“Sleep, baby. You need sleep,” he interrupts.
Too weak to argue and feeling safe for the first time in as long as I can remember, I snuggle against his solid chest and drift off, lulled to sleep by his steady heartbeat.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
wyatt
LEAVING IVY ALONE IN MY BED is harder than I expect it to be. But I’ve got work to do, and she needs the rest after the controlled burn triggered her childhood trauma.
The fire upsetting her was unexpected as well, but I’d felt pulled toward her, as if I’d known without knowing that she needed me.
Tearing myself away from her warm, sleeping body, curled perfectly against mine, is more difficult than I care to admit—even to myself. Somehow, I manage, and now I’ve got to get to the morning meeting and get my head right.
Seeing her in the bar with my brother had broken through a layer of my armor no one ever had. Awakened the possessive beast in me that wanted to claim her there on a pool table with everyone watching.
My dad used to say when he found my mom he knew he’d found his better half, his partner for life, and the woman made especially for him.
We all thought he was a sap. But I was starting to get it,starting to feel things I’ve never felt and I’m not sure what to do about it.
Every time I look at her, my brain and heart go to battle.
I want to fuck her tight little body more than I want my next breath. I’m developing a bone-deep need to make her come. Daily.
Now that I know how she tastes, I’m well and truly fucked. Those soft moans and sweet whimpers will be the death of me. I could eat that sensitive sweet pussy every single day for the rest of my life.
Not only could I, but I want to. Badly.
But I have a bigger problem.
I want tokeepher.
I’ve never wanted to claim a woman in my life.
The ranch has always been my primary responsibility and even before my dad passed, adding a woman to the mix seemed unfair to her and like adding yet another responsibility to my already overextended list. But this one, the one who appeared out of nowhere, as if sent here just to take my breath away, who works alongside me on the ranch and calls itfun, has me reevaluating everything I thought I knew.
It’s a struggle to watch her sleeping in my bed—like the angel that she is—to not wake her up with my face buried between her smooth thighs. I’ve never been addicted to anything—not women, like Isaac; or fixing shit, like Asher; or even breaking the rules, like Caleb. But I’m nearly certain I am addicted to Ivy. To making her smile, to making her come, to watching her tight body writhe beneath me while I torture her with my tongue.
In addition to the sexy little spitfire in my bed, there’s an actual fire I need to check on. The controlled burn ends today, but I’m already thinking up excuses for Ivy to stay at my house instead of going back to her cabin.
After last night though, I have a serious concern about what might happen once I’ve had her.
Once we start, I’ll never be able to stop.
I’ve been drawing parallels between Ivy and Nina but I’m realizing they couldn’t be more different. I’d fooled around with Nina once or twice but I was good with calling it what it was.
A one-off that didn’t mean anything.
But she wasn’t good with that or her ego wasn’t. She wanted more, expected more. When I couldn’t—or wouldn’t—give it to her, all hell broke loose. Because Caleb had given her the ammunition and the power to destroy us. And I’d given her the motivation.
Swallowing thickly as I take one last look at Ivy’s beautiful body in my bed, I’m tempted to stay. To take the day off, which I’ve never done.
I get dressed quietly, but I’ve made my mind up. Fuck no strings and fuck the idea of her leaving in a few days.
I want her. Fuck, I want her so bad that my cock aches, just looking at all that smooth skin and those delicious curves on display. She’s so damn beautiful. She’s genuine and sentimental. Inquisitive. Hardworking. Loyal to a fault.
She’s not the type you fuck and forget.
She’s the kind you marry and thank God for every day for the rest of your life.