Page 23 of Wannabe in Wyoming
It’d been a long time, if ever, since Nathan had felt such an incredible peace wrap around him. He could easily spend every evening of the rest of his life cuddling with Willow on the porch swing and never tire of it. His mind kept drifting back to the kiss they shared in the truck, to the intense need that’d flared between them. He’d had lovers in the past, but he’d never experienced that level of desire before. He knew they needed to take things slowly, but the acute yearning in his body was battling with the logic of his thoughts. Willow was the whole package. She engaged his mind with her sharp wit even while she made him desperate to bury himself inside her. He was falling for her hard while praying they wouldn’t crash and burn.
* * *
Willow could stay thereall night, cuddled up to Nathan. Heck, she could stay there forever. The intense connection she felt to him should’ve frightened her, but it didn’t. In fact, she was starting to understand why some couples said they’d found their soul mates. The righteousness she felt in Nathan’s arms was something she couldn’t explain if she tried. Something she hadn’t even known she was missing was clicking into place.
Having followed them outside and gotten bored hunting grasshoppers and other insects, Ethel pounced on Nathan’s foot, prompting him to pick her up and settle her on his lap. “So, where’s the other half of this comedy team?”
“Fred comes to the back porch in the morning, usually around eight or nine o’clock.” She snuggled closer to him. “Mmm. I could get used to this.” Between the soft cotton of his shirt under her cheek and the comfort and warmth his body gave off, she could easily doze off right there in his arms.
“Me too.”
“Is this weird for you?”
His chin dipped as he looked down at her. “Is what weird?”
“Being here with me? I wasn’t expecting that first letter to develop into friendship, let alone more. Hell, I’m not even sure I expected a response from whoever got my letter.”
He made a soft humming noise in his throat. “Honestly, it’s not weird at all. Maybe it was a little at first, but . . .” his words trailed off, and she waited patiently for him to continue. “You know I don’t have any family left. I have army buddies—ones who aren’t in my unit that I don’t see all the time—that I keep in touch with, but it’s not like they write to me. Usually, it’s just the occasional phone call, or email, or something. Deployment is lonely, even for people who have folks back home. I know I told you in one of my letters, but it bears repeating—you got me through being over there. If I didn’t have your letters to look forward to and carry around with me, I don’t think I’d be adjusting to being home as well as I am. It’s hard to explain it to someone who’s never served—especially in combat—but knowing you were back home, thinking about me? It was everything, Willow.”
She stared up into his eyes that, even in the dark, were a brilliant blue that rivaled a cloudless afternoon sky. “I’m so glad I wrote that letter. This goes both ways, you know? I didn’t have anyone either. My mom’s dead. The father I never knew is also gone, and I’m an only child with no extended family. But I don’t want you to think I’m here with you because there’s no one else.”
Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, he gently kissed her forehead. She couldn’t help but close her eyes and barely managed to keep her sigh of pleasure to herself. “I know that, Wannabe.” He paused, then said, “Tell me about your mother.”
“Well . . .” She smiled as she fondly recalled her mom. “She was so beautiful, even later after she got sick with diabetes. Growing up, I don’t remember us having much money, and she worked a lot, but she was always there for me. Always pushing me to be the best I could be. She’d tell me that a person’s worth couldn’t be measured by their bank account but by the way they treated others. She came to every school event, even if it meant she had to work an extra shift later. I remember her being tired all the time, but she never took it out on me. We were a team, just her and me against the whole world. The only time we ever really argued was when I pressured her to tell me about my father. My friends in the neighborhood didn’t all have a father figure at home, but they knew who their dads were at least. I would ask, and she’d look so sad and tell me that some things were best left unknown.”
“She sounds amazing, I wish I could have met her.”
Resting her cheek back against his broad shoulder, she said, “Yeah, she would have liked you.” Inhaling deeply, she ran her hand up and down his chest, enjoying the feel of his warm flesh and firm muscles under the soft cotton. She traced the bumps and ridges of his defined pecs, noting the small nubs of his nipples.
