Naked Edge (26 page)

While he was gone, Boone helped me set up the tree house so that it looked just the same as it had the night Rowdy and I gave ourselves to each other four years ago.
 

After work, Rowdy and I took Wade, Cherri, Derek and Boone out for dinner to thank them for their help and to celebrate our victory. But now, it’s time for us to enjoy a private celebration.

He gives my butt a gentle push to help me get through the trap door. I spin around so I can watch his face.
 

His eyes widen then drift to half-mast as his lips curve up in a slow, seductive smile. “If I check The Hole, will I find a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling cider?”

“Maybe.” I’d considered buying a bottle of champagne, but decided to keep everything exactly the same, as much as possible. Besides, mixing pain meds and alcohol is never a good idea. “But you aren’t allowed to check. Not yet.”

I scoot onto the sleeping bag so Rowdy has enough room to squeeze through the trap door. I take the necklace out of my back pocket. “I have something for you.”

He arches his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? What is it?”

“It’s nothing really.” My cheeks heat up as I drop the necklace into his palm. “It’s just those old glass beads I made with Aunt Lori. The ones she gave you after I disappeared?”

His Adam’s apple bobs as he strokes each bead.

“I filed down the sharp edges and added some spacer beads between them to protect the string. But you don’t have to wear it or anything.”

“Are you kidding me?” He slips it on, fastening the bead and loop closure in front then sliding it around to the back. “I’ll never take it off.”

“You like it?”

“I love it.” He crawls over me on his hands and knees. “You fixed these beads the way you’re fixing me.”

“You don’t need fixing.” I lie back as he kisses a trail up my body. My legs fall open.
 

Rowdy settles between them, the hard ridge of his erection pressing against my thigh. “I still have a few rough edges that need softening.”

He runs his hand up my ribcage, his thumb sweeping across my nipple. He kisses my neck, just below my ear. “How’s your hand?”

My arm’s bent at a ninety degree angle, propping my hand up off the floor. It’s throbbing but he doesn’t need to know that. I rock my hips. “As long as I keep it above my heart, it’s fine.”

“God, Skylar.” Rowdy groans and lets a little more of his weight press down on me. He claims my mouth, sucking and nipping at my bottom lip. His tongue sweeps over mine then retreats. He pulls back and rests his forehead on mine as tremors rock both our bodies. “Are you sure?”

The question takes me back in time. We were so sure of our future, of each other and of ourselves. We had our whole lives planned out. Rowdy was going to start working for Uncle Will full-time as soon as he graduated from high school. Then when I graduated a year later, we were going to get an apartment together. He’d continue to work while I went to CU on my grandfather’s grant. Then I’d get a job so he could go to college. After that, we’d start a family. It all sounds so simplistic and naive now.
 

I have no idea what the future holds for either of us. No one does, really. But I know what I want. And it’s right here in front of me. Or more accurately, on top of me.

“I’m sure, Rowdy.”

He rocks back on his knees and pulls his shirt off then slides his hand under the hem of my light pink tank, skimming the bare skin next to my waistband.
 
“You wore a shirt just like this last time.”

“It’s the same shirt.” I never wore it again, but I kept it. I kept the black denim shorts I’d worn too, but they, unlike my top, are not made out of extremely stretchy fabric.
 

He slips the front clasp of my bra between his thumb and index finger but lets go without undoing it. He adjusts himself in his jeans then lies down, half-on half-off my body, keeping one knee tucked between mine.
 

Tears fill my eyes when I realize he’s also recreating the past.
 

He kisses my breast, over my bra. I trail my fingers over his bare chest, gradually working my way lower. Rowdy takes my wrist and moves my hand to his shoulder. I smile. He’s got a lot more control now, but this is how we were before. One step back for every two steps forward.
 

He slides down and takes one of my lace-covered nipples into his mouth. Gently at first, then sucking and tugging with increasing vigor as he kneads my other breast. His stubbled cheek raises goose bumps as he drags it across my upper chest to take my other breast in his mouth.

