CHAPTER SIX
AT THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT, Noel wouldn’t have cared if they were on the floor, or standing against the wall, or hell, with her bent over a table.
That last one enticed him and he considered it.
He needed her bad, the feel of her skin against his, the touch of her small hands, the warmth of her body as it cradled his...
Their last aborted effort to get intimate had been followed by a long separation and then a foundation-shaking surprise, leaving him in extended want. She’d left him primed and now it felt like he’d suffered long-term foreplay. He’d been spinning since her return, and yet, the craving for her remained. Add in all the unfamiliar heart-tugging emotions, and he could barely think past the desire to claim her again, to make sure she understood that they belonged together.
Holding her head between both hands, he feasted on her mouth, loving the softness of her lips, the damp stroke of her tongue, the mewling sounds of pleasure. While he kissed her, she writhed under him, trying to hurry him along, robbing him of patience.
The second he moved from her mouth to her throat, she gasped with desperation, “We’re on a timetable here, Noel!”
“I know.” June could wake, but still, he wanted to relish every part of this, a new beginning—whether she realized it or not. “I need everything, honey.”
She went still, then her hands clenched in his hair to lift his face. “Everything?”
Heat flushed her cheeks and made her blue eyes bright. Her lips were swollen. “Everything you have to give.” He took her mouth again, distracting her while he unsnapped and unzipped her jeans, then worked a hand up inside her shirt, coasting his palm along the dip of her waist, her ribs, until he closed a hand over one plump, warm breast.
Against his palm, her nipple tightened. He caught it between finger and thumb, tugging gently, rolling—
“Noel.”
Lowering himself, he shoved the shirt up to her chin, plumped one breast in his hand and latched on to her, sucking strongly.
With a harsh groan, she lifted her hips against him, seeking closer contact.
He’d missed this so much. Her excitement, the combustible chemistry, her scent, and the feel of her hair and skin.
He’d missed her.
He was a different man with Amber. A better man, happier, more complete.
Sitting up in a rush, Noel whisked the shirt off over her head, then removed his own.
As he stood to kick off his shoes and strip off his jeans, she struggled to remove her own. Once he was naked, Noel tried to help her, but he got distracted with her body and bent to kiss the delicate curve of her belly, each sleek thigh as they were revealed.
“Noel,” she complained, her voice high and thin with need. “If we get interrupted, I’ll die.”
“Shh.” He tugged her jeans away, then her minuscule panties, dropping them both to the floor. “I’ll take care of you.” He touched her sex, lightly stroking, then dipped his head to nuzzle against her, savoring the musk of her excitement. Her silken thighs opened wider. He helped her with that, lifting one leg to the back of the couch, moving the other over the side until her foot rested on the floor.
Using both hands, he kept her open as he looked at her. Then he had to touch again. And taste.
Blue eyes ablaze, arms reaching for him, Amber whispered, “I need you now.”
He saw that she did, but he wanted her pleasure first. If the baby awoke and one of them had to suffer frustration, he’d rather it be him.
“Soon,” he replied and bent back to her. “Now try not to make too much noise.”
Knowing what would come, she moaned harshly, then snatched a throw pillow to hold over her face.
While he nibbled and licked, he plied one fingertip over her swollen lips. With each touch she got wetter—and he stroked deeper until he had two fingers firmly pressed inside her. She couldn’t hold still, so he drew her swollen clitoris into his mouth and suckled ever so softly.
Just as he’d known she would, Amber came apart within minutes, her hips riding rhythmically against his mouth, her cries harsh and real but, thankfully, muffled under the pillow.
Her entire body went taut, her thighs trembling while she ground out a much-needed climax.
As her arms fell away and her legs went utterly lax, sprawling even more, Noel moved up over her body and removed the pillow. Smiling from the inside out, he asked, “You okay, sweetheart?”
Feathery black lashes rested over damp cheekbones. Her parted lips drew slow, deep breaths. He felt her heartbeat thundering against his chest.
Finally she managed a slight nod.
Amber was always beautiful, but in his opinion, never more so than right after release. “Listen.”
She got her heavy eyes to open the tiniest bit. “To what?”
“Silence, meaning June is still sleeping, so now it’s my turn.” He brushed his mouth over hers. “But I wouldn’t mind if you joined me.”
She got her eyes open more. “I don’t know if I—”
He slid deep, cutting off whatever she would have said. Wet, hot, with little aftershocks from her release that squeezed him. Keeping a slow and easy rhythm wasn’t easy. Before he lost control, he framed her face in his hands. “I love you, Amber Hudson.” Saying it affected him and he thrust harder.
She tipped back her head in pleasure. “I love you, too,” she managed on a gasp.
“I know.” He watched her as he quickened his pace. “Put your legs around me.”
It required two shuddering breaths before she said, “I still have legs?”
Amazing that she could amuse him in the middle of lust. “Yeah. Sexy legs—like the rest of you.”
“You make me feel sexy.” She got her arms around his neck first, then locked her ankles over the small of his back. “Better?”
Noel couldn’t speak. The position took him so deep, he felt a part of her. Now. Forever.
