Chapter 1

Gage

Snow trickled down steadily from the thick grey clouds above. Warm candle light spilled through the kitchen and dining room. Shadows danced along the walls. The heater kicked on to combat the chill clinging to the air, but not down here. Not with Amber standing in front of me, dressed in a pair of skintight, maroon-colored leggings and a tight, long-sleeved shirt that hugged her breasts perfectly. Her blonde and wavy hair was pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head, and strands of hair framed her pale face.

Candle light flickered in her blue eyes that were shimmering with desire. I swallowed thickly as she took a slow and deliberate step towards me. Within a matter of seconds, things would change. I wouldn’t be straddling that line of wanting Amber, my best friend’s adult daughter, in my bed. It wouldn’t be a long-desired fantasy any longer. Everything would change.

I couldn’t think straight, even if I wanted to. My skin tightened around muscles and bone, making it hard to shift without pain. Blood rushed down in a southerly direction. My cock hardened with anticipation when Amber’s full red lips parted to inhale sharply.

“You’re beautiful,” I said, and the roughness in my voice wasn’t surprising. I was trying desperately to hold my breath to keep control over the rage of lust in me. “So beautiful, Amber. You have no fucking idea how beautiful you are.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Gage, please.”

Those two little words nearly unhinged me. The desire in Amber’s eyes was bright and flickering, no longer murky behind other emotions. She took another step to close the gap between us. The first brush of her soft hands against mine sent electric jolts up my arms. She gently coaxed my hands to rest on the fullness of her hips. A shiver went up my spine when her fingers traced the veins up my arms before resting on the curve of my shoulders.

Her body was thrumming with energy. I could feel it radiating off her in waves, and my own body was soaking it up eagerly. It felt right, too fucking right with Amber’s delicate, but strong body pressing up against my own. There was nothing naïve about her touch as her fingers slid down to rest on my upper chest, bunching the fabric of my shirt there.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked quietly.

My own fingers started to trace the curve of her hips through the soft cotton fabric of her leggings. They rolled seamlessly underneath my touch.

Rapid breaths escaped Amber’s lips as her chest heaved. My own heart was pounding furiously against my ribcage. I couldn’t breathe easily, either, against the tension bubbling between us.

“Of course, I am,” she murmured, gripping the fabric of my shirt tightly. “I’ve wanted you for so long, Gage. You have no idea.”

I groaned inwardly at that confession. “How long?”

“Since I was a sophomore in high school.” Her lips curved up into a smile. “Do you remember the summer barbecues my dad used to do?”

Summer barbecues in Colorado Springs at the Roselyn house were one of the few memories I had over the past ten years that were full of life and happiness, outside of my daughter. I nodded affirmatively.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Amber whispered. “But I just felt things for you then that never went away. You had taken off your shirt to jump into the swimming pool, and I kept thinking how sexy you were. How any woman would be lucky to experience that in their bed every single night.”

My eyes slipped closed when Amber’s hands slid up to trace the muscles in my neck. Her fingers buried into the strands of my hair, massaging my scalp expertly. She was trying to ease the tension out of me, to get me to cave in.

Which was working. I could feel my resolve starting to crumble, fast and hard. It took all my strength to not snag her up into my arms to kiss her senselessly. Ethan was sound asleep on the couch with a blanket tucked around him securely behind Amber, while Lily slept in the adjacent couch with her favorite blanket. I couldn’t risk waking one of the kids up to see us wrapped up in one another. They had been through enough.

“Amber,” I warned.

“Shh.” She placed a finger on my lips. “Come back upstairs, Gage. I’m telling you that I want you, that I have wanted you for a very long time. Don’t question it.”

“I just want to make sure that you know what will happen.” I caught her eyes then. “What it will do if we go through with this.”

A frown tugged at her lips. “You’re implying that what we feel for one another is a bad thing.”

“Because that’s how others will see it. Your dad—”

“Do me a favor, and don’t mention my dad. He doesn’t have control over who I want, or who I want to be with.” A fire filled Amber’s eyes then. “I’m twenty-five years old. I’m an adult who is capable of making decisions when it comes to life and sex. And I want you, Gage. Only you. You’re the only man I have ever wanted.”

She grasped my hand, drawing it away from her hip, and tugged me in the direction of the stairs. My legs followed without hesitation, despite the war raging in my head. My heart and cock were already set on having Amber. There was no denying the stiff erection pressed uncomfortably against the band of my jeans, begging to be released.

This was my best friend’s daughter. I had watched her grow up into a young and beautiful woman over the years. When had things shifted? I couldn’t recall the time when I no longer looked at Amber as the young teenage girl with braces and innocent smile. All I could focus on was the firm curve of Amber’s ass cheeks that were on full display while I followed her up the stairs.

All sane thoughts and logic were chased away when Amber pushed the door open to my bedroom. She closed it shut behind me, locking it just in case.

I’m not sure who moved first, but the final resolve of my self-control crumpled. My arms were wrapped tightly around Amber’s trim waist while her head tilted back in anticipation of a kiss. The first brush of her lips against mine, feather light and tasting of vanilla, drained the rest of the blood from my head. Heat seared through the center of me. I teetered on the ledge of completely losing control when Amber’s teeth nipped at my lower lip, tugging at it seductively.

I jumped off that fucking ledge.

A growl tore through my throat as I pressed my lips against hers for a kiss. Her lips met mine eagerly, parting without hesitation when I swept a tongue along the line of her lips. The taste of her, overwhelmed my senses as the tips of our tongues battled for dominance, and our hands gripped at what they could grip at.

