Page 16 of Autumn be His Wife
What kind of person would take in a stray without asking for anything in return?
Sounds way too good to be true. If it came from someone who wasn’t Dusty, someone I know isn’t a good man at heart, then I’d be skeptical.
“Eli likes you, too. I can talk to him, but I’m sure he doesn’t mind your company.” He sighs softly. “It’s been years since my home has felt this lively. I don’t want it to end.”
He wants me to stay.Hewantsmeto stay.
The concept feels so foreign that I consider asking him to repeat himself so I can make sure I heard it right.
“Can I ask why?” Not wanting him to change his mind, I’m dying to know. We both know why I came to this small town, but there’s no way he’d want to put a ring on my finger instead. Heck, I don’t even have to get married at all if that’s what he wants.
When he doesn’t answer immediately, I panic.
What if he starts questioning his reasons before letting doubt slip in? I can’t let that happen.
“Tell me, Dusty.” The words are a breathless rush, tumbling out before I can stop them. “Don’t think about it. There are no wrong answers.”
I squirm, the movement involuntary, and am rewarded by a soft, ragged groan from him. It’s a sound that goes straight through me. His hand on my stomach slides lower, fingers splaying over my hipbone. His grip tightens, holding me perfectly, utterly still against the sudden tremor in my own limbs.
“You really don’t know?” His voice is low, a gravelly whisper that’s more vibration than sound.
Am I supposed to know? My mind whites out, then zeroes in on the hard press of his body against mine when he picked me up, the latent strength, the shocking heat, and the hardness that was impossible to misunderstand.
I have to know. I have to test the theory before my hope makes a fool of me.
Slowly, I press back against him.
The effect is instantaneous. A hard, solid ridge of heat meets my back, and a rumble vibrates from his chest into mine. Another groan leaves his lips, and this one is for me, because of me.
The evidence is irrefutable, a truth more eloquent than any words he could ever say.
This man wants me.
“Dusty…”
He sighs again into my hair before he gives my hip a squeeze. “No matter how you feel about me, my offer is concrete. I want you to stay. But if you want me to stop, hell, if you want to draw the line at being friends, I need to know, Piper. I need to know now before I lose my mind.”
His words are a plea, a final line drawn in the sand. My answer is not in my voice, but in my body. I bite my lip, the sharp little pain a counterpoint to the ache blooming low in my stomach.
Slowly, my fingers find the hand splayed on my hip. I don’t push it away. I weave my fingers through his, locking them together, and pull.
I guide his palm flat against my lower abdomen, the silk of my pajamas a whisper between his skin and mine. A shuddering breath escapes me as I chase the courage to keep moving.
His entire body goes rigid behind me, a statue carved from heat and want. My skin grows fever-hot beneath his touch, a silent answer.
Holding my breath, I inch our joined hands lower. The world narrows to this single point of contact. We reach the delicate, tied bow of my pajama pants. My heart is a wild drum against my ribs, so loud I’m certain he can feel it.
And then he moves. A subtle, instinctive roll of his hips that presses the hard, undeniable proof of his want against me. Asoft, broken sound catches in my throat. Ache is too small a word for the need that fractures me.
His breathing, already ragged, hitches and grows faster, a harsh rhythm against the shell of my ear.
“Piper,” he grinds out, his voice raw and strained.
My toes curl tight as I abandon his hand long enough to pull the strings undone. My thighs press tighter together despite what I want him to do.
“Am I doing this right?” My words come out wobbly, my resolution shaky. I’m so close to finally addressing this throb I get between my legs whenever I get lost in thought about him or remain near him for too long.
Do I tell him that I’ve never fed into this throbbing before? That I never wanted to risk getting caught?
