CHAPTER FOUR
Morgan returned the following day to finish up the work on the railing around the porch. It only took him a few hours to get the piecework and trim done, and by noon he’d completed the task. Which left him the rest of Saturday afternoon to focus on Tess, and them.
He entered the house through the front door in search of Tess and called her name. When he didn’t get an answer, he headed into the vacant kitchen. It wasn’t until he glanced out the window over the sink that he finally found her out in the backyard, picking a new batch of never ending ripe peaches.
Removing his tool belt, he washed up his hands and arms with soap and water as he watched Tess outside. He grinned as she stood on her tiptoes to pluck the fruit from its stem, which caused her denim mini-skirt to rise a few inches up her thighs. When she turned around, his gaze took in those full breasts beneath her T-shirt, and his dick stirred in instantaneous awareness.
Oh, yeah, they were so done with flirting and teasing, he decided as he dried his hands with a paper towel. Done with all the verbal foreplay and the arousing kisses that had them both aching for more. He wanted Tess, and they were about to give in to what he knew they both had been craving for the past week and a half. They were all alone for the afternoon, and he planned to take full advantage of that fact.
Five minutes later, she entered the kitchen with a bowl filled with peaches. She blew out an upward stream of breath that ruffled her bangs and dumped the fruit into the colander in the sink.
“I can’t believe how many peaches those trees produce,” she grumbled with a shake of her head. “I can’t keep up with it all, and I’m running out of recipes to make. I’ve tried everything from peach ice cream, to muffins, to custard, and anything else you can imagine. I think I’m finally tapped out of recipes.”
He picked up one of the peaches, and feeling how soft and ripe it was beneath his kneading fingers, an idea formed in his mind. One that promised to be fun and sexy and oh-so-erotic.
His blood hummed with anticipation, and he slanted her a sidelong glance. “I sure would hate to see these ripe peaches go to waste.”
A frown wrinkled her forehead and she propped her hands on her hips as she considered the fate of the fruit. It was clear that she was lost in her own thoughts and had no clue that he was about to seduce that T-shirt and skirt right off her body.
“Me, too,” she said, meeting his gaze with a sigh. “But I’m beginning to feel that if I look at another peach I’m going to turn into one.”
Which didn’t sound like a bad thing to Morgan, not when he knew how sweet and juicy she’d taste. “I think I need to give you a new appreciation for peaches,” he drawled with shameless intent, and slowly backed her up against the counter as he continued to palm the fruit in his hand. “Something to inspire you for later, when you’re trying to come up with a new recipe for all those peaches.”
Her eyes widened as she finally realized what he was up to. “Why Morgan, are you trying to get into my pants?”
He laughed, enjoying her playful humor. “I believe I am, Ms. Monroe. Is it working?”
Her eyes smoldered with desire. “Not yet, but I’m more than willing to let you give it your best shot.”
Permission granted, he put his seductive plan into motion. He lifted the peach to her mouth and rubbed the fuzzy skin against her bottom lip. “Take a bite,” he murmured.
Obeying his order, her lips parted and her teeth sank into the fruit at the same time that Morgan squeezed, causing the juice to dribble down her chin. She gasped in surprise, and when she automatically lifted her hand to catch the juice before it made a mess on her T-shirt, he caught her wrist and held her off. He took a bite of the fruit, too, then went in for a deep, tongue-tangling, peach-flavored kiss. The taste of her was hot and intoxicating and incredibly sweet, and he was dying to sample her elsewhere.
Between kisses, he skimmed her shirt up and off, then deftly removed her bra and let it fall to the floor without so much as a hint of a protest from her. With his mouth still fused to hers, he mashed up another peach over the sink, pushed the pit out with his thumb, and proceeded to slather her chest with the cool pulp.
She sucked in a quick breath and pulled her mouth from his, her expression filled with shocked disbelief at his actions. “What are you doing?”
He shaped her lovely breasts in his palms and grazed his thumbs over her hard, tight nipples, all but devouring her gorgeous body with his gaze. “I’m creating a new peach recipe.”
A shiver coursed through her, and her mouth tipped in a sexy smile. “What’s it called?” she asked breathlessly.
“Peach ecstasy,” he said, and swept his hand downward, painting sticky, slippery swirls over her flat stomach.
Her breathing deepened, and her eyes rolled back when he dipped his finger into her navel—slowly, provocatively, again and again. “It’s, umm, very messy to make.”
