Easton's Claim (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy Book 3) (16 page)

As though she sensed how on edge he was, she leaned up on one elbow and drew him down to kiss her. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her legs twined around his hips, holding him close.

Easton moaned into her mouth and went willingly into her embrace, lowering his weight onto her. His cock rubbed against her slick folds, making his muscles twitch.

The burn in his gut spread to his groin, then throughout his entire body. He’d meant for this to last a long time, had planned to let her rest and give her another climax before seeking his own release, but the way she held him, the feel and scent of her, was too much.

Breaking the kiss, he levered his weight onto one hand and reached down to position his cock. Those hazel-green eyes glowed up at him in the moonlight, dragging him in deeper into the whirlpool of desire.

He braced his hands on either side of her head and rocked forward, slowly pushing back into her slick heat. She made a purring sound and arched her lower back, drawing him deeper. The feel of her closing around him, that sweet, aching friction all along his swollen cock, sucked all the air out of his lungs. He fought for breath as searing hot pleasure tore through him.

Heat and pressure gathered at the base of his spine as he buried himself inside her. But the way she gazed up at him with total love in her eyes was his undoing. Piper was everything he’d ever wanted and she was finally his. He squeezed his eyes shut, pulled his hips back and surged forward.

A deep, feral sound came out of him, somewhere between a growl and a cry as he buried his face in her neck. He was all animal, gave his hunger free reign as he plunged in and out of her body, desperate for relief from the agonizing pleasure that was at once too much and not enough.

Her inner muscles squeezed him, stroking the entire length of his cock, and knowing he was buried balls deep and about to come inside Piper after all these years finished him off.

He shoved his arms beneath her back and crushed her to him, holding on like a drowning man as the brutal pleasure peaked and exploded, sending him hurtling into oblivion. His shout of release echoed in his ears along with his thundering heartbeat.

When at last it faded he sucked in a shuddering breath and relaxed his death hold on her, but couldn’t move. He lay there in her embrace, destroyed.

Piper drew him closer and stroked his back, her lips skimming over his jaw, his cheek. “I don’t ever want to let you go,” she whispered.

Her words undid him. She hadn’t said
I love you
, but it was close enough for the time being.
Then don’t
, he answered silently, his brain still functioning enough to hold the words back.

“Mmmm,” she murmured drowsily, and ran her hands over his damp back. She traced the muscles along his spine, followed them down to his ass and squeezed once before reversing direction and coming up to rub between his shoulder blades.

Completely wrecked, he groaned and nestled closer, soaking up the contact and intimacy of the moment.

Shit, the condom.

With effort he dragged his arms out from beneath her and pushed up onto his elbows. His arms trembled slightly as he dropped a kiss on her sexy mouth and got to his knees to ease free of her body.

His legs were weak when he stood up and went to the bathroom to deal with the condom. When he came back a minute later Piper was curled on her side waiting for him, the sheets pulled up to cover her nakedness as she watched him, an expression of pure contentment on her face.

The sight of her like that just slayed him. He wanted her in his bed every night with that exact same look on her face.

By the time he headed back to Alexandria at the end of the week, he vowed to have dispelled every last one of her insecurities about her naked body and prove to her beyond a doubt that he loved her.

He slid in next to her and immediately pulled her into his arms. She snuggled up to him with her head on his shoulder, one leg tucked between his and one arm slung around his waist.

Skimming a hand over the silken curve of her spine, her heart beating steady against his, Easton took in a contented breath and released it on a satisfied sigh.

“In case you couldn’t tell, I really enjoyed that,” Piper murmured against his skin.

He smiled into her hair. “Me too.”

“No, like
really
.”

A low chuckle escaped him. “Yeah, me too.”

“I’m looking forward to doing that again later. Right after I sleep for a while.”

“I love sleeping next to you.”

She shifted in his arms and tipped her head back to look into his face. “I love it too.”

“Then don’t go.” The words were out before he could stop them, his heart laid bare to her.

