Worthy of the Harmony (Mountains & Men Book 2) (35 page)

My mouth goes straight for her neck. Her hair is pulled back into a long ponytail, giving me full access to what I want. I lick and suck from her jaw, all the way down her chest, until my lips meet the fabric of her dress. She smells amazing and she tastes delicious, and when I press my hard-on against her stomach, the sound of her whimper is my undoing.

I reach for my wallet and she tugs at the button of my jeans. She frees my cock just as I get the condom open, and her greedy hands slide underneath my shirt as I roll it on.

“Are you ready for me, Millie?” I ask, reaching up her dress. I yank off her thong, pulling it from around her ankles before throwing it over my shoulder. As I stand up, I dip a finger between her slick folds.

“I’m ready, baby,” she insists, grabbing hold of the back of my neck. “I need your cock. Right now, Sage. I need—”

She gasps as I lift her up and penetrate her entrance in one swift motion. Her legs lock behind my back and I palm her bare ass. The warmth of her skin in my hands and her hot pussy around my dick takes my breath away.

“Oh, Sage—yes,” she mewls. “Fuck me, baby. Harder!”

A growl crawls its way up my throat and I pound into her. It’s not long before I feel a bead of sweat trickle down my back. It’s hot as hell in my jacket, but I can’t stop. Not for anything. She feels so fucking incredible.

“God, Millie. I can’t get enough of you, doll face.”

“Kiss me,” she mutters.

I’m quick to obey, tangling my tongue with hers as I rock in and out of her. She sighs into my mouth before she sucks on my lip. When she lets me go, I nip along the length of her jaw and she grips my hair. Her legs tighten around me, causing her heels to dig into my backside. Every sound that escapes her lips pulls me closer and closer to my release. When she tilts her head back, closing her eyes as she frees a long moan, my balls start to tighten.

Love it when she sings to me
.

Knowing that I’m not going to last much longer, I slide one of my hands around until I find her clit with my thumb. As I begin to massage her sweet spot, her mouth falls open and her eyes find mine.

“Baby, I’m going to come! I’m going to—
fuck
, Sage! God, yes!”

Her pussy squeezes my dick and I pump into her once more before my own release immobilizes me. I groan, pressing my forehead against hers as my orgasm sends a shock of pleasure up my spine. For a moment, I wonder how the fuck I’m supposed to be without this woman for six whole weeks.

“I’ve wanted to do that since the day you told me you were a professor, before I even knew where your office was,” I mutter, still short of breath. She giggles and a smirk tugs at my lips. “Mean it, baby doll.”

“I know you do.”

I bring my mouth to hers and kiss her slowly,
deeply.
I go soft inside of her, but I’m not ready to pull out yet; and when she kisses me back, clinging to my neck affectionately, I know she’s in no hurry, either.

“I brought you something,” I tell her, forcing myself to end our kiss before I get hard again.

“Oh, yeah? Something cinnamon?”

“You bet your sweet, little ass.” I give her backside a light smack before I set her down on her feet. “You hungry?”

“Mmmhmm. I could go for a treat. Will you help me find my panties, first?”

I chuckle, slipping the condom off and tucking myself back in my pants. “Sure thing, doll.”

AFTER WE STRAIGHTEN
up, he sits behind my desk, as he so often does, and pulls me into his lap. As is becoming our custom, we each enjoy our slice of cinnamon swirl coffee cake together.

Custom
. I don’t even know why I use the word. We won’t do this again…

I cherish every single moment, knowing that it is one of our last. I can barely take my eyes off of him, wishing to memorize every single detail of his sinfully handsome face. I never want to forget how
cool
and
beautiful
his icy blue eyes are, or the way his horn-rimmed glasses make him look sexier than they should. I know that it is no use. I know that time will force me to forget; but for now, this hope is all I have.

“What are you up to tonight?” he asks me, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I was going to go to the gym before I head home. I’ve got some grading I need to get done, too.”

“I have a shit ton of laundry I need to do if I plan on packing for this trip. But I could come over after, if you want. It might be late.”

“I’ll wait up,” I assure him with a nod.

I’m running out of time. I’m running out of opportunities to fall asleep in his arms and wake up with his kisses. I used to think it was awful to be blindsided by the end of a relationship—but to see it coming is so much worse.

“Alright. I’m gonna jet, then. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Yeah.” I stand from his lap and he vacates my chair, gathering our trash before he kisses me goodbye.

As I watch him leave, the reminder that I’m the one who will have to end this hits me square in the chest. I’m the one who will have to walk away. I can’t hold onto his promises with the shadow of the inevitable cast over them. It’ll be better to do this now rather than later—cut our losses and all that shit. It’ll hurt like a
fucking
bitch
, but what other option do we have? None. His destiny has made this decision for us.

I know he’ll fight me. I know he’ll try and convince me that I’m wrong. He’s got an optimistic heart. It’s one of the things that I adore about him. It’s also the truth I cling to as I selfishly hold onto him for a few more days. I haven’t said a word about my decision. He knows nothing of my doubts and what I intend to do with them—and he won’t. Not until just before he leaves. Not until he has no choice but to leave me behind.