When she quickened under him, he put his face in her neck and concentrated on waiting for her.
“Noel.” She squeezed him tight as her climax built. “Noel.”
As soon as she shattered, he let himself go and joined her, growling low in his throat as pleasure ripped through him.
Long minutes later, all his tension drained away, Noel argued with himself that he had to get up before he smothered her.
But not just yet.
Her fingertips trailed up and down his back and every so often she hugged him or pressed a kiss to his shoulder.
Finally she asked, her soft voice tentative, “Noel?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to head home to get a good night’s sleep?”
It took an effort, but he got up to his elbows so he could look into her eyes, now smoky blue in the aftermath of her release. “You really know how to destroy an ego, don’t you?”
She lightly touched her fingertips to his mouth. “Your ego is just fine and dandy.”
“True enough.” He lifted a little higher to look at her breasts. “I have beneath me the most beautiful, intelligent, caring woman in all of Buckhorn, maybe in all of Kentucky.”
“Just Kentucky?”
He grinned and settled against her again, smoothing a palm over her hip. “I didn’t want to spoil you with flattery.”
“I’m spoiled with sexual satisfaction. What’s a little flattery added in?”
“True.” He lingered at her lips, unable to stop kissing her, but before he got carried away, he sat up. “With everything you have going on, you haven’t forgotten birth control?”
“No.” She sat up, too. “I want you all the time, no matter what else is happening, so how could I forget?”
Plus she knew how he supposedly felt about kids, and while Amber took joy in manipulating things as she saw fit, he knew she’d never involve a child.
She gathered up her shirt and panties. “Be right back.”
Noel had so much to say to her, he impatiently pulled on his boxers and jeans, then paced. The talk wouldn’t wait. It needed to be tonight. Tomorrow would no doubt be another hectic day with her family around.
In fact, a day rarely went by when she didn’t see a few members of her family. With June Bug here now, he imagined the visits would ramp up. If he wanted any time alone with her, he needed to adjust their relationship.
And he would. Tonight.
Expression thoughtful, Amber strolled back in. She’d pulled on the clothes she’d taken with her and had her long, dark hair in a braid.
Noel caught her hand and pulled her into his lap on the couch. He smelled the toothpaste on her breath and knew she was ready for bed. “I know you’re tired, and you need more sleep—”
“You slept less than I did last night.”
He put a finger to her lips. “No arguing, not right now. It’s my turn to tell you something.”
“This sounds serious.”
“I suppose it is.” He drew her against him. Talking about it would be easier without her watching him. “I came to Buckhorn to escape. I needed time alone, away from the city.”
She walked her fingers up his chest. “That time alone didn’t last long.”
“No. I saw you at the fire station when you came to visit Garrett and then happily let you chase me to ground.”
“Hey.” Laughing, she lightly punched him.
“You know you did.” He kissed the top of her head. “And I’m glad. I realized shortly after meeting you that being alone gave me too much time to stew on things I had hoped to leave behind. Unfortunately, whether I stewed or not, it was there.”
“It?”
He played with her braid while trying to get the words in order. “We got called out to a house fire one night. It was bad.” Noel went over it in his mind, something he still did far too often, and decided the details weren’t all that important, so he cut to the tragic ending. “An entire family died, including two small kids.” His throat tightened and he had to take a minute before speaking again. “I carried them out, but it was already too late. The little boy made it to the hospital. I stayed with him while they tried to find relatives. But he didn’t recover. By the next morning when an aunt had arrived, he was gone.”
Saying nothing, Amber shifted to face him, her bent legs on either side of his hips, her arms locked around his neck, her head against his chest. She surrounded him with her love, holding him close.
Noel rested his cheek against the top of her head. “I don’t have words for how devastating it was. Nothing has ever leveled me like that.”
“I can’t even imagine,” she whispered, and he heard the tears in her voice.
“I made the hasty decision to never have kids. If losing a child I didn’t know could hurt so badly, what would it be like if he were mine?”
Amber hugged him tighter. “I understand.”
Being so intuitive, caring and kind, she probably did.
But he doubted she understood it all.
“I love you so much, Noel,” she whispered. “I’d do just about anything for you. I hope you know that.”
“I do.”
“But June is mine now. I can’t let her go. I wouldn’t even want to.”
“And that,” he said, “is something I understand, because you’re mine, and I can’t, won’t, let you go.”
She faced him, her gaze searching.
“I’ve been a fool,” he admitted. “When I made that ridiculous pledge to myself, I hadn’t counted on meeting you. Or June. Or how holding a little girl would make me feel so many things, all of them good, filling me up so that the bad feelings barely had room left to stay.”
Hope changed her expression. “What are you saying?”
“In less than a day, June won me over.”
“She’s been very sweet,” Amber admitted. So far, June’s adjustment had astounded everyone. But Noel, unused to children, might not realize that, so she felt she had to be up-front and honest. “There will be times when she’s impossible. When she’s sick and whiny, or having a temper tantrum. She’s independent. She’s bound to make demands. All kids do. It’s all part of growing up, but regardless, she’ll be mine.”
