As soon he squeezed one dark nipple, she moaned and pressed his hand harder against her breast. Her free hand covered her other breast, fondling her own flesh in a way that sent new heat directly to his cock.
“Jesus, Kendra, you’re so fucking hot,” he groaned. “I need to be inside you. Lift up.”
She obeyed, her body trembling as she tightened her thighs. He fisted his hand around his erection and adjusted her position so she was directly over him. As he flexed upward, she lowered herself down, and somehow the mechanics worked perfectly. She slid onto him, her breath catching in a deep moan somewhere inside her chest.
He clamped his hands onto the flesh of her hips and worked her onto his cock, up and down, deep and deeper, so deep. She rode him like that, grinding into him, seeking her own pleasure on his thick cock.
He gritted his teeth and slitted his eyes so he wasn’t bombarded with the erotic images right before his eyes. Keeping himself in check was frickin’ heroic under the circumstances, but he didn’t want to cheat her out of the electric orgasm they were generating together.
It wasn’t until she reared back, her body arcing with joy, her fingers squeezing her nipples, that he allowed his own orgasm to burst out the gate like a racehorse. He pulsed into her in deep spasms, each one an eternity in itself. Each one an experience written on his soul.
Damn, why did he always get poetic like that after making love to Kendra? Images would sneak into his dazed brain, little snips of poetry or magical thinking.
Did that happen to her too? Or was he the only sentimental one in this relationship?
She still sat astride him, chest heaving, sweat dampening the pretty area above her breasts. With one finger, he blotted a droplet sliding along her collarbone.
After a moment, he realized she wasn’t really moving. “Are you asleep?” he whispered. How could she sleep on top of him like that?
“Mmm. No. Just mellow.”
He drew her down next to him and settled her under the covers. They’d recently gone through the birth control drill, determined they were both free from STDs and she was on the Pill. He didn’t have to interrupt the afterglow by peeling off a sticky condom anymore.
That was an important milestone in their relationship.
Relationship being the key word. That was what it felt like to him. They’d blown way past rebound and were in new territory now, whether she knew it or not.
“Kendra,” he whispered.
Her eyelids fluttered, as if she was trying to lift them, but couldn’t because they were just too heavy. She was either asleep or nearly so.
“Would it be so bad to change the game?”
Twenty-Two
When Jason opened his eyes the next morning, Kendra was gone.
Damn it. Had he scared her off? He never should have mentioned anything about changing the game. This wasn’t a game. Not for him. Not anymore.
Then he realized that a banging sound from downstairs had woken him up. Maybe Kendra was in the kitchen doing something loud…like…renovating? Clog-dancing?
Shaking himself awake, he rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts before jogging down the stairs. The banging turned out to be someone knocking on the front door.
Galen Cooper, of course, because who else would treat knocking on a door like a wilderness survival event?
His bushy-bearded friend burst through the door. As always, he brought the smell of the forest with him.
“I’m surprised you didn’t just cut it open with a chainsaw,” Jason grumbled at him as he barreled past him.
“My chainsaw’s in the shop.”
Jason followed him into the kitchen, where Galen hoisted himself onto a stool and looked around expectantly.
“You know this is my house, not a coffee shop?”
“You always have coffee ready.”
“Ready?” Jason slapped a hand to his forehead. “Damn. I forgot we’re supposed to go fishing today.”
“Supposed to? What is wrong with you?” Galen peered at him with an expression of utter betrayal.
“It was a busy night. You heard about the fire at the nursing home, right? Or were you out in the wild with no service?”
“I heard. Good work.” He slid off the stool and went to make the coffee himself. “‘Fire Chief Faces and Aces First Big Test.’ Not bad, bro. Still no excuse for forgetting a fishing trip.”
Jason poured himself a glass of orange juice, downed it, then grabbed another glass and filled it for Galen.
“Something bothering you, Galen?” His old friend didn’t seem like himself. He and Galen had been buddies since they’d both played on the hockey team in high school. Galen had filled the position of goalie with a mad rabid intensity that made opposing players afraid to approach the goal.
“Nah.” He swallowed down some juice in his typical beast-like manner. Galen had the sweetest heart in the world, but on the outside he came off as entirely uncivilized. “Okay, yes. You’re the fire chief now.”
“Yup.” Jason grabbed a stool and straddled it. A glance at the coffee maker told him it was still early. Barely six. What time had Kendra left? Before dawn?
“Thomas is married.”
“That’s the usual outcome of wedding vows,” Jason said drily.
“And they have a kid. Billy has his two boys. I’m the only Cooper brother without offspring.”
“Offspring, huh? I’ve never heard you talk about wanting offspring before.”
“Are you kidding? Kids love me. They think I’m some kind of cartoon character. Like a troll,” he added gloomily.
“No way, you’re too tall to be a troll. You’d have to be an ogre.”
“An ogre.” Galen buried his head in his hands. “I’m fucked, aren’t I?”
Jason poured the freshly dripped coffee into a Thermos and screwed on the cap. “How about we go catch some trout and finish this convo over breakfast?”
Jason’s house was just a short walk away from a launch spot where he kept a couple of kayaks and a collection of fishing rods stashed under a tarp. Within ten minutes, they were gliding across the lake, its surface flat as a mirror, reflecting pink and pearl morning light. This time of year, with the water temperatures dropping again, some spectacular bass could be found.
A sense of peace came over him as he dipped the paddle into the water. Kendra had probably left this morning because she had work to do. Operation Respected Elders, day two. Maybe she wasn’t fleeing from him and his threat to “change the game.”
But back to Galen’s problem. He dug in the paddle so he came up alongside his friend. “Remember how we used to talk about being the favorite uncle, the one who gets to go home at the end of the day and sleep in peace?”
“Yeah, but that’s not me anymore. I got to tell you, Jason, I don’t think it ever was me.”
“You always wanted a family?”
Galen shook his head, squinting away from the rays of the sun just beginning to pierce through the tops of the trees. “I didn’t even know what family was. To me, family was my brothers. We always stuck together. Thomas brought us here after that summer camp for poor kids, and we all decided to stay. Mom didn’t care, so long as she didn’t have to send too much money. First time I went into the woods to camp, I didn’t want to leave. That was home. The forest. The wilderness. My brothers. I didn’t need anything else.”