Montana Desire

Chapter 15

Grant

I woke with the sun.

That was a habit I’d never quite shaken from my military days, and now working on a ranch, it was a good habit to have. Right now, it was perfect, because I was able to watch Cori sleep.

She was so fucking beautiful up close, and the longer I stared, the more details I found that were fascinating. Her face had freckles. Light ones, but they were there. You couldn’t see them until you were up close. She had long eyelashes that caught the morning light.

There was a tattoo on the center of her spine, a delicate moon in a twisting, nearly Celtic style. It was at once stark and beautiful, and not at all what I would have expected. Then again, there was almost nothing about Cori that was truly expected.

Her breath was slow and even. She still relaxed into me effortlessly, and I didn’t think there was any sign of trust greater than the fact that she let me into her home, her bed, and her body, after what had happened with that asshole.

It was everything I’d ever thought about and more. She bloomed under me. Responded to the shade of dominance I’d shown her. Made me want to wake her up with a kiss and start last night all over again.

As much as I wanted to do that, I shouldn’t.

I couldn’t believe I’d actually done that last night. Not a chance in hell that I regretted it, but this was probably too fast. I didn’t want to mess this up, and we both knew that. So I wouldn’t wake her up and give her the leisurely, thorough morning fuck that I was dying to.

That would have to come later.

Slowly and quietly, I slipped from the bed, making sure that Cori was still fully ensconced in the blankets and that I didn’t wake her. I needed a shower and a change of clothes that wasn’t my tuxedo, and I would be back.

I grabbed the spare key by the door to lock it behind me. The chance that something would happen in the twenty minutes it would take for me to shower and change was incredibly slim, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. Not with her.

It didn’t take long for me to shower and dress in clothes for the ranch. The wedding last night had not been a weekend, something insisted on by Grace in an attempt to keep the wedding smaller—not that it had worked in the slightest. But all of us now had to return to work.

Cori would have patients to get to, and I had my own work to do at the ranch. I felt a little twinge in my back today, probably from our very…vigorous activities last night. If that was the price to pay, then I would pay it gladly. And do it all over again.

Grabbing everything I needed, I headed back across the yard to her house. Based on the silence inside, Cori was still sleeping. Good. She deserved it.

Just like I thought, the kitchen in the morning light was bright, cheery, and was basically an adrenaline injection straight into my veins. I felt more awake just by standing in the room. But nothing would replace coffee.

Searching the kitchen for mugs, I pulled out two and started the coffee in the coffeemaker. When she woke, Cori needed to tell me how she took her coffee. If I were going to guess, I would say a lot of cream and a little bit of sugar, but I wasn’t going to presume. Especially when I was in her space.

I heard the soft sound of her footsteps on the stairs. She appeared in shorts and a T-shirt, bleary eyes and messy hair. She looked adorable and sleepy. Not to mention that I was distracted by what was under her shirt.

“Good morning.”

She blushed a beautiful shade of pink. “Good morning.”

“Sleep okay?”

“Yeah.” She pressed her lips together, and her cheeks turned a deeper pink. Adorably embarrassed, though there was nothing I could think of to be embarrassed about. “Best sleep in a long time, actually.”

I reached a hand toward her, and she came over to me like it was subconscious. The very male, instinctual part of me loved that it was her natural reaction to drift in my direction. Like I made her feel safe.

As soon as she was within arm’s reach, I pulled her to me. Not even an hour away from her and I’d missed the feeling of her curves, and more, the way she fit against me. Comfortable. Natural. Tilting her face up to mine, I brushed my mouth across hers and savored her tiny gasp.

“I thought you were gone,” she whispered.

“I went home to take a shower. And to grab non-wedding clothes.”

This time, she kissed me. She was still nervous. The way her fingers held tight to my arms told me that. But I liked that her confidence was growing enough that she actually would kiss me.

“You still with me?” I asked her quietly.

“Yes. Absolutely.”

I smiled. “No regrets, even though that was kind of throwing slow out the window?”

“Sometimes slow is overrated. No regrets.”

“In that case,” I said. “How do you take your coffee? I was already making it when I realized that’s something I don’t know about you.”

“You don’t have to do that.” I noticed her hands twist together, fidgeting. “I can.”

I laughed lightly. “I know you can. Because you’re an incredibly intelligent and capable woman. But I’d still like to make it for you.”

She was looking at me like she was waiting for it to be a joke. It wasn’t. Leaning against the counter as I was, I tightened my hands on the edge, squeezing out the anger I was feeling toward her ex. Other than two nights ago, I hadn’t seen any abuse. But abuse was more than just physical, and it was an easy slope to slide down.

How had he really treated her if the idea of me making coffee for her was truly that groundbreaking?

“Or,” I said, “should I take a guess and see how close I get?”

