Keepsake: True North #2

  Then he reached out with both arms and pulled me closer. Our next kiss was so hot and eager that I felt myself floating along on the pleasure of it all. We lay face to face, Zach’s palms skimming reverently over my breasts. Every touch made me a little crazier. It had been so long since anyone touched me with loving hands. His kisses trailed down my neck and into the valley of my breasts. He lay there on his side, his tongue exploring first one nipple and then the other. And when he closed his lips and sucked, I felt myself absolutely flood with desire.

  I wanted more. And soon. But first there was something I needed to know. “Zach?”

  “Mmm?” he asked, nuzzling my breast.

  “What happened in your sexy dream tonight?”

  He lifted his head and moved so that we were eye to eye again. “Why?”

  “I just want to know.” I stroked my thumb across his beautiful lip. “Right before you woke up. What were we doing in your dream?”

  His cheeks flushed red. “What if I don’t want to say?”

  “Your call,” I whispered. “But I’d really like to know.”

  He swallowed roughly. “You used your mouth on me.”

  Well. That was a simple enough fantasy to bring to life. Giving Zach a gentle push, I got him to roll onto his back. Then I began to drop kisses onto that beautiful chest. I explored the rise of his pecs, giving special attention to the hardened tips of his nipples. He groaned when I licked into the center gully of his chest, heading for the ridges of those perfect abs. I nosed into the silky blond hairs of his happy trail, slowly heading south. His breathing became fast and shallow as I reached the elastic waistband of his sleep pants. Moving down, I dropped teasing kisses over his cotton-covered erection.

  “Lark,” he warned.

  “Yeah?”

  “You don’t have to,” he said quietly.

  “I know that,” I whispered, nuzzling him through the fabric. “Remember. No mansplaining.” I hooked my thumbs in the elastic, and waited. For a moment, nothing happened. But then Zach gave a sigh and pushed his hips up off the bed, giving me free reign to jerk his clothing down. He sprang free, long and ready.

  Wowza. Zachariah was beautiful everywhere. He was thick and uncut, the rosy tip of his cockhead rising above his foreskin, begging for my attention.

  Pacing myself, I drew his pants all the way down and off. I tossed them on the floor. His bare body was golden and shapely, and it thrilled me to wonder if I was the first girl to ever see him this way.

  Zach angled up onto his elbows, looking like Adonis in repose. “Come here,” he rasped, opening an arm to me. There was such heat in his eyes that I almost obeyed him.

  Almost. But I had other plans.

  I ran my hands up his legs, brushing kisses onto his knees and onto the palm of the hand that reached down to collect me. I scaled his body just high enough to spend another few moments admiring his chest. Zach slipped his hands under my arms to haul me up onto his body. But I shook him off. Moving quickly, I slid down again. Wasting no time, I planted my tongue at the base of his cock and licked the length of him.

  Zach’s body arched off the bed in surprise. “Oh. Fuck,” he bit out. “Oh…” he said as I repeated this treatment. I dropped my nose down to nuzzle his blond curls, and when I gripped his hips, he was trembling.

  I put a big, wet kiss on the tip of him, earning a giant moan for my efforts. Then I took him all the way into my mouth. He was satin over steel. Sucking him in deep, I cupped his balls in one hand. Beneath me, his big body undulated with excitement. As I worked him over, he was nearly writhing. How beautiful it was to be the handmaiden to so much pleasure. I’d missed the heat and friction of skin against skin.

  “Sweetheart.” He reached a shaking hand down to cup my chin, trying to nudge me away. “I’m going to spill.”

  I caught his flailing hand in my own and sucked him deeper. “Mmm,” I hummed.

  Zach let out a hot gasp. I lifted my eyes in time to see him shove the heel of his free hand into his mouth. Muffling his own shout, he came with so much force that I had a little trouble keeping up with him. Every one of his powerful muscles locked as he erupted again and again, before eventually collapsing with finality on the bed.

  A lovely silence settled over us. Gently, I licked him clean. Then I kissed the juncture of his powerful thighs, and moved upward to lay my head on his chest.

