Fingers working hastily, she rolled the latex down his erect shaft. Encircling her hand around the hard-sprung length, Ember readied him, slowly lowering onto the thick, fullness. Pleasure hissed from her throat in a carnal groan, taking every inch, allowing him to fully penetrate.
Nash’s eyes turned pliant, neck straining to the glorious view before him. Seeing him so entranced, watching their intimate connection sparked a wildfire inside. She wanted to please him.
Lost in the high, Ember rocked and swiveled her hips in a slow boil of seduction, consuming each new sensation before committing to the perfect rhythm of movement.
Shifting to her feet, she gazed into his gorgeous blues. Ember grinded against him, deepened the roll of her hips and quickened the rhythm of the ride. The intensity of their connection a startling awareness of their presence. Back arching in pleasure, her hair swung wildly against the blades of her shoulders, sticking to the damp skin.
Indulging in the bliss, his hands traced her body, skimming over her breasts and up her neck. Stimulation began building momentum, surging toward the ultimate climax. Low moans, full of pleasure and adoration, climbed into the night sky.
Sitting upright, Nash thread his open hand into the hair at her nape. An unbridled grin lurked in the corner of his mouth. Tightening his fist around the wavy strands of chestnut, he murmured, “I think you like this.”
“Yes, yes I do,” she panted, nearly howling at the moon.
The possessive gesture made her body tremble all over. He bucked upward, unshackling the flow of erotic energy streaming between them. The wild, powerful current tipped her into rapture. Tiny jolts of luscious electricity bloomed in strength, stretching outward from her center to the farthest points of her limbs.
Keeping hold of her hair, Nash dropped a free hand to the apex of her thighs, slicking a thumb over her clit in a circular motion. The luscious force and friction of his fingers drew out the last tremors of ecstasy. Surrendering to the chaos, she cried out for him, riding out the pleasure high as convulsions wracked her body.
“Fuck,” he barked. Grasping her hips with both hands, he strained and jerked burying himself inside her.
Together, they tumbled, free falling into the other’s gravity.
Ember draped her arms around his neck, wilting over his shoulder as the remaining twitches left her body. In one easy move, he laid back, tucking her beside him. Each gasping for air, she curled up to his side.
Lying in his arms, Ember didn’t need to be poked with a red, hot iron to realize she’d just been branded. The claiming sensation sank all the way to her bones. Nash enveloped her physically, mentally, sexually, and spiritually. She might as well have had Harris permanently tattooed to her ass.
Nothing had ever felt so right, so natural, so perfect.
After a quick clean up, Ember rolled to her belly, and tucked her hands under her chin. They laid there, reveling in the serenity, catching their breath, watching the last bits of scattered colors fade into the horizon.
“Did you know this is my favorite time of day?” His rich baritone carried through the coming darkness.
“I did not know that.”
“Umm hmm.” He laid on his side, one hand propping up his head while the other toyed with a long strand of her hair. “It’s the perfect time of day when all the colors are sucked from the day’s end and the sun dips below the horizon. The landscape’s suffused with bluish light silhouetting the horizontal line of the land, and stars begin to dot the heavens.”
“I can see why it’s your favorite,” she acknowledged in awe.
“When I was a kid, I used to call it the magic hour.”
“I take it this was your favorite playground.”
Mimicking her relaxed position, Nash rolled to his stomach and rested his chin atop his crossed arms. “I wouldn’t call it a playground so much as I’d call it my escape.”
“I bet you and your brother used to stay out here all the time.”
“Sam’s five years older than me and grew facial hair before high school, so he preferred sneaking into the bars,” he joked, but somberness lingered in his voice. “I used to run away a lot and this was my spot.”
“Really?” She hadn’t intended to blurt it out, but the remark dumped out of her mouth before she could stop it. Ember turned her head taking in his strong profile. Her voice softened witnessing the pain lacing through his features. “Honestly, Nash, I can’t imagine you running from anything or anyone.”
He remained still and quiet for a moment as if sifting through old, difficult memories. Turning his head to face her, Nash rested his cheek in the crook of his arm.
“When I was nine years old, my mother brought me to Harris Ranch. I’d never met my father. I didn’t even know who he was when she dropped me on his doorstep with a suitcase and my pillow.”
Ember didn’t need the daylight to see the affliction hidden in his eyes. Moving to her side, she inched closer to him, raking her fingers through the trimmed curls covering his chest. “I had no idea, Nash. What happened?”
“My father had an affair with my mother. He was married at the time and she had a boyfriend. They spent a weekend together in Dallas. When she found out she was pregnant, her boyfriend, Jerry, married her thinking I was his son. He raised me, if you want to call it that, for six years until my mother got caught having another affair. When things got ugly, and things were ugly most of the time, she got drunk and outed herself and his false paternity. Jerry was gone the next day. Three years later, she dropped me off here, at the Harris Ranch.”
A dull ache settled heavy in her chest.
Being cognitive of her facial reaction, she asked in a hushed voice, “She just…dropped you off?”
“Apparently, I was a handful or at least that was her excuse. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact she was a barfly and a shitty parent.” Years of sadness cut through the fringes of his words. “It was tough. My father didn’t know I existed, so he was in shock. And my arrival sure as hell didn’t sit well with my father’s wife or Sam and Susie.”
Though Ember grew up without a father, her mother went above and beyond, showering her with enough love for two parents. “Nash, I’m…I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”
“It was a mess. Everyone was fighting and crying all the time. It didn’t take long for Sandy, my father’s ex-wife, to divorce him. Though we’ve never discussed it, I think she had one foot out the door before I even arrived. I was an embarrassment to the—”
Ember popped upright, defensiveness stoking her reaction. “You were a child. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Sweetheart, I know that. Believe me, I was forced to go through enough therapy to figure shit out.” Nash rummaged through the duffle, retrieving a fleece-lined flannel shirt. Sitting up, he draped the shirt over her shoulders. “No matter how you want to spin it, my father’s indiscretion left a trail of damage. Sam was in high school, but Susie and I are only a year apart, so we attended the same school. Imagine explaining that shit to all your friends after summer break. Or in my case, I had to try to make new friends…in a small school full of rumors about the new kid.”
“Oh.” Ember drew out the syllable, her brain catching up with reality. “I take it that’s why your sister is so…friendly.”