The House on Hancock Hill (30 page)

“God, you smell so good.” Henry moved his entire body against me. It sent a thrill of shuddering longing through me, which was ridiculous, because he was right there: mine. Still, I tingled with it, sharp bursts of need rolling under my skin. “Like caramel or sugar,” Henry whispered in my ear. “I don’t know what it is, but I couldn’t go near a pastry for weeks without feeling wrecked, you bastard.” He caught my earlobe between his teeth, and I moaned, couldn’t hold it back. “Christ, c’mere.”

There was no other option than to obey that low, commanding voice, and I straddled his hips. The bed was a fairly small one, so I could easily reach inside the bedside table. In case I didn’t have the presence of mind for it later, I slipped the condom on, Henry’s never-wavering gaze making me flush all the way down to my chest.

“So you
do
blush,” he murmured, thumbing my nipples.

“Only on special occasions.” His pupils dilated as I warmed a glob of lube between my fingers, coating the condom next.

“How will you have me?” Henry asked as I lifted off him. I kissed his chest, his belly, pushed my tongue into his navel and let him squirm a bit, then put my hands on his hips.

“It’ll be easier if you roll over.” Henry let me guide him onto his stomach, and I pushed his legs apart with my knees. “Tuck your knees in a bit.” Gently I stroked his lower back, the firm flesh of his ass. “How’s that?”

“Hmm,” he hummed, hiding his face in his crossed arms. “I’ve felt less exposed.”

“You’re beautiful,” I said. Under my hands, he huffed a laugh. “I mean it. You want to know the first thing I thought when I saw you that night in the hospital?”

“Go on,” he said. His breath left his chest with a whoosh when I circled the tight muscle with a glistening finger.

“That I’d never wanted to kiss anyone more than I wanted to kiss you in that moment.” I pushed against the muscle a little, and he tensed automatically, so I eased off, circling the sensitive skin with my thumb. “I was wrong, you know.” He cut me a glance over his shoulder, and I added, “I’ve got it a lot worse now.”

He laughed, which was what I’d been waiting for, and I pushed past the resistance. The laugh turned into a shocked gasp and then a soft, drawn-out moan. Summoning all the patience I had, I waited until his spine relaxed under my free hand before pushing deeper.

“God,” he croaked.

“I know, Mac. It’s intense.” Holding my finger still, I bent down and kissed his back, sliding my hand simultaneously down his flank to reach for his cock. It thickened in my palm, and Henry relaxed further, so I dipped deeper, slid out again, and in.

“You have to let go of me, love,” Henry said, glancing at me over his shoulder. He was smiling, but his eyes were wide and dark. “Or this is going to be over far too soon.”

Grinning, I moved my hand from his cock back to his thigh. “Can you take more?”

Pressing his face into the pillow, he groaned, “Fuck,” and then, “Yes.” Without pulling out, I poured more lube into my palm and worked it onto my other fingers, teasing his rim with the tip of one. I stroked his thigh, rubbed his balls, and when he moaned, I pushed a second finger in with the first. This time I set an easy rhythm and watched him.

Henry was so gorgeous, so beautifully responsive, it made me shudder with lust. When he began to feel less taut around me, I pushed into him with more purpose, watchful of his every reaction. I needn’t have worried; when I hit the spot, Henry jolted like a surge of electricity had gone through him. “Jay,” he cried out, hands curling into fists around the sheets.

“Right here, gorgeous.”

“Can you…
please
.”

“In a minute. You’re still a bit tight.” For a moment, I thought he would argue but he once again relaxed. Less gently than before, I opened him enough to slide in a third finger, and every time I stroked his prostate, I was gifted with a beautiful moan. “Soon now,” I soothed.

“I won’t last once you’re inside me,” he said hoarsely.

“That’s all right. This is all part of it.”

“I’m ready, Jay.
Fuck
, do it.”

“Okay, sh.” Shaky, I pulled out of him, coated the condom with an extra squirt of lube, and warmed it quickly with a few harsh strokes to take the edge off. Before Henry had a chance to tense up, I spread him with one hand, using the other to guide myself in very slowly. Underneath me, he sighed, concentrating on being relaxed.

