She swallowed, her gaze on his shiny lips. Shiny from her arousal.

  “Did it feel good?” he asked, not an ounce of humor or judgement in his tone or on his face.

  Her nod was small.

  “Because I was very much enjoying myself and I would like to continue if you would like me to continue.”

  “I’m sorry I kneed you in the head.”

  His chuckle made butterflies take flight in her belly. “Kiss it and make it better?” Then he leaned forward and she leaned forward, pressing his lips to his forehead. “Ahh. It’s like it never happened.”

  Without warning, he grabbed her by the ankles and tugged, shooting her back to her back and her legs out in front of her, then he dove back in up to his ears and she almost kneed him in the head again when his tongue hit her clit.

  She easily could have orgasmed probably three or four times, but every time she got close, Dax would do something to pull her back from the edge. In her romance books this was called edging. And she never really thought about how good but also frustrating it could be. Because boy was she frustrated. Her body hummed for release like an overpopulated beehive, and yet, she also never wanted it to end.

  Dax’s lips, tongue and fingers were magical, and even though she thought all the tension had left her body from the bath and nap, she must have had hidden reserves, because the longer Dax ate her out, the more and more she simply melted into the moment and let all her problems drift away.

  “Ready to come for me?” he murmured against her center, the words a buzz on his lips that was like a gentle electric shock through her pussy.

  “Mhmm.”

  “Good girl.” Then he pulled her clit into his mouth and sucked hard while at the same time pressing up with his fingers as he pumped them in and out of her.

  She exploded.

  It was the best orgasm of her life. It went on for the length of maybe five regular orgasms, building momentum like a snowball down a ski hill, until it created an avalanche of sensations that rippled through her, crashing into every limb, every muscle, every cell.

  By the time she regained function of her brain and body at the same time, a chill swept through her and goosebumps broke out across her bare arms and legs. She was still in her bra, but bare everywhere else. Sweat misted her chest and forehead and her pulse thundered in her ears.

  But she was happy.

  Unbelievably happy. Tension free and … most of all, safe.

  She felt so incredibly safe.

  Safe to be vulnerable.

  Safe to be real.

  Safe to be without her child. Because she knew he was okay in the house with Phil and Gloria. And she also knew that he would be safe out here with Dax. Just like she was safe out here with Dax.

  She’d never felt so safe and at peace. Not since Levi was born at least. Possibly ever.

  Tears of pure joy pricked the back of her eyes and she swallowed.

  Blinking open her eyes, she glanced down her body only to find Dax gone.

  Fresh fear filled her, squashing those last flickers of delight.

  She did taste bad. He went to brush his teeth or find a Tic Tac. She knew it.

  “Here,” he said, coming from where he said his recording studio was. He handed her a glass of water and draped a blanket over her. “There’s a sink and toilet just in there so I don’t have to run all the way into the house to pee or make tea.” He sat down on the couch beside her, reached over and tucked a loose strand of her dark blonde hair behind her ear. “Want to talk about what just happened?”

  “I um …” She sipped her water. “I come with some baggage.”

  “I’m fifty years old. I haven’t met a soul over twenty-five who doesn’t come with some kind of a suitcase. It’s what makes us who we are. It’s part of our story.” He shrugged. “I used to be hardcore into drugs and in a metal band called Chiseled Gizzard. I don’t remember a good three years of my life after Amy left. I also had a deadbeat dad who used to use my mom as a punching bag. My mom died a few years ago after a terrible battle with ALS, and it damn near killed me, too. Watching a loved one, particularly someone who for my entire life had been nothing but a pillar of unwavering strength, go through what she did, was traumatizing. I would have done anything to take away her pain.”

  She reached up and cupped his jaw. He turned his head and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist.

  “I still have the odd beer or glass of wine, but I haven’t touched drugs in almost eight years. I’ve never been so close to using as I was that first month after my mom died. Just to numb the pain, even temporarily.”

  “I’m really sorry, Dax.”

  He cleared his throat. “All I’m saying is that we all come with baggage and trauma and hangups. So if you think telling me you have baggage is supposed to scare me away or something, then you need to try harder.”

  “I’ve never met anybody like you. You’re so … open and honest. You own your past, your mistakes, your pain. And yet, you’re also one of the most altruistic, kind people I’ve ever met. All your baggage hasn’t done anything to harden your tender heart.” She laced their fingers together and brought the back of his hand to her mouth. “I really like you, Dax.”

  “Well, I really like you, too, Jennifer. And my life has done a number on me. I wasn’t always like this. I’ve had to do the work to find the peace I have now. I just know that this life, and living to be fifty is a gift I’m not necessarily sure I deserve. I made some stupid choices in my younger years. Made some mistakes that should have gotten me killed. But I’m still here and I don’t take a day for granted anymore.”

  “That’s a very peaceful way to live.”

  “I try to live peacefully. Just me, the goats and the chickens.” He did the cute nose wrinkle again. “I want a dog. But any rescue I’ve brought for a visit has tried to kill my chickens. So they haven’t stayed. We need to all coexist in peace here. And if you’re trying to kill a family member, then you get voted off the island.”

