Show Time (Juniper Ridge Romantic Comedies #1) - Tawna Fenske Page 0,62
cries out, and I thrust into her again, I realize it’s getting better. Better than it was our first or second or twelfth time. Better than anything I’ve felt in my life.
That doesn’t have to mean anything.
But it does.
I know it does; I’ve known it for days. This thing we’re doing, it’s so much more than sex. I don’t know what the hell it is, and that should definitely scare me.
The thing is, it doesn’t. When I’m with her, I feel safe and whole and hopeful I can crawl from the wreckage of my last relationship and just be myself. I’ve never done that before, not ever. I’ve never been comfortable enough to let my guard down, to be at ease in a relationship and in my own skin.
Vanessa moans again, and I can tell she’s getting close. I’m almost there myself, and I grip her hips tighter to thrust hard and fast the way she likes it.
“Don’t stop,” she pants. “Dean, oh God.”
“That’s it,” I coax as she slips her fingers between her thighs to rub her clit. I love how she does that. How she’s confident and in control enough to get herself there.
My ego reminds me that I’ve got a role in this, too, so I tilt my hips to hit the spot that makes her cry out and clench around me.
“Yes!” She screams the word as she drags her nails down the tree trunk. A flock of night birds scatters as Vanessa clenches and cries out and comes apart in my arms.
I’m three seconds behind her, thrusting and pumping and losing myself inside her. My God, it’s unreal. These feelings, the pleasure, this total loss of control.
I never knew it could be like this.
When we both catch our breath, Vanessa straightens and turns. Grinning as she tugs her skirt down, she stretches up to kiss me. “Check that one off your bucket list.”
“That was…whoa.” Way to sound like a damn caveman.
Vanessa just laughs and smacks my ass. “You’re officially an outdoorsman now.”
I get rid of the condom, tucking it in one of Roughneck’s doody bags because I’m not an asshole who leaves garbage in the forest. Not even if I own the forest.
When I straighten back up, Vanessa’s staring up into the tree with a frown. “Huh.”
“What?” I look up, and there it is. Her bra, pink and lacy and dangling fifteen feet off the ground.
Vanessa squeezes my bicep. “Guess you don’t know your own strength, Judson.”
“That’s kind of impressive.” I glance around for a fallen limb, calculating how long it should be to snag the bra out of the tree.
But Vanessa’s way ahead of me. She’s already striding toward the trunk, grabbing one of the lowest branches to hoist herself up. “You know what my mother said when she caught me climbing the oak tree in our backyard?”
I stare at her, mesmerized by the glow of her breasts in the moonlight. “Maybe you shouldn’t do that topless?”
She laughs and climbs higher, stretching up to reach the next branch. “No, but close. She said it wasn’t ladylike. That men feel uncomfortable around women who engage in unfeminine pursuits.”
Watching Vanessa—this woman, this marvel of nature—climbing higher into the evergreen like she’s done this a thousand times, I’m positive I’ve never seen a more perfect example of powerful feminine grace. I open my mouth to tell her to be careful, then shut it again. She doesn’t need me to manage her.
She’s doing just fine on her own.
“How old were you?” I ask, sucking in a breath as her foot slips just a little.
But she catches herself and draws her body up onto the next branch. “Eight,” she says. “Can you imagine? Talking to your eight-year-old daughter about landing a husband?”
I shake my head, too angry to say anything right away. As I watch Vanessa snag her bra off the limb, a wave of admiration washes away my fury, leaving something that feels alarmingly like love.
But no, it can’t be that. We’re just fooling around here. We can’t be serious.
“Crazy.” I shake my head, hoping she thinks I’m talking about her mother. Hoping she can’t read my mind, can’t hear the words clanging around in there.
I’m falling for Vanessa Vincent.
And even though that’s the wildest thing I’ve ever done, I can’t help smiling. Can’t help stepping forward to catch her by the waist as she descends. She laughs, sliding down my body as I lower her to the ground.