Beautifully Broken Pieces (Sutter Lake, #1)(61)

I tilted my face up towards Walker, drinking in the shadow on his cut jaw and his sharp features in the moonlight. “I don’t think I knew you had this built.”

“My parents gave me and my sister each a couple hundred acres to build on, hoping it would be lure enough to keep us close.” He absentmindedly ran his fingers through my hair as he spoke, sending small shivers down my spine.

“But Jensen lives at the guest house next to the ranch house,” I said, thinking of the adorable two-bedroom cottage Jensen and Noah lived in.

“She just keeps her horses on her land for now. It was easier when she got pregnant and while Noah’s still young. She’s close to my parents and Gran so they can help out. But you never know. If things keep progressing with Bryce, she might be building a house before long.”

I shot up, spilling a little of my beer. “Are things getting serious between them? She hasn’t said anything to me.”

Walker grinned. “Don’t go getting too excited. They’re taking things slow. Jensen did say she wanted us to go on a double date with them.”

“You told her about us?” I fought the urge to duck my head, feeling suddenly shy about it all. He hadn’t pushed for us to go public in any way. I hadn’t been sure if it was because he didn’t want to rush me, or if he wasn’t sure we would last. There was even a small part of me that worried he was somehow ashamed of me.

Walker must have sensed my thoughts like the psychic sorcerer he was, because he tugged me to him, taking my beer and putting it next to his on the side table. He positioned me directly on top of him, wrapping his arms around me in a tight hold. “I love that you’re mine.” I relaxed the smallest bit. “If it was up to me, I’d be screaming it from the rooftops. I just haven’t wanted to ask for too much, too soon.”

I let the beat of his heart and the warmth of his words ease the rest of the tension in my body. “We can tell people.” My stomach flipped. That meant his family would know. The town. People would want to know my business because he was one of Sutter Lake’s golden sons, one the entire population claimed as their own. “What if people don’t like me?”

Walker’s arms tightened around me. “I think everyone will adore you. But if anyone’s mean to you, I’ll beat them up.”

I snorted. “You’re a cop. You can’t beat up someone just because they don’t like me.”

“The hell I can’t.” I rolled my eyes heavenward, which he, of course, couldn’t see. He held me even tighter. “So, you want to go on a proper date with me?”

“Well, I’ll have to think about it, Deputy Chief. I might need to wash my hair that night.”

“You little minx.” Walker’s arms turned from offering a comforting cocoon to becoming tickling monsters.

I shrieked like a hyena as I squirmed and rolled, trying in vain to escape his grasp. “All right! All right! I’ll go on a date with you.”

The tickling subsided. “That’s what I thought.”

His smug tone had me vowing retaliation, so I did the only thing I could think of with my hands pinned to my sides. I bit him right on the pec.

“Fuck, Short-stack! That hurt.” His voice was a mixture of shock and humor.

“That’s what you get for being a smug bastard.”

Walker released his hold on my arms and dipped his hands beneath my shirt. “Smug, huh? I’ll show you just what I’m so smug about.”

My heart rate kicked up a notch, and my breath came quicker as he unhooked my bra. “Oh, really? All I hear is a lot of talking. I’m not seeing much action to back up your claims. I guess, sometimes, you just have to do the heavy lifting yourself.” I peeled off my top as if to prove my statement, letting my bra fall to the ground next.

Walker’s eyes zeroed in on my breasts, his hands following suit. “God, I love your tits.” His thumbs brushed over my nipples in tandem, and I sucked in a breath. Walker, always the consummate student of my body, noted the reaction. He began tracing patterns around the buds, varying his tempo and pressure. It wasn’t long before I was panting.

I tugged at his shirt. “Need this off.”

Walker rose up to allow me to pull it up and over his head. “Patience, Short-stack. I like playing with you,” he said as he lay back down, his hands coming to my breasts again. No matter how many times we were together, he always wanted to take his time, and I was forever in a rush to feel him inside me.

Walker’s fingers plucked at those buds now, and I felt a zap of pleasure in my core. I arched back, sinking into the feeling. Since I was straddling him, the movement brought me right up against something very long and very hard. I moaned. I was wearing a skirt, so only the thin fabric of my panties separated me from the ridge in his jeans.

I rocked against him as he pinched harshly. I trembled, biting down on my lip. Walker’s hands left my breasts and skimmed up the outer sides of my thighs, dipping under the flouncy material of my skirt. “So fucking smooth. What do you put on your skin to get it this soft?”

“Just. Lotion,” I panted.

“Smooth as fucking silk.” He shot up, taking one of my nipples into his mouth and sucking deeply. At the same time, a finger stroked me through my panties.

The sound that escaped me was some unintelligible combination of a moan and curse. My hands went to his hair, tugging it and holding him to me at the same time. He nipped me, and I tugged harder.