“You’re right, it is. But because I love your daughter and want her to be happy, I’m going to take care of it.” My gaze drilled into his, my voice going even quieter as I lowered the boom. “Hopefully you’ll take this second chance I’m offering you and do something with it that won’t keep your daughter up at night.”
Joe swallowed thickly, his eyes filled with a multitude of emotions just then. Guilt, relief, shame, happiness, contrition. “Think it’s my turn to give you my word now.”
I nodded, relief rushing through me that Joe Ryan was able to see reason and consider what was best for his family.
“Hey, what are you two over here whispering about?”
As soon as Stella came into reach, I threw an arm out and hooked it around her waist, pulling her right into my side so I could bend my head and press a kiss to her temple. It wasn’t nearly enough, but until our company left for the night, it would have to do. And as badly as I wanted to get my woman alone, I was content to let the Ryans stay as late as they wanted if it meant keeping that smile on Stella’s face.
She tipped her head back, her smile still in place, but curiosity painted across her features. I hadn’t exactly shied away from being affectionate with her, even in front of her family, but I hadn’t been so blatant with it until now.
By the way she melted into me, I didn’t think she minded, but just to make myself perfectly clear, I leaned down to her upturned face and stole a kiss. “Nothing important, grift. Just guy shit.”
She quirked a brow, humor taking over her expression. “Guy shit, like sports and cars and who can burp further in the alphabet? That kind of stuff?”
“Exactly,” Joe butted in. “I won by getting all the way to Q. Your man here only made it to P. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m running a bit low.” He wiggled his beer bottle in the air. “You need a refill, son?”
“Appreciate it.”
Once Joe headed off toward the kitchen, I shifted my focus back to Stella to see her gaze bouncing back and forth between each family member. “You having fun, baby?”
Her sigh came out soft, almost dreamy. “I’m having the best time. I didn’t realize how much I’d been missing them.” Those deep pools of green and gray came back to me. “Thank you for making this happen.”
“Nothing to thank me for. They’re your family, which means they’re welcome here whenever you want to see them.”
“God,” she groaned, dropping her forehead against my shoulder. “I swear, sometimes I think you’re too good to be true.”
My arm clenched around her, holding her even tighter. “I assure you, I’ve very real.” And I’d keep reminding her of that as long as it took her to trust what we had was real and wasn’t going away.
Twenty-Seven
Stella
Burying my face in the pillows, I let out a moan that was muffled by the cotton and stuffing as I spiraled higher and higher toward a climax that threatened to shatter me into a million pieces.
“Fuck, baby. You’re getting even tighter.”
At West’s growled words, I pulled my head out of the pillows and turned to look back at him over my shoulder.
He’d woken me up this morning before the alarm clock was set to go off with his fingers between my thighs. It didn’t take any time at all for the gentle, reverent touches to become something else entirely, and after giving me my first orgasm with his hand, he’d quickly flipped me over onto all fours and proceeded to fuck me like it was his last day on Earth and he wanted to make sure I could feel him for years to come.
I moaned again, feeling myself squeezing even tighter, my walls clenching and fluttering around him as my release grew closer. In this position, I could take him even deeper, feeling every inch of him everywhere. Every vein of that beautiful cock, that thick, bulbous crown brushing against the most sensitive places inside of me as he shoved in and pulled out, over and over.
“West,” I panted, my breaths coming faster and faster. I felt like I’d just run a marathon and was closing in on the finish line. It was right there. “Oh God, I’m gonna come.”
“I know, baby. I feel it. Jesus, you’re squeezing the life out of me.” With one hand still on my hip and his fingers digging into my skin, the other hand snaked around my body and zeroed in between my thighs where we were joined. He rubbed two circles on my clit, and that was all it took.
My back bowed, my lips parted on a silent cry that morphed into a near-scream as I came so hard I could have sworn the earth moved beneath me.
My walls clamped down around West’s driving cock, and he let out a growl that sounded like it belonged to a feral animal. “Christ, you’re gonna milk me dry.” Then I felt him pulse inside me, and that first hot spurt coated my walls as he let out a long, thunderous groan. Over and over, he shot into me, his thrusts going from hard and teeth-rattling to smooth and languid. He didn’t stop moving until the very last tremor of our simultaneous releases left us.
He collapsed on top of me, taking me down to the bed with him where he shifted us to our sides so he was spooning me, his hard chest to my back, his dick still nestled inside of me like that was its new home.
I was totally fine with that.
Using his chin, he brushed the hair off my shoulder and dragged his lips across my neck, making me shiver. “What do you think about going out for breakfast this morning?”
“Depends,” I answered lazily.
“On?”
“On whether or not my legs decide to work again after you just fucked me boneless.”
He laughed, making his half-hard dick drive into me a bit deeper, and I instantly fluttered around him. “I think for Muffin Top’s coffee, they’ll bounce back.”
At the mention of Muffin Top, I instantly perked up. That place was the very definition of heaven on earth. “Can I get a cup of coffee the size of my face?”
West’s chest shook at my back. “Baby, if that’s what you want, go for it. Just try not to climb the walls afterward.”
I’d make no such promises.
With the promise of the world’s best coffee and pastries just around the corner, I hopped out of bed and scuttled to the shower. I wasn’t going to mess around where that place was concerned.
“Move your ass, Scott,” I shouted over the spray of the running shower. “The banana nut muffins are one of the first things to go, and I am not missing out.”
West was enjoying his cream cheese Danish, and I had my face shoved in the biggest cup of coffee Muffin Top provided, inhaling the delicious aroma of the roasted beans as I waited for it to cool enough for me to guzzle it like a toddler getting its first soda ever, when two large shadows cast themselves over the little bistro table we’d managed to snag by one of the big windows that lined the shop.
I looked up and nearly choked on my first sip of coffee at the sight of the two men standing about two feet away. Just like the majority of the male population in Hope Valley, these dudes looked like they belonged on a calendar dedicated to sexy mountain men.
One was dressed in a partial suit; gray slacks and a white button-down, sans tie and jacket. The other was also in a button-down, but his was tucked into jeans and his feet were encased in a pair of broken-in cowboy boots.