Bourbon Harmony (Bourbon Canyon #5)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Rhys

I entered the house and kicked the screen door shut behind me. My guest was on her way, but I didn’t know if she’d bypass the turnoff and keep going. Would she be the smart one?

Just in case we were both leaving our brains behind, I’d parked outside and left the garage door open for her. I didn’t need the goddamn mailman noticing her car in my driveway in the morning.

I set the box of old pictures and articles on the table. I stood next to it, humbled that Wren had thought to save it. I’d brought it to her and Dad, unable to explain why I couldn’t throw it out when Kirstin had demanded it gone. Wren had taken plenty of pictures from when I was a kid that didn’t include June. I’d kept all those and the girls had pored through them over the years.

I tugged at the collar of the long-sleeved shirt I was wearing, then I just tugged it over my head and draped it over a chair. Damn thing chafed.

Was this really happening?

June’s car pulled in.

Fuck yes.

A few moments later, she entered, that skirt swirling around her ankles. “Thanks for giving me the garage.” Her gaze raked over my bare chest. “Getting started without me?”

All the lust I’d been keeping a tight lid on bubbled over. Desire flooded my veins and blood went straight for my dick. “You’ve been a goddamn tease in that skirt all night.” I ripped the fly of my jeans open. Lust rippled under my skin, but I wasn’t going to jump on her. The pressure would drive me nuts, yet there would be no rushing tonight. I was taking my time with this woman.

“As if your flannel porn is any better.” Her bare feet whispered over the floor as she approached me.

I snagged her hand and drew her in. Then my mouth was on hers, and I lifted her. She wrapped her legs around me and I spun us. I plundered her mouth while I carried her into the living room. I couldn’t wait for the bedroom.

In front of the couch, I dropped to my knees. June stayed plastered against me. Her mouth was warm and wet, just like I knew her pussy would be, but we had all night.

I palmed her ass cheeks, gripping and rubbing. She ground against me, ripping her mouth from mine to suck in a breath. I kissed down her neck.

“Oh god, Rhys,” she groaned.

“You taste so fucking sweet.” She was her very own bourbon cocktail, right on my tongue. I laid her back. Her lips were kiss-swollen and parted. “And I know for a fact where you’ll be even sweeter.”

I ran my fingers down her legs to her ankles, then slowly reversed direction. Her skin was soft under my touch. As I went, I pushed the fabric of her skirt up, over the curve of her calf, past the crease of her knee. Higher and higher, exposing her thighs. When the skirt was bunched around the place I wanted to uncover the most, I flipped the hem up. Lacy white underwear greeted me.

“How wet are you?” I dragged my finger in a line down the middle of her panties, following her seam. The dampness on the cloth was pure heat against my fingertip.

She rolled her hips. “I don’t recall you being this slow.”

I planted my hands on her firm thighs and leaned in to place a kiss at the edge of her collarbone. “I’m not a teen anymore and we’re not hiding from our parents.”

She rocked against me. “I don’t think I can wait that long.”

“I’ll make it worth it.” I hooked two fingers over the waistband of her underwear and dragged them down her legs.

She was bare to me. I gently pushed her legs farther open.

“Fuck me, June. Such a pretty pink and so fucking wet.” It was like coming home.

I pushed that thought right out of my head. I was home. She wasn’t. She’d never been mine. If she had been, she’d have never gotten what she wanted. But this right here? We both wanted it. And I was going to give it to her.

I tucked my arms under her legs and settled low, not caring if I strangled my erection in the opening of my pants.

I spread her lips wide and looked my fill. This wasn’t exploratory like when we’d been younger. This was greedy. “Your swollen little clit’s begging to be licked.”

She threaded her fingers through my hair and tugged my head toward her center. I gladly went.

I traced my tongue around her clit. A ragged moan left her and her fingers twisted against my scalp.

She gasped, her hips undulating. “It’s not going to take long.” More pants. “I can’t believe it.” Her hands fell from my head. “Not long at all.”

I was supposed to be taking my time, but June was an instrument I’d become an expert of long ago. I’d only needed seconds to reacquaint myself.

We had the whole night and I’d savor her for each second.

I lapped at her needy nub. Her legs fell all the way open and a long groan left her. “Rhys.”

She was blistering hot against my tongue, and she rode my face. So fucking close, my greedy little songbird. I would make her come fast and hard the first time and then the second time I’d?—

There was pounding at the door.

June made a strangled noise and pulled away. “What the fuck?”

I glared toward the door. Who the fuck would be here?—

“Rhys? Girls?” a familiar voice called from the outside .

Shit .

“Who is it?” She pushed her skirt down.

I stuffed my dick into my jeans and wiped my face off against the bottom of her skirt. I was zipping up and praying I didn’t catch skin as I rose. “It’s?—”

The door creaked open. “Hello? I know it’s late.”

I spotted June’s underwear on the floor. I swiped them up and hid them in a pocket.

I lunged inside the kitchen to give June extra time to straighten herself. My shirt was hanging against the chair, but I didn’t have time to grab it. “Kirstin. What are you doing here?”

