Crushing on Love (The Bradens of Peaceful Harbor, Book Four) (12 page)

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

As their mouths came together, he rocked his hips, bringing them impossibly closer. She gasped into the kiss, and his arms slid beneath her, cradling her tight against him.

“I’ve wanted you for so long, Butterfly.”

He kissed her deeply as they found their rhythm, stroking over all of her sensitive nerve endings. He withdrew slowly while claiming her mouth so fiercely, so completely, it stole all of her focus. And then he thrust faster, harder, and her mind reeled south again. His hips pistoned in a fast rhythm, taking her to the cusp of another orgasm, then slowed, holding her on the verge, trembling, ready to explode.

He buried his face in her neck and said, “Come with me, baby.”

His kisses were hard and sweet, and when he groaned into her mouth, she lost her last shred of control. She cried out his name, clawing at his back, and her hips rose off the mattress with the strength of her orgasm. He slammed into her, growling out her name as he gave in to his own magnificent release.

He gathered her against him, and they lay on their sides, mouth-to-mouth, breathless and panting. He kissed her so hard his breath filled her lungs. When he deepened the kiss, she wanted him all over again. She’d never experienced such rampant desire. She slid her thigh over his, rocking against him as they made out like they’d just discovered sex for the first time, and he got hard again. He rolled her onto her back as their bodies came together, moving at a perfect pace.

“I was a fool,” he said, kissing her softly. “Nothing will ever be the same.”

He’d taken the words right out of her mouth.

STEVE AWOKE TO the sweet melody of Shannon singing in the other room. He glanced outside at the dusky morning and guessed it was somewhere around six thirty. He was surprised she was up so early after they’d made love until the wee hours. He pulled on his jeans and followed her voice, stopping in the doorway to watch her dancing as she made coffee. She wore his shirt from last night, which barely covered her ass.
Lucky me.
Her hips swung and her head bobbed from side to side as she sang a Toby Keith song about wanting to talk about what she liked. He couldn’t stop smiling as she tossed her hair and poured coffee into a mug. She stepped back and played an air guitar, throwing her head forward to the beat. He bit his cheeks to keep from laughing. Adorably sexy didn’t begin to describe his Butterfly.

This was a far cry from the quiet mornings he was used to. She looked like she belonged in his rustic cabin on the mountain, with the morning sun streaming in through the windows and her bare feet prancing along his worn and scratched wooden floors. He thought he knew everything about nature and the way biology worked, but their intense connection confounded him. It was bigger than sex, bigger than forbidden fruit. She was brighter than the sun and he was the shadows between the trees, and as he watched her moving like she’d lived there all her life, he began to wonder what he’d found so interesting about his solitary life that could have
possibly
been better than this.

Another sensation crept in, unexpected and mildly alarming. He’d forgotten what it was like to wake up with a sense of excitement rather than a sense of responsibility. It had been a long time since he’d felt the unique tingle in his chest, the bells of possibility ringing.

She spun on her heels and stopped cold when she saw him.

And there she was, ringing his bells without even trying.

“Hey there, gorgeous.” He crossed the living room, loving the flush on her cheeks, the sexy smile curving her lips. He reached for her and she twirled into his arms as the song changed, streaming softly from her cell phone on the counter.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she said. Parting her lips, she went up on her toes, meeting him in a kiss hot enough to melt metal.

He tugged her in closer, his hands roving over her supple body. God, what she did to him. He was already hard, eager to feel her wrapped around him again. She moaned into the kiss, and he forced himself to put a sliver of space between them before he took her right there on the kitchen floor.

“Best morning kiss
ever
.” She took his hand and twirled again, dancing happily and animated.
Mesmerizing
.

His mind whirled back to the night she’d gone to Buckley’s. A girl like Shannon didn’t stay off the dance floor. Jealousy crushed his chest. As she danced seductively around him, he forced those ugly thoughts away. She was with him now—that’s what mattered. He grabbed her hips and drew her into another kiss.

“You’re up bright and early.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” “Mr. Brightside” by Fall Out Boy began playing, and she fell into the beat, singing each word to him, stopping only to say, “Coffee? Bitter and disgusting, just the way you like it.”

“Sure, in a minute.” He backed her up against the counter and ran his hands up her thighs. “I guess I don’t have to ask if you have any regrets about last night.” He kissed her cheek.

“Not even a little.”

Thank God
.

“But I’m curious,” she said, “because I’m a curious person and all. Have you really never had a woman in here before?”

“You mean like my sister?” he teased.

She rolled her eyes and he laughed.

“I have never had another woman in my bed. I’ve never had sex with another woman in my cabin. You have christened it, and I greatly appreciate that, but we still have two rooms that haven’t yet been blessed.”

“Wow. You have no idea how much that turns me on.” She pressed her lips to his.

“Damn, I’ve never had sex on the porch, in the yard, or about a million other places.”

“Aw, Grizz, you’re such a romantic.”

He nuzzled against her neck, reveling in the dreamy sigh that left her lips. “What’re your plans for today?”

“Well, if you keep doing that, I think I’m going to drag you back to bed.”

“Mm. We think alike.” He took her in a lazy, luscious kiss, awakening all of his senses. “How about your research? Are you heading up the mountain later?”

“I’ll get to it,” she said absently, and turned her face away.

He moved into her line of vision and searched her eyes, sensing trouble there.

“Hey, what’s going on? Want to talk about it?”

“Nope. I want to do the kissing thing again.” Her eyes lit with mischief.

“After you tell me what’s going on.” When she didn’t say anything, he kissed her softly. “Talk to me, Shan.”

