After he’d moved far outside of the city to Pescadero on the self-imposed isolation of a thousand acres of rolling farmland, and before Lori had come into his life, he had shut himself off from the world. He’d blamed himself for not recognizing his late wife’s problem with alcohol until it was too late—and for not being able to rewind time and undo the car accident that had taken her life. He had planned on being alone forever…until the day a car he didn’t recognize had driven up his long gravel driveway, swerved to avoid a chicken, and crashed into a fencepost.
When Lori emerged from the car, Grayson had been beyond stunned. Never in his life had he seen such a beautiful woman. Nor had he expected her to try to catch the runaway chicken while wearing sequins and spike heels.
He had been rude—worse than that, he had been downright mean—as he’d tried to send her on her way. But she had been irritatingly stubborn and refused to leave.
The farther away he’d tried to push her, the closer she’d come.
Thank God.
Lori Sullivan had blown into his life without the slightest hint of warning. Her beauty had aroused him, her big mouth had irritated him—but it was her laughter that had changed everything for him.
She was not only the person he loved most in the world, she was also a partner who stood her ground like no other. Utterly determined, she was the most fun, loving person on the planet.
All along, he had thought he wanted a quiet, simple life. He grinned as he thought how boring that would be compared to the joyful roller-coaster ride Lori had taken him on from the very first day.
Feeling his grin against her lips, she drew back. “You’re not thinking about something from the farm, are you? Like how silly the pigs were being this morning before we left?”
Loving to tease her, he replied, “You know how much I appreciate farm animals and their antics.”
“I’ll show you antics.” Laughter and arousal lit her eyes as she stepped back and did a little shimmy.
A scrap of red lace fell to her feet, and his heart rate went up at least fifty beats per minute. They’d made love that morning, and the night before, for that matter, but it wasn’t enough.
He could never get enough of his wife.
“With everyone showing up soon,” she said, “I wasn’t actually planning on getting naked. But what the heck, let’s walk on the wild side for once.”
“For once?”
His once was strangled by the out-and-out lust that seized him as she yanked her dress over her head and tossed it on the nearest twin bed. When they’d left the house this morning, he hadn’t realized she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath her dress. If he had, he wasn’t sure they would ever have made it out of their bedroom.
In fact, he thought with brain cells that were working at only half speed while his wife was standing in front of him in all her naked, glowing glory, at this point he wasn’t sure they’d be coming out of this bedroom any time soon. Lori’s family and friends would have to wait until he was done wringing every ounce of pleasure out of his beautiful wife.
“Gorgeous.”
Though he made sure to keep his hands gentle on her bare skin, he couldn’t help crushing her mouth under his in a passionate kiss. She moved against him with a catlike purr, working to get closer.
“I want to see you too,” she whispered breathlessly against his lips. Her fingers made short work of the buttons on his long-sleeved shirt, and she was soon shoving it off. As she ran her hands over his shoulders and then down his pectoral muscles, she gave a happy little sigh. “Talk about gorgeous. Maybe it’s shallow of me, but I never get tired of looking at you.” She grinned up at him. “Good thing I’ve never spent much time worrying about being shallow.”
“You’re the most giving person I know,” he reminded her. Lori was harder on herself than anyone else. Yes, she had spunk, and spark, and could be irritating as hell. But she was never cruel or hurtful. And she gave so much more of herself than she expected from anyone else.
“Funny you should say that, because I’m in the mood to give you something I think you’re really going to like. Scratch that—you’re going to love it.”
With that, she gracefully dropped to her knees, clad only in the heels he hadn’t been able to convince her to give up as her pregnancy progressed. The truth was, she really could dance across a tightrope in heels.
Still, that didn’t stop him from worrying. Hell, nothing could stop him from worrying. Nothing except—
The feel of her hands, and then her sweet mouth, on his erection instantly stole his thoughts away. All he could see, all he could feel was Lori. Her skin flushing with excitement and arousal, her tongue sliding up his hard length as though he was the most delicious treat she’d ever tasted.
On a groan that he barely remembered to muffle, he threaded his hands into her hair. Pleasure at her touch had him tightening his fingers in the strands. But instead of complaining about his rough touch, Lori only grew more excited.
He knew how much she loved to tempt him, to tease him, to break through his self-control. And it was the same for him—few things were better than when his spitfire of a wife fully let go while they were making love.
The raw sensuality of her mouth and hands on him had him nearly losing it right then and there. More than his own pleasure, however, he wanted to feel Lori’s heart beating against his chest, her skin slick as it slid against his, her mouth available for him to devour as she tumbled over the edge.
Withdrawing, he bent to lift her to her feet.
“Spoilsport,” was the only word he let her get out before he kissed her, claiming her mouth again with deep possessiveness.
“Later,” he promised her. “I’m going to play with you until your voice is hoarse from crying out.”
“Now,” she begged. “Do it now. Everyone at the party can wait.”
But he was already turning them around so that she was facing the door and he was behind her. Gently, he placed her hands flat against the wood on either side of her head.
“Stay exactly like this. Don’t move, or I’ll stop.”
“You’d have steam coming out of your ears, among other places, if you walked away from me now,” she countered.
But she stayed right where she was, causing his smile to widen.
Grayson knew better than to think that Lori would ever let him control her life, her decisions, her actions—and he would never want to steal away her independence. But they both loved these moments when she gave him her trust and let him guide their pleasure.
All because she knew that nothing was more important to him than her happiness.
Not one single thing mattered more to Grayson than Lori.
Stepping back to look at her, he appreciated the strength of her shoulders, the elegance of her spine, the sweet curve of her hips—and of course, those long, luscious legs that had taken his breath away from the start.
“I don’t know how you do it,” he murmured as he ran his hands slowly over her bare skin. “How you grow more and more beautiful with every day that passes.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but whatever words she’d been about to speak turned into a gratifying moan of pleasure when he slid one hand around from her hips to the vee between her thighs. She was so warm and so soft and so damned slick that she wasn’t the only one moaning as he caressed her.