Later that night, I rolled my truck to a stop, glancing in my rear view mirror as Lucy’s headlights reflected in the driveway behind me. It wasn’t quite dark yet. Dinner at my parents generally didn’t run too late. I turned my engine off and climbed out, walking around to meet Lucy once her truck rolled to a stop beside mine.

Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair windblown. Before we left, my father had insisted on taking her on a walk through my mother’s gardens. He liked to show them off because he knew how much my mother loved them. She grew everything that could be grown in this part of Alaska, from vegetables to apple and cherry trees to perennials scattered about the property.

Lucy looked up at me once she closed the truck door behind her. “That was nice. Thanks for inviting me,” she said simply.

My body was an engine on high idle whenever she was near. I couldn’t be around her and not want her. In fact, I’d had to will my cock into submission in front of my parents.

I was fully expecting a phone call from my mother tomorrow. Perceptive as she was, I didn’t doubt for a minute she’d picked up on the vibration between Lucy and me.

My father had straight up asked me about Lucy, starting off with, “So you like her a lot, then?”

My dad wasn’t one to mince words, or avoid a topic. I’d considered not saying anything, but it seemed silly when he knew me so well. So I’d fessed up and told him the plain truth—she was the first woman I’d ever met who made me think about what he’d said to me all those years ago—that I’d know when I met the right woman.

He’d smiled slowly, his eyes warm. “Not too hard to see why. She’s a lovely girl. Tough one though.”

When I asked him what he meant, he simply said, “You’re going to have to earn her.”

I replayed his words as I looked at Lucy and considered that I was half in love with her already. She’d slipped into my heart, and I hadn’t even been trying to defend it. It was that fast and that easy, and I knew it in my bones. I just needed to not screw it up.

* * *

We stared at each other in the wispy light of dusk. The sky was almost dark, faded pink streaks from the last of the sun’s glory disappearing with the stars and the moon. I stepped to her, catching her hand in mine and reeling her to me.

I meant to say something, but I didn’t. The moment she was close, she tensed briefly. She was wound so tightly most of the time, and I wanted her to know she could let her guard down with me. I brushed her hair back from her face and slid my hand down her spine, careful not to jostle her wrist.

She noticed, her eyes catching mine as her sky blue gaze darkened. “It doesn’t hurt. You don’t have to be careful.”

There was a hint of a smile teasing her lips, letting me know she wasn’t annoyed. A damn miracle.

I lifted a shoulder in a slow shrug and dipped my head, my lips feathering across her cheek. I was simply unable to resist the urge to touch her.

“Maybe not, but there’s nothing wrong with being careful.” My next words slipped out unbidden. “Just let me take care of you.”

A thrum of tension rippled through her body before she sighed softly. I dipped my head lower, dusting kisses along her neck. Her tension melted as she went soft against me, her good arm sliding around my waist.

I meant to take it slow. But then her tongue tangled sensuously with mine and her hand slid under my shirt to explore my chest. Her touch was like lightning, sending streaks of electricity shimmering on the surface of my skin everywhere she touched. Our kiss went wild. My hand tangled in her hair while I slid the other down her spine to cup her lush bottom, pulling her tight against my arousal.

Lucy drove me insane. I was hanging onto a thin thread of control. After hours of trying to contain my desire, need was lashing at me.

I lifted her against me. Her legs curled easily around my hips as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her gasps and breathy moans spurred me on. Hell if I knew how, but I managed to walk with her kissing me. I needed her more than air. Our kiss was a hot, wet tangle.

Thank fuck she was lightweight. I managed to get up the stairs and through the door without sending us both tumbling to the ground. Kicking the door shut behind me, I spun around. For a beat, I worried I was too rough when I heard the door rattle as her back slammed against it. I started to pause and draw away.

“Oh God, don’t go gentle on me,” she muttered, her voice husky.

Another deep, electrifying kiss and then she was shimmying down from my hold and tearing my jeans open. Before I could scramble to take control, she shoved my briefs down and spun around, pushing me against the door.

Her hand curled around my cock as it sprang free. I groaned, my cock rock hard with need, pre-cum dripping and running down the tip. I looked down at her, her hair a wild tangle around her face, her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen.

Her tongue darted out as she drew it in a swirl around the tip of my cock, swiping up the drop of cum, a sly smile claiming her lips. My knees almost buckled. I brushed her hair back from her face, barely hanging on to my control as she drew me into her mouth.

With the warm, wet suction of her mouth drawing me in and out, her hand curling around the base of my cock, and her wet grip sliding in rhythm with her mouth, she pushed me close to my breaking point. I thundered toward my release faster than I wanted.

“Lucy, I need…”

Whatever I meant to say was lost in the wave of pleasure crashing over me as I came in her mouth. She drank in my release, drawing back as I sagged against the door.

Her tongue swiped across her lips, sending another lash of need through me. I didn’t think I would ever get enough of her. I drew her up, lifting her against me. I meant to take her upstairs, to make love to her properly. But she was having none of that.

She tugged at my shirt, almost knocking me off balance. Easing her down beside the couch with a laugh, I yanked off her clothing, tearing her blouse open and shoving her jeans down over her hips. I was still surprised every time I saw her underwear—tonight they were bright pink cotton.

I reached between her thighs to find the cotton soaked and sticky with her arousal. I dragged my fingers across the fabric, savoring the hiss of her breath. Biting her lip with a grin, she glanced to me. I stared at her as she stood before me, her shirt hanging open, her nipples taut against the silk of her bra. Leaning forward, I laved my tongue across the silk and over the tight little bead. She cried out, arching into me, and I couldn’t wait. I needed her bare. Flinging her bra off and shoving her panties down, I spun her around where we stood. Kicking the pink cotton loose from her ankle, her hands curled over the back of the sofa.

With need roaring through me, the sweet arch of her spine and the sight of her lush ass nearly did me in.