I sounded guilty as hell. This hadn’t been her home, but I’d always buffered her from how I’d felt about June. I had owed it to the mother of my children.

Kirstin closed the door behind her. Her dark hair was short in a chic, spiky style. Her black workout leggings disappeared into fluffy boots she wore most of the year and not just in the winter. With her puffy coat, she looked like she should be on a ski slope instead of photographing birds in Costa Rica.

“Oh, hey. There you are.” She pushed her suitcase toward the wall. “Listen, I saw something online and figured I needed to come back early—” Her gaze lifted to behind my shoulder. Her jaw went hard as she looked back at me. “I’m interrupting.”

I’d say no, but fuck yes she had interrupted. Since she’d spied June, I crossed to the table and grabbed my shirt. “The girls are with Wren. School got out this week.” Which she’d know if she were here.

“Right, the girls mentioned that when I called.”

I shrugged into my shirt. When my head poked through, I found June hovering where I’d just been standing.

“Hi, Kirstin,” she said quietly.

“June Bee,” Kirstin said flatly. “I saw you were in town. Because my kids’ names were being thrown around on social media.”

Kirstin only followed artists and other photographer accounts. Either she’d been looking at June-related accounts, or the curiosity about June’s private life was pervasive.

If Kirstin could get internet for social media, why didn’t she call more?

“They didn’t get pictures of the kids,” I said gruffly and stuffed my hands in my pockets. June’s underwear was at the tips of my fingers. My erection almost made a comeback.

Kirstin lifted her chin. “You two were on a date, and they were where?”

“They were in the bathroom. Is there a reason you suddenly don’t trust me to keep our girls safe?”

June held her hands up. “I let my guard down and images made it to the internet. I’m sorry.” She hugged herself. “I should, uh, probably go. Let you two talk.”

Kirstin gave her a yeah, you should look and stepped to the side to clear the doorway.

June pushed her feet into her sandals and disappeared out the door. I had to let her go. I had to stay and talk to Kirstin.

This was supposed to be my night. My fucking weekend. Hell, my two weeks, and my ex-wife had swooped into the country to cockblock me.

Kirstin took her coat off and slammed it onto a hook. “ What the hell , Rhys?”

Was she upset about the girls’ names online or June being in my house? We’d been divorced for four years. “The girls are taken care of, and June and I are two consenting adults.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “But her ? I leave the country and you think it’s safe to?—”

“It wasn’t like that, and you don’t know what it’s like because you aren’t here.”

She went rigid, and I gritted my teeth. I’d sworn to myself I would not make her feel bad for pursuing her career. I knew how hard it’d been for her to live in June’s shadow. After spending time with June, I could admit how not over her I’d been during my marriage.

“Look, we’ve had an amicable divorce, and I don’t want to ruin it. The girls deserve that.”

“You’re right.” Her demeanor softened and she went to the cupboard to withdraw a glass. “I never thought it was over between you and her anyway.”

“It was. It is.” At her dubious look, I nodded. “She’s not in town for long. I’m single. She’s single. Full disclosure—the girls love her.”

A sigh dragged her shoulders down. “Of course they do. The great and sparkly June Bee Bailey Kerrigan.” She tipped her head back. “You said she’s not going to be here long. How are Bethany and Hannah handling that? Or do they think America’s Country Sweetheart is going to be their new stepmom?”

“We’re not telling them or anyone else. It’s no one’s business.”

She smirked. “Until your ex-wife walked in.”

“It’s a bit of a mood killer.”

Her laugh was faint until her gaze landed on the box. My stomach sank as she crossed to it. Would her improved attitude last after she saw I’d never gotten rid of a thing? She poked through it with her fingertip. “I used to kid myself that you’d burned it all.”

“She’s a big part of my past, Kirstin.”

She jerked her hand out of the box like it burned. “Funny. So am I.”

Yet both women were in my house. I glanced at her suitcase. When she was in town, she stayed with me or Wren. There’d been nothing sexual between us since the divorce, but for some reason, having her under the same roof as me now felt wrong.

June might not care. Or she might tuck her muse back into the recesses of her brain. “You can stay here tonight and then you mind going to Wren’s?”

She snorted. “I’m actually surprised you’re letting me stay tonight after what I walked in on. You sure it’s just temporary?” Her question was laced with sarcasm. “You’re not tied to Bourbon Canyon like you were when she left town.”

“Her life isn’t here, and it’s too public. I’ll always do what’s best for Bethany and Hannah.”

She hummed a noncommittal noise. That sound said a lot. I could run through it all in my head, replay old arguments, but there was somewhere I had to be.

June

How cold of a shower was too cold? I kicked off my sandals and trudged toward my bedroom. Energy zinged through my body. The steady beat between my legs hadn’t gone completely away. I’d been so close to orgasming.

I veered into the kitchen and dug out a glass. Whipping open a cabinet, I deliberated between the wine my sisters had left and the bourbon. I selected the holiday line from last year and poured enough to cover the bottom. Then I tossed it back and swallowed in one gulp.

“Sorry, Daddy.” I would’ve never talked with him about tonight—too mortifying for a dad-and-daughter conversation—but if I had, he’d have given his blessing for shooting good bourbon.

