Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“Mare…”
Her legs wrap around my waist and what little restraint I have snaps in two.
Don’t stop me. I don’t think she will, but I pray anyway.
* * *
Maren
There isn’t anything sexier on this planet than Noah watching me with total focus. He could burn my clothes off with that look, freezing water notwithstanding. I shiver and press closer. Our faces a hair’s breadth apart. Our bodies touching from chest to pelvis. His dick is so hard I almost look down to make sure a piece of driftwood isn’t stuck between us.
I want him. I want him as badly as I want my next breath of air, to win the Open, and world peace. Absolutely. Unequivocally.
On instinct, his hips roll. His erection rubs against the inside of my thigh and his eyelids drop, dragged down by desire. I stare at his wet, full lips, his spiky black lashes, beaded with water and get the most messed-up impulse to lick them. God, I want to lick them––and the rest of him too. All over.
His lips hover over mine, and for a suspended moment, I remember what it was like to have the right to kiss him and hold him and take the longing that fills his eyes away. When the timber of his voice would drop and I knew it meant he wanted me.
“I’m your Rosetta Stone.”
His expression gets quizzical. He’s trying not to laugh. “My what?”
“Your Rosetta Stone. I could always read your expressions so easily…your mind. Like I know you’re trying not to laugh.”
“Yeah? What am I saying now?” Although his face is still, eyes say everything.
“You’re saying…shut up so I can kiss you.”
Reaching up, I place my lips on his in answer and he lets go, gives in, unleashes everything he’s been holding back. His mouth angles. Soft lips brush over mine, taste and test and nibble. Our tongues dance and play tag. He kisses me like he means it. Like he may never get a second chance.
It’s never been as hot as it is with him.
His big hands grip and knead my ass. He flexes his hips and the head if his erection strokes over my clit and heat blazes a path from my toes to my face. So much of it and so fast that I feel feverish.
I’m lost in the moment, in desire, in the visceral reaction that happens only with this man. The one who was made for me. I knew it at ten and I know it now.
“Fuck, I missed you…that’s what my face is sayin’,” he mutters between kisses. I know exactly what he means. Because kissing Noah is like waking up from a long, dark, empty dream.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Noah
It was either continue making out and suffer hypothermia or get out of the water. Maren’s lips were turning blue so getting out was the only choice. We hiked back up and grabbed our stuff, dried off, smiling the entire way. Partners in crime for life if I have something to say about it.
It took us another hour to reach the spot Rowdy wanted his ashes spread. Once there, we found a log along the shore of the lake and sat. I handed her a beer and we made a toast while watching the sun make it’s trip down to the horizon.
“I don’t know what to say.” Maren looks over at me, eyes glassy, the urn cradled on her lap. Sundown has arrived and so has the time to say goodbye.
“Say whatever’s on your mind, baby. He knows everything already.” I reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, holding my breath. Her expression gets thoughtful. I wait for her to tell me not to call her that, to push me away, and exhale when she lets it slide. Habit. She’s mine, always has been.
Her face crumples and she fights like hell to push the tears back. I wrap an arm around her shoulders and she lets me pull her close and hold her. Her face settles against my neck and I kiss her forehead.
“Don’t cry. He’s not in pain anymore.”
“I’m not crying,” she sniffs. I nearly split my bottom lip I’m biting down so hard to school the laughter. This is the girl I met all those years ago. Sweet and kind with a spine of steel.
“What’s so funny?”
I wrap my other arm around her in a bear hug and kiss the top of her head, my chest shaking from trying to contain it. “Okay,” I start. “I’m gonna say something before I piss myself laughing. Rowdy, wherever you are, you son of a bitch––where the fuck did you put the key for the safety deposit box?”
Maren straightens and slaps my chest. I double over in laughter, tears streaming down my cheeks. Damn, I haven’t laughed like this in ages.
“Be serious.”
“Alright, I’m serious.” I take a deep breath and rub my face with both palms. “Rowdy…I know you already know this but I love you. I’m gonna miss you––already do. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t kicked my ass into shape, if you hadn’t been there for me, but I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life…and don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her. As if she were yours.”