And it was going to get a whole lot messier before he was done. “Don’t worry, I have every intention of cleaning up after myself.”
He kissed her again as he unsnapped the front of her mini-skirt, then hooked his thumbs inside the waistband and pushed the denim and her silky panties down her legs. They dropped to her feet with a muted thump, and she stepped out of the garments and kicked them aside, along with the sandals she’d been wearing.
The thought of finally having her naked made him harder than he could remember being in a long time. Clasping his strong hands around her waist, he lifted her up so she was sitting on the counter in front of him and on display for his viewing pleasure. He dragged his mouth from hers, took a small step back, and looked his fill of those womanly curves glistening with peach nectar, her long, shapely limbs that had spurred some of his fondest fantasies, and all that made her completely and utterly feminine.
Warmth suffused Tess’s entire body as a bout of self-consciousness settled over her, making her feel much too vulnerable with this man, physically and emotionally. Morgan’s eyes were the color of heated liquid silver, his features taut with lust and need as his gaze ravished her as she knew his mouth would eventually do.
She resisted the urge to lift her hands and cover herself. “Morgan…” Her voice quivered, as did her nerve-endings.
He continued to stare, his gaze drifting from her breasts down to the thatch of hair between her thighs. “God, you’re so beautiful, Tess,” he said, his low pitched tone filled with awe and male appreciation. “All of you.”
Undeniable pleasure bloomed deep inside her, but she still felt so bare compared to him, and told him so. “You’re much too overdressed.”
He grinned, whipped his shirt over his head, and dropped it to the floor. “Better?”
“For now.” She reached out and pressed her hands to his chest, needing that physical connection to him. His skin was hot and firm, and his heart beat heavily beneath her palm, a reassuring rhythm that matched her own. And when she plucked his nipples with her fingers, she was gratified to hear a low growl erupt from the back of his throat.
“Damn, you’re distracting me.” He caught her wandering hands before they could slide southward and secured them back to her sides. “Behave. I’m not done with you yet.”
She bit her bottom lip, mostly to hide a smile. “Sorry,” she murmured, but she really wasn’t at all contrite for making him a little bit wild, too.
“Now where was I?” He reached for another peach, mashed it up, and turned back to her as he gently urged her legs farther apart. “Ahhh, now I remember,” he said, and smeared the slick mixture all the way up both of her thighs, until his calloused, peach-coated thumbs grazed the outer lips of her sex, then slid deeper, teasing her with soft, sweeping strokes that made her hot and wet and restless for so much more.
He lifted his gaze from where his fingers were wreaking havoc on her body and senses, and grinned lazily. “I think the recipe is just about done.”
Except there was one key ingredient missing. “What happened to the ecstasy part?”
“That’s gonna happen right now, when I eat you up,” he said, an unholy gleam in his eyes.
Lowering his head, he slowly, meticulously licked away the pureed peach glazing her breasts, and used his lips and teeth and tongue to catch every delicious drop. He drew her nipple into the wet warmth of his mouth and swirled his tongue over the tender tip, then pulled her in deeper, suckling on her in a strong, rhythmic motion that had her hands tangling in his thick, silky hair, and a long, low moan erupting from her chest.
He continued his downward descent, his soft, hot tongue lapping and swirling its way to her quivering belly. He spent a frustrating amount of time making sure he removed every bit of nectar and pulp from her navel before he began licking and nibbling his way up one trembling thigh, then the other, until there was only one last treat for him to enjoy.
He pushed her legs wider apart, slid his hands beneath her bottom, and pulled her to the edge of the counter. Her hips automatically tilted upward for him, the position forcing her to brace her hands behind her to support herself.
His dark eyes were centered between her thighs and his nostrils flared as he took in her swollen, wet flesh. She felt the rush of anticipation build so high it made her dizzy. Her entire body pulsed and silently begged for the possession to come, knowing that it wasn’t going to take much to make her fly apart for him.
He knew exactly what to do to make that happen. With a raw groan he took her intimately, drawing the sweet peach essence of her into his mouth, feasting on her like a man who’d gone too long without sustenance. She felt his long, work-roughened fingers join in, sliding through her plump folds before he pushed one, then another, deep inside her body. He withdrew them both slowly, thrust them back in just as languidly, making her melt around his fingers. His tongue circled her straining clit, and then he fastened his mouth over her sex and sucked, hard and strong.
