, I touch her a little harder, and she kisses me hungrily, grabbing at my hair as she comes. Her roughness, her responsiveness—shit, I’m so hard it hurts. I’m not even inside her, but she’s pulling me in like a riptide.
“You still want to keep this platonic?” I whisper, kissing her ear. “Because I don’t.”
“I don’t know what I want,” she says after a moment, her voice shaky. She releases me from her death-grip, her arms lax around me. “And I don’t know what youwant from me. From this.”
No more teasing, then. Dropping a kiss onto her throat, I pull myhand out of her shorts and bring her up so she’s sitting across from me. Post-orgasm Evie is a stunner, with her rosy cheeks and swollen lips.
“I want you to be honest with me, for one thing,” I say. “Even when it’s hard. I promise I’ll do the same.”
She nods haltingly, her eyes watchful like she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“I also want to see if you blush all over.”
She bites down on her lip, trying not to smile.
“I wanna know if you used to have dirty dreams about me, and if you did, I wanna act them out,” I add, smirking.
“God,” she says with a pained laugh, covering her face.
I release her hair from its messy, grass-studded bun, watching it fall around her shoulders. “We’re already married, Evie,” I say, leaning in to kiss her again. “We might as well have fun.”
We spendthe next couple of hours moving the remainder of Evie’s belongings out of the rental and into her new home. She keeps sneaking peeks at me, trying to hide her pink-cheeked smiles, and I keep catching her because I’m always looking at her, too. Who’d have thought that sweet, nerdy Evie Doyle would grow up into the sexy badass she is now? I can’t wait to get her alone again. I’ve been sporting a semi since our playtime in the garden.
I want to feel her from the inside out, lose myself in her. But I want her to lose herself in me, too. I want her honesty, her reactions. No more bullshit. I want to see what she’s like when she’s not holding back.
Evie thinks that she’s moving out, but in reality,we’removing out. I don’t want her by herself all the way out here where she’ll be isolated and vulnerable. Myrtle’s estate isn’t quite the boondocks, but it’s more remote than I’d like so I’ll be staying with Evie. Finn, Malachi, and Timmy are going to have to move, too. I’m gonna have to find them a place nearby. I want them close enough to call, but not so close that they’ll be able to hear Evie screaming my name when I fuck her into next week.
An internet search yielded a couple of available spacious Airbnbsnearby, so maybe we can grab one for them and the new crew, who are already on their way down.
After ferrying the last of Evie’s plants from the back of the SUV, I plop my suitcase and gym bag onto the floor of the foyer and shut the door. Evie’s in the front room, on her knees, releasing Juniper and Poppy from their pet carrier. She looks up at the sound of the door, her eyes zeroing in on my bags. “You planning on staying here, too?”
“Why? Don’t you want me here?” I tease, watching Juniper step cautiously around her new surroundings.
“I don’t know.” Evie stands, brushing her hands off. “I guess I thought our living arrangement was out of necessity. I didn’t think you actually wanted to cohabitate.”
“That’s generally what married couples do,” I say, going for nonchalance as I approach her. "Besides, leaving you alone out here just doesn't feel right."
She looks at the floor, nodding in agreement. “I know, but I don't want you to feel trapped or obligated to stay.”
I tip her chin up, wanting her eyes on me. I can see it’s going to take some convincing to make Evie understand she’s not the only one feeling things. This is where it gets sticky. Our marriage started as a means of protection: protecting Evie, protecting my family’s interests. But the way I feel is evolving. It snuck up on me, too—I’ve been so focused on the distillery and Randall and the Deschamps that I didn’t realize I was also falling for the girl. Somehow, over card games and late-night dinners and all that teasing, this fondness started taking root in my heart. I told myself it was just a byproduct of living together, of all that proximity, but now I’m wondering if it was something more.
Granted, I fall easily—my family calls me a hopeless romantic. I’ve been a sucker for cute girls since Nia Richie in the third grade. Things happened backwards with Evie, though. Usually, a woman’s looks draws me in, then her personality. But I knew Evie first because we have history.
When I saw Evie this time around, that first morning on her father’s porch, it was like seeing her with new eyes. I registered that she was beautiful, but she was still just Evie, and had she not admitted to liking me, I’d never have pursued her. I’d have chalked up my attraction to aphysical reaction and left it at that. But in reciprocating, she opened up a realm of possibility for us.
I’ve had a lot ofloves. How unreal would it be if the girl I’ve known forever turned out to be the real one?
“You should know by now that I do what I want, Evie. I married you because it made sense, but I’m staying here because I want to.” I brush my thumb over her lips. “And I can’t leave you alone because I wantyou.”
“Oh,” she breathes, understanding dawning.
My heartbeat, unexpectedly, picks up. I lean in, stopping when I’m a breath away. Every time we do this, the lines get blurrier. Maybe I’m as confused as she is. But then her lips are on mine, soft and tentative. I kiss her back, wrapping my arms around her waist and her hands come up, twining behind my neck. It’s a sexy kiss, one that heats up fast.