Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 32231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
He smirks. “Depends. On whether you deserve it.”
I splutter mock outrage. “I deserve it—how else would you have someone to fetch your beer?”
He laughs, that growl deep in his chest. “I’ll fetch my own—what I want from you is optional.”
My lips twitch. “You want a lot.”
He takes a step toward the shore, water dripping from his arms, muscles flexing under the sunlight. “I get a lot.”
I swallow, the heat turning real. I want to pull him into the water, push him beneath, make him chase me. Make him show me he still wants me. Here. Now.
But I keep my composure. I scroll through my phone, pretending to look at something. “Hey—bedtime plans for later?”
He arches a brow. “I thought you’d let me surprise you.”
I toss him a smile. “Nope. I prefer to plan to get in trouble.”
He steps out of the water and comes closer. The air between us crackles. Kids still playing behind us; we’re not alone—but I feel alone with him.
“I was thinking…” he leaves the sentence hanging, fingers brushing a lock of my hair back behind my ear. Heat blooms low inside me. “We go skinny dipping later. After they’re asleep.”
My heart flips. “You are ridiculous.”
He grins. “And you like it.”
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t push your luck.”
He leans his forehead against mine. “I’ve already surpassed it.”
My breath catches. I’ve stood here before with men who pretended they wanted me. Clay doesn’t. Doesn’t hold back. Doesn’t mask what he wants. Doesn’t hide the way he’s mine.
He pulls me closer. The heat of his body seeps through the towel. I don’t move back. I can’t.
“I love this,” I murmur. “All of this.”
He kisses my temple. “Me too.”
I glance at our kids, splashing and laughing. “They’re perfect.”
He chuckles. “And loud.”
I laugh. “And messy. And everything I couldn’t imagine liking.”
He tugs me by the towel until I’m in the shallow water beside him. “Good thing we set up the studio and the house and the life right. So we can handle the loud and messy.”
I press my hand to his chest, fingertips tracing the ridge of his pec. “I never thought I could love like this.”
“Yeah you did.” His voice is low. “You just needed someone worth staying for.”
I tilt my head up, stare at him. “You think I chose this?”
He chuckles. “Damn right. You made it.”
My breath catches. The way he says it. The way he sees everything.
He dips his head and kisses me—slow and deep, the water splashing around us, the world narrowing to just us.
“Five years,” I whisper against his lips.
“Five beautiful years,” he murmurs, pulling me into his arms. “And I’m just gettin’ started.”
I grin. “So was I.”
He shakes his head. “You were born ready.”
Later, we’re settled on the dock, kids asleep in the tent under the stars. The air is chill, the lake quiet except for the gentle lapping. He hands me a thermos of hot chocolate—he knows me too well.
“Cold shake?” he teases.
“Just because you’re freezing.” I lightly smack his thigh.
He folds me into his side. “Best kind of freezing.”
I slip my fingers into his hand and then he guides me down the wooden steps into the cool water. The air smells of damp earth and pine. He peels my sweater over my head, and my pulse quickens. I shiver when his fingers tug my leggings down past my hips. We step to the water’s edge. The forest presses in on all sides and I pause, one toe dipping into the lake water. A soft groan slips from me when he brushes himself against my backside. I arch into him, searching for more of that delicious pressure.
“So sensitive,” he whispers, a single finger traveling up the center of my torso before cupping my breasts. Heat blooms beneath his touch. He leans close and I catch his words on my skin: “I can smell how turned on you are.”
His hand tightens on my thigh and he guides me into the lapping water. The cool water envelopes us as soon as we’re waist-deep. When my hips meet his, I gasp—and then moan as he slides a finger inside me. My name tumbles from his lips on his first thrust.
He hums against my ear, “You’re so eager and sweet. I couldn’t love you more. When I found you, everything snapped into place.”
Now the water covers us to our chests. It tingles against my skin and heightens every brush of his body against mine. His words feel like fire in my veins, leaving me exposed and trembling.
This man is mine. I wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my bare chest to his. Our lips collide, urgent and wet, and the world around us fades into the steam. My heart hammers. “Please, fuck me, Clay. Make me yours again.”
His muscles bunch beneath my hands. Only his shoulders break the surface of the water, taut and gleaming. The moon filters through the pines overhead, and all I can hear is our breathing, our moans, the gentle lapping at our skin.