Skin (McCullough Mountain 2) (21 page)

Watching him, he breathed hard, his chest
rising and falling with each pant. “I wish you could see yourself
now,” he said in a gravelly voice. “All soft curves and feminine
perfection.”

She nearly scoffed, but held back. Her
cheeks heated as he slowly undid the zipper of his jeans and eased
them down. When his body unfolded and he was standing before her in
all of his glory, her jaw unhinged. “Holy mother of penis.”

He laughed. She hadn’t meant to say the
words out loud, but dear God that was a lot of man.

The side of his mouth kicked up in a
half-smile and her heart fluttered as his dimple came into view.
The bed dipped as he climbed over her. The heat of his body
scorched her skin. His erection rested heavily over her hip as his
mouth found hers.

She was suddenly a teenage girl with no clue
what she was doing. Her hands traveled from his shoulders to his
back to his hip, never quite sure of the best place to touch. It
was all so perfect, so manly.

His mouth distracted her to the extreme as
those soft lips closed over her nipple. She arched and reveled at
the sense of being blanketed by him. Finn was so encompassing, when
he held her she somehow felt small and delicate. It was a freeing
sensation she’d never experienced before. It made her bold.

Her knees tightened on his hips and his
arousal nudged her sex, causing her to gasp. He breathed into her
shoulder and whispered words of sweetness, but she was beyond the
point of comprehension. She wanted him
now!

“Finn. Finnegan, please.”

“Shh. Patience, Philly.”

He kissed over her shoulder and found her
breasts. It was so novel to have someone freely touch and taste her
there. For as much as she wasn’t a virgin, she never really allowed
herself to fully experience sex. Foreplay was amazing and, up until
then, she’d been missing out.

His tongue flicked and teased at her tip.
His hands cupped and massaged. She couldn’t seem to keep still.
Very aware of his arousal nudging her sex, she dared to reach down
and touch him. As her hand engulfed him he sucked a harsh breath
through his teeth and cursed. She squeezed and ran her hand up and
down his length slowly.

His flesh was taut, but smooth. His hips
drew back as he glanced down at her hand on him. She looked down as
well and reality split her in two. The sight of her naked flesh
crashed over her arousal, piercing her confidence and her motions
faltered.

His strong fingers wrapped over hers and he
squeezed. She tried to get back to the place she was, but it proved
elusive. Frustration hammered down on her as she screwed her eyes
shut.

Finn’s body lifted and he gently tugged her
hand away. His mouth teased the spot beneath her ear. That was
definitely the money spot. Every time he touched her there she
melted.

Kisses trailed over her chest and down to
her hips. Again, she was trembling. This time she would just keep
her eyes closed. His hands teased over her hips and thighs. Her
body stretched as his broad shoulders scooted lower.

Oh no!

“Finn, wait…” Her knees tightened. His
fingers brushed over the dewy curls at the apex of her thighs.

It felt so good. She spread her legs only
slightly, just enough for him to fit a finger. His digit probed
gently and as he found his way into her slick core with his finger,
she gasped. Slow, measured thrusts had her relaxing and opening for
him.

He teased the bud of her sex and she began
to moan. His mouth kissed her hip and then there was the softest
flick of his tongue at the peek of her sex. She nearly sprung off
the bed. She didn’t do that. Ever.

“Finn…” She needed to stop him, but his
tongue kept teasing that spot. Sensations she’d never before
experienced crested through her body. She tightened and her heart
began to beat in places outside of her chest.

“Open for me, Mallory.”

Refusal played in her mind, but with only
the slightest pressure, he parted her thighs. His mouth settled
over her sex and his fingers continued to probe. She was breathing
hard.

“Oh my God…Oh my God…”

He doubled his pace and kissed her sex.
Sucking, licking, touching her like no man ever had, until she fell
to pieces. Her legs trembled as a waterfall of color exploded
behind her eyes. It was too much, but she never wanted it to
stop.

Her voice echoed off the walls. Her heart
raced. Finn kissed her thighs, her knees, her hips, and even her
belly. She was beyond caring.

