Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

ELIZABETH

I still can’t believe he’s really here.

It kinda seems like I’m dreaming, but the feel of his hand against mine as he leads me to his car is very much real.

Russell opens the car door for me and grabs hold of me before I can lower myself inside. He leans in and his lips find mine and he kisses me so damn savagely, my knees go weak.

Literally weak.

Oh, my god.

I never want him to stop kissing me.

Unfortunately for me, I don’t always get what I want.

He pulls back with a knowing smile, chuckling as my body practically melts down into the seat. Closing the passenger door, he rounds the hood and gets in on the other side.

“Where to?” he asks. “We can do whatever you want.”

The problem is that I want everything.

I want to take him around town and show him all the things I love about Blackwood. I want to share my favorite food with him, take him to the places that make me happy, and introduce him to all the best people.

I also want to be selfish.

Because I want him all to myself.

I want to get lost with him, to shut us away from the rest of the world, where it’s only him and me.

I want to give the two of us a real chance to reconnect, without any prying eyes or curious minds.

I want us to explore each other and learn who we are now rather than who we used to be.

Mostly…

I just want him to hold me.

Because being in his arms gave me a sense of peace that I haven’t felt… maybe ever.

With that desire coursing through me, I give him my answer.

“Take me to your room.”

Maybe we’ll cuddle and talk, or maybe I’ll slut it up like Derrick said. Either way, all I really want is to be alone with him. This time, I’m going to get exactly what I want.

“You got it,” he says, starting the car and putting it into gear.

The drive from Stacks to the bed and breakfast on the edge of town only takes a few minutes. Russell spends the entire trip with his hand on my thigh while he concentrates on the road, and I spend those same few minutes watching him. There’s something inherently sexy about watching a man drive. Then again, maybe it’s just Russell.

When we arrive, I’m polite enough to wave in greeting to the owner, Cristie, but not polite enough to stop and chat. I’ll catch up with her next week at book club. I already know I’ll be the main focus of the discussion that night. There’s no way that word hasn’t already spread through town that I was seen with someone new, and I’m sure to be the subject of the town gossip for the next couple weeks. But that’s a problem for another time.

Right now, the only thing I want to think about is the man whose fingers intertwine so perfectly with mine. Russell hasn’t really stopped touching me since he started. He’s had his hands on me in some way since I hugged him at my shop.

I’m not complaining.

Never that.

In fact, I want more of his hands on me.

Desperately.

I let him lead once again, and the short walk to the room seems like it takes a million years. He opens the door and motions me inside, slipping a do not disturb sign on the knob before he closes it behind us.

Alone at last.

“Come here,” he says, tugging me by the hand.

I move without protest, wanting to be as close to him as possible.

As if he reads my mind, he slips off his shoes and sits down on the edge of the bed, pulling me to stand between his thighs. His arms circle my waist, and he rests his forehead against my belly and he just… breathes.

It’s a breath filled with relief, contentment.

I know because I feel it too.

I close my eyes and wrap my arms around him, trailing my fingernails up and down his back. That sense of peace washes over me again and I soak it all in, knowing that I’ll need to think back on this moment later so I can remember how it feels to be exactly where I’m meant to be.

Eventually, Russell sighs and looks up at me.

Our eyes meet.

And we both smile.

“I need you closer,” he tells me, shifting himself backward on the bed.

I kick off my shoes and eagerly follow, wanting the same thing.

Russell lays on his side and I join him, curling up with my back to his chest. His arms move around me again and he pulls me even closer, leaving no space between us, not even enough for air.

We lie together in silence for a while, relishing that we’re finally together in one place. We’ve talked about this happening so often since we reconnected online, and I think we’re both content to just be together. Words aren’t always needed, especially when we talk pretty much all day, every day.

Sometimes it’s good to just… be.

When I think that there's no better feeling in the world than simply being in his arms, he proves me wrong and presses a soft kiss to the side of my neck.

I'm not sure what feels better, the kiss, or the sensation of his beard brushing across my skin.

A shiver rushes down my spine and a quiet moan slips between my lips, and I have no doubt that he hears it. There's no other sound in the room. Nothing to hide the small sound of pleasure.

Whether or not he realizes it, that tiny kiss started something I fully intend to ensure he finishes. I squirm, pressing myself more firmly against him and I’m pleased to feel that he’s already hard. It’s good to know I’m not alone in wanting this. Not that I thought I would be.

He starts tracing a slow path down my side and back up again with hand. On the second pass, he moves lower, causing goosebumps to pebble on my flesh from the stark contrast of his warm palm against the chilled skin of my bare thigh.

I feel his lips against my neck again and tremble as his hand slips beneath the hem of my shirt.

“Let's get this off,” he says, tugging it up toward my neck.

I sit up, strip the shirt off, and start to lie back down, but Russell stops me with three words.

“You're not done.”

Even though my back is to him and he can't see it, I smile. Rather than play coy, I follow the unspoken command and remove my bra, tossing it somewhere on the floor.

He groans, pulling me back down onto the bed.

His hand immediately moves to my breast, pinching and rolling one already hardened nipple with his fingers as he watches the pleasure play out across my face. Reaching up, I wrap one hand around the back of his neck and pull him down, needing his kiss like I need my next breath.

The way Russell kisses me makes me feel like I’m weightless. It’s like my body is coming untethered from the earth and gravity doesn’t exist to keep me grounded.

We're a mess of tangled tongues and panting breaths as he teases the other nipple, giving it the same treatment as the first. His mouth leaves my lips, and he leaves a trail of kisses all the way down to my chest. His tongue circles one nipple, then the other before he keeps going, slowing only when he reaches the waistband of my shorts.

They’re in his way, but he doesn’t let that stop him.

Russell flicks open the button, lowers the zipper, and pulls them straight off, along with the thong I’m wearing underneath. He stands at the end of the bed and strips off his shirt while I lie there, fully bare to him. His gaze moves over every inch of me, eyes flaring with heat.

In the next breath, he has my legs over his shoulders as he fits himself in between my thighs. He looks up at me with a devilish grin.

“Are you as sweet as I remember?” he asks.

I don’t get time to answer. I’m not sure I could even if I tried.

His head dips, and his mouth hits my center, his tongue flicking against my clit in soft, smooth strokes.

“Oh, god,” I whimper.

It’s almost sweet. Until it’s not.

Because the sight of his big biceps locked around my legs and his head bowed between my thighs is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.

His hold on my thighs tightens and he drags me even closer.

He licks and sucks, devouring me until my legs begin to shake.

Then he slips one finger inside me, then two.

The room fills with the sounds of my gasps and moans, and I can’t bring myself to care if the other guests at the bed and breakfast can hear me. Not when it feels this fucking good.

“Are you close,” he pauses to ask, his voice low and rough. “Are you on the edge right now?”

“Yes,” I gasp. It comes out sounding desperate and breathless.

Russell groans against my pussy and the vibrations are all it takes to push me straight over the edge. My breath catches and I cry out, and my whole body jolts, the tension snapping like a rubber band as my orgasm races through me. It’s almost unbearable, the way I shake and moan as wave after waves of pure bliss crash over me.

He works me through it as I ride it out, coaxing every last bit of pleasure from my body.

When he finally pulls back, he licks his lips and grins.

“Fuck, I missed making you come.”