Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 64880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“I’d rather hold on to you.” Tulsi pressed up on tiptoe, twining her arms around his neck.
“And I’d rather hold on to you. Forever.”
As Pike’s tongue slipped between her lips and his hands cupped her bottom and his hard, muscled body pressed against hers, Tulsi let go of everything but the man in her arms. She let go of the pain and the hurt. She let go of her worry and doubt and embraced the warm, delicious feeling spreading through her chest, promising everything was going to be okay.
As her clothes fell away, her fears did the same, until she was naked and weightless in Pike’s arms, softly crying out his name as he gripped her hips in his hands, guiding her down on top of his erection. Tulsi impaled herself on his hot, rigid length with a sigh of gratitude and delight, bracing her hands on his strong chest as she began to move.
“You’re so beautiful,” Pike said in a hushed, reverent voice. He cupped her breasts in his hands, teasing her nipples with his fingers, making Tulsi’s breath come faster and her tempo grow more urgent. “Lean down, I want to taste you.”
Tulsi leaned forward, but instead of kissing her, Pike bent until his lips were level with her breasts. He pulled one rigid tip and then the other into his mouth, suckling her with deep rhythmic pulls as his hands continued to urge her on. Heat flowed down Tulsi’s thighs and her blood pumped faster, faster, until her back arched and she came with a cry, her body pulsing in tight, delicious waves around Pike’s cock.
Before she found her way back down to earth, Pike rolled them over in the sleeping bag and hooked her right knee over his elbow, shifting the angle of his penetration until he hit that electric place deep inside of her. In moments, he had driven her back to the brink and by the time he came inside her—pulsing so hard he drew out her own release into one long, perfect, head-spinning tumble through space—Tulsi’s bones felt like they’d dissolved. She was nothing but warmth and pleasure, a puddle of happiness in Pike’s arms.
As she lay on his chest listening to the river whisper softly over the stones of the riverbed and Pike’s heartbeat slow, Tulsi knew she was where she belonged. And that was all that mattered. From here on out she was living in each perfect moment and the past could stay in the past.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Pike
Pike woke up Friday morning the happiest man in the world. When he emerged from his tent to see Tulsi pouring coffee for Mia by the campfire, it was all he could do to keep from pulling her into his arms. He was already dreaming about the day when he would wake up and Tulsi would be standing in his kitchen, looking just like this—sleepy and beautiful and so happy she seemed to glow.
“What’s up with you this morning?” Mia asked, eyes narrowing at Tulsi over the rim of her tin mug. “You’re way too perky for someone who spent the night sleeping on the hard ground.”
“I didn’t mind it,” Tulsi said. “I slept like a rock. How about you Pike?” She glanced over at him, lifting a teasing brow.
“I slept like a baby on Benadryl,” Pike said, grinning as he accepted the cup of coffee she offered. “For some reason I was worn the hell out.”
“Canoeing, probably.” Tulsi bit her lip as she fought a smile. “I mean, you did most of the hard paddling yesterday.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, you did your share,” Pike said, blood pressure spiking as a vision of Tulsi riding him in the moonlight flashed on his mental screen. “You’re good at paddling. Really good.”
“You two are weird.” Mia shifted her glare from Pike to Tulsi and back again. “What’s up with you two? You have some sort of evil secret, don’t you?”
“What? Us?” Pike asked in a falsely innocent voice, not caring if his sister found out the truth. He and Tulsi had agreed to tell everyone they were dating after the wedding anyway. He didn’t see how a day made any difference.
“If you’re planning some kind of secret bachelor and bachelorette party, you can forget it right now.” Mia pointed a firm finger in their direction. “I do not want any of that nonsense. Especially the night before the wedding. We are going to paddle home, take naps, go to the rehearsal dinner tonight and then we’re all going to bed at a decent hour so we look pretty in the wedding photographs. I paid a gazillion dollars for the photographer and I refuse to tolerate puffy beer face from any of you.”
“When have I ever had puffy beer face?” Tulsi asked with a laugh.
“Never, but the last time you drank more than a shot of whiskey you almost put Sawyer’s eye out with a pool cue,” Mia said, expression growing even sterner. “And my husband needs his eyes.”