Lust blinded me. I couldn’t see straight, even if I tried to look past Amber. My hands eagerly explored the firmness of her ass cheeks before sliding up under her shirt. Her skin was soft and hot underneath my fingertips, while her own hands reached for my shirt to tug at it insistently. I was reluctant to let go of the sensation of Amber’s skin, but desperate to get closer to her as much as possible.

The heat between us soared higher. I tore my lips away from Amber’s mouth to kiss my way down the column of her throat. Her pulse pounded against my teeth when I tasted the salty skin there.

“Gage,” she groaned, pressing up against me. “Please. Don’t tease me.”

“Foreplay is essential,” I said against her skin. “I’m well aware of how women need some extra time to get ready.”

Her nails scratched their way down the curve of my back. I let out a hiss of arousal at that, while her lips curved up into a seductive smile.

“Ten years’ worth of foreplay is enough,” she said.

Our lips met in another heated kiss while I tried to blindly navigate through the room with Amber in my arms. I felt the edge of the bed hit the back of my legs, and twisting around with Amber in my arms, I laid her down on the edge. She let out a gasp against my lips, but raised her arms without prompt. I gathered the fabric of her ribbed shirt in my fingers. Blood pounded in my veins as I tugged her shirt up and over.

Perfectly rounded breasts threatened to spill out of the simple black bra she wore. Her stomach was toned from years of running after Ethan. She was utterly fucking perfect, every man’s wet dream.

“Your turn,” Amber said.

She grabbed the hem of my own shirt, tugging it upward before standing up to pull it over my head. Before I could reach forward to cup a perfectly shaped breast, Amber’s hands were trailing down my chest in teasing and fiery trails.

“Amber.”

“Hmm?”

Hot and wet lips pressed up against my shoulder.

“What are you doing?” I groaned out as those wicked lips trailed further down the center of my chest.

Warm breath puffed against my lower stomach. A finger dipped into the band of my jeans teasingly against my rock-hard cock. My head fell back at the simple, but erotic touch. I was ready to bury myself into this woman hard. I couldn’t even think straight any longer.

I reached down to grab at her shoulders, but Amber swatted them away. She undid the button of my jeans with a mischievous smile. Oh, fuck no. My hips thrusted forward eagerly at the thought before I could even control the urge. There was no way in sweet hell that I would last with that hot mouth on me.

“Don’t you dare,” I whispered harshly. “I won’t last, Amber. Fuck. I won’t last at all if you do what I’m thinking you are going to do.”

My jeans loosened, followed by the zipper. I was powerless as she tugged the fabric of my jeans and boxers down. My cock strained toward her, hard and glistening at the tip. It throbbed when Amber’s fingers wrapped around it firmly with an appreciative groan.

“So big,” she murmured. “Just like I imagined. Just one little taste, Gage. That’s all I’m going to do.”

“That better be it,” I said hoarsely. “I’m not wasting this time on a blow job.”

“Just a taste.”

The second that sweet heat engulfed the tip of me intimately, I was gone. I was lost in a violent sea of pleasure that I tried to swim through, but it was too hard. Amber’s lips moved up and down expertly. Her hands gripped my hips tightly in response when I let out a jagged cry. I couldn’t think past the heat of her mouth, or the delicious friction of her lips on my cock.

I was on the brink of one of the best damn orgasms of my life with the woman of my fantasies in control of it. Except, I wasn’t going to be the only one on the brink. She would be too.

“Slow it down, baby,” I gritted out, reaching down to disengage her mouth from me. My balls ached in response, but I ignored the pain of it. “I’m not the only one here that is going to have an orgasm.”

Amber rose to her feet while she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. There were times that I could still see that innocence in her eyes. She had only been with one man before me. Sex was still a relatively new concept for her, but damn, those talented hands and kissable mouth knew otherwise.

I gathered her in my arms to kiss her again. Her breasts pushed up against my chest. Unable to stand it any longer, I reached around to the clasp of her bra. The fabric loosened against her shoulders, and I coaxed the straps down before tossing it to the ground. My mouth went dry as I took in the perfect mounds of liquid flesh with pink nipples that were straining for attention.

It occurred to me then that I would never be able to let Amber out of this bedroom. She was the woman I wanted, and a part of me knew that I would never be able to let go now that we were sprinting across boundaries to the other side.

“Gage?”

I looked up at the surprising tininess in her voice. Nervousness stretched across her face when our eyes met.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I just… I just thought you were disappointed for a moment.”

I bit back a scoff. Disappointed? I was standing in front of her, pants down and around my ankles still, with a hard erection begging to be buried in her sweet heat. I never felt more exposed in my entire life, but this was Amber. I reminded myself that while she was an adult, she was still young to understanding that any hot-blooded male was going to be insanely happy with a woman like her in front of them.

Reaching forward, I curved my hand along her cheek to bring her in for a soft kiss that instantly lessened the tension in her spine.

“I would never be disappointed with you,” I whispered, brushing a thumb along her cheekbone. “You’re beautiful, Amber. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.”

She smiled up at me softly. “Thank you.”

I coaxed her to lay across the middle of my bed, helping her settle against the pillows there. I kicked my jeans and boxers away before climbing onto the bed. A shiver went up my spine while I leaned over her. I gazed down at her as that same heat and passion returned to the blue orbs looking up at me.

“Ready for this?”