Page 75 of Wild & Worthy

She’s quiet for a moment, taking it all in. Her eyes search mine, but there’s no pity there. No disappointment either. “Chace Walker. You’re a fucking idiot.” She looks at me like I just told her the grass is green, not that I’m some no-good loser. “One, there is absolutely no reason for you to be homeless when you work on two ranches with plenty of space and bunks. So yes, you are a fucking idiot for keeping that to yourself and sitting around drowning in your own self-pity and stubborn pride.”

She pulls me closer, taking my face in both of her hands. “And if you think for one second that sacrificing everything you had left — your body, your pride, your security — for someone you love makes you a bad person, then you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought.” Her thumbs brush over my cheeks. “That doesn’t make you selfish, Chace. It makes you selfless, you damn fool.”

“Addie—” I try to argue, try to explain to her that people leave. That eventually everyone gets tired of carrying someone else’s shit. Something, anything that might make her understand why I keep things to myself. But she covers my mouth with her hand, and God fucking help me, the move makes my dick twitch beneath her despite the seriousness of the conversation.

“No. Hard stop, Chace. I know a thing or two about stubborn pride. I’m just as stubborn as your stupid ass.” Her eyes stay locked on mine. “I don’t have all the answers, and I’m not going to pretend I do, but you’re not doing this alone anymore. We’re going to figure it out together.”

Chapter twenty-eight

Chace

Together.

Her words hit me so hard it’s almost painful. She doesn’t want to fix me. She’s not looking at me like I’m some sad guy she needs to save. Instead, she’s just putting herself beside me, like there was never any other place she would’ve chosen to be.

My hands leave her waist and slide up to cup her face. I don’t have anything smart-ass to say. Or some filthy comment to hide behind. I just look at her for one more second, trying to understand how the hell this woman can find out everything I don’t have to offer, and still be sitting here saying we’ll figure it out together.

Then I kiss her. I kiss her because there isn’t a single fucking thing I could say that would even come close to what I’m feeling right now. Because if I don’t put my mouth on hers, I’m afraid I might say something I can’t take back.

She melts into the kiss instantly, her arms sliding around my neck as she presses herself against me, and somehow that simple answer feels bigger than anything she’s said. She moves even closer, and my chest tightens. My hands are shaking when I bring them to her face, and there isn't a damn thing I can do to stop them.

“Chace.” She breathes against my mouth.

“Yeah?” I don’t even know what the hell I’m answering. I just know I’m here, with her, and I don’t want to be anywhere else ever again. I slide my arm around her and lower her onto the blanket, but once she’s underneath me, I just stop and drink her in. She’s stretched out in front of me with almost nothing but my shirt hanging half open, the last of the evening sun warming her skin from her collarbone all the way down to her thighs. Her hair is still a mess from swimming earlier, her lips swollen from our kisses, and the way she’s looking up at me makes it feel like I’m the only man in the fucking world.

I told her once that she deserved a man who would worship her. Someone who wouldn’t want another woman after having her. At the time, I was half out of my mind with jealousy I didn’t understand, picturing some asshole eventually getting everything I was trying so damn hard not to want for myself.

“What’s wrong?” She whispers.

“Nothing.” My voice comes out rougher than I expect because, apparently, I’m the asshole who’s ruined for anyone but her. “Just admiring you.” I reach down and slowly undo each button of the shirt, one at a time, pushing the fabric farther open until it’s spread around her. She’s left in nothing but her panties, and fuck, I already know this is a sight I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.

I bend down and take her mouth in mine briefly before moving to her jaw, kissing her slowly while she shivers beneath my touch, and this time I know damn well it isn’t from the cold.

Her breath catches as her fingers tighten in my hair. I move lower, taking my time tasting the skin along the curve of her neck and collarbone. There’s no rush tonight. No desperate need to see how fast I can make her fall apart beneath me. I already know every sensitive spot that drives her wild, and tonight I want to linger over every damn one of them.

I keep pressing soft kisses down her body until I reach her breasts, slowly taking one peaked nipple into my mouth and circling my tongue around it. Her back lifts from the blanket, her fingers twisting into the fabric as she sucks in a sharp breath. I grin against her skin before moving to the other, giving it the same attention. Then I trail kisses lower, toward the spot beneath her ribs that makes her stomach tighten. Every piece of her I’ve memorized without even trying. When I reach her thighs, I make quick work of removing her panties, pausing long enough to take in the sight of her already slick core glistening in the moonlight that’s now wrapped around us.

When my mouth grazes her inner thigh, she sits up, propping herself on her elbows to watch me. “Lie back and just feel, Addie.”

She obeys without hesitation. I will never get over the fact that this strong-willed, independent woman eagerly gives me this level of control over her in her most vulnerable moments. The thought makes something swell in my chest as I begin tracing kisses up her inner thigh, only hesitating for a second when I reach her center, followed by a swipe of my tongue along her slit.

That first touch makes her entire body jolt, and the cry that leaves her carries out over the valley, echoing in the distance. I smile against her. This is so much better than I imagined.

I work her into a frenzy with my mouth before sliding two fingers inside her. I pump them slowly at first, curling them just right as I circle her clit with my tongue, and then suck until her thighs tighten around me, and I know she’s close. Right fucking there. But just before she can fall over the edge into oblivion, I pull back.

“Please, Chace,” she breathes. “Don’t stop.”

“Not yet.”

I want to leave her right there until she’s half out of her mind with want and begging for me to let her come. Until neither of us can take another second of it. Then, I want us to fall apart together.

I sit back and remove my pants, but before I can pull her onto my lap, she gets on her knees and bends down, placing a small kiss on the tip of my cock.

“You’ve had your fun. Now, it’s my turn,” she grins wickedly, looking up at me through hooded lashes as she trails kisses up my inner thighs.

Her soft lips feel so damn good against my skin that a groan rips from my chest as she cups my balls in one hand and starts kissing up my shaft. Precum is already beading at the top, and she licks it clean with one swipe of her tongue.

“Spit on it, baby,” I demand.