He slapped her sweaty thigh. “It isn’t. Let go for daddy.”

Jacob reached up and tweaked her nips. First one, then the other. Sage squealed, then yelled her release. Jacob captured most of it as his tongue moved in and out of her mouth, tangling with hers.

“Wow. That was incredible,” she said, panting between words.

Before she finished her sentence, he was rolling on the condom. He patted her thigh. “Turn over, sassy girl.”

“I’m not sassy.”

Jacob laughed. “You most certainly are. Now get on your knees, baby. We need to fill you up.”

Sage let a sexy groan come from deep within her belly. “You dirty talk to get me desperate. Hurry! I need you in me.”

Jacob smacked her butt. Sage giggled. “Do it again.”

Jacob grinned. This was the sexy, needy, fuckable baby he remembered, only more mature. More ready. He worried he’d feel like he was taking teen Sage, but this was nothing like that. This Sage was all woman. More woman than he’d had before. She was more real than any of the sophisticated professionals he had dated. This was like coming home to a place he always belonged.

“I love you,” he grunted as he pounded her hard and fast. Now she was making little noises as he bumped his pelvis with her ass cheeks.

“Jacob,” she said, “I love you too. Now harder, please.”

“Stop moving then,” he said as he landed several swats on her swaying ass cheeks.

“Mmm, I’m trying.”

He gripped her hips, cringing at the fingertip bruises he would likely leave. A short-term brand to remind her who she belonged to. He pounded harder and faster. The sweat rolled off his chest, but if there was anything his girl loved in the bedroom, it was wild sex and orders to obey.

“Play with your clit, hard and fast, Sage. Don’t slow down, or I’ll stop.” God, he hoped she followed his command because he wasn’t stopping. “Get there, baby. Daddy is about to lose his composure.”

She giggled as she did as he told her. “That’s it, baby. Such a good girl.”

Sage released a moaning cry, and for a couple of seconds, he didn’t think she would get there fast enough, but then she released that screeching, relieved groan that said she’d arrived in orgasmic paradise.

“Fuck yeah,” said Jacob as he ground out his climax. It was so damn good. There wasn’t anything better than Sage coming under him and on him. Jacob coming inside her was the next best thing. Tonight, he’d all the desires of his heart. Sage, her sexy body, and unconditional love. There was nothing better except more of the same.

Tired, he leaned down and kissed her glistening back, tasting her salty sweat and inhaling the scent that was all Sage. He’d come home.

About thirty minutes later, as he got ready to return to the ranch, he said, “You called me Jake.”

“I did? Okay.”

“I mean, you have always called me Jacob since we met. It’s weird, but in a good way. It’s like you’re on a more familiar level with me. Nicknames are kind of like settling in for the long haul.”

“I like that thought. And to let you in on a secret, I’ve called you Jake in my mind for years.”

“I love that, but I’m sad you didn’t feel safe enough to share with me. Tell you the truth, I like daddy even better.”

After another round of kisses, Sage watched him climb into his truck and drive away. She sighed, wishing he could stay. As she shut the door, a slow-moving car went by. It must have been the Martins’ teenager sneaking out again. Sage cringed at the memory of her teenage years and how much more she enjoyed doing things in the open. No worries about retribution. She was past those days.

“Promise me, Chris, that you won’t tell Jacob.”

Chris shook her head. “He’s going to find out. Those Red Eagles always find out.”

“Let me worry about that.”

“Okay, it’s your ass.” Her friend had no idea how true that was.

Sage couldn’t believe her bad luck. Getting what she went to town for went as planned. Then she stocked up on things they often used that weren’t easily acquired in the winter. But who did she see first thing when they stopped at the hotel? Flynn. When she pointed him out to Chris, she started paying attention, too.