Page 130 of Dove
It pissed me off, too, if I were honest. Dove had always been more invested in the farm than me. I’d done it out of misplaced commitment, hoping that if I did a good job and listened to what I was told, I’d make my father proud and somehow, he wouldcare about me more. That hope died the day he kicked me out without so much as one iota of regret. I left, my heart breaking not for the home I’d lost, but for the girl I’d left behind inside it.
They had no right to dismiss Dove when I’d been the one to abandon the place. I could have fought harder, I could have stood up to Gareth, but I’d been scared and ashamed of being caught red-handed in my feelings for Dove, and although I’d always felt shackled to the farm out of obligation, a part of me had been waiting for an excuse to leave.
I just had never wanted to leaveher.
Even with the sun low in the sky, dusk fast approaching, the shadows of the alley weren’t enough to hide us, but we were farther from the center of town now, the crowd not quite as gathered this far down. We could take a minute for ourselves.
“You have every right to be angry.” I pressed her back into the brick wall next to a large metal recycling container, hoping to be shielded from anyone passing by. “I don’t have any right to be speaking on what the future of the farm is.”
The fact I was Gareth’s son meant nothing. Dove might not be biologically related to him, but he hadn’t been reminded of what he lost every time he looked at her. For that alone, Dove might as well of been his—far more than the disappointment of a son he’d been left with to raise.
The storm simmering in her irises slowly leached away, as if my proximity was absorbing it.
“It’s your home,” she argued softly, her hands finding my shirt and burrowing in.
“No, Dove.You are.” I pulled her closer, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve been meaning to talk about this?—”
A look of panic flitted across her face. “Let’s not talk about it now,” she rushed out. “Not here.” She looked up at me fromunder her long, dark lashes, anger replaced by a desperate plea shining deep in her ocean eyes. “Please.”
I was a sucker for those eyes, and I knew it, but it really wasn’t a conversation for now anyway, although I’d been hoping to staunch some of her anger by discussing the options I’d secretly been pursuing about the farm, options that kept Dove firmly in control, like she deserved. But we could talk about that later. Right now, however…
“Alright,” I agreed, lifting my hands to cup her jaw and tilt her head back, threading my fingers through her soft hair. “On one condition.” Her eyes were as wide and bright as the sky above us as she hung on my every word. “I’ll agree to talk about it later if you agree to let me kiss you now.”
Her desperation bleed into something sultrier, and her body went limp, resting back against the wall as her fingers dug further into my shirt, dragging me toward her, teasing me with those delicious curves as they pressed against me.
I cradled her head in my palm, protecting it from the harsh brick as she titled her pouty, full lips up at me. Tempting me. But I wouldn’t take, not until she said I could.
“And if I don’t?” she questioned playfully, toying with me as her hands slid across my shirt to rest on my shoulders.
The hand not currently acting as a pillow traveled a teasing path down; my thumb traced over her exposed collarbone, then drifted lower, knuckles grazing along the underside of her breast with each shallow pant she took. They continued their descent, dancing over the curve of her waist until my hand found its destination just below the hem of her dress. A single touch to the back of her knee was all it took to have her breath hitching, and while I’d only intended to tease, her reaction was addictive; her bare skin enticing to the point I couldn’t help but explore further. As if controlled by the devil himself, my hand wandered higher up the back of her thigh until she was a tremblingmess bracketed in my arms. Each goose bump that pebbled her smooth, tanned skin was a victory; proof that my slow, tormenting touch was affecting her as much as it affected me.
I swallowed the victorious laugh attempting to escape my chest, trying not to act too smug, but the fact she was this responsive over some simple touches was more than stroking my ego, adding fuel to my already burning desire for her. She didn’t seem to mind being half exposed as the skirt of her dress pooled at my wrist. I stroked my thumb lazily back and forth over her hip, like I had all the time in the world to touch her instead of stolen minutes. “I don’t think I have to worry about you saying no, do I?”
A breathy gasp was her answer as I cupped her unexpectedly right between those pretty, pressed-together thighs, dipping my fingertips inward searchingly to find that little scrap of underwear she was wearing that did nothing to hide her need.
Just like I thought.I smirked, definitely smug this time.Dripping wet for me.
She whimpered out my name as I teasingly rubbed her through the damp material. Her fingertips dug into my shoulders and the pinch of pain had me wishing I was back home, pressing her into my bed, doing there what I couldn’t do to her here. “I t-thought you said a kiss?” Her voice was a low, husky rasp, for my ears only.
“Now that you’re in my hands I want more than a kiss,” I managed to get out, despite my voice sounding like it had been put through a woodchipper. “I’llalwayswant more when it comes to you, baby.” My lips pressed against the fluttering pulse beneath her jaw. I curbed the urge to mark her, to leave evidence she was mine on that lovely column of unblemished skin. Something about this girl made me possessive in a way I’d never felt before with another women. Only for her. “But I’ll settle for a kiss, if you’re willing to give me one.”
“I’d give you more than that, if you asked,” she whispered, turning to look at me, putting our lips mere inches apart. Her eyes were the color dreams were made of—or maybe it was just me who dreamt in shades of blue, vividly, for three consecutive years. “Kiss me, Josh.”
She didn’t need to repeat herself, those were the words I’d been waiting for. I swooped in so quickly, she made a noise of surprise in the back of her throat as our lips met a little harder than I’d intended, but I hadn’t kissed her in hours, which meant I was behind quota for the day. It was stupid how badly I missed her soft, full lips on mine, how I physically ached without her touch these past few hours. Funny how you could go years without something but the moment you finally had it you couldn’t imagine going without it for even a minute.
Maybe I should’ve been embarrassed how I was kissing her—eager, like I couldn’t get enough of her, desperate, like I’dneverhave enough of her, but I worried every day this was all we’d have. Being here in town, pretending I wasn’t something more to her, only made it worse. There was a big possibility this might not work, that all we’d get was this summer, and every day I woke up afraid I’d be back in Marleysville, Dove nothing but a sweet dream my subconscious conjured from years’ worth of longing.
The brick wall scraped roughly against the back of my hand that still cradled her head, but it was easy to ignore when her kisses were so compulsive. One couldn’t possibly be enough, two just a tease. Swooping in for a third, my fingers threaded through the soft locks of her curled hair and tilted her head to the perfect angle—making it easier to devour her—and when my tongue slid between her lips easily, it was almost obscene.
My name was an exhaled breath from her lungs I stole, swallowing it so I’d always remember how it tasted on my tongue. Her thighs spread wider to accommodate me in themiddle of them, and a moan escaped her as I sandwiched her between my heavy bulk and the wall. She whimpered as the hand still stuck between her thighs circled against the swollen flesh through soaked fabric. Fuck, there wasn’t anything hotter than hearing her make that sound, and with it a thought darted across my mind of pushing that tiny strip of cloth to the side to slip my fingers in since she could easily take two with how wet she was and finding that spot inside that would have her coming with a filthy gasp against my mouth.
Fuck.
She moaned as my dick twitched along her hip at the vivid thought, her hands sliding around my neck to tug me impossibly closer into the nonexistent space between us.
This was escalating quickly into dangerous territory, yet I couldn’t help but toe the line. Not when I knew what was on the other side. Forcing myself away from temptation was one of the hardest things ever.
Well, I mused as I ground the evidence of how much I was enjoying this against her,almost.