She stared at him for a long moment, and he saw the pain in her eyes before she stiffened and looked away. “Easton…”

He couldn’t let it go. She meant too much to him and he couldn’t live without her. “Don’t go back to Minnesota. Stay with me.”

She shook her head. “I have to. I already took the job. My dream job.”

“So call them and tell them you changed your mind and we’ll find you your dream job somewhere near Alexandria.”

She blinked and looked back at him. “Alexandria?”

“Yeah. I know it’s still Virginia, but it’s far away enough from Sugar Hollow to give you a fresh start.”

He could see the indecision warring in her eyes before she responded. “And what about your job? You’re gone all the time, sometimes for months.”

“Maybe that’s the key to a perfect relationship—me being out of your hair for months at a time.”

Her lips quirked, then her expression turned serious. “I’ve always worried about you when you’re at work, and that was before we got…together.”

He wasn’t going to lie and tell her his job wasn’t dangerous. Even his training was, and there was no guarantee he’d be safe. “I could get killed driving through Sugar Hollow, too.”

She gasped and put her fingers over his mouth. “Don’t say things like that,” she said with a fierce scowl.

He kissed her fingers and eased her hand away. “Well, I could. Does my job bother you so much that you’d be willing to walk away from us?”

“No,” she murmured.

His lungs started working again and he relaxed. “I don’t know how many years I have left on the team, but I don’t plan to do this job forever. I’m good at it and I love the guys on my team.”

“I know, and I wouldn’t ask you to quit because of me.”

“I realize it’s not easy, being with someone like me, but I know you’re strong enough to handle it. I think I’ll just know when it’s time for me to step aside and do something else.”

She was quiet for a long moment, stroking his chest with her fingertips, and he knew she was thinking about the job in Minnesota. It was a deal breaker for her. Dammit. “Can we not talk about this anymore for tonight?” she murmured. “Please?”

Patience.
She wasn’t telling him no. He had to give her just a little more time and maybe, maybe he could convince her not to go. “You wanna sleep on it?”

“Yes.”

“Well too bad, because I don’t plan to let you sleep much.” He rolled her onto her back, plunged his hands into the cool silk of her hair and leaned down to kiss that smiling mouth.

“Got enough food here to feed a freaking army,” Easton said with a grunt as he loaded the last of the groceries into the backseat of his truck.

“Ha, not quite. But I’m well acquainted with how you guys eat, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty.” She was glad to be alone with him for a little while, even if it was just to run for groceries.

He’d been out all day with his buddy Jamie, at her insistence, giving her time to mull everything over and just relax, and shown up at the cabin an hour ago covered in mud from head to toe after a day of dirt biking, grinning like a kid. Still a hell raiser and adrenaline junkie underneath all that tenderness he’d shown her.

Easton felt she was safe enough to go with him to get groceries, but since there was a risk that people might still be watching for her, they’d driven to the next town over to buy everything. She’d insisted on paying for it all herself. Money was tight right now, true, but as soon as her place sold she’d be debt free, and she couldn’t have done it without Easton and his family’s support.

The police had called earlier that afternoon to tell her they had no further information on Greg. No one even knew if he was still alive. The only update was that there had been apparent sightings of Gallant down near the Tennessee border, and the possibility that he was so far away from Sugar Hollow eased some of her anxiety.

She’d also fielded another tearful call from her ex-mother-in-law, even though she desperately wanted more distance from them, Greg, and this entire situation. Her heart went out to them, which was why she’d answered. She’d tried to give the woman what comfort she could, but it wasn’t much.

“You didn’t have to do all this.” Easton opened her door for her.

“I know, but I wanted to. It’s the least I could do to thank all of you for everything you’ve done to help me. Besides, you know I like to cook for a crowd every now and then. I’ve been feeling antsy not being in my kitchen for the past week.”

“I dunno how you think we’re gonna eat all this.”

