Page 48 of Love at First Flight

His gaze rose to hers, those hazel eyes glittering with pleasure. “That’s my girl.” She really did feel like she was his. She wanted to be taken by him, to be something more than temporary, to be able to float up as high as she wanted, but know he was there as an anchor to keep her steady.

He returned to his ministrations, his tongue continuing to stroke through her. Selah’s head dropped backwards as her heartbeat built upon itself. Her fingers dug into the fabric-wrapped struts of the gondola. Every time he murmured the wordCaptain, she panted aYesbecause she couldn’t refuse him. It led to more effort on his part. It turned out that concession, in this case, was not a depressing sense of loss, but a blissful explosion of ecstasy. She hadn’t realized this was a possibility.

Selah’s body wound itself tighter, her pants and moans increasing between beats of his name. When he wrapped his arms around her, pressing his mouth and tongue hard and fast against her, her release burst from her with a cry. He held her there against him, giving her his strength to remain standing as she allowed herself to bask in this.

Shortly after, Dex got up, and redressed her, which was the help she desperately needed. She was so boneless, if she bent over, she’d fall to the floor in an undignified heap. All she could manage was to cling to him, one of her fists gripping his shirt.

Selah needed some time before heading into her mother’s home again. Who knew what her facial expression was at this moment? Probably something close to drunk love. She definitely wasn’t either one of those things. She hadn’t had any of the wine Dex had brought because she didn’t like drinking, even a small amount, the night before a flight. Selah also refused to fall in love with a guy over sex. She couldn’t allow herself to be this pathetic, not when she was destined to be a city girl and he’d always be a state park guy. She wasn’t in love. He wasn’t in love. It was sex. Nothing more.

After he finished fastening her pants, he stood beside her, his focus lazily dragging across her face, his expression similarly close to that of adoration. He sweetly brushed his thumb across her cheekbone. “Hey, Captain,” he said in a soft tone.

“Hey.” She continued gripping his shirt to remain steady, a giggle escaping her lips. She was grinning too hard for it to be normal. Dex may be getting the mistaken impression she actually was drunk love.

He kissed her temple gently before saying, “Good. I don’t want you to ever forget.”

Selah wasn’t sure how she could be in this gondola again and remember anything else.

Chapter Twenty-One

Afew dayslater, Dex was cleaning his place while waiting for Selah to come over after work. She’d mentioned to him earlier, she didn’t have any tours booked the following day and so he was anticipating being able to enjoy and take his time with her all evening long.

“Hey, Harper,” Selah said from the front porch after the rumble of her truck parked in front of his house. Harper replied with excited caws from her normal lookout spot on the railing.

Going to the door, Dex leaned against the frame, watching through the screen as Selah handed something to the bird before she flapped away with her goodie.

“I keep telling you, you’re going to spoil that bird. You don’t need to bring her something every time you come.” Although part of him loved that she did.

Selah smiled. “Stop getting jealous, Ranger. I brought you a gift too.”

Perhaps getting spoiled wasn’t such a bad thing. His excitement at receiving a gift was weird, considering he was a thirty-two-year-old man, who was serious and had a serious job. He wasn’t a child nor a bird with an affinity for tiny trinkets—unless the tiny trinket became a cute nickname pertaining to Selah. Either way, he swung the screened door open, welcoming her inside.

Her hands remained behind her back, doing her best to hide his gift as she entered the home. “Don’t get too excited. I wasn’t very creative this time, so you both get the same thing.”

He hadn’t paid attention before Harper had flown off, so he had no idea what it could be. “I’m hoping for something better than literal trash.” In his mindbetterimplied something physical with the woman, and he didn’t need a special gift as much as he needed her naked.

“It’s not trash to Harper as much as it’s finding a treasure. I think it’s kind of fun looking for things, like a scavenger hunt. I can see why it appeals to her. Now quit stalling and pick a hand.” Her expression was one of mischief, and he wanted to kiss it right off her face.

Dex approached until he was close enough to loom over her, encroaching into her space as though he was going to kiss her. He was tempted, really tempted, but he also enjoyed her reaction to his proximity. Her breath quickened, her lips parted, and her gaze dropped. His own body reacted to this of its own accord, as though she couldn’t get worked up without him getting worked up alongside her.

“Right,” he said.

“You sure?”

He snaked his arm around her side, sliding it to her hand until he could claim whatever was inside. “Looks like I chose correctly.”

“Mm-hmm.” She surrendered the item, her skin tone blushing. He took advantage of the situation, kissing her lips and her mouth opened to him readily, letting him appreciate the taste and feel of her like enjoying a fine wine. He considered dragging her to his bedroom or the couch... even the small kitchen table he never used was becoming a good option. Why settle for a party favor when he could take the whole grand prize?

Before he could make a decision on where to drag her to, she pulled away. “What are you trying to do? Seduce me?”

“If it’s not obvious, then I’m not doing a very good job. Let me try again.”

Selah laughed, slipping away from him. In her other hand, she held a small brown lunch bag filled with something smelling delicious, taking it to the couch and removing her shoes.

The goodie bag left in his hand was a small Ziploc bag of marionberries.

“Those are what was left on my mom’s plant. They’re very sweet and pretty ripe, but not enough of them to make a pie or anything. My mom’s been making jam and trying to sell them to passengers. I’m sure Harper is in heaven right now.” She popped a berry she had in her hand into her mouth before pulling the tinfoil wrapped items from the bag. They were about the size and general shape of burritos. “Can you get some napkins for us?”

“Did you know marionberries are pretty much grown exclusively in Oregon?” he informed her as he went into the kitchen to grab some paper towels.

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