It's Only Love(38)

Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her. “I want to make a special trip, and I’ll bring you home.”

“Okay.” Her insides quaked when he looked at her that way, when he held her face in his hands and made her feel so cherished.

They packed up some of the groceries they’d bought for breakfast and rode to his house in contented silence, his hand wrapped around hers the entire way. He never once let go. Ella loved that. She loved every single thing about being with him this way—except for the nagging, gnawing fear that something would happen to mess it up.

After having even this small taste of what was possible between them, she wouldn’t be able to handle something going wrong. And that made her feel madly vulnerable, like a live nerve ending walking around outside her body subject to severe pain at any given moment.

She’d gone into this with her eyes wide open, knowing what—and who—she was taking on. But that didn’t make it any easier to picture a cataclysmic ending to their fairy tale.

That wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t. She’d make sure of it.

Gavin drove onto the grounds of Guthrie Logging after a short ride through town and into the foothills of Butler Mountain. He pulled up to his cabin and cut the motor. “Let me come around for you since the outside lights aren’t on.”

When he shut off the headlights, the darkness surrounded them, and Ella was glad he was coming to get her. The passenger door opened, and he held her hand to help her down from the truck. He kept a firm hold on her hand until they were inside the cozy cabin.

The door shut behind him and the lock clicked into place. Then he gave a gentle tug on her hand and once again had her pressed against a door before she could begin to gauge his intentions.

“No one to hear us hanging pictures here,” he said with a sexy grin that lit up his gorgeous eyes.

“Good to know.” She reached up to caress his face. “But you need sleep more than you need to hang more pictures.”

“I hate to admit you might be right.” He kissed her and then pulled himself off her, leading her into the bedroom. “You can have the bathroom first.”

“I’ll be quick.” In the bathroom, Ella brushed her teeth and changed into lightweight pajama pants and a tank. When she returned to the bedroom, she found Gavin stripped down to boxers and was once again struck by the fact that she now got to look at him—all of him—any time she wanted to. “Your turn.”

“Get the bed warm for me.”

“You got it.” Snuggled under the warm down comforter and soft flannel sheets, she listened to the water running in the bathroom and waited for him with breathless anticipation. She was in big trouble where he was concerned, and the trouble got bigger with every minute she spent with him.





CHAPTER 12




All human wisdom is summed up

in two words; wait and hope.

—Alexandre Dumas



Gavin crawled into bed and immediately reached for her.

She curled up to him, her hand on his abdomen, her legs tangled up in his.

“You’re wearing far too many clothes,” he said. “If we’d stayed at your place, we would’ve slept naked. I feel penalized for protecting your reputation.”

Ella laughed. “You’re very cute when you’re petulant.”

“You’re very cute when you use big words. Now take all this crap off, will you? I want to feel your skin against mine.”

Gavin Guthrie wanted to sleep naked with her. He wanted to feel her skin against his. His gruffly spoken words had her on the verge of overheating as she pulled the tank over her head and then removed her pajama pants and panties.

The second she tossed her clothes onto the floor, his arms came around her, drawing her into his warm embrace. When she felt the press of his hard cock against her bottom, she realized he’d removed his underwear, too. Good God. How was she supposed to sleep when he was hot and hard and ready behind her?

Though she was as tired as she’d ever recalled being, her body was wide awake and yearning for more of him.

“You feel so good, Ella. So, so good.”

“You do, too.” Even the rough scrape of his hairy leg against hers was an instant turn-on.

His hand slid from her belly up to cup her breast, his fingers tweaking her nipple until it was hard and tight.

“We have to sleep, Gavin.”

“We will.”

“When?”

“After.”

She was about to ask more questions, but he began to enter her from behind while continuing to keep her tight against him with one arm while his other hand toyed with her nipple. Ella couldn’t seem to breathe as she waited to see what he would do next. He kept up the slow, shallow strokes until she was ready to plead for more. She wanted all of him. She wanted to be possessed by him. She was already addicted to the feel of him deep inside her, the way he stretched her nearly to the point of pain before the pleasure kicked in.

Grasping his comforter, she pressed back against him, trying to get more, but his tight hold on her made it impossible to do anything other than turn over control to him.

“Easy, baby,” he whispered, his warm breath against her neck setting off a chain reaction that touched every sensitive part of her. “I’ve got you. Relax and let me love you.”