CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

PEPPER

My hand flew to my chest like a damsel in an old movie. 

Reagan absolutely stole my breath away along with my heart. 

My emotions ran from the lowest place I’d ever been to the highest high. After the talk with my mom that made my head spin out of control, he came here and centered me. He was the calm in my storm. 

He made me realize there was more to carrying out what my dad or mom wanted. I was my own person who could make my own decisions.

After I realized that, I would never ever push him away again.

Mom was right about one thing. I had to hold onto what made me happy, and that was Reagan. 

I asked her for space to think after our talk and she obliged after leaving her number. Something inside me knew she wasn't done. She didn't yet obtain what she wanted from me and didn't want to look too desperate. 

I slept on it and woke up the next day trying to get up the nerve to call Reagan when he beat me to the punch. 

My feet felt light and I danced around the house as I tidied up, waiting for him to get back. 

I had a hunch he'd do something for me, some kind of grand gesture that didn't involve diamonds and designer clothes. In typical Reagan fashion, he always surprised me and figured what I needed before even knowing I needed it. 

I could tell how nervous he was, too. If this whole mess occurred a week earlier, before the party or the lake ever happened, I probably wouldn't have trusted him to hire someone for me. 

But I couldn't be more grateful that he did. A farm manager sounded so obvious when I thought about it in hindsight. I just didn't have the business mind that he did. He saw the big picture while I got overwhelmed by what needed to be done day in and day out.

We complemented each other in that way. And so many other ways.

I was sweeping up a bunch of Bonny's shedded dog fur when big arms wrapping around my waist made me shriek. 

His familiar laugh, smell, and kisses to my neck instantly calmed me down after the initial shock. 

"That was quick," I said, returning fast, playful kisses to his mouth and neck. "Didn't hear you come in." 

"Wanted to sneak in before you could pull another terrifying prank on me." He smirked as his stubble trailed along my collarbone and made me shiver. 

"So when does he start?" I asked, my voice already low and lusty. 

"Right fuckin' now, gorgeous," Reagan murmured against my throat, pulling my hips against his.

"No," I giggled with a nip to his earlobe. "I meant Julian." 

"Oh, Tuesday." His hands molded to the curve in my lower back. "He'll be working Tuesday through Saturday so he can be at the farmer's markets too." His mouth trailed along my jawline before pulling away with a grin. "If that's alright with you, boss."

"Sounds perfect."

I grabbed him by the back of the neck firmly and pulled him for our deepest, most satisfying kiss yet. Already I was sick of the teasing, the talking, the flirting. I had my man back and I wanted to drink my fill of him. To make up for the time that we missed. And to feel him so deep inside me like we would never disconnect again.

"I left his contract at the office," Reagan said, abruptly pulling away and I gave him my best death glare. Apparently, he wasn't done talking. 

"I'll send you a copy tomorrow if you want to look at it. Just so you can see what we're paying him, his benefits and all that." 

"Sounds great," I answered curtly, pulling him back into kissing range by his tie, but he still wasn't done. 

"And one last thing." Reagan brought his hand up to cup my cheek and let my heart skip a beat from staring into his green eyes. 

"Julian does have some skills as a handyman. He can fix the electrical issues and floorboards in the house. But only if you want him to." 

For a moment, my love and appreciation for him overshadowed my raw, aching need to get fucked by him. 

"You really thought of everything I would need, didn't you," I mused softly, coursing my fingers over his scalp. 

"I would never aim for anything less," he answered. "I just don't want you to think I'm overstepping."

"No," I told him earnestly. "I trust you." 

He blinked rapidly and I swore I could almost see tears welling in his eyes. 

"You do? Really?" 

"Yes, I do." The genuine surprise and gratitude on his face made my heart want to burst. "Do you trust me?"

"Absolutely."

His hands fell to rest gently on my arms and his eyes cast down bashfully for the first time. 

"I think you're the first person I trust completely." His fingers squeezed gently. "The first person who didn't want anything from me.” His lips trailed the shell of my ear. “And who I want to give everything to."

My mouth captured his with every ounce of need, love, and trust I felt for him. My whole body felt so light and weightless that my legs flew around his waist and his strong arms secured them there.

