Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(90)

My hips lifted, rising to meet Dex’s fingers. They felt so damn good but were so far from what I wanted. I let out a sound of frustration.

“In a hurry, Hellion?”

I fought the urge to bare my teeth at him. “Yes.”

A low, throaty chuckle left Dex and skated over my skin. “Not quite yet.” His fingers thrust deeper this time, rotating and curling, pressing on a spot that had light flickering over my vision.

“Now, you’re there,” Dex growled, his hand clamping over my throat. I could feel my pulse hammering against the pressure of his palm.

And then it was all gone. The grip of him at my throat. Those beautiful fingers moving inside me.

I let out a sound of protest that had Dex chuckling again. Then he made a tsking sound. “Patience.”

This time, I growled at him, but the sound halted in my throat as Dex’s fingers went to the button of his jeans. He kicked off one boot and then the other as he deftly unbuttoned his pants.

He searched for something. His wallet, I realized. A small foil packet.

My throat went dry, and my eyes burned as they zeroed in on the packet.

“Always gonna make sure you’re safe,” Dex rasped as he shucked his pants.

He didn’t know what that meant to me. With my one and only partner being someone who never thought about my safety and well-being, this meant everything.

Dex rolled the condom onto his thick length, and my mouth went dry for a different reason, my thighs pressing together. It was nearly more than I could take.

And then he was back, that big body covering mine, my legs hooking around him. Dex searched my eyes. “Yes?”

“Yes,” I breathed.

He didn’t wait. He slid inside me on one long glide, hissing as his hazel eyes flashed. My head tipped back against the couch, my body arching, meeting him there.

It was almost more than I could take. Pressure. Heat. That stretch.

Dex’s body quivered. With restraint, I realized. Holding himself back. Another gift. Suffering to give me time to adjust, to ease into him.

The sting melted to only heat as Dex’s hand slid over my throat, finding that pulse point again. Staying there. He read the beat of my body and didn’t move until he felt some change.

As every ounce of discomfort left me and just as desperation edged in, Dex began to move. He kicked off the rhythm, the dance, but I found him there. My body met his, letting his thrusts deepen, claiming all of me.

Dex let out a low moan as he sank into me. “Everything I could’ve dreamed of.”

My fingers tightened on his shoulders, digging in as he picked up the pace. “More.”

Those dark eyes flashed. “Told you I’d give you whatever you needed.”

Dex thrust into me with more power this time, a strength that was almost otherworldly. One hand braced above my head, the other on my throat. “Show me how you fly. Let me feel you.”

Everything went hazy as my entire body vibrated. Power and heat. Pressure and that final spark.

“Fingers on your clit,” Dex barked. “Now.”

I didn’t think. I listened. A single circle around that bundle of nerves, and I was lost. Splintering in a way that was beautiful and painful all at once as Dex arched into me again, releasing. And I felt it all. I came apart with a force I’d never known. One I knew would change everything.





36





DEX





The steady beat of Brae’s heart thumped against mine. Calmer now. More relaxed. It was like we’d done battle, said things in a shared language without saying a single word.

My fingers trailed over her back, tracing an invisible design. A clock, I realized. There was something to that—the steady tick of time, the thing it felt we were racing against in so many ways. Because what would happen when my lease was up at the end of the summer? Designs might be underway for my house at the ranch, but I sure as hell wouldn’t be living next door. What would happen when we found the asshole messing with Brae? The one who’d hurt Nova?

I breathed out those worries and kept tracing the clock—the one I’d built with Waylon all those years ago. The one he’d used to get me talking, sharing. He was wise that way.

And just like then, I started talking now. “I was scared. Scared something had happened to you.”

Brae lifted her head and looked at me for a moment with those golden eyes before settling back into the crook of my neck. “I’m sorry. It was dumb. I’m not used to checking in with anyone other than Owen. Not since…”

Her voice trailed off, but I knew what she meant. Not since Nova disappeared.

Brae cleared her throat. “I’d checked on Owen right before I went to the farmers’ market, so I didn’t think about someone else trying to get ahold of me.”

I traced the intricate antique hands of the invisible clock, the pieces salvaged from one ruined piece but given new life. “I don’t want to be scared for someone.”

Shame washed over me as I spoke the words aloud. But they were one of my deepest truths. The ones I never gave voice to. “I was furious that you made me care.”

Brae’s palm pressed against the wing of my tattoo. “I get that fear. Mine’s different, but it lives in me. Caring about someone who will disappear.”

My breaths started coming quicker. I barely finished an exhale before my body was trying to suck in air all over again. The muscles in my forearms started to tighten painfully as if curling in on each other. Images flashed in my mind. All the what-ifs. All the things swirling around Brae.