I slide my hand down his torso again. This time he lets me caress him over his jeans. He murmurs, “God, Skylar. I want you so bad,” then thrusts against my palm.
 

“I can tell.”
 

He fingers the front clasp of my bra again. “May I?”

“Please.”

My nipples are already hard and aching for his touch. He licks a circle around one before flicking it with his tongue. My back arches.
 

He lifts his head, breaking contact as he moves his fingers to the button on my waistband. “Is this okay?”

I nod.

He flicks it open. “Are you sure?”

“Wait.”

He freezes then lifts his chest and frowns at me. “Wait?”

“If you touch me now, I’ll come and that didn’t happen the first time.”

“Babe, I’m all for being sentimental, but there’s no way I’m letting you out of this tree house without giving you at least one orgasm.”

“Okay.” Our reenactment is over. And it really is okay. It’s better than okay. I’ll always treasure the memory of our early years together, but what we have now is so much better. I’ll always love the shy, awkward boy that I first fell in love with, but I love the strong, confident man that he’s become even more.
 

Rowdy tugs on my shorts. “Lift up.”

I raise my hips.

He slides my shorts and panties down my legs then kisses his way back up.
 

He rises to his knees and pulls a condom out of his pocket then tosses it on the floor, next to the sleeping bag.

My heart skips more than just one beat when he flicks the button on his jeans open. I sit up and cup my palm over his bulging fly. “Let me.”

He gazes at me with hooded eyes and gives me a quick, single nod.

I barely tug on his zipper. It slides down effortlessly, the pressure of his pulsing erection forcing it open. I hold my injured hand out to the side and slip the other one inside his boxers. He makes that chest-vibrating, animalistic growling sound that never fails to liquify my joints and steal my breath.
 

I struggle to pull his jeans down with one hand.
 

He rocks back on his heels then stands up with the grace and power of a mountain lion. His gaze locks on mine. “Lie down.”

I lie back on the sleeping bag and watch him lower his jeans and boxers. When he gets them below his knees, he steps out of one leg then the other without so much as a wobble. His balance is perfect. Everything about him is perfect.

He sinks to his knees and applies the condom. He pinches the tip then rolls it down his shaft, just like they taught us in health class back in high school. But this is so much better.
 

Rowdy chuckles, drawing my gaze up to his face. My face burns when I realize he caught me watching him. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He slides his hands slowly up my legs, spreading them as he covers my body with his. “I love how fascinated you are with my dick.”

“Oh, god.” I hide my face behind the crook of my elbow.

 
Rowdy takes my wrist and pins it above my head. “Look at me, Skylar.”

I open my eyes.
 

His gaze locks on mine as he slides up my body. He stops with the tip of his erection pressed against me, poised at the brink. “Last chance. Is this what you want?”

I hook my heels around his waist and arch my back. But Rowdy lifts his hips. “Tell me what you want.”

I know that how I answer will dictate whether he takes me slowly and gently or with unrestrained abandon. I want both. “Make love to me…then fuck my brains out.”

His eyebrows shoot up. He blinks then closes his eyes and laughs. “Oh my god.”

His laughter is contagious. I giggle then smack the side of his arm. “Stop laughing at me.”

“I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing with you.” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“Right now, all I am is embarrassed.”

“Don’t be.” He slides in a fraction of an inch, stretching me.

I gasp.

He pulls out. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just surprised. I wasn’t expecting it to hurt this time.”

“It’s been four years and this is only your second time.” He brushes a wisp of hair off my face. “Do you want to stop?”

“Hell, no.” I dig my heels into the hard muscles of his butt. “Just take it slow.”

Rowdy rolls off me onto his back.

“I said I didn’t want to stop.” I take a deep breath to clear the whine out of my voice. “Please? Don’t stop.”

“We aren’t stopping.” He sits up and grabs my waist then lifts me onto his lap. “We’re putting you in charge.”

“But, I don’t know what to do.”

“Tab A goes into slot B.”
 

I laugh and smack him again. “You know what I mean.”

He lies back and laces his fingers behind his head. “Just do whatever you want, babe.”
 

