The rhythm we found was slow, and for the first time, I didn’t want to rush. I didn’t want to hurry to the top of the rollercoaster. I wanted to enjoy every dip and bend in the ride. I wanted to feel it all. And I wanted it to last forever.
Eventually, the pace changed. Walker shot up to retake my mouth. I cried out into the kiss as my walls quaked around him. He groaned his response as I felt his release. In that moment, I knew the fortress I had built around my heart was beginning to crumble. It scared me to death, but being without him frightened me more.
Sweaty and sated, we fell back against the lounge. Only the sounds of our slowing breathing and the night insects surrounded us. The smell of the pine trees wrapped us up tight.
Walker trailed a hand up and down the ridges in my spine. I kissed his pec over where his heart might be. “You’re mine, too,” I whispered.
“I’m yours, too.” I felt his words everywhere, and a small, broken piece of my heart knitted itself back together.
33
Walker
The squeaking of a wood-planked step had me jolting awake. Taylor and I had opted for a night under the stars instead of crawling into my bed. Now, reacting to my sudden movement, she moaned and stretched. My dick hardened. Not the time, buddy.
My eyes scanned the back deck and the fields below. Nothing. A throat cleared. “Well, good for you two. It’s about damn time.” My grandmother appeared from under the eaves of the house.
I groaned. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Taylor blinked, the last remnants of sleep clearing from her eyes at the sound of voices. “What’s going on?”
I pulled the blanket up a little higher around her, even though she was wearing my t-shirt. “That’s what I’d like to know. My grandma decided that six a.m. was the perfect time for a little visit.”
Taylor squeaked, her eyes shooting behind me to my grandmother. Who waved. Fucking waved. “Well,” Irma huffed, “I wasn’t expecting you to have company, and I know you’re always up early. But I’m delighted, just delighted that you two have figured this thing out.”
Taylor started to giggle. The giggles turned into belly laughs as she rolled closer to me, burying her face in my chest.
I tilted my head back, looking at the sky for patience. “Grandma, why don’t you go into the kitchen while Taylor and I get ready.”
The grin on my grandmother’s face told me she was up to something. “Oh, no, I don’t want to interrupt your morning.” I snorted. Yeah, right. “I’ll just let Sarah know to expect Taylor for dinner tonight.” I opened my mouth to argue, unsure if Taylor was ready for primetime with my family, but then I shut it again just as quickly with one look from my gran. “No more hiding out, you two.”
Taylor poked her head up over my shoulder. “We’ll be there.”
Warmth flooded my chest. This was real. And good. Taylor was trying. Pushing the boundaries of what she was comfortable with to make room in her life for me. I pulled her closer, kissing the side of her face.
“Wonderful,” Irma said. “We’ll see you at six. I’ll just show myself out.”
“You do that,” I called.
“Watch your tone with me, young man.”
Taylor started giggling again. The vibrations only made my cock strain harder against my boxer briefs. When I heard my grandmother start up the golf cart she shouldn’t be driving, I launched from the lounger, throwing Taylor over my shoulder. My hand dipped under the tee she wore to palm her smooth, bare ass. She shrieked and then moaned.
“We’re going to the shower. We’re going to erase the past fifteen minutes and start this day the way we should have.”
“And what way is that?” she asked, voice husky.
“Me eating you until you scream, and then you coming on my cock.”
She squeezed my ass, and I almost dropped her. “Such a way with words,” she said with a laugh. “But I like the way you think.”
“Good.” I set her down on the tiled floor of the bathroom and got to work.
I made her come twice in the shower and once while helping her dress before leaving for the station. It was a great way to start the day.
Taylor sat beside me in my truck, staring down at her hands, twisting that ring on her right hand. She’d been quiet since I’d picked her up. Too silent.
I reached over, stilling the staccato movements of her hands. I laced my fingers with hers and squeezed. “Want to tell me what’s got you running in circles in your head?”
She blew out a breath and mumbled something about psychic sorcerers.
“What was that?”
“You’re some sort of psychic sorcerer. You always know when something’s up with me. It’s freaky.”
I chuckled and gave her hand another squeeze. “I’m a cop. I know by someone’s body language when something’s not right. And I know your body pretty damn well.”
Taylor pressed her lips together, seeming to fight a smile. But something dark still lurked in those blue-gray depths. Her shoulders slumped. “The last time I was with your whole family…I had a nightmare that night. It really freaked me out. I just don’t want that to happen again.”
My chest tightened at the doubt in her words. I pulled my truck over to the side of the road. Turning, I took her face in my hands. “First of all, thank you for telling me. Second, I’m going to be with you all night, and you haven’t had any nightmares when I’ve spent the night before, right?” She nodded between my hands.
I hated that being around my family brought all her fears to the surface, but I was proud as hell that she’d faced them down. I kissed her softly, tasting a hint of the beer we’d shared before leaving her place. “I’m with you. Always.”
Her eyes blazed with blue heat, the type of flame you knew would leave third-degree burns. But, damn, it was beautiful to watch.
She fisted a hand in my shirt, pulling me to her, and slamming her mouth over mine. The force of the kiss took me by surprise. There were things she couldn’t say. Things that scared her. But she said them with her lips, her tongue, her body.