His weight lifted and he returned to her,
his mouth again settling over hers. His lips tasted of what she
assumed was her. Perhaps she should have minded, but she didn’t. It
was the most erotic kiss of her life.

His arousal pressed at her sex, the barrier
of latex slightly altering the sensation. Her thighs opened.

“Look at me, Mallory.”

Slowly, her lashes fluttered open. She
stared into the depths of his blue eyes. They were wild and as dark
as wet denim.

He placed a chaste kiss on her lips and
whispered, “I love you.”

His thickness stretched her and she gasped.
Her body was beyond ready for the fullness that followed his
startling announcement. She moaned, shocked in so many ways,
shocked at his size, how right he felt, but mostly at what he said
the second before he entered her.

Her mind spiraled, landing somewhere outside
of her body.
What?
Overwhelmed by his words, she’d somehow
missed the initial connection. He filled her and withdrew,
thrusting deeply, over and over.

He loved her? Since when? How?
Why?

Her cruel, cynical mind ached as she worried
he said the words out of obligation. She didn’t need the words. She
was here of her own freewill. Yet, she couldn’t quite wrap her
brain around the action, because her emotions were suddenly all
over the map.

Her body’s autopilot took over. Sensations
of fulfillment pushed responses from her vocal cords, her limbs,
and her lungs. She was having sex with Finnegan McCullough and he’d
said he loved her.

The sharp sting of tears prickled her eyes.
No. He wasn’t supposed to love her. If he put it out there, she
wouldn’t be able to hold her words back and if she admitted that
she loved him, too, she’d love him too fiercely, too hard, and
she’d break this incredible, delicate thing they’d created. Maybe
he loved her as a friend. Mallory loved him as…there was no way to
describe it. He was beautiful. He was the first boy to ever be nice
to her. No one had ever made her feel the things Finnegan made her
feel, and she feared her love was simply too potent to summarize in
one four letter word.

He thrust deep and every thought skittered
away. Holy God, he was in her soul. Something pinched warm and
sweet in her womb as he rolled his hips. The physical act became
too intense to ignore. It consumed her.

She arched in his hold and he thrust. Her
sex contracted. She was actually going to have an orgasm this way.
There was no fighting it. He thrust again and suddenly she was
falling into a place of such acute pleasure she had no control over
her words, her tears, or her actions.

Her fingers bit into his back as his pace
quickened. Starbursts of pleasure rained over her. Her spine
tingled and her voice rasped over his rugged breathing. “I love you
too. I love you so much. I’ve never known anyone like you. Please
don’t hurt me. Just love me and I’ll try my best not to ever let
you down.”

She couldn’t stop the words. The sound of
her raw pleas made her cry more. She was embarrassing herself.
Thoughts of damage control flashed in her mind, but quickly
skittered away as Finn’s body tightened.

He buried himself in her and she felt his
length pulse at her core. “Never. You could never let me down. I
only want you, Mallory. You. No one else.”

At the peak of their climaxes she blanked
out. Never had she been so overwhelmed by another person, so laid
bare, so exposed. His weight blanketed her and she came back to the
present, recognizing the sound of his deep breathing and the press
of his lips to her neck. Her pulse was fluttering like crazy. This
was far better than any run she’d ever had.

He sighed. “I don’t want to pull out. You’re
so warm.”

Their bodies pressed together, sealing with
the dew of perspiration. She likely looked a mess. Finn seemed to
settle into her more as he turned and pulled them to their
sides.

Her eyes opened and she stared at him. He
smiled. Their faces were close and she could see the golden brown
stubble covering his jaw. “Hi,” she said softly.

“Hi.” There was that dimple again. “How are
we doing?”

“Oh, I’d say we’re doing pretty good.”

He chuckled. “You’re incredible.”

Her skin heated. No, she wasn’t. She hadn’t
really done anything, but he was. “
You
are incredible.”

His expression sobered. “I meant what I
said, Mallory. I love you.”

