He thrust into her with just enough force to rock her world. “Ask like that and I’ll give you anything you want.”
Riding his movements, arching into him, she was peaking when the horn went off again. “Dammit!”
He snorted but patiently worked her up again, nothing stopping him this time, not the obnoxious blast of the horn, nor the lack of space, nor the fact that she bumped their noses together trying to kiss him.
He was a man on task, and as she already knew, he was good on task. It took only a few more masterful strokes for him to bring her back to the edge of sanity and then beyond, and as she came, clenching tight around him, she took him right over that edge along with her.
Hot and fast and dirty.
And amazing.
And without a doubt, the most erotic experience of her life.
Ten
Wyatt could hear himself still panting for breath when Emily finally lifted her face from where she’d plastered it to his throat.
He tried to see her expression but she was a blur. Reaching down, he searched for and found his glasses, shoving them on. Oh yeah, he thought as his fuzzy world came into sharp focus, revealing the gorgeously tousled woman astride him.
She was utterly beautiful.
And utterly perplexed.
An unexpected surge of affection hit him like a tidal wave, and he stroked her hair from her damp forehead and pressed his lips to her temple.
“What was that?” she demanded, voice hoarse.
“Great sex.”
“Oh my God.” She shifted with a wince. “There’s a gearshift pressing against my ass.”
He found a laugh. He was still buried deep inside her and the movement caused her to shudder. Not from cold, he knew. The aftershocks of great sex.
“I’m not sure this is funny,” she said.
He slid his hands up her warm torso.
“Wyatt—” She inhaled a sharply drawn breath when his thumbs gently grazed the underside of her breasts. Her bare skin was unbelievably soft under his touch, and he bit back a groan at the feel of it on his fingers.
“I think you’re magic,” she said.
He laughed again and she climbed off his lap, treating him to a fantastic view of her bare ass as she crawled back into her seat. There she snatched his shirt and tugged it over her head before she curled up and covered her face with her hands. “I really did totally instigate this.”
“Yeah,” he said with a grin. “I loved it.”
“Oh my God. I took advantage of you.”
“Uh-huh. It was hot.”
“I had to talk you into it,” she reminded him. “You were over there doing your Captain Platonic impression and I . . . I—” She covered her face and moaned miserably.
Leaning over her, he pulled her hands away from her face and waited until she lifted her gaze to his. “You’re too sexy,” she whispered. “You’ve really got to knock that off. I mean it, Wyatt.”
He shook his head on a smile. “You’re the most confusing woman I’ve ever met, and I’ve met lots of them. Hell, I live with the queen and queen-in-waiting of all confusing women.”
“You think you’re confused,” she said, sagging back. “Imagine how confused it is inside my head.” She reached for her panties, pulling them up one leg before apparently remembering he’d torn them. With a noise of frustration, she tossed them aside and went for her jeans, shoving her legs in, wriggling as she pulled them up.
Commando.
Sexiest thing he’d seen. Well, maybe the second sexiest thing, the first being the way she’d moved over him, her eyes on his as she’d ridden him—
“Okay, that was absolutely our last time,” she said. “I don’t care how much your puppy and kitten tie pulls me in.” She paused. “I’m going to resist you.”
“Maybe you should put it in writing,” he said.
“I realize you’re mocking me, but that’s actually a good idea.” She pulled down the visor mirror and looked at herself. Her hair was wild, her eyes still a little dazed, and she was definitely wearing an I’ve-just-had-an-orgasm look as she groaned. She shoved on her shoes and opened the door.
He caught up with her on the sidewalk just as she stopped short. “What?” he asked.
“Hear that?”
He listened. The nights in Sunshine weren’t quiet. Crickets chirped. Wind rustled through the trees. From a long way off they could hear the sounds of the river, and the very occasional car.
And the unmistakable howl of a coyote.
Emily hugged herself. “Never mind, I hear weird noises out here, I’m not used to the country.” She moved to her door. “This isn’t necessary,” she said as he followed.
Not bothering to disagree, he took her keys from her fingers, unlocked her door for her, and held it open.
She stepped inside and turned back to him. “We’ve got to work on this.”
“We?”
She sighed. “You’re not taking me seriously.”
His smile faded and he stroked a stray strand of hair along her temple, tucking it behind her ear, wondering what it would be like if they were even halfway suited for each other.
Pretty fucking great, he figured. “On the contrary,” he finally said quietly. “I’m taking you very seriously.”
The weekend was quiet. Emily woke up Saturday morning to Q-Tip sitting on her chest, staring into her face.
“Meow.”
This translated to feed me, feed me now.
Knowing from experience that resistance was futile, Emily stumbled out of bed to feed the terminally hungry cat.
On her way to the kitchen, she glanced out the front window and saw her car in the driveway.
Wyatt, of course. She had a text from him telling her where he’d hidden her keys. When she went out to retrieve them, she found on her top step a to-go mug of hot coffee and several donuts from the bakery in town.
Which was almost more of a turn-on than his laugh.
She and Sara spent the weekend settling in, making the place theirs by painting their rooms. Sara went for a bold purple, Emily a muted, warm sea green.
On Sunday night, she called her dad to check in.
“How’s Idaho?” he asked. Same question he’d asked last week.
Not wanting to worry him, she gave him the same answer. “Good,” she said. “Two weeks down. How’re you doing? You eating okay? Did you get the bills paid on time?”
“Two weeks down?” he repeated, ignoring her other questions. “Honey, don’t tell me you’re clock watching.”
No, she was calendar watching.
“You need to enjoy this time in the wild, wild west,” he said. “Go date a cowboy or ride a horse or something. Do what makes you happy.”
This had been his life philosophy. He’d spent most of his career working as a vet at the homeless shelters. He had a drive to help, and she loved that about him, but at the same time, it had made it almost impossible for him to support his family. There were still medical bills from her mom to be paid, and he was making little to no headway there at all. “I’m too busy at work for that, Dad. Did you look at the job apps I e-mailed you? There’re a few openings that you’re perfect for.”
“I like my job at the SPCA.”
“But it hardly pays,” Emily said.
“Honey, some things are bigger than money. And anyway, I manage just fine.”
She had to bite her tongue. There was no gain to pointing out that he managed just fine because she kicked in for rent and groceries and leftover medical bills whenever and wherever she could—after feeding and housing her and Sara, who like Dad, never could quite make ends meet. “You’re eating?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m eating,” he said. “Now will you go do something fun? Try it, you might like it.”