“Again!”
I repeated it, my chest rising and falling hard now.
Autumn upped her pace, and I kept up my action. Once more, twice…
“Oh God!” Autumn yelled, and she collapsed forward, hugging me, moaning my name.
My dam burst, and I took over, grabbing her hips and jerking up into her. Her orgasm held me in a vice, and I gave a strangled yell then came. Fuck!
It hit me by surprise. A series of stunning throbs that had my head spinning. I stilled, grasping Autumn to me as I sank deep, my cock pulsing.
The ecstasy sank every thought. There was only her. The connection between us.
It took a minute to come back to earth.
“That was incredible,” Autumn murmured. “No one has ever done the things you do to me.”
“I’ve never come so hard and so out of my control,” I admitted.
She giggled, a sweet sound, then snuggled into my arms.
From the moment I’d first seen Autumn climb out of her busted-up car, I thought her the prettiest woman I’d ever seen, but now, having witnessed her writhing on my lap, taking her pleasure on me—nothing could beat that. It was a view only I had.
I wanted to keep her.
For now, at least.
11
Mind-blowing
Autumn
Bull’s strong fingers raked over my scalp in relaxing repetition. Both still naked after a second round of mind-blowing sex, we caught our breaths, curled up on the rug in front of the fire. His chest hair tickled my back, and I huddled closer.
This was wonderful. Too wonderful, really.
“Can I ask a question?” His low tones came from just above my ear.
“No.” I smiled, not that he could see. “Bet you will anyway.”
“Is your real name Autumn?”
I twisted in his arms and found his lips. Then I gave him a slow kiss. “Yes.”
Bull rumbled approval. “How old are ye?”
A mini battle played out in my head. On the application for the bar job, I’d aged myself a few years. If Bull knew enough details about me, he could look me up. But it wasn’t him I was afraid of.
Suddenly, I wanted him to know me. Hardly anyone else did anymore.
“I’m twenty-two.”
“So young.” He pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear then took my chin and laid his mouth on mine. His powerful kiss felt like a reward for letting him in.
“I’m a decade older than ye,” he muttered.
“I like that.” Right now, in his arms, I felt safer than I ever had. I let the sensation wash over me, lulled by incredible sex, warmth, and the sheer strength this man held.
“Got any questions for me?” he asked.
I did. Before, I’d stopped myself from asking too much about him. I was leaving, and I didn’t want to know. But his words had another meaning. Almost like he was showing how to be vulnerable.
I knew that all too well.
“Do you own this place?” I murmured.
“Aye. I bought it when I moved here. It was failing, and I liked the challenge. It was called Pete’s Bar then. No wonder no one dropped by.”
I pondered this for a second. “Why Bhaltair’s?”
“That’s my name. Bhaltair Graham. Traditional Gaelic. Bull is a nickname.”
I chuckled. “Then you’re the one who’s been fake-naming me this whole time.”
Bull rolled me onto my back and placed his hand on my chest, flat over my breastbone. Then he trailed his fingers down to my nipple, so lightly it tickled as much as it turned me on. We both watched his hand.
“And Smith?” he asked.
“Not so real.” That was all he was getting on that. “Where do you live?” I pushed the subject on.
“Around the back. There’s an apartment. It isn’t much, but I moved there after…” He cleared his throat and stopped his movements. “After Cindy and I broke up.”
It was none of my business. Not a damn bit. But the hurt that played out in his face and in his tone socked me in the gut. His tattoo of the boy’s name curled around his side, and I reached out and touched it, propping myself up on my elbow so we were face to face again. “What happened?”
Bull didn’t speak right away, and I faltered. “Shit. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Everyone else knows. It’s no secret. I met Cindy when I’d been in the US just a few days. My da, who had been my last living relative, died, and I was in a strange state. My mother came from here, ye ken, and I have dual citizenship. I decided I needed to make a new life rather than wallow in memories back home in Scotland.”
He glanced over my skin again, like touching me comforted him. His rough hand skimmed my side, finding the flare of my hips.
His fingers dug into my flesh. “She was a one-night stand. But she found me a few months later and told me she was pregnant.”
“Holy cow,” I whispered.
He widened his eyes. “She told me the bairn was mine, and I believed her without question. I bought a home with money Da left me and moved her in. We weren’t a couple. She admitted she was married, but separated, and it all became about the boy.”
“Archie,” I said, sparing him the word.
“Aye.” For a moment, Bull went perfectly still, the colour lost from his cheeks and his gaze on a distant scene. “I love that wee lad,” he finally said, the words coming out hoarse. “I held him first after he was born and gave him my name. Archibald is my middle name, and his surname is still mine. But even then, I should’ve known. He’s fair. Blue-eyed and with a bonnie complexion. Nothing of me in him.”
My heart ached at the tragedy of it. “How did you find out?”
“Cindy’s ex turned up. My— The boy was a few months old. This arsehole came to my door and told me I was stepping in on his family. I had him by the throat when Cindy yelled for me to stop. She admitted the truth, and I left the same day. This man,” he spat the word, “claimed he’d support them. He wanted to be part of his son’s life. Cindy asked me to walk away, and I did.”
“I can’t even imagine how much that must have hurt,” I said. If anyone tried to take Benjamin away, I couldn’t cope. We woke early together every morning. He’d have his bottle of warm milk in bed cuddling up with me, then we’d go down to play with the family. I’d babysat for Lena and Mark and had all the kids for an early evening movie with popcorn. At work, I’d call him to make sure he was okay, and at night, I snuggled him and kissed his soft baby cheek. I missed his little face, even now.
“Aye, it hurt. But I thought it was for the best. I’d been made a fool of, but Cindy claimed she wasnae sure who the father was. It was only when the bairn got older that she recognised her ex in his face. I might even believe that now.”
“Why was she here the other day?”
Bull grimaced. “Her ex has left her again. He’d only needed a roof over his head and had no real interest in her or the boy. She begged me to come back. Then she said she was sick and to remember that legally, I was the boy’s da and had to take him on if anything happened to her. Then she put him in my arms. He recognised me right away, and the poor wee thing cried and clung tight.”