The first rope hit her chin, the second her lips, the third across her cheek. She closed her eyes and let me paint her, her mouth slightly open and lashes dark against flushed cheeks. The sight of her was so goddamn filthy and so goddamn beautiful at the same time that my cock jerked one more time, spillin' the last of it across her collarbone.
I stood there, chest heavin', starin' down at her like she'd just rearranged the entire geography of my brain.
She opened her eyes.
"You missed my tits," she said flatly.
A laugh exploded out of me, the kind that came from somewhere deep and unguarded, the kind I couldn't fake if I tried. I pulled her to her feet and kissed her, tastin' myself on her lips, not givin' a single fuck.
"Shower," I murmured against her mouth. "Then I'm orderin' you room service."
I scooped her up and carried her toward the bathroom, and she let me, which was its own kind of miracle. Her arms wound around my neck and her forehead dropped to my shoulder and for a second, just one, I felt her exhale against my skin like she was settin' somethin' down she'd been holdin' for a long, long time.
The bathroom had one of those big glass-walled showers with enough room for four people. The rainfall showerhead seemed excessive until I was standin' under it with her, steam risin' around us, her back against my chest and my arms around her middle.
"Hey, Brody?"
"Yeah?"
"This was a good date."
I pressed my lips to her wet hair and smiled against it.
"First of many, viper."
She hummed. Didn't argue. Didn't deflect.
And I held onto that harder than I probably should've.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE
Brodyand I took our time heading back to Larkspur Sunday morning. We slept in, fucked some more, grabbed brunch, and then Brody finally dropped me off back at my truck. I followed him the whole way back to town. Every five minutes along the way, he lifted his hand off the wheel to wave at me through his rear windshield. The first time, I waved back. The following eight, I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
We slowed to a crawl as we entered downtown, passing by The Bar first, then the diner, the hardware store, the vet, and the general store before we ended up out front of The Blue Pony Saloon. Brody pulled off to the side, motioning me up alongside him.
His window was rolled down, so I rolled my passenger window down to match. "Need somethin' boy scout?"
He smiled, but there was some shyness to it. Man had fucked my tits last night and come on my face, but whatever he was 'bout to say had him all tied up.
"I need to shower and change," he started. We both did. Hadn't really planned on spending the night away from home, so neither of us had spare clothes. Fortunately, the hotel had some spare toothbrushes. "But, uh… would you, uh… wanna?—"
"Spit it out."
He pulled his shoulders back and his following words spilled out in an anxious rush. "Come to my mama's for dinner tonight?"
I paused, waiting for the flight instinct to kick in. But it didn't come. Instead, I smiled. Small, but real.
"Yeah," I said. "I'd like that."
The look on Brody's face—relief and joy and somethin' almost boyish—made my chest do that traitorous squeeze it'd been doin' a lot lately. Like my ribcage was slowly shrinkin' and no longer able to accommodate whatever was growin' inside it.
"Pick you up at five?"
"I can drive myself."
"Didn't say you couldn't. Said I'd pick you up."
I narrowed my eyes. He grinned. The standoff lasted about four seconds.
