Page 40 of Only Ever You
When we got back to my house, a giddy sense of joy was spinning inside. I was just so plain happy to have Parker home. Fuzzy had no qualms about containing his happiness. He spun in circles and yipped in excitement when we let him out of the car. Parker played fetch with him for a few minutes. I watched from the porch, realizing I could get used to this.
This feeling of being at my little house with a happy dog and Parker, it felt like home. This moment in time held everything I’d craved in those years when my parents were crisscrossing Alaska and the country. Stability, a place to call my own, and a person there with me for all of it.
Fuzzy brought back the ball one last time, and Parker turned to approach the porch where I stood halfway up the steps. Emotion rushed up, crashing through me while tears stung my eyes.
Parker stopped in front of me at the base of the stairs, while Fuzzy circled my legs. I buried a hand in his fur, stroking through it as Fuzzy leaned against my legs.
Parker’s eyes were level with mine where he stood one step below me. “Are you okay?” he asked, a line appearing between his brows, a little furrow of worry, as concern chased through his gaze.
I felt silly, overcome with emotion to have him home and feeling all of these mundane, domestic thoughts. “I’m good, I promise. Really good.”
His gaze softened as he took a step closer. He caught my free hand with his and palmed my cheek with the other, leaning close to brush a kiss over my lips. “I’m really glad to be home, Luna,” he murmured over my lips when he lifted his head.
My belly filled with butterflies, tingles radiating everywhere. “I’m really glad you’re here,” I whispered.
Fuzzy shimmied between our legs, and we glanced down together. The sound of Parker’s chuckle spun into the sensations in my body. It felt like the windows to my heart had been thrown wide open, and his presence was filling me with sunshine and light and happiness.
Just then, Parker’s stomach growled. A chuckle rustled in his throat. “I guess I don’t have to tell you I’m hungry.”
A little while later, Fuzzy was happily asleep in the living room. I’d made a quick dinner for Parker, one of my staples from our years on the road, a simple meal of pasta with whatever veggies I had on hand, a dash of red peppers with feta and olive oil. It was tasty, filling, and yummy.
When he told me he’d missed my donuts, I used the dough I already had and made him some on the spot. I glanced at the timer on the stove as I tucked away the last dish in the dishwasher. “Three minutes,” I tossed over my shoulder.
“Luna, you didn’t have to do all this.”
“You’ve been away, and you needed a shower.” I grinned over at him as I dried my hands on a dish towel. “You were filthy,” I pointed out.
He threw his head back with a laugh. “I was. Hazards of the job. Normally, we would land and go back to the station, and I would shower there, but you met me at the airport.”
Airports in small Alaskan towns were officially airports, but nothing like an airport in a big area. There was a small runway as they mostly serviced the array of small single-engine and two-engine planes that dotted the skies of Alaska on a daily basis. Even in isolated rural areas, there were small landing strips for planes to land. Some of the Alaskan native villages that served as hubs for the other areas had over one hundred planes a day pass through. With Alaska’s vast geography, the small planes were even called air taxis and functioned as such.
“How’s your shoulder?” I asked.
Parker leaned back in his chair, rolling said shoulder lightly. “It’s fine. A little sore, but it’s just a cut.”
Pressing my lips together, I narrowed my eyes. “You make it seem like it’s the equivalent of a paper cut. Graham wouldn’t have insisted you get cleared at the urgent care walk-in if he didn’t think it was important.”
Parker let out a sigh. “It’s just deep enough that there could’ve been a risk of infection. The clinic confirmed I’m good to go.”
I tossed the dish towel on the counter and walked across the kitchen, leaning down to press a kiss on his cheek. He slid his arm around my waist and brought his mouth to mine. A moment later, my knees were weak after he laid a tongue-tangling kiss on me. We broke apart when the oven buzzer went off.
My breath was coming in heaves, and I could barely stand. “I have to take those out,” I rasped.
His palm smoothed over my hip before he gave my bottom a squeeze. “Hurry and then come right back.”
On wobbly knees, I crossed the kitchen to take the donuts out of the oven and put them on top. Seconds later, I was standingbefore him again, and he tugged me onto his lap. I straddled him as our kisses melted from one into the next. My hips rocked over the hard ridge of his arousal, and I could feel the slick moisture in my core. I was restless, reckless, and desperate for him. I whimpered when he blazed a trail of wet kisses down my neck, his teeth grazing lightly.
He unbuttoned my blouse, swiftly snapping open the clasp between my breasts. He cupped them, his thumbs teasing over my aching nipples just before his mouth closed over one. He gave a hard suck, and my hands speared his hair as I let out a sharp cry.
“I need you.” His voice was husky and commanding at once.
We stared at each other, breath heaving, and all I knew was I needed him. The next few moments were a messy scramble. Shimmying off his lap, I kicked my jeans off.
We couldn’t stop touching each other as we fumbled. I wanted to feel his skin, and I slid my hand up under his shirt, savoring the heat emanating from him. He tugged his shirt up over his head. We were in too much of a rush. He stumbled and almost fell when I swiftly unbuttoned his jeans to slide my hand in and curl it around his hot, velvety length. He almost knocked the chair over, tugging me close as he sat down.
Just when I was about to straddle him and sink down over his length, he stopped me with his palm gripping my hip tightly. “We need a condom,” he bit out.
“I’m on birth control,” I whispered.
