Chapter 19

nineteen

. . .

River

D aniel Cross Jr. had a way with his tongue that rivaled almost anything I'd ever experienced. He turned going down on a woman into a fucking art form. I'd never be able to watch him lick a spoon again without spontaneously combusting. His stubbled cheeks brushed my inner thighs as I clamped them around his head, the rough scrape only adding to the eroticism of this moment. That, combined with the feel of my fingers buried in the soft strands of his hair while I shamelessly ground my pelvis against his face, had me chanting his name.

He lifted his head, eyes rolling up to meet mine. "You taste like everything I was missing, sweetness."

"And you're better at this than I remember."

The vibration of his low, rumbled laugh along my slick folds made me moan. "I knew you'd never forget me."

"Shut up and make me come, Cross. I'm dying."

Part of me thought he'd drag it out and tease me, but he seemed just as eager to make me climax on his tongue. Instead of responding with words, he spread me open wider and sank two fingers inside me, his focus on my eyes the whole time. All I got from him was an intense stare and a little smirk when I squirmed. Then he dove back in, licking and sucking my clit until my thighs trembled and I was reduced to a whimpering mess.

"That's it, baby, ride my face."

I bucked against him like an unbroken filly, which only made him double down. His fingers beckoned inside me, thrumming against my G-spot while he used his other hand to press down on my lower belly and increase the pressure.

The man hadn't been exaggerating when he said he'd get me the moon. This orgasm was sure to launch me up into the stars.

"Fuck, Cross. I'm coming."

"Come for me, wife," he rumbled against my clit. "Right fucking now."

Back bowing, I rode out my release with my hands tangled in his hair and my hips pinned to the bed. I hoped the other two men in my life realized I was safe here with Cross. Otherwise we were about to have company because of the screams I let out. Fuck, maybe Bishop still would. Or Bear. Jesus, the last thing I needed was my quasi big brother finding me with my legs spread and dripping pussy on display.

Cross sat back, breathing heavily, lips and chin glistening with my arousal. "That's my good girl. You come so pretty."

I couldn't speak. I was too lost in the hazy edges of the euphoria he'd given me. Instead I opened my legs wider and waited for him to give me everything I wanted. He hadn't been inside me in a decade, but my body still craved him the same way, possibly more.

He'd already proven to be better than I remembered. It was time to find out if his dick had leveled up as much as his tongue had.

"That smile for me, sparrow?"

I wanted to tease him. Tell him I'd been thinking about Bishop just to try and restore some of my control, but I didn't have it in me. The truth was, I'd been here with him a hundred percent of the way. And I wasn't close to being done yet.

"Maybe."

His eyes went hard, and that smile on his face disappeared, replaced by determination. "We'll have to do something to make sure the answer is yes."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

He positioned himself over me, his hands on either side of my head as he brought his lips to mine. I could taste myself on him and understood why he liked it so much. A possessive thrill ran through me knowing he smelled like my cum. I wanted him to wear it everywhere he went.

The tip of his dick slid through my seam until he was all but notched at my entrance. I gripped his hips and rocked mine, eager to help him sink home, but he stiffened and held himself back.

"I don't have a condom," he murmured, forehead resting against mine.

"Don't care. I'm on the pill. Have at it."

A feral growl vibrated in his chest at the permission. "Are you sure? That isn't one hundred percent effective. I could still knock you up, sparrow. Then you'd be mine forever."

"Isn't that what you really want, anyway? To claim me as yours?" His dick twitched against my opening. Oh, he liked that idea. "Do you want to fill me up? Does the idea of me having your baby get you hard, Cross?"

I wriggled, and he sank in the barest inch, pulling a ragged groan from him.

"You know, I'm not sure if I took my pill this morning. It's been so crazy around here. I may have forgotten."

"Fuck, sparrow," he grunted, thrusting into me before I could keep egging him on.

My broody and dangerous cowboy had a breeding kink. I was sort of here for it.

The feel of him inside me, stretching me wide, was everything I'd dreamed about during those long Alaskan nights. It felt like coming home. Tears pricked my eyes, and I had to blink them away. Just because I decided to give him my body didn't mean I had to give him my heart.

