Jordan

Destiny was a handful. I didn’t always understand why she was so hard on herself, but as she whispered her consent into my ear, I determined I’d figure it out, and soon.

I could have paused to ask her if she was sure, gave her more time like I used to, but we were kids then. She was still lacking the self-confidence I never understood, but she was also a woman who knew her body and what she wanted.

And in my hands, hers pressed at my sides, her breath skating across my throat, I did the only thing a decent red-blooded man would do with Destiny in their grips.

I brushed my lips over her cheek, down to her jaw, and back up before sealing my lips to hers.

She was stiff at first, a futile attempt to fight the attraction buzzing between us. I slid my hands up and down her arms until she loosened, became more pliable. As she surrendered to the feel of my mouth against hers, a riot of emotions in thunderstorm proportions exploded beneath my skin.

She drove me crazy. Her body, her hair, the sweet airy scent she wore. It was new. Different. Better than the cheap shit she wore back in high school because she couldn’t afford much else.

“Destiny,” I whispered against her mouth. “Let yourself go.”

A shiver rolled down her spine, vibrating against my body. “I’m afraid if I do, I won’t ever want to get back up.”

“I’ll help you. I promise.”

Shit would continue to hit us from all sides. We’d dodge the mines when we saw one, but I wouldn’t live my life hesitant to take the next step forward.

I could have hated her. Should have, maybe. But this was Destiny. My Destiny. The girl who’d taken my heart and kept most of it with her until two weeks ago.

I grinned against her mouth and nipped at her bottom lip, slid my hands to her neck and cupped her jaw.

“Kiss me,” I dared her, my voice a taunt, something I knew she hated because she could never say no. “Show me what you like now.”

Her eyes went wide, crinkled at the edges, and against my mouth, she whispered, “You’re on.”

Her lips brushed mine slowly. It was her turn to control the kiss and maybe that’s what she needed. A little bit of control when she always felt like she had none. And fuck yeah, I’d give her control once in a while. Her fingers curled into my shirt, yanked it above my waistband and then her hands were on my skin, chilled palms pressing to my burning flesh, brushing over my abdomen.

I picked her up, carried her to the couch and sat back down so she was straddling me, arms pushing at my shirt, lifting it.

Her tongue slid against mine, tentatively, exploring, and I took all of her whispered, needy and hesitant sounds and greedy ones to store them when I was jacking off later to the memory of this…this moment…this time with Destiny that I would fight and die to protect with my entire life.

“Shit,” she whispered, her voice thready as she settled against the bulge in my jeans. She rocked against me and my hands held her hips, helping her slide against me. I wouldn’t come like this, I’d hold it for as long as I had to but the fact she was clawing at me, like she had to have me told me the best thing.

She was with me on this. Absolutely, one hundred percent, when it came to us, Destiny was with me. She wanted me as badly as I wanted her.

She shoved at my shirt again and I lifted my arms, letting her tug it off me. She pulled her mouth from mine at the last moment, jaw slack, eyes glassy, lust stamped all over her features and then she grinned, eyelids fluttered as she looked at me. “You’re bigger than you used to be.”

I wiggled my hips. “I know. Everywhere.”

She bit her bottom lip, brushed her hand down the side of my neck, over my chest. “I want to look at you. Touch you. This feels like a dream.”

“A good one?”

“Yeah.” Sweet hazy eyes met mine. “The best kind.”

She leaned forward again, and I met her halfway, this time taking over the kiss and holding her firmly against me while we found our rhythm and rocked in sync with each gentle thrust of my hips. A groan slid from me as she found the right spot for both of us. I needed everything she’d said from her, too. I reached behind her, fiddled with the knot and a quick tug later, her dress fell loose. I brushed at the wide straps, pulled them forward and then pushed her off my mouth.

The straps fluttered to her waist, taking the top half of her dress with her.

And holy fuck. She wasn’t wearing a bra. I wasn’t prepared for the sight of her breasts, beautiful and fuller, and her nipples dark pink and hard, pointing right at me, inviting me to put my mouth on them.

I tugged her against me, dropped my forehead to her shoulder. “Holy fuck, you’re gorgeous.”

My hands took on a mind of their own, pressing against her sides, the gentle curve above her hips, the slope of her stomach until my thumbs were beneath her breasts, teasing brushes and grazes that made her shiver and gasp.

“Jordan,” she whispered. “Touch me.”

I ran a finger up and over her breast, barely skipping her nipple. “Here?”

“Please.”

I ran that finger down, circled her nipple. Her pants quickened against my ear, driving me wild.

I had to see all of her. Need from my hard cock demanded it. But I’d wait. Tonight wasn’t about fucking her for the first time. We’d get there. Soon. I groaned as she rocked against me while I alternated working her nipples. I couldn’t wait anymore. I leaned my head down, swirled my tongue over one of her dark pink, pebbled buds, and sucked it deep into my mouth, biting and nipping at it.

“Shit,” she gasped. Her body bucked against my lap, her fingers dug into my shoulder.