  “The tribe has spoken.”

  They both laughed and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Do you um …”

  “Hmm?” He kissed the top of her head.

  “Do you have condoms in the house?”

  His chuckles made her pussy throb. “I have a whole box.”

  They were still without power by the time everyone retired to bed.

  Gloria and Levi made delicious ginger crinkle cookies and an even more delicious apple pie, which they all decided was a perfectly acceptable dinner. Jennifer, of course, made them all eat some chopped up raw veggies, too, as they all sat in the living room and watched a movie.

  After a bath, Levi retired to bed by nine, a severe case of the yawns interfering with his speech. Then Phil and Gloria followed by nine-thirty.

  Luckily, Dax had two spare rooms in addition to his own bedroom.

  He had a double bed in one room, which he gave to Phil and Gloria, and a day bed with a trundle in the other, which he gave to Levi and Jennifer.

  Though, he and Jennifer had other plans, because in his opinion, the trundle was just a step up from a bed of nails.

  He wasn’t expecting what happened in the loft that afternoon.

  Sure, he was attracted to Jennifer, but he never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable, or like she owed him something.

  His heart broke for her after she confessed how her past lovers treated her. No woman should ever be made to feel so insecure or undervalued. But he wasn’t lying when he said he was enjoying himself. Because he absolutely fucking was.

  He loved eating pussy.

  It truly was a hobby.

  And Jennifer neither tasted or smelled bad.

  In fact, he could have forgone dinner and dessert altogether and just dined on her all night.

  They waited until about ten-thirty when they knew the rest of the house was asleep, before they turned off all the lights, Dax stoked the woodstove and they slowly crept to his bedroom.

  He showered, did a quick manscape and brushed his teeth, just as Jennifer snuck back in after having gone to brush her teeth and wash her face.

  She wore a matching set of dark purple pajama pants and a tank top. Her dark blonde hair was in a messy top knot, and she wore glasses.

  The glasses made him breakout into a huge grin around his toothbrush.

  “Why are you smiling like that?”

  “Are you blind?”

  Her brows kissed for a second. “Oh, the glasses.” Then she giggled. “Yeah, pretty blind, actually.” She took them off for a moment and squinted. “You’re just a handsome blur. Like I can barely make out your features.” She put them back on. “I wear contacts most of the time.”

  “I’m digging the thick black rims. It’s hot.”

  That made her do a cute little eye roll and half smirk.

  He spat and rinsed in the sink, then joined her in the bedroom. “They’re in the left nightstand.”

  She glanced at the drawer and her eyes widened.

  “But we don’t have to do anything. You do know that you don’t owe me sex or anything else for letting you stay here, right? I’m happy to help. You’re all very nice people, and I’m fortunate to have a woodstove and generator. It’s the right thing to do.”

  “And that’s why I want to,” she said, crawling onto the bed, kneeling up and pulling her tank top over her head. “Because I feel safe with you. I feel safe here.”

  She didn’t realize it, but knowing that she felt safe with him, in his home was one of the biggest compliments she could ever give him. Not that he’d ever been a bad guy, he knew given his edgier look, and the fact that he was a middle-aged musician with a hard past, no wife or kids, that some people thought he was bad news.

  He just had a lot to work through and didn’t feel like putting anybody else in the middle of it. They were his demons and he needed to battle them on his own. Not saddle someone else with a fight they never signed up for.

  So he did the work. He went to therapy. He did yoga. He meditated. He forgave Amy. He forgave himself. And he forgave his father. It wasn’t an easy path, but it was one he needed to take alone so that he could be good partner for someone some day.

  He believed he was finally ready, though. He’d found peace and forgiveness. He had his land, his animals, his thriving business, and his demons were officially laid to rest. He was ready to share his life with someone else. He was ready to be that safe place for someone. To be their soft place to land when things got hard.

  Pausing for just a moment, he took in her natural beauty. The swell of her breasts, the curve of her hips, the gentle rounding of her lower belly. She was gorgeous.

  He went to her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ve never really felt safe with a man before. Safe to be myself. To be vulnerable.” Their eyes met. “But I feel safe with you.”

  “You are safe with me.”

  Their lips met in a gentle, languid tango. Their tongues joined in with zero rush. He lowered her to the bed, where he shucked his boxer briefs and she removed her underwear and pants.

  He could already smell her arousal and ached to taste her again. To feel her thighs tremble next to his head and her clit swell against his tongue.

  Cupping her breast, he teased and tweaked her nipple until she gasped then smiled against his mouth. Slowly, he blazed a trail of kisses and licks down her neck and jaw, to each nipple, across her sternum, her navel and lower until he reached her clit once more.

  She was wet for him, so he wasted no time sliding two fingers inside and pumping. Her hips rocked, taking him deeper. Then he began to swirl his tongue around her clit, loving how the slippery little button swelled and pulsed.

  He had her coming in no time. The way her pussy squeezed his fingers as she found her release was nothing short of spectacular. She was tight as fuck and got so damn wet. He couldn’t wait to sink into her and feel her squeeze his cock like that.

