Chapter 40
Gage
The water was cold enough to make my skin sting, but that didn’t stop me from lunging toward the angel beaming at me in the middle of it. Bree squealed, her laughter bubbling into the air, before I
scooped her into my arms, holding her tight against my chest as I pulled her through the lake. The
shock of the chill didn’t matter when I had her wrapped around me.
“God, it’s so f*****g cold,” she gasped, shivering as her arms and legs locked around me, trying to
steal every bit of heat I could give her.
“Relax, gorgeous, I got you,” I murmured with a low chuckle, keeping her tight against me. My arms
tightened, my hands gripping her like I was anchoring her to me while I kicked lazily beneath us,
just enough to keep us afloat, just enough to keep the heat moving between us.
It shouldn’t have been possible for my body to react the way it did in water this cold, but having
Bree’s nearly naked, wet body pressed so firmly to mine made my c**k ache with want. Cold or not,
the hunger she stirred inside me was primal. My body didn’t care about the water trying to freeze
us out. It didn’t care about logic. It just knew her.
After a few minutes, we adjusted. The chill dulled, our body heat slowly creating its own cocoon,
wrapping us in something more intimate than the blanket waiting for us on the shore. Bree burrowed closer, her face hidden against my neck, her soft lips brushing over my skin as her frames nudged my jaw. I had no clue how bad her eyesight was, but the fact she wore glasses into
the damn lake told me it was bad enough. Still, I didn’t care. I pressed a lingering kiss to the top of
her damp hair, inhaling the sweetness of her shampoo mixed with the fresh water and the faint
perfume she’d sprayed on earlier. My eyes lifted toward the horizon, catching the last stretch of
the sun disappearing, streaking the sky in orange and purple.
“Thank you for these weeks,” she whispered after a while, her lips shaping the words against my
throat. “This has been the best summer of my life. All because of you, Gage.”
Her words hit me like a wrecking ball, tearing down whatever defenses I had left. My chest
expanded, so full of warmth it almost hurt. The love I felt for her-raw, consuming, limitless-
burned through me with every breath.
“Right back at you, gorgeous,” I murmured, voice rough, burying my nose deeper into her hair. My
arms clutched her tighter, as though holding her this way could brand her to me, keep her mine
forever.
She pulled back, her wide blue eyes lifting to mine. “Gage?” she asked softly, a nervous lilt in her
tone.
“Yeah?” My hand slid slowly up and down her spine, trying to ease whatever tension I saw
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flickering in her gaze.
Her teeth worried her bottom lip, her gaze searching every inch of my face. The nervous energy in her posture was enough to make me still, waiting. She looked like she was debating whether or not to risk the words forming on her tongue. And then, with the barest parting of her lips, she
shattered me completely.
“Will you make love to me?”
Time stopped. The lake, the sky, the world-none of it existed in that moment. My body went rigid, my lips parting, eyes widening as I stared at her.
My d**k answered first-hell yes, finally, please. But my mind spun in a thousand directions. I knew her history, knew she’d only ever been with one guy before-the guy who’d treated her like a secret, like she wasn’t worth being seen. The guy who didn’t deserve to f*****g breathe in the same world as her. She hadn’t been safe with him, hadn’t been loved, hadn’t been cherished. But me? She was asking me. And it wasn’t just about s*x. Not for her. She wasn’t asking for release or reckless fumbling in the dark. She was asking me to hold her, to show her she mattered, to prove to her that
every touch could mean something.
My throat tightened. “Are you sure?” My eyes searched hers like they were my lifeline. “We don’t
have to, Bree. It isn’t important to me-we can wait if you
don’t-”
“That’s why I wanna do it,” she interrupted softly, her certainty shining in those blue eyes now. “I
want it, Gage. I want you. I trust you.”
f**k. Those words nearly broke me. They meant everything. She didn’t need to say she loved me
yet-I could feel it in this, in the way her trust bled through every syllable. Maybe this was her way of telling me she felt the same way I did, her way of giving me her heart.
“I love you, Bree,” I whispered, letting the words roll out as I leaned in, brushing my lips tenderly against hers. “I’ll take care of you.”