The shock of sensation rippled through her, pushing her over that precarious edge between pleasure and the bliss her body longed for. She cried out as her orgasm completely consumed her, the release as much physical as it was emotional.
As promised, he gave her ecstasy in its purest form.
He came back up and kissed her, slowly, thoroughly, while soothing her with the tender caress of his big hands down her bare back until the tremors within her calmed. But there was no mistaking the intensity and need still gripping him, and that knowledge spurred her to lavish him with as much pleasure as he’d just given her.
Deepening the connection of their mouths, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Using him for an anchor, she scooted off the counter and slid her body down the length of his until her feet touched the floor. Her breasts rubbed against his hot, naked chest, smearing the sticky residue of peaches along his flesh. Denim scratched her bare thighs, and his fierce erection pressed insistently against her mound.
It took her less than a minute to free his erect cock from the fly of his jeans and wrap her hand around the thick, straining length. He pulled his mouth from hers and groaned, even as his hips thrust instinctively against her tight grip in a quest for satisfaction.
Holding Morgan’s heavy lidded gaze, she reached for one of the succulent peaches in the sink and proceeded to knead it into a nice pulpy consistency. “Now it’s my turn to test out that recipe of yours.”
He visibly shuddered. “God, I was hoping you were going to say that.”
She laughed huskily and stroked him from base to tip, covering him with the delectable, sumptuous fruit. Then she knelt on the floor in front of Morgan and took him into her mouth. She teased him with her tongue and licked him clean of the sweet peach nectar. His breathing grew ragged and his hips jerked as she sucked him deeper, her lips and fingers and tongue sliding sensuously along his shaft.
“Oh, Christ,” he hissed, his voice low and guttural with warning. “I’m going to come.”
A large hand came to rest at the back of her head, gently urging her mouth farther over him, yet giving her enough slack to pull back if she wished. But she was just as caught up in the moment as he was, the taste and texture of him exciting her, and she took him all the way because she wanted to. Because she’d dreamt and fantasized of this moment for years.
He came on a lustful groan, and when he finally recovered from the shattering intensity of his release she stood back up, gratified to see him looking so dazed and wasted. Especially knowing she’d been the one to do that to him.
She placed her hand on his chest and when her fingers stuck to his skin, she grimaced. She was gooey all over, too, and now that the peach substance was drying, it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable on her skin.
“What a mess we made,” she said in amusement, knowing she’d never be able to eat another peach again without thinking of Morgan’s erotic recipe. “I think we both need a shower.”
He feathered the back of his fingers over the swollen tips of her breasts and stared down at her, a boyish grin curving the corners of his mouth. “Is that an invitation for me to stay?”
Her heart thumped hard in her chest. This encounter in the kitchen had been fun and all about sex and physical pleasure, but she had a feeling that anything more with Morgan would involve her heart on a very emotional level.
Hell, who was she kidding? Her feelings for him were already tied up into a huge gigantic knot, despite the fact that he wasn’t offering her any promises other than the kind that involved physical gratification, and lots of it.
Still, knowing that, she did her best to accept their affair for what it was, determined to enjoy her time with Morgan for as long as it lasted.
Clasping his hand in hers, she smiled. “Yeah, it is an invitation.”
She led him upstairs, and minutes later they were in a hot, steamy shower together, washing away the pulp and nectar from their skin. They shared slow, soft, open-mouthed kisses while caressing and stroking slick flesh with their hands and fingers, and took their time exploring each other’s bodies and relearning all those sweet, hot spots that turned them on the most. And there were plenty of them to rediscover.
The foreplay was exquisite, the gradual build up to another desperate hunger just as keen, arousing them both all over again. Desire and need and soft moans of pleasure swirled around them, mingling with the steam and warm spray of water, intensifying every provocative touch until the water turned cool and finally forced them out of the shower.
They dried off and made their way into Tess’s bedroom. Once there, Morgan pushed her back on the bed and came up and over her, positioning himself between her already spread thighs. He stared down at her face, his dark hair damp and tousled around his head, his features taut with restraint, and his hard, strong body a direct contrast to how soft and warm and pliant hers was beneath his.
Then he closed his eyes and cursed beneath his breath. “Please tell me you’re on the Pill or have a condom handy.”
