Page 67 of Isolated
Hidden in the dense grove, the hand Landen had at my waist drifted down over the curve of my ass, squeezing. His lips made their way to my ear as his hand that had been in my hair made its journey down along the side of my neck. “Do you know,” he started, those fingertips moving lightly over my collarbone, “what you do to me, Iris?” His fingers were barely a whisper on my skin as they dipped down to the exposed skin between my breasts. “What you’ve been doing to me for months?”
A shiver ran along my spine.
His hand squeezed my ass again before he took my earlobe between his teeth. The fingers between my breasts continued to stroke lightly over my skin. Goosebumps broke out along my flesh, my nipples pebbling beneath my clothes. “If it’s any consolation, sunshine, I’ve wanted to see you naked for a long time.”
Sunshine.
Landen just called me sunshine and admitted he’d wanted to see me naked for a long time. Maybe I wasn’ttotally upset that he wanted to kick his own ass for waiting to do something about his attraction to me.
And perhaps we didn’t need to wait to take that step. We could do that and still get to know one another. I saw no reason we couldn’t do both.
My voice was husky, revealing just how much he affected me when I countered, “So why aren’t you taking me home to make that happen?”
Sliding his head back a touch, he pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. Then he pulled back completely to look me in the eyes. His hands moved back to my hips, and I wondered if he could see the heat and desire swirling in my stare.
“I think that would happen if I wasn’t thoroughly enjoying this buildup.” He reached behind me and plucked an apple off the tree. Holding it in front of his face, he inhaled before taking a bite. “I’m okay with a little delayed gratification. It’s proven to be quite rewarding so far.”
If he continued to tease me like he was, I didn’t know if I’d last.
As though sensing my dismay, Landen chuckled. “It’ll happen soon enough, sunshine. And when it does, I’ll make sure it’s worth the wait. Everything else has been so far, there’s not a chance that won’t be as well. I’m going to devour every inch of your gorgeous body, and I’m not going to stop until you’re so sated, so exhausted, that the intense workout from a few weeks ago will feel like a walk in the park.”
My body was aching. I was throbbing between my legs, my breasts felt heavy, and there was a tingling flutter in my chest right where his fingers had been touching me moments before.
Such promise in those words. Such determination.
“I thought you said you weren’t a performer.”
“Not for an audience. But for you…” He grinned mischievously and arched a neatly groomed brow before he took another bite of the apple. He held it up to my mouth and offered it to me. I took a bite, keeping my eyes on his and noting how they never left my lips as I chewed.
We stood there, sharing the remainder of the apple, nothing but lingering stares and knowing smiles passing between us.
Then Landen bent to pick up our basket, so we could continue filling it. And when we’d finally made our way through the rest of the orchard, our basket overflowing with apples, Landen paid for them, adding in a few extra dollars for the one we had while hidden between the trees.
I never imagined an apple picking date could have ever been so erotic.
TWENTY
Landen
“I don’t think you ever answered my question.”
I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I’d practiced so much restraint. If one thing could be said, Iris was not making it easy on me.
The way she’d offered her body up to me, telling me to take her home… I didn’t know how I found the strength not to drag her out of that orchard, abandoning our basket of apples in the process.
I would have.
God, I desperately wanted to have that with her.
But this woman made me want to do everything right.
And while there wasn’t anything I thought that would be wrong about taking that step with her, I simply didn’t want to rush a single thing and risk screwing up my chance to have something meaningful with her.
Fortunately, Iris seemed to be enjoying the heatbuilding between us. She liked the flirting and playfulness just as much as I did.
I could be content for a long while with intimate moments like we’d had earlier today in the orchard. But there were limits to how much I could take all at once, which is why I decided it was best to bring her out for lunch after we finished our morning of apple-picking.
Taking her home immediately was out of the question, because I wasn’t quite ready to be done spending time with her today, and I needed just a bit of time with as much distance as I could bear to put between us. I figured a table at a restaurant would do the trick and cool just a bit of the burn I felt for her.