  By the time she came down from her first climax, he could tell she was ready for another. He was rock hard and dripping onto the mattress when she reached for him. He crawled up her body and she opened the drawer of the nightstand to retrieve a condom. He hadn’t been with anybody in over two years and was clean. But she wasn’t on birth control, so they needed to be smart.

  Sitting back on his heels, he quickly rolled on the condom, tossed the wrapper to the floor, then lowered himself back to his hands above her.

  Reaching between them, she found his length and helped notch him at her center. Their eyes locked as he slowly slid inside, inch by inch.

  When he reached the base, they both let out a collective groan of pleasure. She was as tight as he knew she would be.

  “You okay?” he asked, not wanting to get too ahead of himself.

  “Ohhh yeah.” She nodded. “The stretch … oh my god.”

  It was impossible not to smile at that. Maybe that was the greatest compliment you could pay him.

  “Should I start moving?” he asked.

  “You better.”

  Chuckling, he began to rock, slowly at first, but her movement beneath him, as well as her breathy demands of, “Harder. Faster. Deeper,” had him picking up the pace.

  Dropping his head to her breast, he pulled in a tight, hard nipple, sucking until she gasped. He released it with a wet pop and she moaned. So he moved over to the other breast and did the same thing, eliciting the same reaction that time too.

  She continued to buck her hips up beneath him as he drove forward, his arm muscles bunching and flexing beneath his weight. His lower belly prickled with heat as his balls cinched up against his taint.

  Fuck, he was close.

  Her nails dug into his shoulders and her back arched as she threw her head into the pillow and pressed her pelvic bone up to meet his. She paused, her mouth opened against his on a silent plea, and she let go.

  Thank fuck.

  Her pussy spasmed around him, kicking him that last half inch over the edge so that he was able to tumble, too. He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her sweet scent and reveling in her whimpers and moans of ecstasy.

  Everything inside him warmed, his body buzzed and his cock pulsed, sheathed in her velvet heat as she tightened her muscles around him, milking him, holding him close. Because she felt safe with him.

  A moment later, she let out a long, low exhale and her body went lax beneath his. He shuddered with the last surge of his release and let out a slow breath.

  Her nails retracted from his shoulders and she raked them gently up his sides causing goosebumps to follow. He kissed her shoulder and rolled off, making sure he brought the condom with him.

  He removed it and went to the bathroom to dispose of it and wash his face. As he returned to the bedroom, Jennifer got up and took her turn in the bathroom, closing the door.

  He pulled on his boxer briefs and collapsed back into the bed, pulling the covers up to his waist and tucking his hands under his head, staring up at the exposed rafters.

  The bathroom door opened and she came out looking more gorgeous than ever. Rosy skinned and freshly fucked. Her messy bun was messier than when she first entered his room, and her glasses were covered in smudges. He smiled at her and pulled back the covers on the other side so she could climb in.

  But she hesitated and went on the hunt for her pajamas.

  Once she was dressed, she just stood there beside the bed, her lips twisting in thought.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

  “I … sex is one thing, but sharing a bed … you don’t have to. And what will Levi think if I’m not downstairs in the trundle when he wakes up?”

  With a sigh, he patted the empty space in the bed and lifted his brows at her until she rolled those pretty green eyes and acquiesced, joining him.

  They lay on their sides, facing each other.

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “But I would like some post-sex cuddling if you’re up for it.” The smile he gave her was hopefully as cute as it was lopsided.

  Her reaction led him to believe that it was and she chuckled.

  “I do agree, that it might be weird for Levi if you’re not there. However, that trundle is very uncomfortable. So we can also say that you found the trundle too difficult to sleep on and moved to the couch. Or I took the couch and gave you my bed. However, I am willing to take your lead on this. Do whatever you feel most comfortable doing.” He shrugged. “But I would like to hold you for a bit before you decide to leave.”

  She swallowed and blinked a few times. The smudges on her glasses had him sitting up, removing them from her face and using the top sheet to clean them. Then he carefully placed them back on the bridge of her nose before sinking back down to face her again.

  She smiled. “Do you have any flaws?”

  He huffed a laugh. “I snore like a bear. Just forewarning you.”

  She rolled to her back and sighed. “I don’t even know your last name.”

  “It’s van Camp. My dad’s family was Dutch.” He propped his head in his hand, resting his elbow on the bed. “Daxon Ewan van Camp. Nice to meet you.”

  She side-eyed him. “Jennifer Marjorie Anne Baldwin. Nice to meet you.”

  They both grinned at each other.

  “Will you stay and cuddle for a bit with me Jennifer Marjorie Anne Baldwin?”

  She nodded and rolled over to show him her back. “Yeah. I will.”

  He tucked her ass in against his pelvis as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder.

  “So … when the power comes on, what happens next?” she asked, lacing their fingers together.

  “I turn off the generator.”

  Her body shook with laughter. “And then what?”

  “We check to see if the power is back on in Qualicum, too, and I drive you, Levi, Phil and Gloria home.”

  She was quiet for a moment. The silent, “And then what?” settling between them.

  “And then, I call you and ask to see you again. I take you on dates. I cook you dinner. I bring you flowers, and I court you. I date you properly, and we see where things go.”

 

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