Her mood shifted.
Don’t do this.
“You
don’t have to say it. I don’t expect—”

“It isn’t about what you expect. It’s about
what I feel. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t have agreed to do
this tonight.”

She loved him too, but she would have done
this even if she didn’t. The odd thing was, maybe she suspected he
loved her all along. She’d decided to sleep with him simply because
she owed it to women everywhere not to let the opportunity pass.
But something had calmed her trepidation of showing him all of her.
Was it her subconscious telling her he loved her enough to be
gentle with her? No matter how much she wanted him, she wouldn’t
have slept with him had she not trusted him. Maybe she knew all
along.

“You don’t have to say it back just to say
it, either. It’s okay,” he said.

She was always taken aback when he showed
his own vulnerabilities. She cupped his face, amazed that
she
had the ability to assure this incredible man. “I meant
what I said. All of it.”

He kissed her.

Finn sat on the edge of the bed and tied his
boots. He looked longingly over at Mallory’s body tucked beneath
the covers. Glancing at his watch, he noted it was almost two in
the morning. Sighing, he ran a hand over her shoulder.

She moaned and her soft lashes fluttered
open. “Hey, what time is it?”

“Almost two. I have to go.”

She sat up a little, pulling the sheet over
her bare breasts. His mouth kicked up at her show of modesty. There
was no point in hiding herself now. He saw all of her, tasted every
inch, and planned on doing it again very soon.

“You don’t have to leave,” she said, tucking
her hair behind her ear. “You could stay. I mean, if you want
to.”

He smiled and touched a strand of her soft
brown hair. “I want to, but I can’t. My mum worries if I’m not home
at a reasonable hour. It’s a respect thing.”

Her lashes lowered. “Okay.”

He pinched her chin, tipping her face until
her gaze met his again. “Hey, it isn’t easy for me to leave. If I
could, I’d stay.”

She nodded, seeming to accept his words as
truth. He kissed her softly and said, “I’ll be back first thing in
the morning. We’ll go to breakfast and then I’ll run with you if
you want. Or we can climb. You let me know how you feel.”

“Okay.” She looked so soft. Forcing his legs
to stand was like ripping off a layer of flesh.

“Thank you for tonight.” He kissed her hair.
“I’ll lock the door behind me.”

As he left, he locked the door. When he
reached his truck he turned over the key and took a moment to
simply be. Removing his phone from his pocket, he quickly punched
out a text.

Love you.

~F.

It took only a minute for her response to
come over.

Love u2.

~M.

He smiled in the dark and flipped on his
headlights. “I’m gonna marry her,” he said to himself as he put the
truck in drive. He smiled the entire way home.

* * * *

The following morning, when Finn got to
Mallory’s, she was already showered and dressed for her run. She
said she wanted to climb, but then claimed her body was a little
sore. He felt a pinch of guilt for maybe being too rough, but she
assured him it was simply because she was out of practice.

They ate at the diner and ran into a few of
his friends. Mallory seemed shy around new people, but she was
never rude. After breakfast they ran the field and he couldn’t seem
to take his eyes off of her.

As they sipped their water bottles his phone
buzzed. Finn slid his thumb over the screen and cursed. “Shit.”

“Something wrong?” Mallory asked, wiping her
brow and squinting into the sun.

“I have to swing by my house. My grandmother
fell. Do you mind?”

She was already walking to the truck. “Of
course not. Come on.”

He took the fastest route to the house,
grateful they were already on the property. His father had run out
of town that morning to price a new chipper for the business and
his mother was likely frantic.

When he pulled the truck along the front
steps, gravel kicked out beneath the wheels. Taking the steps two
at a time, he held open the door for Mallory who was right on his
heels. “Mum?”

“In here.” He turned and found his mother on
her knees in the living room. His grandmother was also sitting on
the floor propped against the base of the sofa. He winced when he
saw the bruise already forming on her nearly translucent cheek.

He rushed to her side. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. I was sitting with her all
morning. I went in the kitchen to get a glass of water and then I
heard a crash. I don’t know what possessed her to get up without
asking for help first.” His mother was clearly frantic.