In Full Bloom (Second Chances 1)

“Put your hands on me, sweetheart. I need your hands on me,” he grunted.

She released her achy nipples and clutched on to his shoulders. As he continued to pound against her, she dug her nails into his shoulders.

A wave of sensation so acute welled up inside her that it felt like someone had detonated a small explosive. She dragged her nails down his chest as she cried out his name.

He groaned roughly and said, “You feel so good clenching around my fucking cock, Taryn,” as he reached his hand in between them.

Her whole body tensed up again as he rubbed his fingers quickly against her. She panted out, “Oh fuck. I love the way you touch me. Like that. Just like that.”

His hips slapped against hers with every thrust. His cock pressed up against her G-spot on every stroke. She was slowly losing her mind. Sweat dripped down them both, the heat and humidity of the greenhouse was too much for her. She was feeling almost light headed.

But honestly, she didn’t know if it was the heat or if she was just overstimulated. Her skin burned where his fingers touched and she couldn’t focus on anything but the intense pleasure rolling through her in waves.

As if he realized she was falling apart beneath him, he gave her swollen clit a quick pinch that had her shuddering and moaning his name as she clenched around him almost violently. On the heels of her release, he buried himself inside her one last time and shouted her name like an oath.

* * * *

Taryn had only been a few minutes late to work. They had, once they’d been able t

o focus again, taken a quick shower and gotten dressed. Evan had ended up driving her to work.

She’d protested, saying that he needed to open the shop, but he’d just given her that smug, satisfied grin and said, “No, no. It’s the least I can do after this morning, baby.”

Her muscles were a little bit sore. He hadn’t been gentle with her. Not that she’d ever ask for that. Gentleness was entirely overrated. Until they’d started dating, she hadn’t known the human body could orgasm like that.

She worried that things were moving too quickly between them. She felt too much. A part of her wanted to trust in what he offered. The sex was great, but it had become about much more than just that. She woke up next to him. He had offered her a place in his life. He was taking her home for Thanksgiving, for christ sake. This was all too much.

She walked around for the remaining part of the morning in a haze. Luckily, it was a light day so there wasn’t a whole lot going on. She was on her way to the administrative offices to see if Millie wanted to grab lunch when she heard her walkie beep.

Her boss, Mike, rang through the speaker. “Taryn. When you get a second stop by my office.”

She picked up the walkie and responded, “Ominous.”

Mike snorted over the air waves at her and said, “My office.”

She decided to put off her lunch break and headed into the offices in the back of the veterinary center. She gave a light tap on his door, wondering if she was going to get in trouble for being slightly late this morning.

He answered, “Jesus, Michaels. I told you to stop by when you got a second, not to sprint over here.”

She rolled her eyes and said, “I was about to head out for lunch. You know how I feel about suspense. What’s up?”

“Do you have anything planned for the second week in December?”

“Uh, yeah. I was thinking I’d come to work and stuff,” she said, grinning.

He ignored her wisecrack and said, “The reason I ask is because there’s an opportunity to fellowship in San Diego. I’m going down there and I get to take another staff member down there with me. You haven’t had the opportunity. Honestly, though I’ll never admit to saying this if you repeat it, you seem the most eager to learn. I think it will do you the most good.”

“Sure,” she said enthusiastically. “I’d love to go. What am I going to be working with? Isn’t there usually a specific focus?”

“Reptiles. They’re getting new Burmese pythons,” he said.

Her face fell. She fucking hated snakes. Especially snakes so large that they could literally digest an entire human.

Mike cracked up and said, “That look was priceless. Pandas. Los Angeles is trying to get one, so they want a couple of us to know what we’re doing.”

Taryn felt equal waves of relief and excitement swamp her. She calmly said, “Oh good,” as she gave a mental fist pump.

They talked for a couple more minutes, discussing the general time line, before she excused herself to go to lunch. Grabbing her purse from her desk, she ran to grab a quick bite. As she waited in line, she realized that she wouldn’t see Evan for a whole week. She’d seen him almost every day since he’d moved in. That would be strange.