I’ve imagined taking Aurora so many different ways, and fucking her senseless—her term, not mine—is definitely on that list. But now that we’re here, alone in her room, and she’s wearing nothing but scraps of lace and the most beautiful smile, I think I’ll feast on her slowly. Seven years is a long time. She deserves every bit of attention I gave her the first time, maybe even more.

The music is still flowing from downstairs, the fire still lit and crackling. Aurora’s room is too bright, so I turn on the lamp beside her bed and switch off the overhead light. She’s sitting in the middle of the bed, her legs bent and palms pressed into the mattress. She’s watching me set the mood with that shy but eager gaze I love so much.

I step to the edge of the bed, reach for her ankles, and slide her to me in one swift pull so her legs are on either side of mine. She sits up as I sink to my knees and stare up at her with every bit as much adoration as I feel.

My Aurora. No distractions. Just us.

My palms cup her cheek as her lips part for me. It doesn’t matter that we’ve been apart for years. Everything feels so natural when I’m with her. For the first time in years, I feel like my accomplishments mean something more than financial and professional success. I’m proud to show off who I am to Aurora. I still feel like she’s to thank for all of it.

I pull her bottom lip between mine and suck until I hear one of those tiny moans fly from her throat. She can’t hide the way she feels when we’re intimate like this. Everything is a pant, a moan, a sigh, a scream. I fucking love every single sound, and I’ve barely even touched her since we’ve gotten upstairs.

“Jaxon, please,” she whispers against my mouth, her hand snaking down to feel me, hard and so ready to give her what she wants. I want to tell her how much agony I’m in. How my cock, hard as stone, strains and fights against my briefs. I know she feels it as she squeezes me with her small fingers, her grasp firm and demanding as she strokes me.

“In time, beautiful.” My hand stops hers mid-stroke. “There’s something I want to do first.”

With a gentle push, my hands splayed on her stomach, I press her into the mattress and pin her arms over her head with mine. “Don’t move these.” She nods, eyes wide, and I reward her with a chaste kiss before sinking back to my knees and grazing her body with my fingertips on the way down. I stop at her panties and brush a thumb against her center. She’s still wet, her lace panties completely soaked. My cock flinches at the memory of her wrapped around my finger, hot and so fucking tight. I’ll explode as soon as I enter her, I know it, especially if I’m bare. All the more reason to take my time now.

I hook the lace at one hip with a finger, and then I do the same with the other side. Her back arches as I peel the fabric from her body, my eyes transfixed on her beautiful offering of shaved, pale pink skin. For an instant, my chest puffs at the knowledge that no one else has ever seen her this way, bare and spread open. Just me. I’m a fucking king. And I can’t wait another second to taste her.

My nose dips down first, catching her scent before I swipe my tongue against her center, pushing her hips back down as she jerks them in surprise.

“Ahh,” she moans.

I smile and take another taste, this one just as quick, figuring I’ll let her get used to me before I unleash on her completely. I can’t fucking wait.

Using my hands to part her legs further, I let my thumb fall to her clit, massaging it as I inhale her sweet scent again, shivering on my exhale. She moans in response to my warm breath and arches her back again.

“Jax, more.”

“Patience, Waterfall Eyes.”

The next swipe of my tongue is slow and long, and I follow it up with the suction of my mouth on her clit. A gasp explodes from her mouth. Fuck, she tastes better than the wine we forgot to finish downstairs. I can feel myself start to unravel as I drink her in, my tongue lapping eagerly against her, my arms now hooked around her legs, pressing her hips down to keep them from bucking wildly against the sheets.

Everything about Aurora is so pure, so tight, and so reactive. This is new for us. This type of intimacy. We came close many times when she lay naked beneath me. My lips would travel down her body, exploring her uncharted skin, stopping just above her glistening center. She’d be jerking from my finger already inside her, moaning from the feel of my breath hitting her right there. But I never took a taste, too afraid that she was too delicate to handle all the things I wanted to do to her.

Now that I have a second chance, I won’t let her down.

Her entire body is shaking, her breasts pressed into the air like she’s a woman possessed, and she’s crying out with a sound so guttural and filthy, I want to watch her come undone just as much as I want to continue devouring her.

But she wants more, and I’m not stopping until she gets it.

