All I Want Is You (A Chester Farms Novella) (9 page)

His lids lifted to reveal his darkened gaze and he pressed down, taking what was left of her breath as his hips met hers. He started slow and his thrusts built. He lowered over her, his forehead tucked against the nape of her neck.

Sweat dampened between her stomach and his as she lifted to meet his strokes. Everything in her centered down to a knot that wound tighter and tighter. She leaned back to get a breath of air and held him as thrusts continued grinding against that sweet spot. Grunts and moans echoed in the room. His. Hers. She wasn't sure where one ended and another began. She reached overhead and held the bottom of the headboard and squeezed him with her back arched as far as she could. Pressure built with the increasing speed of her pulse and at last it all shattered. Feathery pieces of unwinding magic flooded through every last inch of her until there was nothing left but his taste on her mouth and his scent on her skin.

The only part of her she could confirm was alive was her lungs as they burned. His weight settled over her and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His breath was hot and heavy against her neck. Her sweat mixed with his where her thighs held him in place. She let out a long sigh and relaxed against the bed.

He combed hair away from her face and left a kiss on her cheek. "Am I too heavy?"

"No." She caressed his shoulders with her nails, but her arms were too heavy to hold up. "I think I'm boneless."

"I'll take that as a good thing."

A chuckle eased out and she found the strength to swat.

He evidently had more energy to spare as he caught her hand and kissed her fingers instead. "How can I talk you into staying the night?"

"Do you have to work tomorrow? I don't want to be in the way."

"You wouldn't be in the way. And as of right now, no. They can still call me in last minute if there's an emergency, but it'll have to be something big because they're not going to want to fork out for holiday pay."

No sleeping alone tonight and even better, no leaving him tonight either. Yeah, she was in. "As long as I can be taken to the shop by nine, then yeah. I’ll stay."

The grin that crossed his face melted her heart and there was an even better reason for staying over.

"Not a problem." He leaned back and stopped. His muscles tensed. That smile she'd been falling into disappeared as he lifted his gaze. "We have a problem."

"What?" She sat up and liquid dripped against her inner thigh, giving her the first clue. The tattered remains of the broken condom solved it. "Oh, God."

His arms shook and he searched her face. "This is the first time I've had this happen and I've never gone without a condom."

She nodded, then shook her head. Or maybe it was a nod after all. Her head was a hot, sex mess and she just quit moving it all together. "Me neither." She rubbed a hand over her face and tried pulling together health class from years ago. "I have a doctor’s appointment for my yearly physical in a few weeks. I'll double check."

"Let me know the results of that." He eased back and stopped. "Uh, what about pregnancy?"

She rubbed the side of her head as the spinning slowed down. "On the pill. Babies before marriage aren't part of the plan either."

A long breath eased out of him. "Good. I like that part of this plan."

Chapter Seven

There was only one thing better than pulling up to the ice cream shop at night. Pulling up and seeing there were no customers inside. Not that it was a good thing, really. She needed the business, but the less people in the way, the quicker he could get started. He'd already been waiting for the store to close for two hours.

Patrick backed into a slot by the front door and did his best not to jump out of the truck and run like a fool to his tailgate to show off his surprise. With her leaning on the open door as he turned the engine off, it was no easy task. Her reflection in his side mirror was cursedly smaller than she appeared. Her apron was gone. Tight jeans hugged her hips and a little bit of skin peeked out beneath the pink shirt. His throat tightened as he forced a swallow down and got out of the truck.

He managed to push his hands in his pockets and casually walked to her. "Evening."

Her eyes narrowed and head tipped to the side as she studied him. "What are you up to?"

He grinned and left a fast kiss on her lips that wasn't fast at all. More like long, slow, and completely indecent, but then the strip along her ice cream shop was dark, so what the hell did it matter anyway? A moan slid out of her and he kissed her until her hands came up and fisted the front of his shirt.

Or instead of stopping, maybe that surprise could wait until later. She tasted of chocolate that put a craving in him for more. The flavor was no doubt from sprinkles and mini chocolate chips she'd be swiping at throughout the evening. He'd watched her work yesterday afternoon to know she did it. Now that he had a taste, it was the fudge sauce he wanted to get his hands on.

He held her by the hips and brought her in close to his. Blood roared through him and left his head spinning, but the sound of a vehicle coming closer managed to get through. Her fingers curled in against his side and he had to force himself to back off before tossing her shirt overhead right there in the doorway.

Breath rushed out of her as she stared up at him with drowsy, heavy-lidded eyes and lips wet from his. "Well. Good evening to you, too."

If she kept looking at him like that, it was going to be a very good evening indeed. The engine he'd heard grew louder and headlights flashed along the tree line at the curve. He eased back a step as the car rounded the turn. She was still somewhat new to town and everyone he'd heard comment considered her a quiet, sweet girl. He didn't want to be the reason for anyone changing that opinion by getting caught with her all but pinned to the front of her store.

She cleared her throat and leaned around his shoulder. "Did you back up to the door so you could get out of here faster tonight?"

"Only if you're coming with me."

She lifted a shoulder. "That might be doable."

"I brought you something. Prop the door open for me?"

She eyed him a moment longer and then backed up and held it open. The surprise would be over the moment he dropped the tailgate, so he kept his gaze on hers and lowered the back end. The stump end of a tree jutted forward and plastic bins were shoved in every way possible—including more piled in the passenger seat of his truck. "An early gift from me to you. Merry Christmas, Tasha."