Leaving the glass on the counter, I went to my bedroom. I turned on the light and stepped out of my skirt. The fabric whispered over my skin and I shuddered. I could still feel the scrape of Rhys’s beard along my neck.

I rolled my head back and forth and savored the alcohol warming my belly. Change of plans. The shower would have to wait. I’d have to get myself off, then shower, or I’d never get to sleep.

All I had to do was think about Rhys’s head between my legs and I could come. A hard shiver rolled through my body. How could I still be so turned on?

Loud knocking at the front door made me jump. My heart pounded and I spun around in my bedroom. I had on my shirt and bra and that was it. I tugged my skirt back up my legs when banging shook the cabin again.

Where was my phone? There was a shotgun in the closet, bear spray in the cabinet, but I should call a brother. I was nearly defenseless in the cabin and alone.

“June!” Rhys shouted from the other side. “It’s me.”

I rushed to the door and whipped it open. Rain pelted the ground behind him, but he only had a few drops on his shirt. “You’re here.” My obvious statement came out breathless.

“She’s staying at the house. Didn’t think that’d go over well with you.”

“I mean, we’re not like a thing...” A heavy tug on my heart stole the rest of the words.

“But we have something we didn’t get to finish.”

“And that’s what you’re here for?” He’d come to the cabin for me. He could’ve used Kirstin’s arrival to talk himself out of something that could be so epically stupid for each of us.

“I’m here to make sure we finish a whole lot.”

My lips parted on a puff. I liked the sound of that.

“Gonna let me in, June Bug?”

I wasn’t able to finish my step backward. He charged in and swept me off the floor. Then he kicked the door shut and pinned me between him and the slab of wood.

“Your underwear is still in my pocket.”

I yanked my skirt out of the way. Too much damn fabric. “And I’m still wet for you.”

He reached between us to open the fly of his jeans.

Okay. We were doing this without removing too many clothes, but we were both impatient.

I needed him inside me.

When he freed himself, he slid the blunt crown of his erection through my soaked pussy and notched himself at my entrance. Then he stopped.

“Fuck,” he gritted out. “Protection.”

I blinked, rocking against him because I couldn’t help myself. I was so close to ecstasy. “Um...”

“Fuck.” He clasped my hips and held me still. “I was married, so I’m not used to using any.” His voice was haggard.

A small portion of my libido took a step back as curiosity rose. “Like you haven’t used condoms for years?” It wasn’t like Rhys to throw caution to the wind. His sense of responsibility was his strength as well as his biggest weakness.

“Like I haven’t been with anyone in years.”

“Oh.” Now I was impressed. And pleased. He said he hadn’t dated, but I hadn’t ruled out hookups.

“But before that, I used it religiously, otherwise I wouldn’t have thought of it.”

My body was screaming at me to cinch my legs tighter and take him inside me. My logical brain was barely on board to find a solution. “I see. So, um... I have an IUD and I’ve got my checkup routine down since I dated shitheads. But I’ve never not used protection.”

His eyes went hooded. “Never?”

I shook my head. “I never trusted anyone enough. Except you, but I wasn’t on birth control in high school. I trust you now.”

He rolled his hips. The tip of his cock dragged through my wetness. Then he pushed inside.

I let out a gasp as he entered me in one smooth motion. “Oh god.”

He filled me so completely I didn’t know where I ended and he began. My clit came alive at the pressure, and when he pulled out and thrust back in, the pressure was enough to propel me right back to the top of my orgasm.

I dug my fingers into his thick hair and held on as he pounded into me. I crept higher and higher, my climax imminent. “I can’t believe how fast you can make me come.”

He grunted and wound his arms around the inside of my thighs. He widened my legs until I was as open as possible. Everything stretched tighter. Every part of my body that was touching him clamped down harder, and oh god, the steady rub of his abdomen against my clit was pure heaven.

Pleasure expanded outward until I couldn’t stand it. My heart might stop. I would implode, then explode. I hit the top of my peak and stayed there, suspended, as he plunged into me over and over.

“Rhys!” The explosion happened. Pure pleasure detonated where we were connected and spread outward. My back slid up and down the wall as I shook through my orgasm. He punched into me one more time before he curled around me, a growl ripping from his throat.

“Fuck, June. Fuck, fuck.” His hips made small pumps as we finished coming together.

My chest heaved in time with his as we caught our breath.

“It’s never been like that,” he rasped.

No, it hadn’t. I’d come quicker and more powerfully than I ever had. But what had he meant? Never been like this between us before? Never like this for him at all?

Did it matter? We’d both gotten pleasure. He’d ended his dry spell so I could write songs.

Fair trade?

He tipped his forehead against mine. Our breathing was evening out. The threads of a case of nerves were settling in. He’d basically declared us a thing in front of his ex. He hadn’t dispelled the notion, and since she was there and he was here, I doubt he’d lied .

What now?

Did I make us a snack? Were things going to get awkward? There was no curfew. No running off to sleep in our own beds. Cuddling?

He pressed a kiss to the curve of my jaw. “I’m going to fuck you all night long.”