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Balling my fists in an effort not to shove this twiggy-looking motherfucker out of the way, my grunt comes out gritty and forceful. “He’s got asthma, you shit for brains.”
and in the case of everyone in Crimson Ridge being one big happy circle jerk of helpfulness, they’re not at all concerned that I need to be here for at least another week until the date of Kayce’s follow-up scan.
The kitchen is echoingly quiet, except for Kayce’s pain, which is loud as fuck. He doesn’t need to say anything, but the guy is obviously hurting on multiple levels.
Surely I need to pluck my eyeballs from my skull, because, hell no, I did not just look at him and feel butterflies.
“I fucking idolized you.” Those wide eyes still trace back and forth over my mouth as he gives me his soft admission. “I hated losing to you . . . but I loved seeing you win.”
My stepbrother’s erection is ever so slightly rubbing against mine, and I’ve never felt more alive. “Use your words, Kayce.” He issues me a warning. The deep, weighty pronunciation of my name makes my cock jerk in response. “I need—need to get outta my head,” I gasp. It
“What a pretty thing you are when you blush for me,” he murmurs, and I nearly combust on the spot at the way that turns me inexplicably and confusingly to absolute stone.
I liked the way Raine confidently took my mouth, as if he knew that kiss was rightfully his, and didn’t even hesitate. There was only the heat and scent of him, overwhelming me in the best possible way. His hold on my body was so goddamn fierce, I still feel the outline of his strong fingers circling the front of my neck.
Why did it feel so right with him? Why does it have to be him? The whirlwind inside me is at peak levels of destruction, spinning and thundering a path through everything I used to know. Laying waste to an old version of me who has been completely decimated, overpowered; now nothing more than rubble and dust and scraps of a man. He branded my mouth and my body in a way that I didn’t know to ask for . . . didn’t even know I wanted.
“I don’t like to break my toys.” I nip at his earlobe, then suck down until he’s moaning out loud. Yeah, he might be the rodeo star on the outside, but he melts every time my mouth connects with those soft little parts of him.
“I don’t have to do more than stuff your holes with my fingers, and you’re spraying cum. What kind of mess do you think you’ll make when I’m filling you properly? What kind of a noisy slut will you be for having my cock deep inside your tight little ass?”
“I’m in the kind of mood to ruin you.” His velvety words dance across my skin, leaving shivers in their wake. “Is that what you want, my sweet boy?”
this feels . . . easy. Strangely, unbelievably, it’s as if I’m meant to be in this very spot. A natural thing to be doing on a random weekend in the middle of fall.
“And what if I enjoy knowing that I can make you spill cum like this, too? What if seeing you lose your goddamn mind like a little slut is the thing that gets me off hardest?” It’s official. I’m dead. Buried. Six feet below this barn. “Holy fuck. You can’t just hit me with stuff like that.” Leaning his body against mine, his weight presses our groins together, and my length rapidly hardens at all his delicious bulk covering me. My own personal Raine-blanket. “Why? Does it make you squirm, snowflake?”
“You’re thinking awfully hard.” He gives a tiny thrust of his hips. “Too hard for someone with my cock still filling them.” A faint hint of a smile tugs on the corners of his mouth, and I press my fingers there, as if I can seal it permanently in place or steal it to hide away in my memories.
“There’s nothing wrong with having cracks and broken pieces. But you gotta work on healing the scars still in here . . .” With one finger, I tap his temple. “And here . .
“You’re right here in my goddamn heart, baby.” I give in, dragging him against me so that I can tuck his head into the crook of my neck and brush my mouth against his ear. “This is where you are. No matter whether you piss me off, or leave me ready to toss you over my shoulder, or be so goddamn in love with you I don’t know how to breathe. That’s who you are. You’re better than this, and I believe that you’ll figure out you’re worthy of being loved by someone one day. Trust that I’m gonna be out there hoping like hell you might want that guy to be me.”
“It’s you. I don’t know if you’ll ever trust that. But I guess I understand a little too easily why you wouldn’t. Those walls are hard to let down, which is why I also know how hard it is to hear me . . . to believe me, when I say that I love you.”
“Not in my eyes. I mean, I used to call you that purely because I knew it pissed you off . . . and I’m sorry.” He reaches up and brushes a thumb over my cheek. “But I don’t think of it as reflective of being weak. A snowflake is a thing of beauty. An infinitely unique pattern. It melts, yes, but that depends on its circumstances. When it transforms into water, you and I both know, that’s one of nature’s most powerful forces. Able to flow and bend and fucking move mountains. A life-giving substance.”
“You told me you’re a better person because I taught you how to love. Well, I'm better because of the way you love. I’m out here wondering how a guy like me could ever get so lucky . . . or ever deserve to have someone like you looking my way twice.” “I’m not special. I’m nothing special,” he whispers. “To me, you are. To me . . . you are magnificent.” His lips quirk. “I think you’re high.”
“Never not obsessed with you.”
“Oh my fucking god.” My voice is a shaky whisper. “Marry me.” Raine’s quiet, steadfast rumble is in my ear, and I go weak at the knees. It’s not a question. It’s a promise, a gift of his heart, and I couldn’t believe it possible to love him more. But here I am, nodding and gasping a string of words along the lines of Yes. Of course, I will. Fuck, Yes.