If she wasn’t strung so tight, she would have laughed. Instead, she was eternally grateful that she’d remained on the contraceptive after breaking up with Patrick. “I’m on the Pill, and clean as of my last check-up a few weeks ago.”
His sigh of relief shuddered through his entire body. “Same here,” he said, and finally pushed slowly inside her. He filled her inch by exquisite inch, stretching her to accommodate his size and length until he was finally buried to the hilt. Then he dropped his head against the curve of her neck, and his long groan of satisfaction was matched by her own.
“You feel so damn good,” he muttered, his breath blowing hot and damp against her skin.
She slid her hands down the arch of his spine to his ass, and turned her face toward his, letting her lips drift across his cheek. “So do you,” she whispered, and wrapped her legs around the back of his thighs, urging him to move, to take her hard and fast and mindlessly deep.
He seemed to need that as well and began thrusting into her, high and hard, stealing her breath with the sudden force of his passion for her. He rolled his hips, grinding against her sex, stroking deeper, then deeper still, until she had no idea where he ended and she began.
Abruptly, he lifted up on his forearms. He framed her face in his hands and watched her changing expression as he drove into her again, pushing her closer and closer to that white-hot release beckoning just beyond her reach. His hips pumped relentlessly, his gaze fierce on hers, and she knew he was waiting for her climax to peak before he allowed himself to succumb to his own.
“Come on, baby, it’s right there,” he urged desperately. “I can feel it.”
Yes, she could feel it, too. Despite the years that had separated them, it amazed her that he still knew her body so well, and in the next instant her orgasm shuddered through her and her inner muscles clenched violently around his shaft. Her lips parted, but before she could scream he sealed his mouth over hers and kissed her hungrily, possessing her as his and making them one in every way. He growled against her lips as he came right along with her.
When it was over, she was left drained and shaking and awed by the sheer power this one man still had over her—body and soul.
* * *
After spending the rest of the afternoon wallowing in complete and utter sexual satisfaction, Morgan finally let Tess give in to her physical exhaustion and drift off to sleep. He lay on his side facing her, content to watch her as she napped, thinking he’d never seen her look so serene and beautiful.
Her blond hair was a disheveled mess from his hands and fingers that had tangled in the silken strands during the throes of one of their many trysts, her mouth was swollen from all their deep, lush kisses, and her skin was flushed a becoming shade of pink that looked incredibly good on her.
That easily, his body stirred once again, wanting her, despite how many times and all the different ways he’d just taken her. After they’d recovered from the first round, he’d turned her over onto her stomach and took her again in what had always been their favorite position—with Tess on her hands and knees, his cock buried into her from behind, and him in complete control of her pleasure.
Now older and more appreciative of Tess’s body and all the secret wonders it had to offer, he decided he liked it best when she was on top of him, straddling his hips and riding his body like she owned him while he caressed her full breasts, her soft belly, and that oh-so-responsive flesh between her smooth, slender thighs.
Sex between them had always been good, but this time it had been mind-blowing and stunning in its intensity. Certainly there had been lust and desire and passion, which were all the ingredients that made for a hell of a good lay.
But what Morgan hadn’t expected was the shift he’d felt in his emotions that made it excruciatingly clear he was still in love with Tess Monroe. That beneath the resentment and pain of her leaving him all those years ago, he knew there would never be another woman who completed him the way she did. And there would never be another woman who had the ability to make him long for the kind of things he’d always wanted with Tess: love, marriage, family.
Despite what had happened in the past, he could no longer deny that those three things were intrinsically linked to her, and he knew they always would be. And he was so damn tired of fighting his feelings for her.
The truth hit him hard, and he rolled to his back and closed his eyes, wondering if maybe things could be different this time around. They’d both matured and were older and wiser about many things, but was it possible for the two of them to find their way back to each other after all that had passed between them? Could he convince her to stay in Wynhaven when she was so intent on selling her grandmother’s house—her final tie to the town she’d grown up in—and when she still had a life waiting for her in Atlanta?
Unfortunately, there were no easy answers for his questions, and he knew any choice Tess made about him or her future would have to be hers and hers alone. He wasn’t going to beg her to stay, but for the duration of her time in Wynhaven he could show her what could be, if she was at all interested in what he had to offer. Worse case, they’d part ways at the end of their affair as friends, which was more than they’d had for the past eight years. Not that that would ever be enough for him when it came to Tess.