When her muscles begin to spasm around my tongue, I know she’s letting go. Her fingers dig into the comforter, gripping and pulling. Her legs quiver. Her cry comes out a rasp. And when she finally starts to come down, she comes down slowly.

I release her from my mouth. She slides her fingers through my hair and tugs me toward her onto the bed. I land on my elbows with a grin, her juices still fresh on my lips. She attacks them, nibbles them clean while clawing at my back and reaching for my briefs. She pushes them down, and my cock springs free. She wastes no time. I inhale sharply as her hand grips me firmly, groaning at the feel of her palm stroking me like she’s imagining me inside her.

I take the opportunity to unclasp her bra, releasing her supple breasts. They’re perfect, firm and big enough to fill my palm. My mouth waters at the thought of tasting them again.

She releases me from her hold, grabs her bra, and flings it to the side. I chuckle at her impulse, loving this wild side of Aurora she never allowed herself to show me at seventeen—the woman I was only able to imagine in my dreams for so many years.

I roll to the side to slide my briefs off completely, letting myself breathe for a moment before attempting to climb back onto her. She seems to be doing the same. I peer at her, a smile spreading across my face when I take in her naked form. My petite girl with curves that drive me mad, with long hair strewn about in a messy tangle around her shoulders. I roll back on top of her, lifting my weight with my elbows as I gaze down. She stares back at me with a knowing smile.

Everything is perfect.

“I love you, you know?” I swallow against the nerves rattling my chest. I don’t know why I’m shaking. We’ve made love before. I’ve heard her moans. I’ve watched her come apart for me, spine arched and neck stretched back as I filled her. But everything feels different now, like doing it again proves just how soul-crushingly real our love is.

Her eyes shine with emotion, and she cups my face with a small palm. “I love you too, Jax. I never stopped.”

This time, when I kiss her, it’s all heart and pent-up emotions I’ve been saving for her for seven years.

“That’s really good news,” I mumble against her lips. Then, I kiss her again, this time while her legs part and knees bend.

I push up on my arms to align myself just right and then guide myself into her snug opening. I push into her, edging my way in as she adjusts around me, squeezing me until my breath is coming in gasps.

I’m sweating by the time I’m halfway in, pumping my hips to push inside her as deep as her body will allow. Aurora isn’t complaining as she presses her heels into my ass, more impatient than I am to feel all of me buried inside her.

“Are you okay?” I ask against her neck.

She nods, lifting her pelvis again to take more of me. “I’m sorry I’m so tight.”

My laughter comes quick, pushing me the rest of the way in, and I groan before kissing her neck. “Baby, it’s a good thing. Trust me.”

I move slowly, desperate to feel every inch of her slide against every inch of me, grinding into her when I can’t get any closer. She palms my ass. I flex, hitting her core and forcing her to slide further up the bed.

Her body was made for me. I know it. The way it moves with mine. The way she fists the sheets like her body is on fire. The way she arches her back, her beautiful tits bouncing in the air.

I pull her toward me so her back is still pressed against the bed but her hips are in the air, forming the perfect arch. I thrust harder, hit deeper, and growl when I see her wide eyes staring at the point where our bodies meet.

“Hey,” I say gently to get her attention. “Eyes up here, beautiful.”

Her long lashes flip up, and I almost come right there. “Switch with me.”

I pull out of her with a wince and roll onto my back, fitting her on top of me with two hands on her waist. She holds me at her entrance before sliding down and rolling her head back with a gasp.

I love the way her hair falls to her ass. The way her curves are on display for me and me only. I scoot back toward the window so she can press her palms against the glass, and she does. How I would love to be staring up at her from outside that window, watching her hips roll with as much grace and power as a trained dancer. Her breasts are soft and heavy beneath my palms, her tips budding to a full bloom as I draw them into my mouth, nipping and sucking as she bobs up and down my shaft.

My hands skate down her ribs, grazing her ass before pressing her hips harder onto me. She picks up speed, nearing her release. Her breathing quickens, her abs tighten, and her muscles clench around me. That’s all it takes to set me off.

We’re both coming, a tangle of screams and grunts as we claw our way to each other’s mouths for one last kiss as our release takes over.

And then we crash.

