Page 99 of Taking the Pitch
“Hold on, Shortcake. I’m starving.”
She runs a hand through my hair, gripping it tight when I take my first lick. “Yes,” she whispers, grinding her hips into my face.
I quickly set a rhythm of licking and sucking. Applying more and more pressure to her clit with each pass, building her pleasure. Her thrusts soon become erratic as she chases her high. Her moans echoing through the bathroom.
I growl into her and add a finger, then two. Her pussy clamps down around me, welcoming the pressure. I match the strokes of my fingers with the strokes of my tongue, and it doesn’t take long for her to come apart around me.
“Fuck, Judd. I’m coming.”
Her pussy pulses around me, and she soaks my hand with her orgasm. I stay down there, licking her clean as she comes down from her high. Once the tremors have subsided, I grab the underwear I tossed aside, helping her back into them and stand. “Fucking beautiful,” I tell her, bending down and placing a kiss on her lips.
“I love you so much,” she whispers when I pull back and rest my head on hers. My heart soars at her words, just like they did when she said them for the first time Sunday night.
“I love you too, Mills. I always will.”
Dinner is loud and chaotic, and there’s not an inch of empty space on the large dining table. Voices and laughter fill the air along with scents of the mouthwatering food Mom has cooked. Amelia is seated beside me chatting with Lucy, Kara and Kara’s mom, Connie, about a scene in her next book, while we wait for Mom and Dad to finish carving the turkeys and hams. Kessler and I both offered to help, like we do every year, but Mom shooed us out of the kitchen, like she also does every year. Brent and his sister, Cass, are sitting on the other side of me talking in low whispers. Reese is sitting across from them, playing on his phone but looking uncomfortable. You bet I’ll be poking that bear later.
Someone taps my foot under the table, and I tear my gaze away from Amelia to see Kessler staring at me. He tips his head to the sliding door that leads to my parent’s backyard.
“I’ll be right back.” I tell Amelia, dropping a kiss on her head and getting up from my seat. She nods and gives me a smile before turning back to the girls to talk. Kessler does the same with Lucy.
The noise is muted as Kessler shuts the door behind him and heads over to the covered patio, taking a seat on one of the chairs. I sit down in a matching chair next to him. We both look out at the expansive backyard we were lucky enough to play in growing up. “How is she?” Kessler asks, propping his foot up on his knee. His breath puffs out in a white cloud in front of him. It’s not raining, but it’s cold.
I sigh and scrub a hand down my face. “She’s actually doing okay. She had a nightmare the first night after it happened and a few panic attacks, but has been doing pretty good besides that. She had an appointment with her therapist on Tuesday and saw her doctor yesterday to make sure her wounds were healing properly and her concussion symptoms weren’t getting worse.”
“And how are you doing?” he asks, giving me his big brother stare down that means ‘don’t bullshit me’.
“I’m… okay. I know once she’s able to drive herself, it’s going to be harder to let her out of my sight, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”
“Have you thought about talking to someone?”
I give him a questioning look. “Like a therapist?”
He nods. “Yeah, or if you don’t want to do that, you could always just talk to me about it, get it off your chest instead of bottling it up inside?”
“I’m not the one who was attacked, Kess.”
Kessler drops his foot to the ground, sitting forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “No, but you witnessed some ofit. You saw the woman you love being attacked. She could have lost her life. That has to be traumatic for anyone.”
The image of Amelia fighting for her life flashes through my mind. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life and I don’t think I’ll be able to get it out of my head for a long time. If ever,” I admit.
“I don’t even want to imagine what I would do if it had been Lucy. That guy is lucky he’s alive.”
“Trust me, I wanted to kill him. But the need to see if Amelia was okay overrode that urge.”
The back door opens, halting our conversation, and Mom’s head pokes out. “Everything okay?” she asks.
We both nod, getting to our feet.
“Well, dinner’s ready, you two. Come eat.”
We walk in and take our seats. Once everyone is seated, I notice one chair is empty. Just as I’m about to ask where he is, the mudroom door opens, and Garrett comes in. His long hair dirty-blond is pulled back into a low bun and his ice-blue eyes take in the room, staying a beat too long on Kara before continuing and finding Mom. “Sorry I’m late, Mom.” His deep voice rumbles through the now quiet room.
“No worries, dear. There’s a seat right next to Kara for you,” Mom tells him. Lucy and Kessler share a smirk. And I cough a laugh into my fist. Leave it to Mom to play subtle matchmaker.
Conversations start back up and the buzz of voices once again fills the room.
“Wow, he is stupidly attractive,” Amelia mutters, eyes not leaving Garrett as he takes his seat next to Kara, who’s turned a couple of shades of red.