  Zach had one perfect forearm thrown over his eyes. After his breathing evened out, he reached for me, drawing me in, folding me tightly into his arms. Beneath my ear, his heart thumped wildly. But still, he was worryingly silent.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered.

  He laughed, and I was glad to hear it. “I guess we won’t need the defibrillator from the barn. But it might have been close.” He took another deep breath. “I wasn’t expecting…” He didn’t finish the sentence.

  “I know that, okay? I’ve never had sex with someone out of obligation.”

  “Me neither,” he said.

  It took me half a second to get the joke, but then we laughed together. I spread myself out on his body. God, he was sexy—all golden muscle in the dim glow of the night light. And arousal gave his lips and cheeks a brilliant red stain.

  Still smiling, he took my mouth in a kiss which was hungry but short. “Best night of my life,” he whispered.

  There was something reverent in his tone that I wasn’t ready to hear. “It could get even better,” I countered.

  At that, Zach’s hips twitched beneath me, and he made a greedy little noise in the back of his throat. I wove my fingers into his sun-kissed hair and kissed him again.

  16

  Zach

  Jesus Christ. Holy shit. Mother of God.

  There weren’t curses shocking enough for everything happening tonight.

  I slid my hands down Lark’s unbelievably smooth skin and took charge of the kiss. Maybe it didn’t matter if I’d never really done this before. Everywhere I touched her was an education.

  She nipped at my lip, and I heard a sound come from deep inside my own chest. When she opened for me, and it was the easiest thing in the world to slip inside, and to discover the heat of her mouth and the velvet slip of her tongue against mine.

  Her mouth had a new, salty flavor that I realized belonged to me. At this spectacularly dirty idea, and even though it had seemed impossible a minute ago, my dick twitched to life again. I swept my tongue into her mouth and tasted her more fully. My heart galloped like a runaway horse on the range.

  On the compound in Wyoming they used to speak of girls being “ruined.” Right now “ruined” sounded like a pretty accurate word for how I felt. Now that I knew how beautiful it could be, there would never be another moment when I didn’t crave more of Lark.

  In my life there had been few moments of either love or good fortune. And both of them coming together at once…it was almost more than I could handle.

  Almost.

  The feel of Lark’s mouth on my dick had been, hands down, the most exciting thing I’d ever experienced. But holding her nearly naked body while she kissed me was even better. Her breasts were as soft and full as I’d daydreamed they’d be.

  Happiness made me bold. My hands skimmed down her smooth body until I reached the little scrap of fabric between us. When I pushed her underwear down, Lark helped by kicking them away. I needed to explore her. So I locked my arms around her and rolled. She landed beneath me with a surprised exhalation and big eyes.

  “This okay?” I whispered, ducking my head to kiss her collarbone. She nodded as I tongued my way up her neck. She arched her back, increasing the contact with my mouth.

  Somehow I would have to find a way to make this night last forever. “I don’t exactly know what I’m doing, you know. I hope you won’t mind…”

  She silenced me with a finger over my lip. “Zach, you’re already a good lover.”

  I kissed the fingers which covered my mouth, flicking them away. “Nice try. But you don’t have to butter me
up.”

  “I’m serious.” Her dark eyes flashed in the dim light. “Sex is ten percent skill and ninety percent listening. Who’s a better listener than you?”

  I cleared my throat. “What am I listening for?”

  “You’ll know it when you hear it.” Then, she grasped my hand and dragged it slowly, purposefully, onto her breast. “Touch me,” she whispered.

  Damn. The erotic sound of that two-word directive was enough to make any guy her permanent slave. I skimmed her silky breast, capturing its fullness in my palm, then brushing past her rosy nipple. I felt it harden beneath my touch. So I leaned down. With a quick peek into her heavily lidded eyes, I lowered my lips to the pretty pink nub. I flicked my tongue over her nipple and watched her expression. As my mouth worshiped her breast, she let out a happy sigh. “Yessss,” she hissed.

  Well, okay then.

