Page 106 of When We Burn

“Are you telling me that Birdie is out of the house for the next thirty-six hours, I’m not at work, and you’re planning to fill that time with laundry?” I shake my head at her as I cross to her and turn off the tap. “The apples are clean. Let them drain. I want you to go sit on that couch and put your feet up.”

She sighs, her shoulders droop, and then she smiles up at me.

“As long as you’re the one giving me the foot rub.”

“I don’t know if you’ve missed it, but no one else is ever going to have his hands on you again.”

She blinks at that and then simply saunters over to the couch, where she follows my orders and sits, peels off her socks, and wiggles her adorable toes.

After I get her settled in the corner of the couch, with her legs up on my lap, I start massaging the arches of her feet, and she groans.

“Oh, you’re good at that.”

“You’re on your feet a lot.”

“Most of the day,” she confirms, watching me with relaxed eyes. “I’m used to it now. For that first year, I thought I was going to die. Being a teacher, especially to the littler kids, is a physical job.”

“What made you decide to be a teacher?” I reach for the other foot and dig my thumb into her heel.

“I like kids,” she says. “And I liked the idea of the schedule that being a teacher affords. You know, holidaysand summers off, and there’s good benefits and retirement. It’s a responsible job.”

“A grown-up job.” I chuckle and then rub up her calf, making her moan.

“A stable job,” she adds. “After all the crap my dad handed out, I really wanted something stable. The rules, the schedule, even the curriculum. There are no surprises, you know? I don’t love surprises.”

“You just haven’t had the good kind.”

She shakes her head and then pulls her leg out of my grasp and crawls over to straddle my lap, and my hands immediately find purchase on her ass.

She really does have a stellar back end.

“Your job is nothing but surprises,” she murmurs against my lips and then moans deep in her throat as she’s the one to take the kiss much deeper. She grinds against me, and I’m straining against the zipper of my jeans.

Suddenly, she shimmies back off my lap, falls to her knees, and nudges my legs aside, nestling herself between them.

“Off.” She unfastens my pants, and I lift my hips so she can work the denim, along with my boxer briefs, off, then tosses them aside, and wraps her petite, magical hands around my shaft, making me suck in a breath.

“You don’t have…ah, shit.” She licks over the crown, over the slit, and my skin tingles.

“You had me out of my mind in that orchard.” She licks the underside of my cock, up the vein there, and I groan. “You made me come and drove me wild up against that tree.”

“And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

She hums and opens wide, taking me into her mouth and sinking over me until I can feel the back of her throat before she moves back up again, her lips gripping me tightly.

“Christ, sweetheart.”

“I wanted to do this there.” She sinks over me again, this time loosening her jaw and relaxing her throat, taking me even deeper. Her eyes water, but she doesn’t gag, and suddenly, my T-shirt is too tight, so I whip it over my head and toss it aside.

I want to pick her up and sink inside her, then fuck her until she’s screaming. Especially because Birdie’s not here, and she can be as loud as she needs to be.

But I’ll let her control this and see where she takes it.

“It was about you, not me.”

Those hot, lust-filled eyes narrow as she pulls back up, then swipes that fucking talented tongue around the tip.

“Now, it’s about you.”

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