laughed, already pulling his shirt over his head. He kicked off his shoes and socks, and she helped with his jeans, loving how powerful and beautiful she felt when he groaned as she cupped him through the fabric.
She was the one almost groaning a few minutes later when she pushed him back onto the bed. He pulled a condom out of the bedside table and she watched in fascination as he rolled it over his length.
She smiled down at him. “Can I be on top?”
“Oh, honey, you would break my heart if you didn’t.”
He reached back and pulled one of the thick pillows up behind his shoulders so it propped him up. He spread his arms along the plain wooden headboard and smiled at her in invitation.
He looked like some sort of benevolent sex god, prepared to bestow all sorts of unknown pleasure.
And he was all hers.
She hitched a leg over his hips and balanced herself with her hands on his shoulders.
“So damn sexy,” he said through gritted teeth.
Slowly, she lowered herself onto him. She took her time, easing her way down a little bit at a time before coming all the way back up.
This felt so good—the way he filled her, stretched her. It felt right, both of them whispering each other’s names as she drove them both crazy, inch by inch.
“I love you, gorgeous.” His voice was so deep it was hardly recognizable as his, but one look at his face and she knew the words were heartfelt.
“I love you, too.”
She slid all the way down on him, both letting out groans as she worked her way up and down faster. His hands moved to her hips and she let him take over the speed and depth of her ride.
She’d never known sex could be anywhere near this good. And they were just getting started, in every possible way. As her climax broke around her in waves, she fell against his chest, whispering that she loved him. His hands gripped her hips and he thrust into her over and over, saying her name like it was a prayer.
Maybe it was.
He was certainly the answer to all of hers.
27
“Hey, buddy.” Noah found Sam sitting on the wooden fence near the barn. He’d become a pretty standard fixture there over the last ten months since Bree and Tanner’s wedding. The boy loved to watch the horses and other animals from his perch on the top rung.
And since Sam was here with his mom and sister almost every evening for dinner, Noah found the kid out here a lot. Joined him a lot, whenever he could. Pointed out things Sam could take pictures of with the camera he’d gotten for his birthday—the kid’s prized possession.
“Hey, Noah.”
Noah leaned his elbows against the rung of the fence Sam sat on. “You doing okay?”
Noah and Marilyn were leaving for four days to travel to the Channel Islands off the coast of California tomorrow. Another wedding—Zac Mackay and Annie Griffin’s this time.
The kids were staying at the ranch with Bree and Tanner and seemed quite excited about it. Noah prayed he wasn’t about to ruin that.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” Hazel eyes so much like Marilyn’s peeked over at him. “Mom said you wanted to talk to me.”
Noah climbed up on the fence next to him. “I do. I needed to talk to you about something as man of the house. Because I know you always want to protect your mom.”
Sam nodded solemnly and wiped his hands against his jeans. “Are you selling the ranch? Can we not come here anymore?”
Aww, hell, kid.
“No, not that. Never that.”
There’d been way too many emotional swings at Sam in his short life. Noah tried to always be even-tempered and consistent with him and Eva, not that it was hard. He couldn’t imagine better behaved children than they were. Loud sometimes, especially Eva, but always good.
“Is it something else bad?”
Noah shook his head. “No, nothing bad. At least, I don’t think it’s bad.”
“Will it make Mom cry?” Sam glanced over at him, so serious to be just eight years old. “She used to cry a lot before we moved to Risk Peak. Even after we left dad. She would try to hide it, but I would hear her. And sometimes, even at New Journeys, it was hard for her to get out of bed in the morning.”
Noah nodded. “I know. I hate to think of your mom being that sad. But she’s strong and seems to be doing a lot better