Heart & Hope (Rosewood Ranch #2)

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

REED

Z ero to one hundred in less than a heartbeat.

That’s what Ruby touching herself does to me. And it takes every last ounce of control I fucking have to stay rooted to the spot outside the shower door.

But when she doesn’t move, slipping her fingers in further as she holds my gaze, I’m pretty sure I am as close to combustion as humanly possible. I want to taste her. I want to hold her. I want her wrapped around me, riding my now rock-hard cock until we both unravel.

“I can’t do it, Reed,” she rasps.

I swallow past the stone cutting off my air supply as she pulls her fingers out and pops them in her mouth.

Jesus fuckin’ Christ.

“What can’t you do, baby?”

I’m a thousand percent positive I’ve swallowed glass.

“I can’t imagine anyone else,” she utters.

“Baby, I told you, those girls were before. And it was?—”

Her hands fall to the tile by her legs. She’s shaking her head...

Why is she shaking her head?

“Come here.” Ruby rests her head back on the tile. I drop to my knees and crawl into the steaming hot shower where she sits. The water soaks my t-shirt, then my jeans. Drenched and inches from her now vibrating body, I wait. Absolutely wound up. Painfully fucking desperate for her.

Her hands cup my jaw, and she pulls my mouth to hers. But I resist, stopping before our lips touch. “What do you want, Rubes?”

Her face turns pained, like she’s holding back a sob. A heartbeat later, she forces a smile, running her hands through my wet hair, those brown eyes burning. “I want you.”

Before my brain has a second to analyze the situation, I slam my mouth to hers, moving forward until I’m kneeling between her legs. She peels away from the wall and is wrapped around me a second later. I rest back on my heels, and she straddles my lap. Her kiss is hot, hungry, and blowing my goddamn mind.

We’ve gotten each other off, but this is different. Like there’s something strong and permanent tugging between us, both ways. It was tentative before. Now, it’s pulling my heart through the cage that keeps it, seeing her this way. Because after the heat and the desire wears off comes the fall. With anyone else, I wouldn’t care.

With Ruby? There would be no coming back.

I must have stilled, because she is leaning back. Water runs over her face, neck, and over her peaked nipples. Drops run over those perfect breasts, cascading onto her stomach.

“Reed?”

Worry lines her eyes. Fuck.

“You don’t want to?” she whispers.

She has no idea how much I need her. But that’s just it. This is more than some spontaneous thing for me. Has been for a long time. I could almost deny it before, but now?

Having her here has been amazing, but every time I think about the grand opening and what that means for us, knots fill my gut. When R so before either of us gets hurt, we just stop altogether.”

“Do I have a say in this?” She folds her hands across her chest.

“Nope.”

“Fine, then you don’t get a say in this.” She drops her towel and walks into the shower.

“Rubes. Stop.”

She stands shy of the water. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

My traitorous cock is concrete and pointing to the sky. Looking at her has me breathless. “It’s not just foolin’ around for me anymore.”

“And you think that’s what I’m doing? Leading you on, having a bit of fun?”

“Don’t think you and fun have ever met, baby.”

She scoffs a laugh, glancing outside the shower, but closes the space between us. “For the record, you broke every single one of my rules, Reed Rawlins. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“So, you changed your mind about a few things, hey?”

“You could say that.” Her gaze drops to my mouth, her hands landing on my jawline. “But mostly... about you. I don’t want to be your friend anymore. It’s not enough.”

You don’t need to tell this man twice.

I slam into her hard, my mouth on hers, gripping her hips and pressing her into the tile. The whimper that leaves her throat drives the last of the sanity from my heated veins.

“Reed, slow down. I don’t want to miss anything.”

Her mouth is open in a pant. Her back arches off the shower wall. I drop my head, kissing her neck. Her fingers crawl through my hair. When my lips find her hard nipple, her grip tightens. Letting my hands wander, I play with the softness of her other breast with one hand and trail a finger toward her clit with the other.

When I brush my knuckles over her slick center, she moans, sending me harder than ever before. The memory of her walking past me on the street of Great Falls as she bumped into me with her strawberry scent wrapping around me like a snare floods in... And now, driving me completely off the rails, she stands bare in my shower, begging me to touch her. That is not lost on me. The enormity of the gift she has given me by being here never will be.

Emotion steals my air like a baddie in an old-time ransom movie. I shake my head and focus. On Ruby. On making her feel all I can give her.

Ruby’s eyes flutter shut as I slide two fingers inside her.

“God, baby, you are so damn hot and tight.” The warm leak of pre-cum floods over my tip. I’m going to need to pace myself to not screw this up. There is no way in hell I’m not giving this woman everything she wants.

I pull back a little, and she gasps. When my fingers fall from her center, I raise them to my lips. But she grabs my wrist and feeds them to me with a cheeky smile. Fingers clean, I drop to my knees.

“Oh god, Reed, please.”

“You don’t have to beg, baby. Let me watch you come on my face.”

Her legs widen a little as I grip her thighs with my hands. This beautiful woman is so fucking perfect it hurts. I glide my tongue through her wet center, and she writhes against the wall.

Good girl.

Slow, Reed, slow.

With a little nip to her clit, I look up at her and spread her wider. She drops her gaze to mine. “Why did you stop?”

“Making it last, baby.”

Breasts moving with every heaving breath, her cheeks are flushed pink. My fucking heart explodes behind my ribs.

“We are going to go so, so slow. And then, when we’re done, we are gonna start all over again, beautiful.”

“I—” She swallows hard. “Reed, I?—”

I thumb a circle over her clit and sweep my tongue through her center again before she has the chance to finish her sentence.

“Oh.” Her palms slam to the wall by her sides. Her legs tremble. “Reed...”

I pull back, and she growls at me. She literally growls at me. I can’t help the grin that splits my face. Sweet Jesus, this woman is something else. “We’ll get there. Patience.”

“I can barely breathe when you do that to me.”

“Baby, I can barely breathe just looking at you.” The words are out of my mouth before my brain can snag them back. But Rubes and I don’t have secrets. And I guess right now is as good a time as any to wear my heart on my sleeve.

She bends down and takes my head in her hands, guiding my mouth up to hers. Her tongue is in my mouth a second later. I groan at the taste of her. She tastes like she smells, all strawberries and sweet things.

When she pulls back, I grip her hips and hold her to the wall, sinking my face into her center. This time, I’m the one who’s desperate. And I lick and flick her clit, sinking my fingers inside her. Needing to feel her, taste her, and bring her to the edge.

My entire body is vibrating, watching her tremble against the tile. Every slight move I make has her writhing, gasps falling out of those delicious lips like candy from an upturned jar.

“Reed,” she rasps. Her hips buck from the wall. She’s close.

I suckle her clit and curl my fingers inside her, still working them in and out. Still tracing my tongue over every delicious part of her I can. When her hands fly into my hair and her grip turns savage, she bares down on my mouth, riding out her orgasm.

I have to grab the top of my cock to stop from coming with her. This is too much. Ruby coming all over my mouth is too fucking much.

And I need her wrapped around me, now.