Total pages in book: 168
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 812(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Seeing Marcus and Lily excited about starting their life together gave me a much-needed kick in the ass. For so long, wrestling with my grief over Bri and the loss of Lily as a baby, struggling to stay sober, and then fighting my feelings for Penny, has felt like a life-or-death swim against a heavy ocean current with no end in sight. It’s been painful and exhausting, always leaving me on the verge of sinking and drowning in a dark abyss.
But when I think about it now, from the time she was my little gnome-like neighbor, Penny’s always been there at the right time, pulling me from the water to float on a raft with her, making sure I saw the sunny shore in the distance.
She finds me on the old swing hanging from the tree limb near the lake. Wordlessly, she grabs the chains above my head and straddles me. Her thin dress rides up her thighs and I instantly feel the heat of her, pantyless, pressing against me.
I suck in a heated breath and grab her narrow waist.
A subtle shift has happened between when she left the car and when she climbed on top of me. I’ve seen glimpses of it in her often of the past few years. A new, sensual smokiness in her voice. A teasing glint in her eye. A sexy naughtiness that makes my blood run hot and my cock throb. Unexpected moments of maturity beyond her years. But the thing that strikes me the most is her intimate familiarity toward me—a deep comfort that comes only with years of closeness with someone.
It’s as if an invisible finger hit the fast-forward button on us, we skipped over the newness, and all the uncertainties that come with getting to know someone. But as inexplicable as that might be, I can actually feel fragments of real memories—memories of a growing closeness between us that were carved in my heart and soul. Like tiny, faded snapshots, just like the dusty photos hanging in the shed.
“Did you miss me?” she whispers with her face inches above mine. Her hair caresses my cheeks.
“Incredibly.”
I run a hand slowly up the ridges of her spine to cup the back of her neck, pulling her down to my lips. Our tongues and breath meet, infused with traces of spicy sweet cinnamon. Her hands slide link by link down the chains, and then they’re threading through my hair. Her nails give me goose bumps as they graze over my scalp.
She kisses me with trembling lips. Or maybe mine are trembling. All I know is it feels like I’ve been waiting a hundred lifetimes to kiss her, and the fear that the universe will sense my happiness and snatch her from my arms is almost paralyzing. But still, I can’t resist slipping the straps of her dress down over her shoulders. The warm breeze kisses her skin, and so do I, moving my lips to the slope of her neck. When my teeth nip at the soft spot below her ear, she lets out a small gasp, tilting her head back. I suck her flesh hard enough to leave a mark, then trail kisses to her collarbone, pulling her dress down until her strapless lace bra chafes against my cheek. I push the fabric to uncover her breast and drag my tongue over her creamy flesh, gulping the familiar lilac scent of her. Her nipple peaks as I circle it and tug it between my lips. She bows her head over mine, letting out a little moan of ecstasy that nearly undoes me. My hand skates from her hip to her bare outer thigh, nudging her dress up higher, then traveling farther to grab a handful of her perfect ass. She cups my face in her hands, pulling me from her breasts to kiss my mouth with a hunger that sends another surge of blood to my cock. She presses herself down against me, and I can feel her delicious throbbing through my jeans.
I’m fucking dizzy with insane want for her as I move my hand between us, met with warm, slick folds.
“Alex…” she murmurs, leaning her forehead against mine and staring down into my eyes.
I press my palm against her, applying pressure to her clit as I slide a finger into her. She grinds against my hand, her breath coming out in short gasps against my face. Her eyes never leave mine while I insert a second finger and slowly finger fuck her. A bolt of lightning flashes across the sky, followed by a rumble of thunder. Fat raindrops start to fall, but she continues to ride my hand, her hands now gripping my shoulders. I’m struck with how stunning she is. Hair wild around her face, cascading down her shoulders. Bare breasts, bouncing with every thrust, gleaming milky white in the intermittent flash of lightning. Nipples hard and tight, begging to be licked and teased. Eyes misted with love, half-shut with desire.