I squeezed her hand gently. “You deserve it.”
We kept walking, the sounds of the brewery fading behind us until only crickets and distant laughter remained. When my cabin came into view, nerves flickered low in my stomach.
I opened the door and let her step inside first. Soft light filled the space. Flowers sat on the table. A plate of fruit waited beside a small pot of chocolate fondue. She turned slowly, eyes widening.
“I can’t believe you did all this,” she said.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Thought maybe you’d want dessert later.”
Her smile warmed something deep inside me. I set my keys down and turned toward her, suddenly serious.
“Claire,” I said quietly.
She looked up. “I need to say something.” The air shifted between us. “You don’t have to do anything tonight,” I saidcarefully. “If you’re tired. If you changed your mind. If you want to stop at any point… you can. We can just sit and talk or I can walk you back. No pressure.”
Her expression softened, something vulnerable flashing in her eyes.
She stepped closer. “There isn’t anything I want more,” she whispered, “than to be with you.”
My breath caught as my finger traced the shape of her bare shoulder. “You’d think it was my first time,” I laughed nervously, unable to look her in the eyes.
“Were you close to the girl you lost your virginity to?” she asked.
I chuckled nervously. “Not at all. It was high school. We had been dating, but we were kids. What did we know? That’s kind of been my MO since.”
“I get it,” she said.
“You do?” I asked with surprise.
“Yes, pushing feelings aside is something I’ve become good at,” she said.
“What changed now?” I asked.
“Coming here, doing something different, working in nature, meeting you,” she said, and at her last words our gazes locked, and the air shifted. My breathing changed as I looked deep into her blue eyes. My mouth found her neck, and she rolled it to the side, giving me access. I spread kisses down her neck as I unzipped the back of her dress. She let it pool to the floor around her ankles as she exposed the yellow lace bra and panties she was wearing.
“When I said you’d be the death of me, I wasn’t joking,” I hissed.
She spun around to show me the G-string of her panties. I pulled her into me and kissed her deeply, our tongues moving together as she unbuttoned my linen shirt. She pushed it offmy shoulders. Then she worked my pants down along with my boxers. As we kissed, she gripped my cock and stroked me. I unclasped her bra and swept her off her feet, lowering her against my pillow at the top of my bed.
“Are you nervous?” I asked. “And before you answer, I need you to say yes.”
She laughed. “Asher, that’s ridiculous. There’s no way you can be nervous.”
I placed her palm over my heart. “Then why is my heart racing?”
“Because you’re turned on,” she countered.
I growled. She was so frustrating. I dipped my head and trailed kisses down her neck to her left breast. Then to her right. We were both a little tipsy from the wine. Her fingers tangled in my hair as I trailed kisses down her abdomen. I pushed back on my knees and removed her panties. I spread her legs and used my thumb to draw circles on her clit. Looking into her eyes made me feel like I was drowning in them like I saw deep inside her. They filled with heat and her breathing quickened. I dipped my head between her thighs and sucked slowly on her clit.
She moaned. I knew what she needed. Every night I had been divided between wanting to be inside her and thinking, do I even deserve her? Tonight, I did my best to spoil her, to show her I cared, to show her she was meaning more to me every day. Her hips moved against my tongue. I reached up and tweaked her nipple. That made her cry out more, but it was when I put two fingers inside her and began to pump that she fell over the edge. She cried out as it took all my will power not to grab my cock and come all over her stomach. To mark her.
She came down from her high but I didn’t give her time to recover. Instead I reached for the condom box on my bedside and sheathed my cock.
“I want you inside me so badly,” she purred, and just the thought elicited a groan out of me.
“Your wish is my command, princess,” I said as I hovered above her. I slid inside her slowly. “Are you okay?”
She nodded.