Page 60 of The Bitterroot Inn (Jamison Valley 5)
I was laughing so hard, the roller slipped out of my hand and crashed onto my bare toes, only making me laugh harder. For the first time in months, I laughed like I didn’t have a worry in the world, just like Coby did when I tickled him.
I laughed like a happy woman.
A happy woman covered in paint.
Finally getting myself under control, I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. “Is it your life’s goal to scare me to death?”
“No.” He used his thumb to wipe a paint drop off my cheek. “My life’s goal is to keep that smile on your face.”
I opened my mouth but closed it before speaking.
Heavens above.
He hadn’t even kissed me yet but I was totally falling for this man. I was falling for the way he made me feel precious. For how he saw the best in me, especially when I didn’t see it myself. For how beautiful I felt when he was around, even in bed hair and wrinkled old pajamas and paint.
“You’re blushing, Blondie,” he whispered and stepped closer.
My breath hitched and the flush in my cheeks got hotter. My chin tipped up so I could keep a hold of his eyes. The brown was darker tonight, not their normal caramel, but more like milk chocolate. Even in the dim light, I could see the flecks of cinnamon near their centers.
“How determined are you to finish this painting tonight?” he asked.
“I don’t, um . . . huh?”
His hand came up and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “I really want to kiss you but it’s going to take a while. If you’re set on painting, then we’ll do that instead.”
I swallowed hard. “Kiss.”
The second the word left my mouth, his came crashing down. The soft heat from his lips melted mine open so his tongue could sweep inside. Hunter’s arms wrapped around my back, pulling me tight and the paint on our clothes glued us together. Fisting the material of his T-shirt on his back, I held on as he plundered my mouth.
His tongue worked so smoothly against mine, stroking and exploring, that when he nipped my bottom lip, I gasped. Hunter grinned against my lips, then did it again, this time sending a pulse right to my center. We kissed for what felt like hours, standing locked together, until the paint on my fingers started to crack. When we finally broke apart, my lips were wonderfully swollen and I was desperate to fill my lungs with air.
“Hunter,” I moaned on an inhale as his kisses trailed across my cheek and over to my ear.
“What do you want, Maisy?” His question was hoarse and rough, the vibration just making the ache in my core even stronger.
“You. I want you.” I dropped his shirt in my hands and trailed my palms down to his firm ass, giving it a hard squeeze.
He growled in my ear, pressing his erection against my hip, then bit the sensitive spot behind the hinge of my jaw. The sting made the throbbing between my legs nearly unbearable.
My hands left his ass and came to the hem of my sticky tank. I leaned back to yank it up my torso but Hunter’s hands came down on mine. “Let me.”
I dropped the sticky cotton and let him take the hem. With one fast tug, I was naked from the waist up. My nipples were already pebbled from our kiss, but the cool air drifting in from the windows made them prickle. Hunter’s large hands cupped both of my breasts, squeezing the soft, small curves as he dragged his thumbs
across my nipples.
“Close your eyes,” he ordered.
I obeyed, shuddering as he kept at my breasts. With every squeeze, every tug, every roll, the throbbing at my core intensified until I was dizzy. When one of his hands ran down my stomach and into the waistband of my shorts, I knew he’d find me wet.
His fingers slipped between my folds, circling my entrance and bringing the wetness up to my clit. When he gave my bud two flicks, I nearly collapsed. Hunter’s other arm abandoned my breast and banded around my back, holding me up as his long and talented middle finger continued dipping in and out.
My head fell back, my neck limp, when his mouth closed over my nipple. “Hunter,” I gasped. His teeth nipped, then sucked hard and my pussy clenched once around his finger. I felt his smile on my skin before he slid two fingers inside and hooked them to hit the right spot.
“Oh my god.” My legs gave out completely and his mouth broke away from my nipple so he could stand tall and keep me from falling into the paint-covered plastic.
“I’ve got you, baby.”
I forced my eyes open and found my feet. “Bed. Let’s go to my bed.”