“Can you still come just from this?” I asked. Years ago, I could play with her nipples and do nothing else to her and she’d shoot off like a firecracker.

“Jordan.” She rolled and rocked, pressed harder against my crotch.

Her body heated. Flushed with need and want and I knew she was close when her rhythm faltered.

“Can you?”

“Yes. Probably. I don’t know.”

Which meant Paul hadn’t had quite the talent as me. The thought lit a fire in my chest with pride, that this…I was the only man who knew this about her.

I switched to her other nipple, teased and tortured her, played with one with my thumb and finger, plucking and rolling, pressing and pulling while I feasted on her other breast.

She quaked in my hold against me, short, breathy pants coming close together until her orgasm took her. Her body went wild, bucking and lashing, gripping and pulling me against her, and I rode that wave with her, pretending in my mind I was deep inside of her, but this…always seeing her get off from her tits alone was always the hottest thing we could do.

“Yes, more, please. Stop.” Her fingers uncurled from their death grip on my shoulders and she pressed her palm to my shoulder. “Too much.” She laughed as she said it, her voice a quiet shaky whisper.

I listened immediately and pulled her down, kissed her until she was no longer rubbing against me, but sated and relaxed and then I laid us on the couch, continued kissing her, touching her, feeling her.

If I didn’t stop, I’d come in my jeans like a teenager.

“You didn’t finish,” she said, as I slowed our kisses, shoved my face into the crook of her shoulder to will my hard-on away. “I can take care of you.”

“Not tonight,” I mumbled, kissing her throat, her collarbone…everywhere. A sudden, demanding need urged me to press my lips over every inch of her skin and claim her as mine again. “We’ll get there. Just let me hold you for a while.”

I rolled us so my back was to the couch, her back to my chest. I grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and pulled it over her.

Then I rolled and grabbed the remote from the table and clicked on the television.

“Want to watch a game or movie?”

Her hands were curled around my forearm. “I feel bad—”

“When I come, it’s going to be inside you, on a bed, and not in Tillie’s house.”

She laughed softly and tugged my arm harder to her chest so I was hugging her.

“If you insist,” she said, kissing my bicep.

I kissed her hair. “I do. Movie or game?”

“Game. Always a game.”

I felt her smile against my skin and relaxed, pulling her back to me and settling.

I’d leave soon, but I need this time with her, doing what we enjoyed and doing it together.

* * *

“Holy crap,” Destiny said, her voice gone completely in awe once Rebecca’s house came into view. “You said they’d rebuilt, but this is massive.”

“Cooper wanted to build her a fortress after that tornado. This was their reasonable compromise.” I added finger quotes around reasonable.

“Reasonable.” She snorted and reached for the door handle. The man had gone insane. Completely overprotective and lost his shit after Rebecca rode out a tornado last summer. It had destroyed the original farmhouse, my childhood home, a couple of the barns, and dozens of the animals hadn’t made it.

Cooper went straight to work on designing a new house, cement walls, best roofing known to man, and Rebecca had essentially laughed in his face and slapped him silly. She wanted the original home rebuilt.

He’d been terrified out of his brain after flying overnight and then driving through that storm’s devastation for hours to get to her.

They’d settled on this fully built brick house, over four thousand square feet, and moved in right before last Christmas. I still did a double take every time I saw it.

A few cars were already parked, telling me most of Rebecca’s friends were already there. Andrew and Brooke were there and so were Ryan and Kelly.

I glanced at Destiny. “Are you ready for this?”

“Well.” She wiped her hands down her pale pink shorts. “I doubt it can go worse than last night.”

“I don’t know. Last night didn’t end too bad.”

Her cheeks turned the color of her shorts and she ran her hand through her hair. “Stop it,” she teased, shaking her head.

“Today will be fun. Kids will run and scream. Chicks will talk and drink wine. Men will drink beer and eat. Typical Saturday over here but with more people.”

“You’re not really helping,” she muttered. Her gaze stayed on the house, drifted to the cars, back to me. “But I do want to see these goats and chickens. Maybe ride on Gray?”

I was getting her cute little ass in front of me on a horse today if it was the last thing I did. “You got it.”

While she was looking excited at that possibility, I hopped out of my Escalade and met her at the door. I took her hand to help her climb down so she didn’t trip on the gravel. As soon as we exited, I heard the distinct echo of a basketball on pavement, along with several male voices.

“Sounds like Toby’s playing ball. Want to go say hi to him first?”

“Yeah.” She rubbed her hands together and practically skipped in that direction, grabbing my hand and pulling me along with her. “I miss him like crazy and it’s only been a day.”

We reached the edge of the garage where between one of the barns and the garage was a large slab of pavement and at the far end, all the men and boys who were here were outside, shooting hoops.

“Looks like it’s men against boys,” I said, watching as Cooper let Nathan, Andrew’s son, fake him out before missing a layup.

“Mm-hmm.”