“You okay?” I ground out between gritted teeth. He felt so amazing, so soft and warm and tight. I wanted nothing more than to dive inside, to seat myself within him and fuck him hard. He nodded, and I worried I was hurting him after all. But then he lifted up on his hands and knees, pushing against me so suddenly, I slid inside all the way, leaving both of us fighting for breath.

“Oh, God,” he moaned, dropping to his elbows again. He moved his hips a little, and I had to grab onto him to ground myself. Stars sparked behind my eyelids, and pleasure rolled like a wave through me.

“Henry, I—”

“I’m fine, please move,” he said, and I covered his back with my body, pressing kisses to the base of his neck as I began to undulate my hips. With every surge, I moved deeper, and every time I did, Henry let out a little moan like the air was being pushed out of him.

“Talk to me, Henry, please,” I begged, needing to know I wasn’t hurting him.

“So good,” he whispered. “You feel so good. Fuck, it’s so
much
.”

“Why, thank you,” I managed, the joke falling a bit flat with how breathless it sounded. He laughed anyway. He shifted his weight and reached for me, stroking my thigh. I set my teeth to his shoulder blade, afraid the next noise I’d make would be a sob.

“It’s good,” he murmured, “but I really need to come, Jay.” I realized I’d slowed my movements and picked up speed again.

“Can you take my weight?” I asked him.

Bracing himself, Henry said, “Yeah, I can take it.” That sentence alone nearly made me lose it, but first I wanted to look after him. Bringing one hand around and up his chest to steady myself, I took his cock in a tight grip with the other.

Listening for telling labored breaths, I aimed for his prostate, and when I knew I’d found it, I set an even pace, gentle at first, but enough to leave us both unfazed by the noises tumbling out of our mouths. Soon we were both slick with sweat, and when he reached to grip the headboard for leverage, I knew I wouldn’t last much longer. I increased the pace. He made a beautiful sound, grabbed the headboard with both hands, head hanging low, eyes either closed or looking down at where I was fisting his cock. I didn’t know. It didn’t matter. It built within him, a slow tightening of every muscle that was pressed against me, until he was shaking all over and then suddenly rigidly still, not even breathing. I kept fucking him, recognizing that mind-blowing moment of riding the brink of ecstasy until nothing else mattered.

All the air left his lungs in a hoarse cry, and he spilled his spunk over my knuckles. When he clenched so tightly around me, it was impossible to hold on, and I jerked hard, a rush of pure bliss rising all the way from my toes to my gut, and I came with long, drawn-out pulses that seemed to go on and on until I collapsed on top of him.

We lay like that for a long time, unable to catch our breath. Henry turned his head and kissed me as I kissed him back, because we had energy for no more. After a while, I summoned the will to discard the condom.

“Shower,” I mumbled, and Henry blinked at me sleepily.

“Later,” he murmured, gathering me into his arms. “We have all the time in the world.”

Epilogue

I
N
THE
bitter cold of January, the Christmas rush at work behind me and in a blur of blistered feet and sore shoulders, I stood in Henry’s driveway, dancing from foot to foot so I wouldn’t freeze on the spot, wondering if yet again I’d made the wrong decision.

“Come inside until I’ve got my shoes on,” Henry called from the garage.

“Just hurry up!” I yelled back. “I’m about to lose important body parts.”

“And we’re not talking about fingers and toes, I bet,” he said, appearing under the half-open garage door. His driveway was nicely cleared and salted, while I’d had to climb over a wall of snow to get to my truck. It now stood idling to keep the interior warm. “So, what’s going on?” he asked, cupping my cold-stiffened cheeks in his hot hands and kissing me.

“Don’t be mad,” I pleaded and opened the rear door. A huge white head lifted, nostrils flaring to scent the air. The entire backseat of the truck was one giant pile of dog limbs tucked under a blanket.

“Jay,” he said. “That’s a Great Dane.”

