Page 55 of Mess With Me
“Eth!” She propped up on his chest and gave him a disgruntled look.
He framed her face with his hands. “Stay till morning and I’ll show you. I promise to get you to work on time.”
Her eyes went soft and she quickly looked away, focusing on a spot near his ear. “This isn’t a relationship if I spend the night.”
He stroked her back, soothing her. She was skittish; he understood why now. He wanted to throttle Dean but, at the same time, thank him for letting Ally go. She didn’t belong with a man who couldn’t deal with the consequences of his actions.
She belonged with him.
He cupped the back of her neck, drew her down, and kissed her gently. “We don’t need a label.”
She relaxed, shifting to his side. “Okay, I’ll spend the night.” She shimmied off her jeans and tossed them.
He let out a quiet breath of relief, turned off the light on the nightstand, made sure the blanket was on both of them, and pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She cuddled up against his side, resting her head on his chest right over his heart.
With no prompting from him, she got chatty, telling him all about her new goals, dreams, and quest for fulfilling experiences now that she was solo married. He liked that she confided in him. He didn’t even raise a peep of concern when she said she was seriously thinking of taking that job with Claire. She was ready for adventure. He let her get it all out, making sure he responded with encouraging comments when appropriate, but all he could think was, get it out of your system. Go nuts. And then come back to me.
Because this wasn’t a onetime thing.
All cuddled up like that, her softness pressed close, filled him with satisfaction. He’d intended another round or two, but the sheer contentment of holding her made him relax into a deep sleep.
He woke early as usual and took her in, her blond hair mussed, her cheeks pink, her lashes resting on her soft cheeks, her sexy mouth with the dip at the top lip and the fullness of her lower lip, those luscious breasts.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Hi.”
He smiled, his chest aching like his heart would burst at this moment he’d longed for with every cell in his being—waking up with a woman who made him smile. “Hi.”
“What time is it?”
“Still early. Only six.”
She stretched. “I usually get up at seven.”
“Gives us time for what women want.”
“And just how do you know this fact?” she asked, all saucy.
He kissed her smiling mouth. “Spread your legs for me, beautiful.”
Her breath hitched and she immediately threw back the covers, pulled off her panties, and did as he asked. He went rock hard and then had to rein himself in with the tight restraint needed to control himself. He’d always been barely leashed energy. Ally was special and deserved what tenderness he could give.
He started with gentle kisses on her sexy mouth, pausing frequently to gaze into her wide blue eyes, so open and trusting despite her best efforts to protect herself. She didn’t have it in her to turn off her open loving nature. He reminded himself to take care. When he was sure he had enough control, he shifted down her body, proving he knew exactly what he was talking about. Yeah, he went down on her. All women wanted that. Just like all guys loved a blowjob.
And she loved it. Her nails dug into his shoulders, her hips rose up to meet him, she moaned and whimpered, and he held her to his pace, slowing down when she was close, more aggressive when she relaxed. When he finally pushed her over the edge, she bowed off the mattress with a keening cry.
When he rose up over her and grinned, she grabbed him and hugged him tight, thanking him profusely. That only made him want to do it more. But she begged him to fuck her, so what could he do?
Much later, she cheerfully made them both breakfast, French toast with scrambled eggs, all while telling him about her first-grade class and the plans she had for the week. He made the coffee, practically whistling to himself. It was clear she loved kids despite her restless quest for life outside the classroom. Like him, she had a lot of energy. He could easily picture her raising wild energetic kids who hiked and fished and camped. His blood, his family.
Rein it in.
She joined him at the table a short while later and, even though he usually just had coffee in the morning, he ate everything with gusto. She asked him about himself and he gave her small pieces of it, his closeness with the Campbell family and his foster brother, Zach, his satisfaction with his job, his tight ties to the community. She already understood about his love for the outdoors. He left out the harsher side of his life—his crummy childhood bouncing from the orphanage to a series of foster homes. Left out the seedier side of his job—the arrests that had turned violent, requiring him to subdue the perp, the ugly domestic situations he’d been called into. He wouldn’t sully her. He wanted to keep her just like this—untouched by the harsher side of life. Besides, no one wanted to hear the sob story of an orphan who’d never been adopted. It made him look pathetic, the boy nobody wanted. He’d made a man of himself through sheer determination and the support of his chosen family, the Campbells.
“You ever been camping?” he asked.
“I did an overnight with the Girl Scouts once,” she replied. “We all slept in a huge log cabin like a giant slumber party.”
“No, I mean real camping. Like sleeping under the stars.”
