“I thought you might like it.”
“I wonder where they got it.”
“This house was built in the sixties. Maybe it was a family heirloom.” I closed the lid carefully, then moved to sit on the bed, against the headboard.
Hailey looked beautiful with the moon lighting her from behind. I held out a hand for her to join me. “Come here.”
Hailey climbed onto the bed next to me. “We can’t—”
I rolled so that I hovered over her. “We’ll have to be very quiet.”
Hailey smiled up at me. “I can do that.”
There were no other words for it. I worshipped her body. I touched every inch with either my fingers or my lips. By the time I entered her, both of us were slick with sweat.
Bracing myself on the bed on either side of her, I said, “I told you it would be worth it to draw it out.”
“You’re all talk,” she challenged, her nails raking down the skin of my back.
Every muscle in my body pulled taut as she tipped her hips, encouraging me to go deeper.
I braced one hand on the headboard and the other on her shoulder. I wanted to make it good for her.
I thrust hard, setting a brutal pace. When Hailey moaned, I lowered my mouth to hers, swallowing her cries.
She bowed off the bed, spasming around me, and I followed. I lowered myself over her, kissing the soft skin of her shoulder. Then I rolled us to our sides and held her tight.
I didn’t want to move. I wanted to revel having her in my arms. This place was an oasis, a respite from reality.
Right before I drifted off to sleep, I felt love pouring through me. I loved Hailey.
ChapterTwenty-Two
HAILEY
Ryan slipped out of the room at seven to go fishing, and I took a quick shower.
Not wanting to intrude on his solitude, I made a stack of pancakes. Ryan must have smelled them cooking because he came inside.
He dropped a kiss on my upturned lips. “I’m starving.”
I stacked pancakes on a plate and slid it across the counter for him.
He poured a generous amount of syrup on top.
We sat next to each other in companionable silence. When we finished, Ryan helped me clean up, and we sat on the dock side-by-side.
We didn’t talk. There was no need. I just took in the sounds of the birds, the view of the water, and enjoyed the breeze in my hair.
When Ryan got out the fishing rod, I grabbed a book and lay down in the hammock.
We were just heading inside when Corey stumbled out of his room, so I pulled the pancakes out of the fridge and reheated them. “They’re not fresh, but I wasn’t sure what time you’d be up.”
Corey sat heavily on the barstool, running a hand through his hair that was sticking up in every direction. He didn’t say anything, but he dug in as soon as I set the plate in front of him.
“It’s about time you got up,” Ryan said with no heat to his words.
Corey didn’t stop eating or look up. He just kept shoveling in the food.