I play with him for a few minutes while I gather my courage then rise up onto my knees.
 

He’s not laughing now.

There’s a slight stinging sensation as I lower myself onto him.

“Take your time, Sky. There’s no rush.”

I nod and ease down a little more.
 

“Breathe, babe. Slow and deep. Try to relax.”

I notice his breathing isn’t slow or deep. He’s not exactly relaxed either. He moves his hands to his sides and clenches his fist but remains perfectly still.

I take his advice, even though he’s not following it, and focus on relaxing all my muscles. I open up and slide the rest of the way down his shaft. “Ah…”

Rowdy squeezes his eyes shut and bites his lip.

I try to crawl off, but Rowdy digs his fingers into my hips and holds me in place.
 

“Are you okay?” Ohmigod. What if I broke it? “Did I hurt you?”

“No, babe.” He opens his eyes and gives me a tight smile. “It just feels so fucking good.”

“Oh. Okay.” I rock my hips forward, rubbing my clit against his patch of black curls. “Oh!”
 

Rowdy loosens his grip but keeps his hands on my hips. “You like that?”

“God, yes.” The full sensation inside me, combined with the friction outside, is indescribable. It’s better than what he does with his fingers or even his mouth. Which, as Rowdy would say, is pretty fucking amazing.

I lean forward and put my good hand on his chest to brace myself.

Rowdy grips the front of my shoulders. “I got you.”

I let him hold my weight as I rock and grind against him. “I’m close.”

“Do you want to come now? Or do you want to make it last?”

What a question. I want to come now, but this is our first time in four years. This is a memory I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. “Make it last.”

He lowers me to his chest then rolls us over. He holds most of his weight off me, but keeps enough pressure so I can feel every inch of his body on the surface of mine. How’s this supposed to make it last?

He pulls out.
 

Oh. That’s how. Not quite what I had in mind.

He suckles at one breast then the other. It feels just as good as it did earlier, but I want him inside me.

As if reading my mind, Rowdy enters me again. This time he keeps all his weight off me, so the only place we’re touching is where we’re connected. His movements are slow but deliberate. Each thrust goes a little deeper, filling me a little fuller, bringing me closer to the edge.
 

He pulls out just before I climax.

I groan in frustration.

Rowdy kisses my jaw, right below my ear. “Patience, babe. It’ll be worth it.”

He brings me to the brink so many times I lose count. I’m so close. I try to stifle my moans and keep my muscles from clenching so he won’t know. If he pulls out again, I’ll die.

He picks up the pace and rocks into me harder. I dig my fingers into his shoulders. If I didn’t have such short nails, I’m sure they’d draw blood.
 

Rowdy growls and grips my chin, holding my head still. “Open your eyes. I want you to look at me when you come.”

Thank god, he’s not going to stop me this time. I open my eyes and gaze into his.

He pulls back until just the tip remains inside then slams into me burying himself completely. His rhythm is frantic, like waves crashing onto the beach. He reaches between our bodies and presses a finger against my throbbing clit as he continues to pound into me.

My whole body spasms. I keep my gaze locked onto Rowdy’s face and scream his name as I shatter into a million pieces.
 

I’m just starting to float back to earth when Rowdy’s thrusting loses its perfect rhythm. His movements are jerky and unpredictable. He straightens his arms, lifting his chest and arching his back, as he rams into me one last time. His body shudders. I orgasm again as he pulses inside me.

Rowdy shifts to the side as he collapses on top of me. “That was fucking amazing.”

“It was, wasn’t it.”

He chuckles then pulls me onto his chest as he lies back, still maintaining our connection. I want to stay like this forever, but when Rowdy starts to soften, he pulls out. A quiet whimper slips out before I can stop it.

Rowdy kisses my forehead. “I’d stay buried in you all night if I could, but I don’t want to risk getting you pregnant.”

I listen to his heart as it gradually slows down and settles into a steady rhythm. He’s so quiet, I think he’s fallen asleep until he kisses the top of my head and whispers, “I love you so much.”

“You’re the only boy I’ve ever loved. And the only man I ever will.”