“
Tsk
. Party pooper.” She pressed her hands to his chest and gazed up at him with a defeated look in her eyes. “It’s nothing. I enjoy the research I’m doing, but I get bored and lonely out there by myself. I just don’t think it’s right for me, and the problem is, I don’t know what
is
right for me. Doing research is what I’ve been working toward.”

“Maybe we can figure it out together.”
Together
. The unfamiliar thought prickled his skin, but as her eyes lit up again that discomfort whisked away.

“Really? I don’t want to bore you with my dilemma when you have the Cumberland property on your mind.”

“I think I can deal with two things at once. Besides, you’re in my bailiwick when you’re talking about nature.”

Her face turned serious. “But the part I’m having trouble with isn’t exactly high on your priority list.”

“Oh, I see. The needing people part? I don’t know about that.” He kissed her again. “Just because I choose not to be around people as often as you do doesn’t mean I don’t understand. Besides,
you
are on my priority list; therefore, everything you worry about is, too.”

“So you
were
listening to me the other day. And here I thought your head had been too lost in pink icing to pay attention.”

Heat roared through him. He slid his hands over her silky skin and clutched her ass. “Careful, Butterfly. Even thinking about you sucking on your finger turns me on.”

Feigned surprise widened her eyes. “Really?” She bit the tip of her finger.

He pressed his hips forward. Hard as steel. They’d made love so many times last night, it should have held him over, but he hadn’t even begun to feel sated.

She pushed her finger into her mouth and her eyes darkened.

“Your distraction techniques are very effective.” He slid one hand to the nape of her neck. “You’ve done something to my brain.”

“It’s called lust.”

No, this was far more than lust. “I want more, Butterfly.” He kissed her lips. “I want to know your secrets.” He kissed her jaw. “Your dreams.” He nipped at her neck.

She melted against him. “You sure know how to seduce a woman.”

“I want to know what makes you tick.” He kissed her again. “Your favorite things.” He gazed into her eyes and said, “I want to know you better than any man ever has.”
Or ever will
.

She licked her lips and his cock twitched. He couldn’t keep his mind on track with her soft and willing body pressed against him and her eyes pleading for what they both craved.

“After I kiss you,” he whispered.

“Senseless,” she said breathily. “Kiss me senseless.”

Their mouths came together slowly, lovingly, in a kiss that was as sweet as it was lethal. He tried to hold back, tried to keep his hands from moving beneath her shirt, over her breasts. But kissing Shannon was like finding a hidden forest, and he wanted to discover all of her treasures. He wanted to get lost in her. When they were together, all the tightness in his chest eased and all their differences washed away. He took the kiss deeper, filling his palms with her perfect breasts. She moaned, gyrating against him as he lifted her shirt over her head.

“Shan,” he whispered in a heated breath, and brought his mouth to her breast.

She tugged at the button on his jeans. He made quick work of taking them off and lifted her into his arms. The feel of her thighs pressing on his waist, the weight of her in his arms, and the feel of her tight heat sinking down on his hard shaft had already become familiar. She’d already become
his
, and he felt like the luckiest guy on earth.

“Grizz,” she panted out. “Harder.”

He backed her up against the refrigerator, using it for leverage as they gave in to the heat. She clung to his shoulders, their bodies slamming together. Her head fell back, her eyes closed, and she gasped a desperate inhalation. She clawed at the back of his arms so hard he was sure she’d leave marks. But he didn’t care. She felt right and true, and when she cried out his name, heat climbed his thighs, seared down his spine, and he crashed into oblivion, taking her over the edge again.

He held her through the very last quiver, buried deep inside her, his heart hammering so hard it felt like it was going to reach out and drag Shannon into his cavernous body. He took her in another breath-stealing kiss and carried her into the bedroom.

“Senseless,” she panted out. “Every. Single. Time.”

AFTER THEY SHOWERED together, making love again beneath the warm spray, Shannon headed up the trail to collect data and Steve got called to rescue a stranded hiker. He spent the morning getting the injured man to safety. Immediately after handing the man off to paramedics, he got another emergency call about a lost child. He was halfway to the trail when his radio went off again, alerting him that the boy had been found. And so his morning went, handling one issue after another. When he heard back from the companies he’d hoped would take an interest in the Cumberland property and learned of their disinterest, he chalked it up to par for the day’s course.

He called Mack on his way to the bank. He wasn’t about to give up. “What’s the status on CRH?” He ground his teeth together as Mack told him they were still sniffing around.

“Don’t do anything hasty. I’ve still got a few ideas up my sleeve,” he lied, but he had hope that he’d figure something out. He shoved his phone in the pocket of his cargoes, hoping to hell he could come up with a miracle.

An hour later his banker confirmed what Steve had already known. He earned enough to have saved a nice nest egg, but 2.4 million dollars was way out of his reach.

He walked around the brick building rubbing the crick in the back of his neck, thinking about what he could do to save the property from falling into the wrong hands. He dug his keys from his pocket just as Rex’s truck pulled around the corner, coming to a stop beside him. Rex’s Stetson rode low on his forehead, and one bulbous arm rested on the open window.

“How’s it going?” Steve asked.

“Not bad. Hear you’re talking to people about the Cumberland land.”

Steve nodded. “How’d you hear that?”

Rex grinned. “Jade was at their ranch yesterday working with a horse and Will told her.” Jade was a veterinarian and equine holistic masseuse. “A conservation trust sounds like a good plan, but they’re asking too much for the property.”

Steve knew the property was worth only about 1.7 million, but he also knew CRH had deep pockets. “Yup.”

“That why you were in the bank?”

“It was a long shot, but…” He shrugged.

“You talk to Treat?” Rex clenched his jaw.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go that route,” Steve said, though he was rethinking that option at the moment.