Not yet, anyway. The fucker could grovel a while longer.

But doesn't he already have it? Hasn't he always? My traitorous inner voice reminded me of the truth, and I didn't want to listen.

"Look at you, taking my dick like such a good fucking girl, sparrow. God. I could live here and never want anything else. You are so fucking perfect. Made for me. Made to take my cock."

Oh, he was a talker now. I liked that a whole hell of a lot, especially when he told me how much he wanted me.

"Keep talking," I rasped.

His lips twitched as he continued his slow, rolling thrusts. His mouth might be pure filth, but there was no doubt that Cross was making love to me with his body. The combination of the two, the worship mixed with the sexy words, was making my brain short-circuit.

"I'm gonna imprint myself on you from the inside out. You won't be able to take a step tomorrow without feeling the memory of me buried deep. Fuck, baby, your pussy squeezes me so tight. If I was a weaker man, I'd have come inside you already."

"God, Cross. I can't . . . it's so good."

Rocking his hips again, he filled me all the way to the hilt and stopped there, staring at me. One palm skated across my collarbone before he wrapped his fingers around my throat and held himself there. He didn't apply pressure or tighten his hold on me. Cross simply collared me as he resumed that hypnotic roll of his hips, his pelvis applying the perfect amount of friction to my clit with each pass.

"You're close, aren't you?" he whispered, his voice tight as he clearly worked to contain his own approaching climax. "Do you want me to fuck you full of my baby, River? Tie you to me forever? If I don't pull out, that's what's gonna happen. You'll never be rid of me then. No matter how hard you try to convince yourself you're better off without me." His fingers flexed on my throat, his eyes burning mine with the intensity of his stare. "You're mine, sweetness. You always have been."

It was all I could do to bite out, "Yes." I didn't know what part of his speech I was responding to. All of it? Maybe.

I was lost to my pleasure, to my heart finally getting a decade-old wish. Cross with me, wanting me, choosing me. It didn't erase the past, but fuck if it didn't ease the sting.

"Cross, I?—"

"Come for me. Milk my cock, baby. Show me how good it feels when I love you."

Jesus, I was done for.

I detonated around him, my vision going black at the edges as I came with a ragged cry of his name. Finally, he sped up his pace, the sound of our flesh slapping together joining his heavy breaths. I thought he'd been trying to come with me, to weave his orgasm into mine, but instead of filling me full like he promised, he pulled out at the last moment. Taking himself in his fist, it only took one rushed stroke before he painted my chest and belly with hot spurts of his cum.

The way his abs contracted as he found his release was mesmerizing. Those defined ridges rolling along with the involuntary jerking of his hips were as captivating as the sounds he made. Cross had always been a beautiful bastard, but watching him fall apart for me... because of me, was everything. If this man hadn't stolen my heart ten years ago, I would have given it to him then and there. Not because he was an amazing lover, which he absolutely was. God, he was. But because in that moment, with his blue eyes burning with emotion, there was no hiding how he felt about me.

"River... I..." He dropped his gaze to my belly, staring at the evidence of what we'd just shared.

"I thought you had better aim than that, Cross. How're you gonna get the job done like this?"

God help me, his dick began thickening where it lay against my lower belly. "We're not ready for that yet, sweetness. You may have been forced to be my wife, but I'm not gonna force you to have my baby until you're safe."

"So you are going to force me to?" I teased with a raised brow.

"We both know when the time comes, you're going to be begging me to knock you up, sugar."

"Someone's feeling sure of himself."

"Someone just heard the way you screamed his name while your cunt gripped his cock like a vise. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty damn good, sparrow."

I bit down on my bottom lip, feeling reckless and needy. "Put it inside me, Cross. That's the only place your cum should be."

His eyes flashed with hunger, and he trailed one finger through the mess he'd made. "You sure? It's risky."

"I like to live on the wild side."

He growled in response before scooping his release into his hand and slipping his cum covered fingers inside me. It was hard to tell which one of us enjoyed it more. There was no denying the look of satisfaction stamped across his face as he stared down at my pussy.

"You're mine now, baby."

My belly gave a happy swoop, even as a little voice in the back of my mind admitted the truth.

I always have been.