“Willow?”
“Hmm?”
“What are you doing?”
“Touching you. I like the way you feel.” Digging her fingernails in, she drew them down his chest lightly. He shivered, and she wondered how he would react if she clawed his bare back.
He put his hand over hers, halting her movements. “I like that you like it, and having your hands on me is amazing, but I thought we were going to take it slow?”
“Me touching you like this turns you on that much?” She giggled and grew bolder. “It’s not like I’ve got my hand down your pants! And anyway, what’s the point of sitting on a porch swing with a boy you like if you can’t make out and feel each other up a little bit?”
Letting go of her, he gently lifted Ethel and set her down on the porch, making her yowl in protest. “Baby, there is noboysitting here with you. I’m all man.” In a sudden move, he picked her up, scooted to the middle of the cushioned seat, and deposited her onto his recently vacated lap, positioning her until she was straddling him. He gripped her hips to steady her and pushed his feet against the porch, rocking the swing back and forth gently. She could feel every considerable inch of him pressed against her. Her mind flashed to what it would be like to sit here like this but without the barrier of their clothes. She gripped his shoulders and held on while he rocked them. Each push and pull making the ever-present passion between them flare hotter than before.
“Oh my . . .” The chains supporting the swing squeaked and squealed with the back-and-forth motion, but all her attention was focused on the man under her. His thighs were solid between hers, and she could feel the heat of his groin penetrate the two layers of clothing separating them.
He grinned. “Oh myabout covers it.” Trailing his hands slowly up her back, he cupped her shoulders and pulled her fully against his chest. “Now, you said something about making out?” He bumped his hips up, showing her exactly how much she turned him on. The hard length of him hit her clit, and she ground down in response, swiveling her hips and drawing a groan from his throat. “Woman . . .”
“Shh. You’re talking too much.” He opened his mouth to protest, but she sealed her lips over his, kissing him into silence. She moaned against his mouth, rocked her hips down harder, and bit down on his bottom lip, drawing it gently between her teeth before licking away the sting. Pulling away slightly, she avoided him when he chased her mouth, instead kissing a path down his collarbone and sucked a bruise there. She hoped he wouldn’t mind that she’d marked him. “God, you’re so yummy, I want to taste you everywhere.” She nibbled on his earlobe and relished the shudder it drew from him and how he thrust his pelvis up. Grinding her mound against his hardness, she used the swing’s motion to build a rhythm. Soon, they were moving in sync, kissing, grasping, and caressing each other. They were as close as two people could be while still clothed.
“Willow . . . goddamn . . .” he moaned. Her core went liquid, and she knew her panties were soaked. It was taking more willpower than she wanted to admit to keep from ripping their clothes off and riding him into oblivion.
“Come here, I wasn’t done kissing you.” He grasped her hair with one hand and brought her mouth back to his, while his free hand squeezed her ass and kept her pressed tightly against him. His grip on her hair was firm but not painful, and she liked his forcefulness more than she’d ever imagined she would. His mouth and tongue continued their sensual assault, until her lips were swollen and sore, and they were both gasping for air. Neither wanted to stop long enough to breathe. They were making out and dry humping like teenagers, and she loved every second of it.
Her heart slammed against her chest, and she could feel her clit throbbing between her legs. “Nathan . . . fuck,” she gasped, tearing her mouth free. “You’re gonna make me come in my pants.” She rested her forehead against his as she struggled to replenish the oxygen missing from her lungs. “I-I think I should get back to my own side of the swing.”
“Mmm.” He kissed her lightly on the nose. “My head says that’s the smart thing to do, but my cock has other ideas.”
Gaping at him, she blushed and ducked her face under his chin. “Nathan, honey, I swear you could get a nun into bed with just a smile and a wink, you’re so delicious. But I don’t have the fortitude of a nun.”