His stomach rumbled hungrily, bringing him out of his thoughts and reminding him that he’d skipped lunch. He grinned wryly. A man couldn’t live on peaches alone, not even when eaten straight off of Tess’s luscious body. He needed food, a real meal, and he knew Tess would be hungry when she awoke, too.
He slid out of bed, put his jeans on, and padded down to the kitchen to put something together for the two of them. He cleaned up the peach mess they’d made, then found the makings for ham and cheese sandwiches, and he piled his twice as thick with the meat. He set the sandwiches on two separate paper plates, along with spoonfuls of the potato salad she’d bought at the deli, then poured two glasses of iced tea.
He turned to go wake up Tess, and came to an abrupt stop when he found her standing in the doorway, silently watching him with one of those soft smiles on her lips. She was wearing a pair of light drawstring sweats and an oversized T-shirt, which hid those tempting curves he’d just spent hours enjoying.
“I was just coming to get you. Hungry?” he asked, and carried their plates to the table before coming back for their drinks.
“Ummm, I’m starved.” She took the seat next to his and took a bite of the potato salad. “You made me work up an appetite this afternoon.”
“Well, eat up, sweetheart, because we still have the whole night ahead of us,” he teased. He waggled his brows at her, and started in on his sandwich.
She groaned, but there was laughter in her eyes. “You’re insatiable.”
“Not once did I hear the words ‘I’ve had enough’ come from those pretty lips of yours.”
She ducked her head, but not before he caught the flush of pink spreading across her cheekbones. “You’re shameless, too, you know that?”
He chuckled, enjoying their banter. Enjoying her. “It’s all a part of my Southern charm,” he drawled.
They ate their sandwiches and talked about his schedule for the upcoming week and what he had planned. His focus would be on the inside of the house, starting with the kitchen floor, cabinets, and countertops. Another week or two and the biggest part of the renovations would be done, he told her.
“Will you be here tomorrow?” she asked.
It was Sunday, a day he usually reserved all to himself. He normally spent the morning and afternoon working on the pieces of oak furniture he sold on consignment. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
She nodded in understanding and glanced away, and he realized she’d most likely spend tomorrow all by herself in this big old house. Suddenly he didn’t want even a day to go by without being with her. Especially since he didn’t know how much time they had left to spend together.
Finished with his meal, he pushed his empty plate aside. “I was thinking…since you haven’t had the chance to get over to see my sister yet, would you like to go with me to her place for dinner tomorrow evening?”
He saw a flash of delight spark in her eyes before it was quickly doused with uncertainties. “I don’t want to intrude on a family dinner.”
“I wouldn’t extend the invitation if I knew you wouldn’t be welcome, Tess.” He reached out and tenderly traced the line of her jaw with his finger. He wanted this for her, a reconciliation between the two women who’d been such close childhood friends. “Say yes, sweetheart,” he cajoled in a deep, inviting tone.
A slow, tentative smile appeared on her lips, chasing away the doubts he’d seen in her gaze. “All right. I’d love to go with you.”
“Great. I’ll let Amy know.” He kissed her on the cheek and stood, clearing their paper plates and tossing them into the trash. “I guess I should head home.”
She set their empty glasses into the sink and cast him a sidelong glance that did little to disguise her disappointment. “What about the night that’s still ahead of us?”
He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her flush to his body. “I could spend the next two days making love to you, but I don’t want to wear out my welcome and you should get some rest.”
“I’m fine,” she assured him, then placed her hands on his chest and bit her bottom lip. “How about we relax together?” she suggested instead. “Maybe watch a movie on Netflix? I’d love to have the company.”
The hopeful note he heard in her voice grabbed at him, making it difficult for him to refuse her simple request. She obviously didn’t want to be alone, and he didn’t want to leave, either.
“Are you going to make me suffer though a chick flick?” he grumbled good-naturedly.
Her eyes opened wide in feigned innocence. “Would you? For me?”
He released a long-suffering sigh, like any self-respecting male would expect him to do. “If you insist.”
Pleased with his acquiescence, she laughed and led him merrily to the living room, where she proceeded to cuddle up next to him on the couch while searching for just the right movie. Even as they settled in to watch Sweet Home Alabama with Tess, a movie he’d normally never have any interest in seeing because of its romantic, sentimental content, he was coming to realize and accept that he’d do just about anything this woman asked of him.
Anything at all.