For the next four days, I am his. I will indulge every desire that I have and I will say yes to whatever he wants. It’s why I wore a dress today—why I was prepared to wear a goddamn dress every single day this week, in hopes that he’d drop by with that look of lust in his gaze. If these are the last memories that I will have with him, then I need to make them count. I
will
make them count; because when he is gone, there will be nothing else for me to hold on to.

I know by waiting I’m being a complete bitch, but it’s the only way. I won’t be able to resist him if he stays to fight for me. He’s fought for me before, more than once, and he has won every single fucking time. This time, I won’t allow it. I can’t. We have to say goodbye. This is about self-preservation. If I end this, I will carry around the pain and our memories until I’m too numb to feel a thing. If
he
ends it…if I
wait
for him to end it, I know it’ll destroy me.

I can’t operate under the schedule of his heart. It could be
months
before he realizes that what he wants isn’t me; before he realizes that I mean nothing in comparison to his dream. By the time he figures it out, I’ll surely be in love with him. And it would be a dangerous kind of love. I know this because I know I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about him.

I don’t want to love him,
I remind myself,
and so my mind is made up.

I just can’t—I can’t let him end it. I won’t. It has to be me.

“
SAGE!
”

I shake my head at the sound of her voice, amused that such a large noise can came from such a small body.

“In here, little lady,” I call back from the laundry room. After I finish swapping the clothes in the washer to the dryer, I load a new pile of dirty clothes into the washer. Rosy enters the room just as I start the machine. “Hey, what’s up? Didn’t know you were dropping by.”

“Yeah, I know,” she says with a sigh and a shrug. “It hit me today—like
really
hit me…”

Her voice trails off and I scowl at her in confusion, reaching for the basket full of clean clothes. “What hit you?” I ask.

“My bestie is about to leave me for the next six weeks. I only have a couple more days to bug you before you’re out of reach.”

“Come on, Rosy,” I hum, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into my side. “You know distance will never stop you from bugging me.”

“Hey!” She slaps my chest as she laughs and we both make our way out of the laundry room, her still tucked against me. I kiss the top of her head and she wraps her arms around me the best that she can, giving me a squeeze. “You know you’ll miss me too, so don’t even pretend otherwise.”

“Who’s pretending?” I ask with a smirk. “Help me fold, yeah?”

“Fine,” she says with a sigh of resignation, following me up to my room. “But only because I know this is your way of saying,
I love you so much, Rosy, and these next six weeks are going to suck ass without you—
even if you are having the time of your life.”

“Hurry up and graduate, twerp, and maybe next time you can come with us.”

We both sit together on my bed and she smiles at me before she picks up a t-shirt and starts to fold.

“You really mean that?”

I offer her a shrug as I chuckle. I wish I could tell the future, but I know that I can’t. Even still, I’m not the only McCoy with big dreams. Hers have been on course to crash into mine for a while, now. “That was always the plan, right? Mountains & Men makes it big and my kid sister comes along for the ride.”

“More like your wickedly smart and talented kid sister comes along and handles any and all of your financial needs—because
one of us
had to get an actual education.”

“In theory,” I laugh.

“Seriously, Sage,” she begins to say, nudging me with her shoulder. “You know this is the start of something. This tour—no matter where it leads you—it’s still a huge fucking deal. I’m so incredibly proud of you! And—shit.” I toss aside a pair of socks when I hear her sniffle.

“None of that, baby girl,” I insist, palming the top of her head and directing her gaze to line up with mine.

“No, just listen,” she murmurs. “You know you’ve always been more than my brother. You’ve taught me so much just by being you—by chasing after what you want and never giving up. I admire you more than words can say, Sage, and the fact that you guys are making moves…I’m just really proud of you. I’m proud to be able to call you my brother, and even more so to call you my best friend. I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

I pull her toward me, pressing a kiss against her forehead before I let her go. “Me, too, Rosemary. Me, too.”

“Okay!” she exclaims, running her fingers through her hair. “Enough of that. I don’t even know where that came from.”

“You raggin’?” I tease.

“Ew, Sage! Fuck you.” She throws a pair of jeans at me, but I only laugh.

Times like these, I’m reminded why she’s always been more than a sister to me, too. Our friendship is easy and fun. The fact that we’re related to each other and she can’t get rid of me is kind of just a bonus.

“Don’t talk like that, Rosy. You’re a lady—and don’t you dare forget that while I’m gone, either.”

“Please,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Like I need you to remind me that I’m a lady. I’m a badass, big bro—with fucking
class
.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Speaking of
ladies
—Pepper said Millie is coming to dinner Saturday.”

“Yup. Four of my favorite girls at my favorite table.”

She grins at me and I toss her a wink.

“I like you like this.”

“Like what?”

She shakes her head as her eyes rake over me, as if she can’t find the right words to express what
this
means.

“I don’t know. Like
this
—boyfriend, brother, musician—all of it. You seem really, truly happy.”

I nod, thinking about everything I’ve got going on in my life right now. I have not one thing to complain about. The exact opposite, as a matter of fact. I don’t know how I got so lucky. I feel like I turned twenty-one and hit the jackpot. I plan on savoring every bit of my winnings, and working my ass off to keep ‘em coming.

“I
am
happy, Rosy. Happier than I’ve ever been.”

Crawling closer to me, she leans in and kisses my cheek. “Good!” she proclaims.