He sounded pained, and I didn’t know what that meant, so I quickly interrupted. “I know you still miss Pat. You haven’t even moved his bed. But a woman from work is getting divorced, and she can’t keep dogs in her new place. She’s desperate. No one wants a huge dog like this, especially—”

Henry had leaned forward and reached out a hand. The dog tentatively sniffed his fingers. “A blind one,” he finished for me.

“Uh. Yes. That’s the other thing.” I leaned over Cody and lifted the blanket.

“Jesus Christ,” Henry muttered as I said, “There’s two of them.” Another head, this one white with black marks, popped up and panted at us happily.

“Jupiter leads Cody around. They’re very quiet, Henry. I know they’re huge, and they’ll eat a fortune in food, but if you won’t have them, I will. She was about to take them to the pound, and I couldn’t—”

The grip on my arms was tight enough to bruise if I hadn’t been wearing half a dozen layers of clothes, and for a moment I thought Henry really was mad. The drifting snowflakes picked up speed, began to swirl and thicken, and the world went quiet.

“Of course I’ll have them.” The hug Henry enveloped me in as good as crushed me, but I didn’t care. “Of course I will. Now come inside before we all freeze.”

I gently untangled myself from his arms and reached inside the car. “Hey, Cody,” I said, giving the dog warning before I touched him like I’d been told to. “Come on, boy.” I reached for his leash and guided him out of the car. Once he was out, Jupiter followed, took the leash in his mouth and looked at me.

“My God,” Henry murmured when I took his collar and led him inside. “This is amazing.”

“Isn’t it? I couldn’t stand the idea of them being split up or worse.” Before I went inside, I took off my coat and boots and followed Henry into the kitchen with my two charges. “Once they both know the layout of the place, Jupiter won’t have to lead Cody around so much.” I showed Jupiter the dog bed that hadn’t been moved since the last time I’d seen Pat napping in it. He tugged Cody over and somehow they made themselves fit. In the kitchen, Henry had put out Pat’s old bowls already, and he came to join me by their side.

“I won’t burn the open fire in here.” Henry reached for Jupiter, who nuzzled his hand. Cody lifted his ears with interest. “Not until I’ve put a protective gate in place, at least.” For a while, he scratched Jupiter’s chin, whose eyes quickly drooped. I backed away and took a seat on the couch.

There was a nice hardwood floor in place now, something Henry told me he’d kept himself occupied with during the early summer months.

“Hey, Cody,” he said very quietly. The dog lifted his head at Henry, milky-white unseeing eyes wide. “I’m gonna pet you now, buddy.” Cody held still and then moved his head from side to side, like he was looking for Henry’s touch. It made me choke up, and I wasn’t surprised to see Henry’s eyes were wet when he looked back at me. With large, gentle hands, he stroked Cody’s head, his ears, his flanks, murmuring sweet nothings all the while, until both dogs were nearly asleep.

“Good?” I whispered when he sat down next to me, arm stretched out behind me on the back of the couch.

“Perfect,” he said, pressing his face into my hair. “God, Jay.”

“Well, they’re yours now.” He pulled me close, and I listened to him breathe. I thought we were just going to hug, but he kept pushing until I was on my back and he was settled between my legs. With quiet determination, he kissed me, his strong arms folded around me, bracketing me like he meant to keep me safe from the world. I was just about to wrap my legs around his waist when he eased off.

“I know it’s been pretty much an unspoken agreement to take this thing between us slow.” He rubbed the soft skin behind my ear with his thumb. “But I would like it very much if you gave up your rental house and came to live with me. The dogs will be ours, then.”

It had gone unsaid that we both needed to move into this relationship slowly. Henry had still been raw with hurt, and I was known to get cold feet. When I didn’t say anything, Henry straightened up a little farther. “I’m so tired of missing you,” he said. “And I do miss you all the time. We’re both so busy, it just seems such a waste. Will you think about it? You could live here until your house on Hancock Hill is done.”

I took a deep breath. My heartbeat was steady and my palms were dry, and less than a foot away sat a man who had touched something so deep inside me, I had been left hollow and incomplete without him. “Our house,” I said, and watched comprehension dawn in his tawny eyes like a beautiful golden sunrise. “Our house on Hancock Hill.”