Page 10 of Overtime with Orion
“Gently,” I soothed, my thumbs stroking her hips. “You’re in control. Just rock against me. Slowly.”
She began to move, a tentative, rocking motion that sent shocks of pure pleasure up my spine. Then, on her own, her right hand slid down her stomach, her fingers finding her clit. A sigh of relief escaped her, and the tension in her body began to ease. The pain was being replaced by pleasure, and I witnessed her transformation.
“That’s it,” I murmured, my gaze drinking her in. The moon silhouetted her, a goddess riding me in the cool night air. “You look so fucking hot, Larkin. Watching you take me, watching you touch yourself…it’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.”
Her movements became more confident, her hips rising and falling in a deeper, more purposeful rhythm. The initial, painful stretch gave way to a smoother glide. Her inner muscles began to relax, to accept me, to cling to me.
“You feel like heaven,” I told her, my own control fraying. “So tight and wet for me. Are you feeling it now, baby? The good part?”
She moaned—a sound of pure, unadulterated pleasure, and nodded, her head falling back. The sight of her arched above me, her breasts swaying with her rhythm, her hand working between her legs, was going to finish me far too soon.
“Look at me,” I demanded, and her hazy, pleasure-drunk eyes met mine. “I want to see you when you come on my cock.”
She picked up the pace. Wind whipped her hair, and the smell of the lake, of her, of us, filled my lungs. Every damn nervewas on fire. Feeling her wrap around me, driving me deeper with every move of her hips…it was pure fire, almost pain.
This wasn’t just sex. This was claiming. This was binding.
And as she rode me toward her second climax, her cries echoing over the silent water, I knew, with a certainty that shook me to my core, that nothing would ever be the same again.
5
LARKIN
Iwas glowing. I could feel it radiating from my skin as I pushed my cart through the aisles of the Maple Ridge General Store, and I was certain everyone else could see it too.
The wooden floors creaked under my feet as I navigated past shelves stocked with everything from canned soup to handmade quilts, my body still humming with the memory of last night. Every step reminded me of the sweet ache between my thighs, the delicious soreness that came from being thoroughly loved by a man who knew exactly what he was doing. My lips felt swollen from his kisses, and I kept catching myself touching them absentmindedly.
I needed basics—milk, bread, coffee—simple things since my brain seemed incapable of focusing on anything but Orion’s hands on my body, his voice whispering my name in the darkness. Between the festival and everything else happening, I’d been living on coffee and whatever was easiest.
But underneath the glow was a knot of anxiety that had been growing since I’d woken up alone in my own bed this morning. Not because he’d left—we’d agreed it was smarter for him to gohome before dawn to avoid questions from Cassie. But because of what I’d done.
I’d slept with my friend’s brother.
The magnitude of that hit me fresh as I reached for a carton of milk, my reflection staring back at me from the refrigerated case. What had I been thinking? Cassie talked about Orion constantly—how worried she was about him, how much she loved him, how protective she felt. And I’d gone and complicated everything by falling into bed with him.
Well, technically, it had been a dock, but still.
“Larkin! There you are!”
I spun around so fast, I nearly knocked over a display of Joy Munson’s famous cider donuts. Cassie was standing by the bulletin board near the register, her arms full of flyers for her book signing, looking radiant in a way that made my guilt multiply tenfold.
“Hey, Cassie.” I tried to smile normally, but my voice came out higher than usual. “Getting fuel for your writing sessions?”
“Always.” She walked over, and I felt like she could see right through me. Like my secret was written across my forehead in permanent marker. “You look…different today. Good different. You’re practically glowing.”
My cheeks burned. “Just a good night’s sleep.”
“Mmm.” She studied my face with the same intensity she used when plotting her mysteries. “Speaking of good nights, Orion came home in the best mood I’ve seen him in since he got here. Almost like his old self again.”
My pulse stuttered. “Really?”
“Really. He was whistling this morning. Whistling, Larkin. My grumpy, brooding brother who’s been moping around for months.” She grinned. “I think coming back to Maple Ridge was exactly what he needed.”
The guilt was eating me alive. I had to tell her. I couldn’t keep this from my friend, couldn’t lie to her face while she stood there talking about how happy her brother seemed.
“Cassie, I need to tell you something?—“
The bell above the door chimed, and my heart stopped completely. Orion walked in, his eyes scanning the store until they found mine. The smile that spread across his face was warm and intimate and completely unapologetic.
