Fuck, but I loved how she said my name.
Almost as much as I liked that she’d worn a dress tonight. It was a caramel turtleneck, the cable knit thick and soft. The boxy shape shouldn’t have been sexy, but it was short, hitting her midthigh so a hint of those toned, smooth legs could taunt me all night. Her sexy boots came almost to her knees.
“I’ve wanted to hike up this dress all night.” I bunched the fabric in my hands, dragging it up her hips. Exactly what I’d wanted to do since the moment I’d watched her come out of her bedroom, her hair curled in long, loose waves and a shimmer on her eyelids.
My hand slid beneath the dress’s hem, diving for the center of her panties.
“You’re already soaked,” I growled against her neck as I slipped the fabric aside, sliding my fingers through her slit to tease at her clit.
“Yes,” she purred, arching into my touch.
“You want my fingers? Or my cock?”
“Both.”
“What do you say?”
She leaned in for a quick kiss and whispered the magic word. “Please.”
I fisted the panties and, with a single, quick tug, tore them off her body.
Lyla gasped, her eyes popping open and shooting me a glare. “Vance.”
She could pretend to be pissed all she wanted. We both knew she got wet as fuck when I tore her panties. Maybe she’d realize before I left there was no point in wearing them at all.
“Mine.” I smirked and tucked the ruined lace in my coat pocket. Then with one hand palming her ass, I dipped a finger into her tight heat.
She melted against me, whimpering as I toyed with her, working her higher and higher. “I love your fingers.”
“My fingers love your pussy.” I added a second finger, stroking her deep until her legs began to tremble.
She’d come on my hand plenty of times, but tonight, I wanted to feel her explode on my cock, so I pulled away, earning another glare.
I quickly unzipped my jeans, fisting my shaft and giving it a few strokes. Then I hoisted Lyla up higher against the post, gripping her thighs as I pinned her with my hips.
“Mouth,” I ordered.
She kissed me immediately, her tongue tangling with mine. I lined up at her entrance, and with one thrust, I buried myself inside her, my jaw clenching as I fought to keep control. “Fuck. You feel so good, Blue.”
Her inner walls fluttered. “Hurry.”
One thrust, and she was ready to come.
I pulled out, slammed inside. Then I reached between us and pressed my wet fingers to her clit.
“Vance.” Her cry echoed through the rafters as she came apart, pulsing around me as I rocked us together, over and over.
It didn’t take long for me to follow her over the edge, my body collapsing over hers, both of us boneless and limp against the post.
A horse whinnied from the other side of the building.
Lyla giggled, that musical laugh right in my ear.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yes. Are you?”
“More than okay.”
She hummed, sleepy and sweet. She’d probably crash on the drive back to town. So I set her on her feet, and with my come leaking down her bare thigh, I led her from the stables and took her home.
Lyla was out before we even reached the highway.
And while she slept, I took in the star-marked skies, praying this weather would hold for just a couple more weeks.
Not just so I had a chance at finding Cormac, but because I needed the time with Lyla.
Except when I woke the next morning, alone in Lyla’s bed because she’d already gone to work, beyond her bedroom windows was a thin layer of icy snow.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LYLA
Vance had me pinned against the shower wall. Steam billowed around us, and a drop of water clung to his lower lip as he pounded inside me, his breathing as ragged as my own.
My hands gripped his shoulders, holding tight. The harder I dug in my nails, the harder he fucked me.
“Oh, God.” Every muscle in my body shook as my orgasm rushed toward me like an avalanche. My hands clung to his shoulders, my nails like claws in his slippery skin.
“Lyla.” The way he moaned my name sent a shiver down my spine. It was erotic. Desperate. He was close, on the verge of his own release, but wouldn’t dare stop until I came first.
His strong hands cupped my ass, holding me in place. He squeezed, his fingertips digging into my flesh, and that little bit of pain was the trigger.
“Vance.” I shattered into a thousand pieces as he roared my name.
My body pulsed around his length. White stars consumed my vision.
He poured inside me, a string of incoherent sounds escaping his throat.
My heart thundered as I came down from the orgasm, my arms and legs wrapped so tightly around him he’d have to pry me loose. Not that he seemed in any hurry to let me go.
His large body enveloped mine as his arms snaked around my waist, his forehead falling forward to the tile at my back. Vance kept me trapped against the wall until the water changed from hot to lukewarm.
It was four o’clock in the morning, and I’d be late getting to the coffee shop. I’d just finished rinsing out my hair when the shower door had opened and Vance had stepped inside.
His days of staying in bed while I slipped out before dawn were over. Something had shifted in the past four days, ever since that night at the stables.
Sex with Vance had always been powerful, but now, there was an edge. This frantic desire. It was like we both knew time was running out, so neither of us squandered a chance to be together.
He eased away, dropping a kiss to my pulse as he set me on my feet. Then he pushed the wet hair away from my temples, holding my face in his hands as his eyes searched mine.
This was new too. He stared at me like he was trying to memorize every detail. My eyes. My nose. My lips. Standing still, letting his gaze rake over my features as I tried to hide the sorrow in my heart, was torture.
“I’m going to be late for work.”
He sighed, taking one last long look, then nodded and let me go.
I slipped out of the shower, toweling off as the scent of his shampoo filled the bathroom.
This weekend, he’d shown up with his suitcase from the hotel. His reservation had ended. Rather than extend it, he’d just brought his belongings here.
I stared at his toothbrush in the holder beside mine. At the leather toiletry case on the counter next to the sink. There was a razor inside that he clearly hadn’t touched in weeks. Not that I minded. I loved Vance’s beard and how thick it felt beneath my fingertips.
What would he look like without it?
I’d never know.
My heart twisted. Vance would live forever in my memory exactly as he was today.
Another woman would get to watch him age. She’d get to witness gray thread his dark, chocolate hair. She’d get to see the laugh lines at the sides of his mouth deepen over the next decade. She’d get to sleep on his broad chest and make him coffee in the morning.
The idea of coffee snapped me out of my thoughts, and I hurried through the rest of my morning routine.
When Vance came out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and dragged his hands through his damp hair. Then he wiped his palm across the steamy mirror. Droplets raced down its surface, and when I returned home tonight, I’d have to use glass cleaner to erase the streaks.
Another woman would get to complain about the streaks. Maybe she’d try to break him of that habit.
“Lyla.”
I jumped, tearing my eyes away from the mirror. “Yeah?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I forced a smile, then leaned in to swipe on a coat of mascara. “Will you come in to the shop when you get back to town?”
“Yeah.”
“Be safe.” I kissed the center of his chest, then left the bathroom for my adjoining closet.
Dressed in a pair of jeans and a soft crewneck, I stopped in the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot for Vance. Then I snagged my keys and hustled to the garage, driving across town and parking in my usual space in the alley behind the shop.
Every day, it was harder and harder to come to work. Vance didn’t need me tagging along in the mountains as a distraction while he was searching, but the hours spent at Eden Coffee were hours I could have spent with him.
I stepped out of the car, my foot landing on the damp gravel. I dodged a puddle on the way to the coffee shop’s door.
The snow from Friday had melted. Thank God. When I’d woken up on Saturday to see the ground covered in white, I’d cried in the shower before Vance had joined me.
Of course, the one year when I desperately needed a long, extended fall, winter’s icy breath was cascading down my neck. But the weather had warmed enough to turn snow into slush.
The first couple of hours were quiet, like usual, so I spent them in the kitchen, baking whatever suited my fancy.