Destiny’s eyes were wide. Cheeks a hot pink. I glanced back at the men and boys, this time Andrew made an easy layup while shouting, “Take that!” to his own kid.

A scowl twisted my lips and I bumped Destiny’s hip. “Stop staring at Cooper.”

The men had removed their shirts. The boys had too. I didn’t think that was what had snagged Destiny’s attention in such a way she looked ready to jump any of the able-bodied taken men.

I did the only thing a red-blooded man prone to jealousy would do.

I stepped in front of her. She jerked, and her eyes landed on my face. “What?”

“Like what you see over there?”

“Sorry,” she whispered. Embarrassment flamed her cheeks further. “It’s just…it’s Cooper Hawke. It’s gonna take some time.”

It made sense. Cooper did more movies with his shirt off than he had with them on. I guessed the real-life version was better than the big screen.

Slowly, showing her my intent, I reached behind my neck and tugged at the collar of my shirt. I flashed her a wink right before I ripped off my shirt and held it out to her.

Her eyes dropped from my face to my chest and she gulped. Her lips parted, and the hint of her tongue peeked out. “You want someone to look at, look at me.” I held out my shirt and shook it. “Hold this for me.”

She lifted her hand and I smacked my shirt into her palm. “Okay.”

“Destiny?” She was staring at my stomach. My chest. My hips. If her gaze dropped farther, she’d notice the hardening in my shorts, something I couldn’t let happen. “My eyes are up here.”

“I know. But the view down here is so much better.”

I barked out a laugh and curled my hands around her shoulders. “Hey. Kiss me and then watch me go kick some ass.”

“I like you right where you are,” she whispered, sliding her tongue across her bottom lip. “But if you must.”

“Hey, Mom!” Toby’s voice broke through and her head whipped to the side. He was rushing toward us, pushing his dark hair off his forehead. He ran right toward her and threw his arms around her. “Hi! You made it!”

A smile brighter than the sun lit up her face and she returned the hug before pushing him back. “Gross. You’re sweaty!”

“I’m playing ball.” He smiled at me and like always, that smile sent sparks of joy through my veins. “You going to play with us too?”

“Yeah. Your mom wanted to say hi first.”

Toby’s grin went wide. “Cooper took me out on the horses last night. And then he let me drive the ATVs. It was so cool! This is like, the best place ever.”

Destiny and I both laughed, and she playfully shoved his shoulder. “Better than with me? Sounds like you didn’t miss me at all.”

“Yeah, well you’re cool and all too…”

“Thanks. Glad to know I’m cool…and all.” She drawled the words out slowly, teasingly.

Toby rolled his eyes, a move I’d seen Destiny do a hundred times. “It was horses, Mom. So cool.”

“I know. I’m glad you had fun. But I missed you.”

“That’s because I’m the bomb.” He shrugged and threw his hands out.

A laugh rolled through my chest and I fought it down. Classical kid thinking he was cooler than he really was. And he was all mine.

“C’mon Jordan.” He waved his hand toward the court. “Come play with us. Cooper said we had to stay out of Rebecca’s way because she goes nuts when planning for a party.”

“I’ll be there in a second okay?”

“Yeah. Okay, Mom?”

“Go.” She flipped her hand out. “Go have fun.”

He took off running back to the court. In the distance, Ryan shouted, “Get your ass, I mean, butt out here Jordan! These kids need some help beating us old farts!”

All the boys in unison yelled, “We do not!”

I shook my head and before she expected it, pressed my lips to Destiny’s cheek and pulled back. “You’ll be okay here? Want me to show you inside?”

“She’ll be fine,” Rebecca said, coming up from behind us. I hadn’t even heard her coming I’d been so enamored with Toby. Would that shine or insane feeling I had around him ever dull? The thought that when I looked at him and saw how cool he was, I was so damn proud I’d had a hand in making him, vanish?

I hoped not.

“Come on,” Rebecca said. “The girls are inside, and we’re almost done. Although to be honest, we’re mostly standing at the windows, drooling over the half-naked men.”

Destiny’s head turned toward the house and her bottom lip slid between her teeth. “Who’s in there?”

“Kelly and Brooke. And they’re fine. They’ve been here all morning helping me and they love Toby.” Rebecca reached out and tugged her hand. It was the first time I saw Rebecca willingly touch Destiny in my entire life.

Shit. She wasn’t just trying to like her; I think a part of her actually did. Even better.

Destiny looked down at their hands and back to me, her wide grin from Toby was now almost large enough to split her face in two. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, after we kick the kids’ asses.”

“Please. Toby can totally take you.”

“Come on,” Rebecca said again. “You can help me make the sangria. Either that or I’m throwing the water hose on both of you.”

“Go,” I said nodding toward the house. “Have fun.”

“K.” She barely got that much out before Rebecca yanked on her hand. I stood in place until she disappeared up the deck and around the back of the house before turning back to the guys.

Then I ran up to where Toby had the ball, stole it right from him and sank an inside jump shot.