Jaxon pulls me to his mouth as my release fizzles out, my body abuzz with sensations. I’m filled with air, my head buzzing in a haze spun from love and sex. I feel like I’m floating. I kiss him from his neck down to his chest, unable to get enough. He still loves me. After all this time.

I hear a familiar growl coming from downstairs, and I laugh into Jaxon’s neck. “You think Lacey heard us?”

He smiles at the ceiling, teeth gleaming under the moonlight. “I think all of Balsam Grove’s wildlife heard us.” His eyes find mine as he sweeps my tangled web of hair over my shoulder. “You okay?”

My brows squish together in confusion. “Better than okay.”

His smile fills my chest. “I mean, did I hurt you? Are you sore?”

Heat crawls up my neck. “Oh.” I sit up and stretch my arms, testing them out and then letting them fall by my sides. I shrug. “I’m okay.”

Jaxon’s eyes shine with amusement. He moves a hand over my thighs and squeezes. “I mean here.” He slips a hand to where we’re still connected. “And here.”

My blush deepens. “Oh. It’s a little tender. But I’m okay.”

This time his eyes narrow and his lip curls. He bucks his hips, and I gasp at the feel of him thickening inside me. “Let’s fix that.”

“Again?”

He bites his bottom lip and nods, eyes scanning my naked form. “I should have warned you. I have quite the sexual appetite. Don’t plan on getting any rest tonight, Waterfall Eyes.” His finger moves to my clit, and my entire body begins to tense all over again.

Another growl comes from below, this one so menacing that Jaxon stops his ministrations and turns his head. My pulse quickens.

“What’s wrong with her?”

The cottage isn’t soundproof in the least. We can hear every little sound coming from outside, so I’ve grown accustomed to the snapping of branches and the rustling of trees. But somehow, this feels different.

Lacey lets out another growl and then a sharp bark.

A light shines through the window, hitting my face and practically blinding me. “What the hell?” I scream and move my hands to shield my face as Jaxon pulls out and wrap his arms around me. He flips me around and pushes me onto the bed.

“Shit.” His panicked expression feeds my own worry as he wraps me in the comforter, searching the night for whatever is out there.

Lacey’s barks continue to grow louder.

“Was that a flashlight?” My voice shakes.

He looks over at me. “Sure as hell looked like it. Something spooked Lacey, too. I’m going downstairs to check it out.”

“No! Wait, Jax.” I don’t want him to go anywhere. Not while Lacey is going nuts downstairs.

He kisses my head and tucks himself into his briefs. “It’s fine. Probably a lost hiker who just got the show of his life.” He grins, clearly not as horrified by that prospect as I am. “I’ll just be a second. Don’t get dressed.”

I sigh and flip toward the window, keeping myself covered but moving close enough so I can scan the outside. Was someone watching us? A chill whips through me as I remember the whistling from the night before when I thought someone was watching me in the hot tub. Jesus. My heart pounds loudly in my chest at the possibility that someone could truly be watching me. Because there was someone in the woods at Hollow Falls, too. Jaxon was certain it was just a possessive local who wanted us gone from the falls, but maybe he was wrong.

Jaxon’s heavy feet land on the wood floor. He’s comforting Lacey, whose bark has turned into a light growl. Then I hear the sliding door open. Jaxon must be shining a flashlight into the woods because I see the spotlight moving steadily in a horizontal scan. He’s out there for a few minutes, five tops, before I hear the door close again.

The clacking of Lacey’s paws makes its way across the living room. I can hear her lapping up the water and crunching on the food in the kitchen as Jaxon climbs back up the ladder. He switches off the lamp on the nightstand, leaving us in solid darkness aside from the glow from the half-moon outside. No one will be able to see in now.

Jaxon climbs onto the bed, lifting the covers off me and moving his body over mine. I laugh as his chest practically crushes my front into the bed.

“Coast is clear,” he murmurs into my skin, his beard tickling my back. He kisses me between the shoulder blades before lifting himself to my neck. “You tired?” he asks into my ear, pushing his hips into me so I can feel him thickening again.

“Never,” I moan into the sheets.

“Good.” In one quick movement, he lifts my hips to bring me to my knees, my hands and chest still pressed forward. I gasp as a finger brushes over my opening. “’Cause I’m wide awake.”