  I turned my attention to her other breast, and received the same positive reinforcement. And this time, her hips twitched on the sheets. Even as I sucked her breast deeper into my mouth, I let my hand go wandering down her body. My fingers took in the soft skin of her stomach and the perfect curve of her hip. She sighed again, her legs falling open.

  Without hesitation I slipped my hand past the springy curls between her legs. What I found just beneath was the soft, wet pool of her body. I couldn’t help it—I moaned onto her breast. And I was hard as a board again, my fingers stroking gently through her wetness. Lark made a small adjustment to the set of her hips, which put my fingers up a little higher. Slowly, I circled my thumb over the slip of tissue I felt there.

  “So nice,” Lark whispered.

  I could hardly believe how beautiful she was, splayed out for me in the dim light. My fantasies hadn’t been nearly this good. It was a sensory overload—the feel of her smooth skin against my own, and the salty taste of her body in my mouth. I kissed my way down her belly. Then I began dropping little kisses onto her mound. Her breathing changed then, each new inhalation more eager than the last. When I gathered the courage to drag my tongue over the hot center of her, she gave a little cry of pleasure.

  The taste of her was like nothing I’d known before—a musky, honeyed goodness. I explored her with my tongue, and she moaned and panted. The sounds that fell from her lips were dappled, happy things. Now I knew the secret to making her happy. For as long as I bathed this tender place with kisses, she would remain blissed-out and unafraid.

  “Mmm,” I hummed against her body. My thumb swirled below, in the hot bath of desire that her body had made for me.

  “Zach!” she whispered. “Wait!”

  I lifted my head. “It’s not good?”

  “It’s so good. That’s why I need you to stop.”

  I smoothed my thumbs over her mound, placing one last kiss on her body. Then I crawled back up beside her.

  Immediately, her hand encircled my cock, which was rock hard. “I want you to feel me come from the inside.”

  I stopped breathing.

  “Only if you want to,” she added.

  “I want that so bad,” I admitted, wrapping both arms around her. “But I’d need to go find a condom.”

  Lark shook her head. “I have a device—I can’t get pregnant. And after I came back…” she cleared her throat. “I had every test there is.”

  A sobering thought lifted my head right off the pillow. “Lark, was that because you were…?”

  She shook her head quickly. “No. Nothing like that happened. It’s just that I wasn’t talking much when I came back. Everybody assumed the worst.”

  I felt a big twinge of uneasiness. I wasn’t talking much, she’d said. Things were even worse than she’d told me.

  “Where’d you go?” she asked.

  “Just worrying about you.”

  “Don’t,” she begged, a hand on his chest. “Not tonight.” She kissed my shoulder. “Please?”

  “Okay,” I whispered, as her lips continued to torture me. Hell, I’d do anything she asked right now. Anything.

  “Come here,” she demanded, settling onto her back.

  My stomach tightened suddenly, as nervous anticipation hit. I took a deep, steadying breath. And then I dropped my hips onto hers. The feel of her body underneath mine touched some primal part of me. No user’s manual was necessary.

  Spreading her knees a little further apart with my own, I rested my cockhead against her body, grazing the tip through her wetness. Lark tipped her hips a few degrees upwards, and just like that I was sliding inside. I didn’t even try to hold back my groan as she surrounded me with a gripping heat. I gave a final push and seated myself to the hilt.

  The pleasure was nearly overwhelming. For a moment, I had to just close my eyes and sink in.

  “That’s beautiful,” Lark whispered.

  I opened my eyes to find her looking up at me. Holding that brown-eyed gaze, I began to move. I had to. Without thought or direction, my hips began to rock. And… Hell. There was nothing like it. The feeling of being so perfectly joined to her was everything I’d ever wanted. She was touching me everywhere, her hands sliding down my sides, up my arms. It was my fantasy come to life. And I was not going to survive it.

  Bracing myself on my forearms, I leaned over her for a kiss. She tugged me down with a moan. I hadn’t thought that the sensation of making love to Lark could have been improved. But the pulse of her tongue in my mouth set off a chain reaction of pleasure throughout my body, causing me to shiver against her hot skin.

