Page 24 of Learning at 40

“Oh God,” I whimper, uncertain what’s happening to me. I rarely come twice and never this fast on the heels of the first.

“Yes,” he mutters as if he’s the man himself. The vibration stimulates my already sensitive folds.

“I can’t,” I softly mewl.

“You will,” he commands again. His tongue against me says no more negotiation. This is torture—quick, slick, and delicious. I crash within seconds, calling out his name in the dark night. Jackknifing upward, I cup his ears, staring down at his head buried between my thighs. He releases me, and I tug him by those ears up to my mouth, sucking at my essence on his lips.

“Fuck me,” I whisper, my voice desperate with need. He’s opened the hydrant. It can’t be closed until the fire burning inside me is out.

“Not tonight,” he says, ravenous for my lips. His tongue licks upward, lapping from the lower to the upper swells.

“What?” I choke, misunderstanding him and feeling his rejection. He just gave me two incredible orgasms, one on top of another. I need to feel him inside me.

“That was all for you.” He was certainly generous, but I’m not done with him. My hands roam down his body, forcing his shorts to his hips.

“River,” he warns against my mouth, but I break away. His hands land on either side of my hips, balancing him upright, and slowly I lower under him, scooting myself beneath his body.

“Angel,” he chokes when I slip my hand inside his shorts, wrapping around a shaft that’s velvet over steel. He’s so hard and hot. He needs to lose control like I did. Releasing him for only a moment, I wrestle his shorts and briefs farther down his body to free his impressive length, then lick the seeping tip.

“Fuck,” he groans, balancing on those arms like columns holding up a building. I swirl my tongue around the crown before opening and drawing him to the back of my throat, swallowing around him. My tongue dances around the head before sucking the firm shaft. His hips lazily rock. Reaching deeper inside his shorts, my hands squeeze the firm globes of his ass and he tightens.

“River,” he pants once more, swiping a hand into my hair, fisting it as if he wants to remove me, but I’m not letting up. I want him to break for me. His backside clenches, and his hips surge forward once more. I gag around him. Quickly, he forces himself free, and I whimper, opening my eyes to watch him fist himself and jerk once before releasing against my pubic bone. My head falls back. My chest heaves.

“Jesus.” Zack chuckles before collapsing beside me. Despite the heavy weight of my head, I roll it in his direction. “That was not supposed to happen.”

His breathing is just as ragged as mine, but the grin on his face lets me know he’s pleased by what we just did.

“You didn’t like that?” I tease, rolling my body to face his.

“Don’t be stupid. I loved it, but that’s not what I intended tonight.”

“It’s called compromise,” I state.

“Well, I like how you compromise.” He smiles wider, and the full potential to dazzle graces his face.

“I like how you negotiate,” I whisper, reaching out to run my fingertip down his nose. He shifts his body to mirror mine before kissing me tenderly.

“I’ll negotiate with you anytime.” His silvery eyes soften. I’d like to believe those words mean more, but I know better.

9

[Zack]

Within days of knowing her, the warmth my boys express for River’s feelings surprises me. Oliver worried we’d upset Miss River and she wouldn’t want to see us again, while Trevor genuinely meant his suggestion to remove the entire structure if she didn’t like it. I was truly baffled by how easily the boys behaved for this woman, but I wasn’t puzzled at their attraction to her. While not the same as the level of attraction I felt, of course, something about her drew all the Weller boys in her direction.

Thinking of attraction, I loved how she responded to my commands. It could have all blown up in my face—demanding she remove her underwear, telling her to touch herself, allowing me to watch—and then she flipped the tables like she has at every turn. She told me to do it. She told me to act out what I wanted to do to her on that outdoor chaise, and when I did . . . holy shit. In her terms of compromise, she returned the favor, which I never ever expected.

I blame it on that kiss she demanded the previous night, striking a match and setting the flame. My game was seriously off, and I knew I was fucking it all up with her. Even when she told me to kiss her, I hadn’t known how. It isn’t that I’d forgotten, but I was out of practice. Six years married to a woman I hadn’t loved, and I no longer knew how to kiss a woman I might.

You were holding back. She was right. I was holding back. I didn’t want to scare her away, but can you scare a woman brave enough to sunbathe nude in her backyard? Can you frighten a woman who is bold enough to touch herself before a man? River has a wild streak, and I want her to help me reclaim mine.

Before I left her last night, I apologized again for overstepping boundaries in building a new tree house in her tree.

“You seem to have a habit of it,” she teased about my trespassing. Although I knew what she meant, I didn’t want to come across as taking things that didn’t belong to me. I’d been the product of a man who’d done such a thing, and I swore I would never beg, borrow, or steal anything that wasn’t mine. Most of all, I didn’t want her to think I’d taken advantage of her.

The next day, we return to her yard to continue our building project. The boys have had a blast making demands and following directions like little subcontractors. They’ve done Mason proud. Thankfully, River works during the day again, so we aren’t disturbing her.

When our smoking hot neighbor finally does enter her yard in the late afternoon, Logan and Mason are arguing about finishing touches. You wouldn’t think building a simple tree house would take more than two days, but with these two, it’s out of control.