Page 33 of Shadows Redeemed
“Sounds amazing. And a little terrifying.”
He chuckled as he leaned his head back against the wall. “Oh, it definitely can be. I remember this one time, Jacob and I took a little johnboat out fishing. We were maybe fourteen, fifteen at the time. Anyway, we’re out there in the middle of nowhere, and suddenly this massive gator surfaces right next to us. I swear, it was as long as the boat.”
Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. “What did you do?”
“Honestly?” He chuckled some more, a grin spreading across his face. “We screamed like little girls and paddled for shore as fast as we could. Jacob likes to tell everyone he stayed calm and cool, protected me even, but trust me, my badass brother was just as freaked out as I was.”
Sage laughed, the sound brightening the dim cabin. “I can just picture it. Two teenage boys flailing around in a tiny boat, trying to outrun an alligator.”
He leaned back, his brows pinched. “Hey now, there was very little flailing.” He settled back against the wall with a harrumph. “It was all very manly paddling, I’ll have you know.”
They both dissolved into laughter, and for the first time since he saw her, he felt as if things were actually going his way. As it faded, he felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him. “God, I miss those days sometimes. Everything seemed so much simpler then. Jacob and I were best friends, not… whatever we are now.”
She reached out and squeezed his hand. “You’re still brothers. And best friends. He’s proving that by trying to keep you out of his mess.”
He sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I know. I just wish he’d trust me more, you know? Let me help instead of suddenly trying to protect me.”
“Have you told him that?”
“In several different ways. He still sees me as his baby brother, someone he needs to look out for. No matter what I do, I’m always going to be the kid who needs rescuing in his eyes.”
“We all need rescuing at one time or another. Be glad he’s around to do it.”
He sighed again. “Let’s hope we can clear him so he can keep doing it.”
For a long moment, they stayed that way, breathing each other in. Then Parker pulled back slightly, his gaze dropping to Sage’s lips. She met his eyes, a question in her expression. He could feel his heart racing, felt the catch in his breath. She worried about him, which meant she cared. Unexpected still, perhaps, but no longer complicated. He wanted her. She wanted him. That’s all that mattered.
He eased around, leaning into her, giving her plenty of time to stop him.
She didn’t stop him.
Their lips met in a soft, tentative kiss—gentle, sweet, and full of promise. And in that moment, everything seemed to stop.
When they separated, Sage’s eyes were shining. “Wow,” she breathed.
“Yeah.” He felt a silly grin spread across his face. “Don’t get me wrong. Last night was amazing, but this…”
She leaned up and kissed him again, this time harder, and he felt the urgency in her lips. When she leaned back, her eyessparkled with her desire. “There’s a time for soft. And a time for wild abandon. Guess which I want now.”
And then he pushed her back onto the sleeping bag.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SHE DIDN’T RESIST AS Parker pushed her back on to the sleeping bag, his hands going to her shirt and sliding it up her body. Sage reached for the button on his pants, ripping them open as their lips found each other again once her shirt was off. She felt him slide his powerful hands around to her back, where he made quick work of her bra clasp.
As he slid the straps down her shoulders and arms, he followed it with soft kisses, his lips scorching her flesh with the need that burned throughout her body. The night air caressed her skin as she let him lean her back to expose her breasts, and then he leaned down and devoured them, his hands pressing on her back, clutching her to him. A moan slipped out of her as she shoved her hand inside his pants to grip his growing erection. She was through fighting what her heart was telling her. It was time to take what she wanted, and right then, she wanted him inside of her.
She gripped his waistband, jerking his pants down over his hips and ass. He let go of her, fell backward, and kicked his shoes off to remove his pants the rest of the way, and then, while he finished stripping, she did the same. Within seconds, their naked bodies wrapped around each other once more, fallingback onto the sleeping bag as the night sounds of the bayou cloaked them.
He ravaged her with kisses—her neck, her ear, her breasts—until he found her lips once more and drove into her with a fiery passion that made her gasp into his mouth. Wrapping her legs around his, she dug her nails into his back, urging him to go faster. With her head rolling back, pressing into the sleeping bag, she felt as if she were on fire as soft mewling sounds of pleasure bubbled out of her. God, he felt so fucking good. Great. Terrific. Oh, fuck!
It didn’t take long before her orgasm ripped through her, her entire body going taut as she cried out, digging her nails into him even harder. She didn’t care. There was no controlling herself. Her body had a mind of its own, and right then, all it wanted to do was explode with the euphoric sensations of her pleasure.
It seemed to go on forever, her back arching as she shoved her breasts into his face, and then there was a vigorous shudder, and she collapsed back onto the sleeping bag.
Parker kept pounding into her, his hands on either side of her chest as his hips slammed into hers. She stared into his eyes, her mouth a small O as he rocked her back and forth with his thrusts. And then she felt his cock twitch as he shoved inside of her one last time, pinning himself to her as he filled her with his passion.
As soon as she felt him ease up, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, where she kissed him hard and long. She relished the weight of him on her, the way he still filled her wetness with his spear, neither of them in any hurry to move.