She shrugged. “So there’ll be some leftovers. Better too much than not enough. And let’s not forget I’m making all your favorites.”

At that he grinned at her from across the cab. “If you’re going with the whole ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’ thing, it’s overkill. You’ve already got all of me.”

“We’ll call this insurance then,” she said, carefully sidestepping the issue and giving him a playful smile. She hadn’t said the words back to him yet but he must know how she felt and he was being so patient with her.

Even though she loved him, it wasn’t fair to say it unless she was going to stay in Virginia. All day she’d thought about his offer, about moving with him to Alexandria. Part of her loved the idea and part of her balked at giving up her dream job and taking such a huge step so soon.

She also couldn’t stop thinking about last night, and about the possibility of a future with Easton. Could it really work out for them long term if she stayed? Waking up beside him when he was home was a tantalizing prospect.

He’d captured every bit of her heart last night, but she wasn’t sure it was enough to sustain them if she moved so far away.

Nervousness and excitement bubbled inside her as she thought about what would happen tonight, after dinner when they were alone in the cabin. But with a big meal to prep and cook and most of his family around while she did it, she wouldn’t be comfortable touching or kissing him the way she was dying to. It was all so new, she wanted to give everyone time to adjust to the idea of her and Easton being together before she groped and mauled him in public.

Not touching or tasting him all day was slowly driving her crazy though. Piper snuck glances at him as he drove, while a country station played on the radio. Just looking at him made her hot. The arousal kept building until she had to shift in her seat to relieve the ache between her thighs.

It didn’t help. She kept remembering what he’d done to her last night, the way he’d laid her completely bare and given her such incredible pleasure. She wanted more of it, that special connection between them, and to bask in the security of his love. She also wanted the chance to explore him without the searing ache of her own need in the way.

Studying his strong profile as he drove along a country road, she couldn’t stop from reaching out to trail her fingers down the side of his cheek. He smiled and without taking his eyes off the road, caught her hand to kiss each fingertip, pausing to suck each one.

He’s mine.

The incredible thought almost made her light-headed. She wanted to peel his clothes off right now and use her mouth to make him insane. The dinner prep could wait a while longer.

Undoing her seatbelt, she leaned over the console and kissed the edge of that tempting mouth.

“Hey, no distracting me while I drive,” he said on a laugh.

“Okay, so pull over.”

He glanced at her in surprise. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Pull over. Right now.” She kissed her way down his jaw to his neck, scraped her teeth there gently while letting her hands roam over his shoulders and chest, down his tensing abdomen and to the bulge behind the zipper of his jeans.

A low groan rumbled from him when she curled her hand around his trapped erection and squeezed before rubbing it with her palm. “You’re gonna cause an accident.”

She trailed her tongue up the side of his neck, enjoying herself immensely, getting drunk on the feel of him and the anticipation of tasting him. It had become one of her favorite fantasies over the past few days, to go down on him and make him lose his mind. Sexy Easton Colebrook, at her mercy and loving every second of it.

“So you’d better hurry up and get us off the road.” She unhooked his belt and slid the leather through the buckle.

With a low chuckle he took the next turn and found an access road that led to a farmer’s field just as she undid the button at the top of his fly. Tall grass bordered either side, sheltering them from view from the road beyond.

He pulled up far enough to give them privacy, then parked and shut off the ignition. Before he could undo his own seatbelt she had his zipper down and her hand inside his underwear, wrapping her fingers around him.

He growled in approval and reached for her, plunging a hand into her hair and fisting tight to bring her mouth up to his. The kiss was hot and carnal, so different from the gentle tenderness of last night.

A tiny shiver rippled through her at the evidence of his hunger for her. He was rock hard in her grip, hot and swollen as she stroked him with her fist, earning a moan from him. She sucked at his tongue, hungry to do the same to his cock and show him everything she felt for him.

Pulling her mouth free, she let her lips glide down the side of his neck and scooted up on her knees to lean over him. His cock pulsed in her hand, making her core clench.