Page 15 of Wild River

Blood roars in my ears for a second, jealousy crashing over me in a wave, then I’m breathing through it and mouthing at Becca’s neck. Kissing her warm skin greedily, because it’smehere with her right now,myhand between her legs, not some cold, rich prick who wouldn’t even know how lucky he was. Christ, just thinking about that wedding dress makes my mouth taste like metal.

“He wouldn’t have done this right, Becca.” The image of them together, of some faceless other man getting his hands all over my girl, makes my gut clench and my hands shake. Face buried against her throat, I keep muttering between kisses, letting it all out. “He wouldn’t have realized how good he had it. That he’d won the fucking lottery.”

My thumb slips between her folds, searching for the sensitive little nub of her clit. When I find it, Becca gasps and jerks in my arms, clinging on to my forearm for balance. Lemon-scented dish bubbles pop quietly in the sink.

“Tristan fucking Peters wouldn’t worship the ground you walk on. And that would be a crying shame.”

She’s hot down here too. So wet and slick and needy, chasing my thumb for more friction, moaning with pleasure every time I squeeze her pussy in my grip. Should stop being such a cave man about this, so base and possessive, but I can’t help it. My instincts are riding me hard right now, and they’re all screaming that Becca ismine.

“Say you don’t want him.”

Becca’s laugh is strangled. “Youknowthat I don’t. That’s why I ran away.”

I know, I know, but I still need to hear it. Just hearing those words in Becca’s soft voice, getting that confirmation out loud, soothes my ragged heartbeat.

But it’s not enough. I need more.

My middle finger slides along her slit, skating easily through the slickness there. When I find Becca’s tight hole, I pause there, fingertip pressed lightly against the entrance. Both of us quiver, our breaths shaky in the quiet cabin.

“Say that you want me instead.”

Becca huffs out a weak laugh again, still clinging to my arm. “Duh.”

“Sayit, Becca.”

I’ve never been hungrier to hear a few simple words. Never been so jealous that I can barely think straight. My whole body is taught and overheated, every muscle tensed and shuddering, and if she doesn’t allow me this, if she doesn’t have mercy on me, I’m gonna burst a blood vessel.

Because Iknowthat it was an arranged wedding, and Becca ran away.

I know she didn’t want that guy.

I know this is real, and that was not.

But I keep replaying that moment when I tore her wedding dress open, and if I could, I’d rip it off her a dozen more times. I’d tear that goddamn dress into confetti.

Becca turns her head and nips at my jaw. “If this is an ego thing—”

“It’s not.”

Can’t she see? This isn’t about stroking my ego and making me feel like the bigger man. This is about keeping me sane.

“Well then yeah, obviously I want you, Jake. I’ve wanted you all day. I’ve been going crazy with it.”

Becca says it so casually, like it’s no big deal, but behind her my heart flips over in my chest. My whole body flashes hotter, and my finger trembles as it nudges an inch past her entrance. She’s so slick and tight that I hiss between clenched teeth.

“Good,” I grit out. “That’s good.”

And then we sink into the moment, with no more desperate words, no more jagged thoughts. No more mention of Tristan Peters and the fact that he came so close to claiming her instead. There’s just my thick finger, pressing inside Becca’s tight body, and her quiet whimpers of pleasure, and the two of us standing tangled up together beside the counter. She rocks against my hand, and I stroke her steadily with one finger at first, then two, murmuring all the while at how good she feels. How perfect. How right.

It’s pretty clear from the get-go that Becca hasn’t done this before, because she’s so tight that her channel grips my fingers in a choke hold, and the shocked sounds she makes says that this is all new to her. Call me a brute, but that helps soothe me too.

Knowing that no others have touched her. No one else has gotten this close, no one’s fucked it up and treated her wrong. I’m the first Becca’s trusted with this, and that’s an honor I can barely wrap my head around. When it starts to overwhelm me, I lean down and kiss her neck again, letting my teeth scrape gently against her skin.

“Oh. Oh, god.” Becca’s fingertips are white where she clings to my forearm, and she’s rolling her hips properly now, fucking herself on my hand. “This is—oh my god.Jake.”

Yeah.

Hell yeah.

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