Nick gave her a deadpan look. “You’re not going to start running to try to get Travis’s attention, are you?”
Jillian sat up straighter. “I already have his attention, thank you very much. And no, I don’t run. But I could power walk for a man like that.”
Everyone laughed, except Nick, who shook his head.
“I think this has been the best night we’ve had in a long time,” his mother said. “All our kids in one place, four of you paired off and living your happily ever afters.” She covered her heart with her hand. “I couldn’t be happier. Unless, of course, one of you young couples decided to give us grandchildren.”
There was a rumble of comments and coughs.
“Okay, okay,” his mother said. “No pressure from me. Morgyn, honey, does your aunt Roxie make fertility bodywash?”
Nick and his brothers all complained at once. “No!” “Mom!” “Come on!”
Lily giggled, and the girls laughed.
“Who’s hosting brunch tomorrow? Mom’s stove is on the fritz.” Jillian looked around. “Beau?”
“Our fridge is empty,” Beau said.
“Ours too,” Graham said.
“Don’t look at us,” Zev said. “We’re staying at Beau’s.”
“We’ll host,” Nick said, his eyes flicking up to Trixie’s.
Everyone looked around like they’d misheard him.
Trixie’s heart skipped. “We will? You know that means everyone comes here to eat, right? Inside the house?”
“’Course, darlin’. I figured you’d want to, and almost everyone will be here for the trail ride anyway.”
“Yay! We’re hosting brunch!” She got up and threw her arms around him. “Who are you, and what have you done with my broody cowboy?”
Everyone had a good laugh over that.
They had a wonderful evening hanging out with his family. Everyone helped clean up, and they made plans to meet for the trail ride at seven thirty the next morning and for brunch at ten o’clock. After everyone left, Trixie and Nick took care of the animals, and while he closed up the barn, she waited by the fence, gazing out at the horses in the pasture, thinking about how much she was going to miss being there and how far they’d come. It seemed like a year since she’d arrived.
She heard Nick approaching, and her stomach fluttered. He pressed his body to her back and held on to the fence on either side of her, trapping her against his enticingly hard frame. She felt his warm breath on her shoulder as he lowered his lips and kissed her there, bringing rise to goose bumps.
“Hey, cowgirl. Come here often?”
“Actually, I haven’t ever come here.”
“You’re a dirty girl. Just the way I like you.” He kissed her neck again, moving her hair so he could seal his mouth over her skin. One hand moved down her belly as he kissed and sucked, driving her up on her toes. He rocked his hard length against her ass, his hand slipping beneath her skirt and crawling over her thigh. “I’ve been dying to touch you all night, darlin’.” He teased between her legs, over her panties, and her head fell back.
“Me too,” she said breathily.
She reached behind her with both hands, pulling him tighter against her bottom as he pushed his fingers into her panties. His fingers slid through her wetness, and he moaned.
“I love when you’re wet for me.”
“I’m always wet for you,” she panted out, his fingers dipped inside her. “My neck. Suck my neck.”
He sucked and licked, grazing his teeth over her sensitive skin as he drove her wild with his fingers, taking her right up to the edge. She rocked in time with his efforts, chasing her release, and there was no stopping the sinful sounds from slipping through her lips.
“That’s it, baby,” he said in a low, gravelly voice. “I want to feel you come for me.”
He pushed his other hand beneath her top, palming her breast, and squeezed her nipple. His teeth sank into her neck, as his thumb hit her clit with laser precision, sending her careening into her climax. She cried out his name, pleasure scorching through her. Just when she hit the peak, his thumb pressed harder, moving in circles, sending flames from her head all the way to the tips of her toes. She clung to his arms, her body quivering, as he showered her cheek and neck with tender kisses, and she tried to remember how to breathe.
He turned her in his arms, his eyes glowing with desire as his mouth covered hers, hard and demanding, kissing her so exquisitely, she nearly lost her mind. She tugged at his shirt, but he took her hand, leading her to a blanket in the grass she hadn’t known he’d put there. He guided her arms to his shoulders, as he bent to take off her boots and socks. He ran his hands up her legs and pressed kisses just above her knees. Then he took off his own boots and socks and rose to his feet, taking her in a long, sensual kiss. His hands moved lovingly down her body, over her hips, and up her back. He was so tender, so different from the frantic and urgent man who had first taken her in the kitchen. He kissed her neck and shoulders, slowly and meticulously, like he was savoring every touch as he peeled off her shirt and put it on the blanket. Her bra went next, and his eyes moved slowly over her breasts.
“You’re beautiful, Trix.”
He brushed a kiss over her heart as he unzipped her skirt, and it puddled at her feet. He drew down her panties and ran his hands up her legs, kissing as he went. God, she loved that. He slowed at her thighs, lingering there, touching and kissing until her legs trembled. Then he kissed his way higher. She closed her eyes as he whispered against her belly, “I love your body.” He kissed her ribs, his rough hands moving over her bottom and up her back. He slicked his tongue over one nipple, then the other, bringing them to throbbing peaks as the balmy night air swept over them, making her entire body shudder.
“Gorgeous,” he whispered, and sucked one nipple into his mouth, caressing the other, and then his hand slipped between her legs again. “I can’t help myself. I love the way you feel.”
The emotion in his voice made her knees weak, and his touch made her quiver and quake. He kissed her rough and deep and helped her down to sit on the blanket. She watched as he stripped off his clothes, revealing his hard muscles, his thick cock bobbing eagerly. She went up on her knees, her hand circling his length, and she teased the head the way she knew drove him mad. He groaned and buried his hands in her hair, letting her set the pace as she took him in her mouth. She loved the way his muscles flexed with restraint as she pleasured him with her mouth, but she wanted to feel his power, his desire. She grabbed his ass, urging him to move with her, thrust faster. He didn’t hesitate, giving her exactly what she wanted, fucking her mouth as passionately as he took her body. They were so in sync, so perfect together. But then he withdrew, and when she looked up in confusion, his eyes drilled into her as he dropped to his knees.
“I want to make love to you,” he said, gruff and urgent.
She lay back, and as he came down over her, his words sank in. He hadn’t ever referred to sex as making love. Did he even realize he’d said it?
She wound her arms around him as their mouths came together. He kissed her slowly and passionately, cradling her in his arms as their bodies came together at the same slow, sensual pace, until they were as close as two people could be. Warm air swept over their bodies as they found their rhythm. In his arms, she felt protected from the rest of the world. Their impassioned kisses, the way he held her, as if she were his most cherished treasure, and the way he loved her, was so different from any other time they’d been together, she wanted to hold on to all of it—from the first frantic, unsure-what-it-meant time, to the last urgent and greedy coupling—because they were all part of who they were as a couple. Even though every time they’d been together since the first had felt special and meaningful, this time was even more intense, as if all the pieces of herself came together in this one magical moment. But they—this—felt even bigger than that, as if she and Nick had truly become one body, mind, and soul.