Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
He kneels in front of me, sliding my leggings down inch by slow inch before pressing his lips to my hipbone. And then lower, to the inside of my thigh. I shiver as his warm breath grazes my sensitive skin.
“I’m nervous,” I confess. “What if someone else wants to use the pool?”
River looks up at me with a smile. “No one’s going to come up here, baby.” He runs his palms down the backs of my calves and up again with reassuring strokes. “This oasis? It belongs to me. Private access only. No one can come up here without me knowing. It’s just for us.”
His hands settle on my hips, his thumbs stroking gently. “There are heat lamps around the edges, and the pool is a balmy eighty-five degrees year-round. I had all the lights put in last summer. I’ve never brought anyone else up here.” His gaze holds mine. “I made it with you in mind.
Tension seeps from my muscles as gratitude fills me.
With his eyes locked on mine, he hooks his fingers in the band of my panties. “Okay?”
I nod, suspended in a space between disbelief and desire. “Okay.”
He kisses me again.
This time lower.
A whimper slips out as he lifts me effortlessly into his arms and carries me to one of the plush loungers near the pool. As soon as he lays me down, the warm air wraps around me, but it’s his mouth that sends a shiver dancing across my skin.
He kisses along the center of my body, pausing at the curve of my belly. His lips linger there, and when he speaks, it’s a low vow that brands me from the inside out.
“Someday soon,” he murmurs, “you’ll grow round with my baby. I want to watch your body change in the most miraculous way and know it was us. I want to give Nora a sibling, and to build a life together. I’ve never wanted that with anyone else, Callie. Only you.”
It’s everything I’ve always wanted to hear. Before I can tell him that I want it too, he moves lower, settling between my thighs.
“River…” My hands slide into his hair, anchoring him to me, as his mouth finds my center.
He touches me as if he’s never wanted anything more, and tastes me like a man starving. He loves me with his tongue. Each flick and stroke is a silent declaration. His hands hold me as if this moment matters more than anything else in the world.
And what I realize is that it does.
He’s memorizing me, and I’m giving him every piece of myself without fear or uncertainty.
My hips rise of their own accord, chasing that pressure, that rhythm, as he groans against me. Every sound he makes is fueled by hungry devotion. It doesn’t take long until I’m falling apart in a flood of sensation. The cry that escapes me echoes into the night sky. It rings off the steel and stars before getting carried away by the autumn breeze.
Barely am I able to catch my breath as River rises and strips off his clothing piece by piece until he’s standing in front of me gloriously naked. The fairy lights glow against the hard lines of his chest, the ink on his skin, and the need burning in his eyes.
He’s absolutely gorgeous.
Strong.
And most importantly, he’s mine.
This man is mine.
I sit up slowly and drink in his masculine beauty before sliding to my knees. Not once do I break eye contact as I wrap my hand around him and guide his thick erection to my mouth.
The sound that rips from him is filled with pent-up desire and longing.
“Jesus, Callie,” he groans, fingers threading through my hair. The way he holds me doesn’t feel forceful, it’s almost as if he needs to ground himself in this moment.
I take my time, worshiping him with the same level of attention he did to me. Every flick of my tongue, every pass of my lips tells him what I haven’t stopped feeling since the moment his mouth touched mine.
All the emotions I was too afraid to admit even to myself.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
His muscles tense beneath my hands, his breath turning ragged as I push him closer to the edge. His other hand trembles against my jaw, and when he finally comes, it’s with my name a hoarse cry on his lips.
River stares at me like I’m everything.
And when I rise, his mouth settles on mine in a deep kiss that consumes me. One that feels like a thank-you and a promise all rolled into one before he scoops me into his arms and carries me to the pool. The second my skin hits the water, a shiver racks my body. It’s not from the temperature but from the weight of his gaze. The heat in his eyes makes me feel exposed even though I’m submerged.