Vaguely, between his hands and his mouth making my skin feel alive, I felt my back press against something solid. Probably a wall. I didn't know or care. All I knew was Reagan had too much fucking clothing on. 

He pinned me against the hard surface as we went at each other ravenously. My hands were a blur as I untucked his shirt and pulled it apart from his neck to his abs. Some buttons may have gone flying but I didn't care about anything but feeling his skin against mine. 

His palms aligned flush with the curve of my waist as he devoured me, even pulling down my bra straps with his teeth and sending my pulse into overdrive. 

It went even higher as more clothing fell away and I came into more contact with skin. His warm, taut, beautiful skin caressed against mine, all except for his snug boxer briefs pressing like a solid rock against my hot, sensitive vulva.

At some point, I felt my toes touch the ground and he made away with my pants, peeling them off my legs while kneeling at my feet. My cotton panties were all that remained, soaking wet and already smelling like sex. 

He gazed at the space between my legs as if hypnotized but his hands never stopped moving. They traveled across my hips, ass, and thighs, massaging and kneading my sensitive flesh.

Gently, he nudged my legs apart while caressing and massaging all the way down to my calves and ankles. My whole lower half felt like jello and yet I never felt so sexy and worshipped before.

"Reagan," I pleaded, dragging my fingers along the back of his neck. 

My vulva quivered with anticipation, with the need for his touch. 

"Yes?" 

He glanced up at me with mischief in those green eyes, fully aware of the effect he was having on me. His skilled fingertips focused on just my inner thighs, where he began planting hot, sensual kisses.

I could only gasp and whimper in reply. My whole body quivered as he took his sweet time kissing all around my drenched, musky panties. 

"Reagan, please," I breathed again. 

"But it's so hot when you beg me," he chuckled, humoring me with one soft kiss through the thin fabric.

"I'm gonna explode!"

"That's the idea, beautiful." 

At long last, he pulled aside my panties and pressed his full mouth and tongue against the center of all my need.

"Oh, God!"  

My head threw back against the wall with a hard thump but I barely felt it. I wanted to sink to the floor as my legs finally gave out but Reagan steadied me with his hands. And his face.

I came all over his face at least three times and he held me up, seemingly content to drown as he drank from me greedily. 

When he finally let me go and I felt ready to collapse, the floor never came up to meet me. He picked up with a flourishing sweep of his arms and carried me to bed.

"I guess I need to get a bigger one of these," I said as he laid me down on the narrow, twin mattress.

"Or we can just stay stacked on top of each other," he suggested as he yanked his boxers down, his thick, meaty cock bouncing out like a spring.

“Or inside of each other?”

He grinned as he brought his body flush against mine. 

“Sounds good to me.”

“I like how we think,” I grinned back at him. “Aaah!” 

He slid inside of me with barely any resistance but it still felt so incredibly intense, like such a tight fit he filled me up to the brim.

And I still couldn’t get enough. 

“Fuck, you’re so good. So fucking good,” I moaned in a daze, drunk on how he felt in every pore of my skin.

He moved rhythmically inside me but I barely felt him pull back and forth at all. He stayed connected to me at all times, caressing me and moving with me rather than against me.

“You feel incredible,” he moaned into my neck, sliding his arms underneath me to support my back. “You are so amazing, Pepper.”

He lifted my leg to his shoulder and the new depths he reached inside me made my eyes roll back in my head. I felt him literally everywhere, not just in my pussy. Every brain cell and hair follicle reacted with pleasure at how he made me feel.

My nipples were tiny, hot concentrations of sensitivity under his teeth. If my fingertips had mouths, they’d be kissing every square inch of his broad, muscular back.

There was no room in my brain left to think. All I could do was feel.

“Reagan,” I choked out under his tireless thrusts. “I’m gonna--”

The walls of my consciousness crumbled and fell away as I came, convulsing on his cock like a madwoman over and over until he released too.

At the same time, we rose to our peaks and jumped over the edge. Just like jumping over that cliff into the lake. 

But instead of free falling at breakneck speed, we floated back down to earth slowly as if on clouds. 

He kept me in the tight, protective cocoon of his arms as our racing hearts returned to normal speeds. Our temperatures cooled backed down but we kept each other warm with our embrace and our kisses.

Nothing ever felt so perfect. 

Until our warm, fuzzy cocoon was shattered by a pounding knock at the door.