Page 70 of Denim & Diamonds

Brock guided me to lie back and climbed on top of me. When he lined himself up at my opening this time, he kept his gaze locked on mine while he pushed inside. He glided back and forth lovingly, taking his time and going slow. Once he was fully seated, his eyes closed briefly. “I’ve always thought a little place by the lake was heaven. I was wrong. Being inside you is better. You feel incredible, February.”

We moved together, our bodies rocking in unison, kissing like the lovers we were right now. It was the most connected and emotional experience of my life.Brock became my world, and in the moment, I never wanted to live anywhere else.

Too soon though, the tension grew to be too much. As much as I didn’t want the moment to end, it was coming, fast and furious. Brock’s thrusts grew harder, his jaw tightened, but neither of us could stop it.

“Brock…”

“Right there with you, sweetheart.” His voice was strained. “I feel you squeezing me.”

My orgasm took root, and my eyes fluttered closed.

“Open, February. I want to watch you give everything to me, at least this once.”

That was all it took. I moaned as my body contracted and pulsed, feeling waves of warmth spread through my chest. When I started to come down from the high, Brock sped up his thrusts. He looked into my eyes as he released, and I will never, ever forget the moment.

He kissed my lips gently for a long time after, still gliding in and out. Brock pushed my sweaty hair back from my face. “Crazy about you, Red.”

I turned and kissed the palm of his hand with a smile. “Crazy about you, too, Lumberjack.”

***

We pulled up to Sierra after the sun was already up.

“You want me to drop you at the door?” he asked. “They can’t kick you out when you’re being discharged today anyway.”

I smiled. “Nah. I’ll use the ladder for old times’ sake.”

We drove around the back of the building, and Brock pulled up at our usual spot under my window. He killed theengine.

After I gave him his phone back, I made sure he had my actual cell phone number.

“I don’t know how to say goodbye to you,” I whispered.

“So don’t.” He pushed up his shirt sleeve, revealing his wrist, and unhooked a bracelet he always wore. It was a simple silver bar. I’d noticed it a few times before but had never gotten around to asking if it had any significance—one of the many things I’d never get to ask.

“Give me your wrist,” he said.

I held out my hand, and he clasped the bracelet around it.

“My grandparents got together a month before my grandfather went into the military. She was a jewelry maker and made him this. The numbers engraved on the bar are the coordinates to the land you were on today—where I’m building my house. It was their land for fifty years. I want you to have this in case you ever decide to come back. That way you’ll always know where to find me.”

CHAPTER 15

Brock

Everything sucked this morning.

The skies were gray.

The morning news was depressing.

My eggs were runny.

My coffee couldn’t get hot enough, even though I’d nuked it five times. Now it tasted like mud.

Oak hadn’t done his business when I’d taken him out earlier, so now the rest of the morning would revolve around his damn bowels.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Was it that everything sucked today, or did things justseemworse because I’d had to say goodbye to her earlier this morning?

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