Page 76 of A Reckless Memory

If Sutton moved to Crocus Valley, Aggie would have her best friend pretty much next door. Her family was only hours away. She had her own business and a place that was her dream. The same thought from earlier filtered through my head. Crocus Valley was perfect for her. I had no plans to leave Aggie’s side soon, but she was growing deeper roots in the area with each passing month, and I still felt like a transient.

* * *

Aggie and I tumbled through the door from her garage into a mudroom. I hauled her toward me.

I buried my face in her coconut-sunset-smelling hair. “I miss you wearing jeans so I could hook my fingers in your belt loops and you couldn’t get away.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” She twined her arms around my neck. We’d barely made it inside. After kissing her when the new year hit and thinking about how much differently the year had ended compared to when it’d begun, I wanted our clothes gone and to be inside her.

I kissed up the column of her throat, and she tipped her head back. Wrestling with her coat zipper and mine, we finally dumped them on the floor.

Claws tapping on the floor alerted us to Tex’s approach.

“Shit. He might need to go outside.”

The dog’s potty break put my lust on hold. I gave him some ear scratches and let him outside. I leaned against the front door and watched Aggie step out of her tall boots. She caught me watching.

“Can I help you?” The suggestion in her voice was enough to make me think we could fit a quickie in during Tex’s potty break.

“One day, you’re going to wear nothing but those boots to bed.”

She tossed her head in a cocky way that did it for me. It’d always done it for me. “I thought you wanted to fuck the polish off me?”

Chuckling, I strolled toward her, slowly, deliberately, so she’d know once I reached her, all bets were off. “I’ll still do that. But I’ll take you any way I can get you.”

Just as I reached her, the sound of Tex thudding up the steps preceded his bark at the door.

I let him in on a rush of cold-dog-smelling air. “Your dog doesn’t like the cold.”

“Just like his former owner.”

“He can piss outside in Texas without his stream freezing before it hits the ground.”

She leaned against the frame of the entrance into the mudroom. Our frenzy from earlier was put on pause, but I enjoyed the familiar air between us right now. “You miss Texas, don’t you?”

I missed a lot about Texas. “There’s always been some homesickness. Talking to Dad has reignited some feelings.”

“I thought you didn’t have the best memories of living there.”

I held out my hand and led her to the bedroom, turning off the living room light as we went. Being cast in shadows made it easier to speak. “Dad’s there now by himself. He has his own place, but the ranch he lost? That’s where we were a family. When my mama was alive.”

“You don’t talk about her much.”

As much as I wanted to ravish this woman, I also wanted to answer her question. I had never talked about Mama much when we were first together. “I was young when she died. And she was sick for a while before that. Breast cancer. But I remember a cozy home. The way she’d shoo me and Archer out the door to play. Dad was always touching her. If he wasn’t doing something, his hand was on Mama’s ass, I swear.”

She giggled. “Sounds sweet. Can’t say I got to witness that kind of affection growing up.”

“I’ll give it to you now.” I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder.

“Ansen!” She swatted my behind, laughing.

I tossed her on the bed and jumped on after her. She widened her legs to cradle me. I could undress her, but sitting so close to her all night, I had to taste her. I licked across her lips, and she opened for me. I explored her mouth, the sweetness of the shandy she’d been drinking on my tongue. My erection was pounding at my jeans. Seeking relief, I rubbed against her. She answered by moving her hips with mine.

I broke away to kiss down her neck. “You know,” I said, nipping her sensitive skin, “it’s best to start the new year naked.”

“We’re already late.”

I licked along the base of her neck and gently blew on it. She shivered. Yep, I’d do the same thing all over her body. “It’s never too late to take your clothes off.”

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