As if he anticipated June’s various moods, he smiled. “It already feels like she’s mine, too.”
With her mood guarded, Amber whispered, “She could be.”
“And Rookie?”
A small smile blossomed. “He already adores you.”
“Hell, you may as well know, I’ve already been thinking of your whole family as mine.”
Amber put a shaky hand to her mouth. “You mean that?”
Touching her cheek, Noel moved his fingertips over her velvet skin. “They’re part and parcel with you, honey, but more than that, they’re good people. And they love you. How could I not love them for that?”
Tears dampened her lashes, but she was grinning. “So...we’re in this together?”
“Richer or poorer, through sickness and health.”
Her eyes flared, then she threw herself against him.
Noel smiled. “Will you marry me, Amber?”
Against his neck, she nodded. “I would have asked if you hadn’t.”
“I know.”
She laughed.
“But while you’re being agreeable...” He lowered a hand to her panty-covered bottom and pulled her closer to him. “We don’t need two houses, right? So before June gets too settled here, how about we move to my house? I have a little more room, and I know you like the place since you helped me pick it. The yard is fenced. I can put in a doggy door for Rookie that leads into the sunroom, instead of the kitchen, so June Bug won’t discover it. And she’d have her own room. Plus—”
Amber kissed him.
He gave her a curious look when she sat back again. “Is that a yes?”
“That was me copying your methods for gaining silence.” She grinned at him. “You don’t have to sell me on the idea, Noel. I love you, my family loves you, and I’ve always known your house would be perfect for a family.”
“So clever,” he teased.
Her eyes sparkled with happiness. “How do you feel about a very small, not-very-formal wedding?”
“That’s what you want?”
“I want you. I want us to be a family. Given the circumstances with June, I’d prefer fast over fancy—unless you want something more?”
“I only want you happy.”
Just as they heard a cry that meant June had awoken, Amber whispered, “Consider it done.”
* * *
THEY MADE THE transition easily. Everything that had just been done to Amber’s house to baby-proof it got transferred to Noel’s.
With all her family pitching in, the move and setup were accomplished in a single day.
His extra bedroom and bathroom made his house a little bigger, and Amber considered it the perfect size.
The wedding would happen at the end of July. In the meantime, she returned to work and took June with her.
Her first day back proved easier than she’d imagined. Buckhorn was a small town and everyone knew everyone else, meaning when she needed a moment to change June’s diaper or feed her, any customers in the store were understanding. Some were even delighted.
June enjoyed the attention, and since her mama had worked, she was used to sitters. But the girl had a temper, and when she wanted Noel, she wanted him.
Amber understood that—because she felt the same.
It wasn’t easy convincing June that she had to wait sometimes, like when he worked or had to shower, especially when Noel proved so accommodating. He’d bend over backward to give the little girl everything she wanted, including himself.
He’d gone from not wanting kids to doting on June’s every whim.
It was over dinner one night that Amber watched him alternately eat and entertain June. She loved them both so much, there were times when it almost overwhelmed her. How could one woman be so happy?
“Thank you, Noel.”
He glanced up from the steak he’d grilled while Amber, June and Rookie had played in the yard. “You cook as often as I do.”
“I know, and I do thank you for dinner, but that’s not what I meant.”
“No?”
How to start? From the beginning, he’d been different from any person she’d known. “I didn’t entirely control our relationship.”
He laughed. “Not for lack of trying. But I figured out early on that you wouldn’t accept a pushover. If I wanted you, and you can bet I did, I had to be different.”
“So you made me work for it?”
He lifted his tea in a salute. “What better way to make you appreciate me, once you had me?”
“And I do,” she agreed. “Being here with you and June, feeling so...complete. That’s why I’m thanking you. I didn’t plan all this, but turns out it’s everything I ever wanted.”
Noel smiled at her. “Everything? Because, see, in a year or two, a little longer if you need it, I was thinking another baby might be nice.”
Her eyes rounded. “Another baby?” Then with a giant grin, “You mean it?”
After smiling at June, he set aside his fork to take Amber’s hand. “I was so afraid to be around a kid, thinking it’d bring back that nightmare. Instead, you two have made me happier than I knew was possible. If you want five kids, I’m ready.”
Amber laughed. “One or two is plenty for me, and waiting a while is a good idea.” She leaned forward to kiss him.
Which had June complaining—until they each kissed her instead.
* * * * *
The Buckhorn Brothers—hot, protective and oh-so-alpha...especially around the women they love.
Don’t miss any of the Buckhorn series, available now from Lori Foster and HQN Books!
BUCKHORN BEGINNINGS
(featuring Sawyer and Morgan)
FOREVER BUCKHORN
(featuring Gabe and Jordan)
THE BUCKHORN LEGACY
(featuring Casey)
BUCKHORN EVER AFTER
(Shohn and Nadine’s story)
BACK TO BUCKHORN
(Garrett and Zoey’s story)
A BUCKHORN SUMMER
(Lisa and Gray’s story)
A BUCKHORN BACHELOR
(Adam and Isabella’s story)