That snapped her out of the stare, and she smiled. “Think you have me pinned that well after one night? I don’t know, Grant. A woman’s coffee order is the key to her soul.”

“Then I better not get it wrong. Sit.”

She sat, but not before I noticed more fidgeting. She was used to being the one who did things. That was fine. Doing things was great in an equal partnership. But she didn’t need to be the only one who did things.

In her fridge, I found creamer—a large bottle—and I spotted a small jar of sugar right near the coffeemaker. So far, my suspicions about how much of each she liked seemed right on.

I turned so she couldn’t see what I was doing, pouring the coffee and judging the color by how much cream. Then one spoon of sugar. “You should close your eyes,” I told her. “So you can’t guess how close I am just by looking at it.”

“Okay,” she said. “But if you poisoned it and this is your way of getting me to drink it, I will haunt your ass to kingdom come.”

“If I’d planned on killing you—which is the furthest thing from my mind—I like to think I’d be more creative than poison in your coffee.”

Eyes closed, she fought a smile and lost. “This is a weird conversation.”

“You started it.”

I set the cup down in front of her and took her hands. She jumped a little at my unexpected touch but relaxed immediately as I put her hands around the mug.

Watching her lips too closely had me reconsidering the option of taking her to bed this morning. And the sound she made when she tasted the coffee had me hardening in my pants. Cori’s eyes flew open. “Grant, holy shit.”

“I got it right?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like I make it. Somehow, it’s better.”

I smirked. “Anything that someone else makes for you tastes better. Just a fact.”

She took another sip. “Well, don’t let Lena know that you can make drinks like this. She’ll drag you into Deja Brew and never let you leave.”

“As long as she feeds me cookies,” I said with a wink before putting together my own coffee.

Cori drank her coffee in silence for a moment, looking out one of the windows that faced the edge of town and the fields that rolled away from it.

I wanted to know what she was thinking about. And I really wanted to ask her the truth about what happened with Joel. Both the other night, and during the breakup. But I also didn’t want to ruin this morning. Because this felt amazing.

“So,” I said. “No regrets. But I still don’t want to rush things with you, Cori. Last night wasn’t a one-time thing. Not for me.”

When she looked at me, I was struck by heat. “I said last night that my relationship with Joel had been dead for a long time, and I meant that. If you want to take things slowly, that’s fine. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or do anything that would make this fall apart. But after last night—” a sip of coffee as she blushed “—I don’t want to go back to a version of slow that doesn’t include that.”

“Agreed.”

“Normally, when something ends, you have to grieve that thing. Fill the void somehow. That’s how rebounds happen. I’m not grieving, Grant. I’m just relieved that it’s over. You’re not a rebound.” She stood and came over to me, stopping just short of making our bodies touch. “So if that makes you reconsider your version of speed, I’m all for it.”

“It took everything in me not to roll you over this morning and wake you up with my tongue. Now I wish that I had.”

She swallowed. “Wow.”

“Too much?” I grinned.

“Nope.” Cori retreated and downed what was left of the coffee. But I saw that she was fighting the instinct to tell me to do that right now. “Nothing about last night was too much.”

I crossed the space and pulled her against me, pinning her back to my chest. The clothes she wore were thin enough that I could feel every curve of her. “So when I whispered dirty things in your ear, that wasn’t overwhelming?”

“It was. In a good way.”

“Mmm.” I bent my head so I could kiss the place where her neck met her shoulder. “So when I tell you that if both of us didn’t have to go to work, I’d do what I said last night, lay you out on this table and feast on you for breakfast?”

The only response was the tightening of her fingers on my arms where she’d grabbed them and the shake of her breath that told me she was unsteady.

I slid my hand down her stomach low on her T-shirt, not crossing any lines but indicating exactly where I wanted to go.

“I’m going over my schedule in my head and wondering if I can cancel any appointments.”

“Maybe slow is the wrong word.” I gently turned her around and loosened my hold. “Deliberate. I want to be deliberate with you. Because I don’t think I can go back either.”

Who was I kidding? There was no chance I was going to be able to resist this woman in my bed. In her bed. Wherever she’d let me have her. After wanting her for so long and resisting, being able to touch her was like a dream.

“Thank God,” she said with a smile.

I couldn’t stop my own. “I need to get to the ranch, and I imagine you have to get to the clinic. But before I go—” I kissed her. Not the gentle good morning kiss that we’d shared. This was what I wanted her to be thinking about for the rest of the day.

Coaxing her lips open, I tangled my tongue with hers. I held her until she melted against my body, becoming even more of a delicious fucking temptation.

“Call me later,” I said quietly. “And we’ll do something deliberate.”

Cori bit her bottom lip. “Okay.”

It took a lot of effort to let her go and step back, and even more to make myself walk out the door. But I did, feeling her eyes on me until the front door closed behind me.