  “So good. You feel so good,” Lark chanted against my lips.

  And I agreed, though forming words was out of the question. My body surged into hers, my senses conflating, accelerating. I needed to find a way to slow down, because I didn’t want this feeling to end. Ever.

  Lark arched up, changing the angle of our joining. My rhythm stuttered, and so I pulsed against her instead.

  “Oh,” she whimpered. It was a beautiful sound of pleasure, and I wanted to hear it again.

  “You like that?” I ground my hips, meeting her body where it pressed against mine.

  Her approval was unmistakable. She began to pant in shallow, hot breaths beneath me. Listening, I swung my hips again and again. With each thrust and slide, I seemed to be pushing her closer to oblivion. Her eyes went glassy, and her kisses became distracted. Lark abruptly pressed her knees against my sides and moaned. She arched, exposing the slender column of her neck to my kisses.

  And then I felt it—her body shuddered inside, unleashing a series of pulses around my member. Then it was my turn to moan. I rocked into her, chasing the sensation. “Oh, sweetheart,” I panted. It was coming towards me, and it was going to be overwhelming.

  “Harder,” she demanded.

  I answered her with a thrust that I felt all the way down to my bones. Everything was heat and motion. Lark’s body was locked around mine, her hips meeting me shot for shot. That loud banging I heard came either from the headboard hitting the wall, or from the pounding of my heart. One or the other.

  Over and over I kissed Lark, swallowing her moans with my own. She broke our kiss to bury her face in my neck, her body spasming around mine a second time.

  And then I couldn’t hold myself back another moment. Every muscle in my body locked, and an ecstatic shout ripped from my lips. The orgasm was sweet and sudden. I planted myself to the root one last time. And then all was quiet, save for our ragged breathing.

  Or so I thought. As I dropped my lips to Lark’s damp forehead, I heard a new sound. From the other side of the wall came a piercing whistle, followed by cheering and applause.

  “Oh, Jesus Christ.” Lark chuckled. She wrapped her forearms over my head, as if hiding our faces from the commotion next door. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Why?”

  “You are going to catch so much hell in a few hours.”

  She was right, and it was just the sort of attention that usually made me cringe. But for once I was too happy—and too sated—to care. Rolling off her, I immediately tu
gged her close again. She tucked her head onto my shoulder, reaching across my body to lazily rub my chest. It was delicious.

  Unfortunately, the laughter and jeering from the next room had not died down. I covered Lark’s exposed ear with my hand before shouting “Shut it!” in the direction of the wall.

  But that only made everyone—including Lark—burst into laughter. “Just ignore them.” Lark snuggled closer. “There are still two hours until your alarm goes off. You should sleep.”

  I closed my eyes and wondered if I could. The way her soft hair brushed my chest was something I didn’t want to miss. Being this close to her made staying conscious worthwhile. But as Lark yawned and settled against me, my thoughts became slow and dreamlike.

  “Nobody could have a nightmare after that,” Lark murmured. “Just sayin’…”

  I chuckled into her hair. “You should have said something sooner.”

  Minutes later, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

  17

  Zach

  As it usually did, my watch alarm went off when the sky was just a dark gray streak. Less usual was the way I woke up pancaked against Lark’s naked body.

  She didn’t even notice my alarm, so I shut it off before staring down at her in wonder. Her dark lashes dipped towards those perfect cheekbones. The curve of her breast disappeared temptingly beneath the sheet.

  And… I was hard again. With the memory of last night pumping through my bloodstream, no amount of physical labor was going to chase that away.

  Another long day, coming right up.

  I dipped my head to graze her neck, landing a kiss beneath her ear. “I need to go.”

  “I know,” she mumbled.

  “I sure don’t want to.” Truer words were never spoken. I kissed the smooth skin of her shoulder, wishing I could stay all day. “Later, we have to talk.”

  “If you say so.” She didn’t even open her eyes, and I wondered if that was a bad sign.