A gasp of a shriek escaped her lips and she reached up and covered her mouth. Tears filled her eyes and she shook her head. "Thank you."

He unloaded the boxes out of the way on the walk in front of the store and grabbed the tree. It wasn't the biggest or the tallest, but he'd searched all afternoon for something small to fit in a corner of her shop without taking up a lot of room.

He hefted it inside and held it up in the center of the room. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful." She touched the ends of the thick branches.

"Be deciding where you want it. I'll get the boxes inside and dig out the stand. I think we have enough lights that your store could glow for miles."

She turned the tips of the fir through her fingers as he lowered it on its side. "Where did you get all this?"

"The Chesters. I asked if I could borrow a few things before they headed south."

"Thank you. You can't know what this means to me."

With the way she knelt down and swept her hands over the branches, he got a good idea. Where he was from, Christmas started when the tree went up. Presents were added underneath it during the weeks leading up to the big day and if someone was home, the tree lights were on and the house lights were often dimmed. It took less than a couple hours for the earthy pine scent to fill every room of the house.

She pushed off her knees to stand and he stepped out and grabbed the boxes. Mrs. Jana had pointed him to the attic with instructions to take what he wanted except for the special ornaments. He'd helped decorate and take down their tree a time or two and knew exactly the ones she meant. The old key with the engraving that marked the year when Mrs. Jana and Sam moved into the house. Different ones for births of Tate, Wade, and Whitney. Then again for graduation. There were even a couple in that box with his name on it.

With all the boxes inside, he flipped the open sign to closed, shut off the outside lights, and locked the front door. "Decided where you want it yet?"

"In this corner." She stepped around a few tables, grabbed one and tugged it a few feet, then got her hands on another before he could get across the room. She pointed at the corner. "In that spot, I'll be able to stand in the doorway of my bedroom and still see it at night without anyone knowing I'm here."

He pulled tables around and had the spot cleared and the tree standing in no time. Pine scent covered the usual sweet and vanilla smells of the store and he stood back and studied his handiwork. It could have been another foot taller, but it fit the space. Now for the fun part. He rubbed his hands. "You ready to decorate? I found color and white lights. Didn’t know which one you’d want."

"Color. I want it to look like candy and sweets."

"I was always a fan of color lights myself." He popped open three boxes and found the strands neatly circled in loops and fastened individually with a zip tie. "Here we are."

She pushed aside the box she'd been digging in. "Oh good. And here are some round ornaments for when we get done." She tucked hair behind her ear. "I mean, if you're planning to stay."

He hooked eight strands of lights on his fingers. "I didn't have plans to be anywhere else."

She smiled. "Good. Let's plug them in first to see if they're all working."

He turned in the room and spotted a socket by a table. He went through the lines in his hands and by luck, they all worked. Knowing Mrs. Jana though, if one hadn't worked, she'd either fixed it or gotten rid of the line altogether before packing it away. "These are all good."

"Great. I fixed you something to drink." She placed a tall cup on the table at his elbow and lifted a shoulder. "Dr. Pepper, right?"

He lifted the cup and nodded. "That's right."

Red colored over her cheeks and she rubbed her hands together. "Okay. I like to start at the bottom and go heavy."

"I don't have a preference. Tell me what you want from me."

She stared at him a long moment and he thought back over his words, wondering where she was taking his statement. He knew of a few ideas he'd like to let her do, starting with that chocolate fudge sauce.

She blinked and turned with a start. "Over here. Hold the line for me and I'll weave them on the branches."

He followed her around and around the tree. After the first three four times circling as she wrapped and tucked around limbs, he lost count. Mainly because every time she bent over and added more lights, her pretty little ass turned up toward him.

Those big store front windows were the only thing keeping him from grabbing her by the hips and pulling her jeans off from behind. Thoughts of her bent over a table started filling his head and he cleared his throat and adjusted his pants.

She glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes were wide and bright. A sparkle seemed in them. Probably from the Christmas lights, but it just brightened her face. "You okay?"

"Yep."

She returned to the lights and just being here and fixing this tree was pretty damn nice too. This thing happening between them went from causal to something he couldn’t explain, and frankly, he didn’t want to. He didn't know where this could go or what it might lead to, but he liked it a lot.

It'd been two weeks of seeing her nearly every day. On the days he didn't, it had been because he'd been tinkering in the Chester’s shop. Then he’d spent a couple days on the hunt for this perfect tree. Now the Chesters were gone to south Texas and it was just him and her. There was no reason he couldn't see her every day. Maybe sometime over the next few weeks, he could put a name to what they were doing and what they wanted.

She worked to midway up the tree, stood back and stared with a long breath. "I forgot how tiring this can be."

He smiled and followed her around to another segment. "If you want a break, I can take over."

She shook her head. "I'm nearly to where I won't be able to reach and I'll have to inconvenience you to step in and help me out."

"I'm positive we can work something out." And it would take little to no effort to have him moving around the tree and stuffing on a few lights.

He fed her more lights and studied the curve of her back shaping out to the turn of her hips. To take a guess, he'd say his hands would fit really well in that spot. He could throw some lights on this tree and spend the rest of the evening sitting in front of it while rubbing her back.

Visions of her stripping in front of the tree and laying at the base with nothing on but those lights twinkling against her skin filled his head. And those big ass front windows where anyone walking by could see in assured him that would never happen. His jaw tightened. He should have thought this plan through better.