Her arms wrapped tighter around my neck, pulling me down into a kiss that stole the rest of the air from my lungs. Her lips were soft but hungry, her kiss both hesitant and demanding, like she
wanted to savor every second and yet couldn’t get enough. I kissed her back with everything in me,
my hands holding her steady, memorizing the shape of her against me.
Slowly, carefully, I shifted us out of the water, her body clinging to mine as I carried her toward the shore. The blanket was waiting, spread across the ground. I lowered us gently, kneeling with her still in my arms, before easing her onto the softness beneath us. The cold air nipped at her damp skin, but I was already reaching for the second blanket I’d brought, the one Derek had helped me sneak into the basket earlier. He’d smirked when he handed it over, and I knew why, but still I hadn’t thought I would get this lucky. I draped it carefully over us, tucking it around her, shielding her from
the chill.
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More Rewards
And then she was beneath me, her legs cradling my body, her hands sliding along my back as our mouths found each other again. I slowed down, kissing her deeply, thoroughly, with the kind of patience I didn’t know I had until her. I wanted her to feel this, to remember this moment for the rest of her life-not him, not the prom night that had been tainted, but this. Us.
I couldn’t stop my body’s instinct. My hips pressed down, grinding against her, a groan tearing from my throat the second I felt the molten heat radiating from her core. She whimpered, a breathy sound that unraveled me, her legs tightening around me until her ankles locked at the small of my back, holding me flush against her.
I wasn’t a virgin-not by a long shot. But I wasn’t the kind of guy who used women either. It had never been about notches on a bedpost or chasing numbers. For me, it had always been about the connection, about making sure she felt every ounce of the pleasure I was giving. And with Bree? With Bree I wanted more than pleasure. I wanted this to be unforgettable. I wanted this to mean something for both of us. I wanted her to walk away from tonight craving more than just a single memory. I wanted her to crave me. Always.
Driven by that thought, I broke away from her lips, dragging my mouth lower, letting it trail down her neck. I pressed kisses everywhere I knew she loved, everywhere that made her sigh or gasp, everywhere that made her delicate fingers twist in my hair like she couldn’t stand not having me
closer.
Christ, I loved those fingers in my hair. I loved how she tugged gently at the strands, how she played with them absentmindedly, like it was natural, like she already knew every part of me belonged to her. It was one of the reasons I hadn’t worn my cap tonight, left the armor I usually used to tame the unruliness of my hair back at the hut. Sure, I hadn’t walked out here actually expecting this would happen-but the chance of a long, hot makeout with her hands tugging through my hair? That was reason enough.
“Gage,” she whimpered, her voice trembling when my lips trailed over her collarbone and dipped lower, brushing across the swell of her breast.
I paused, my breath rough against her skin. “Can I take it off?” I asked quietly, reverently. My mouth hovered over her, but I didn’t move an inch further. She might’ve asked me to make love to her, but that didn’t mean I’d stop checking every step of the way. I needed her to want this just as much as I did. I couldn’t risk her waking up with even a shred of regret.
“Please,” she whispered, her back arching, her chest pushing toward me as though she were begging me to take it.
Her answer undid me. My hands slipped behind her back, fingers working the clasp. God, sometimes I wished bras worked like Joey claimed in Friends-just one glance and they popped open. But my nerves had my hands shaking like a rookie, clumsy and fumbling while my heart thundered. It made the damn thing stubborn. Bree didn’t laugh. She didn’t tease. Instead, she
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Chapter 40
shifted her body slightly, arching just enough to give me the leverage I needed. A second later, the clasp popped open, and relief and hunger crashed through me.
I slid the straps down her shoulders, easing the bra off, before tossing it onto the blanket. And then my eyes devoured her.
f**k.
Her breasts were perfect. Full and soft, the weight of them sinking beautifully into her chest. Her n*****s tightened beneath my gaze, hardening into stiff peaks that begged for my mouth. The skin here was lighter than the rest of her, untouched by the sun, proof that Bree didn’t show this part of herself to anyone. Proof that she’d kept herself hidden, covered. Proof that I was the lucky bastard who got to see her like this.
My hands cupped her, molding to the curves with ease. She was impossibly soft, warm and pliant beneath my touch, and I squeezed gently, reverently, watching her body respond. Then I leaned down, my tongue flicking over one hardened bud. Her sharp gasp filled the night, and her fingers immediately tangled deeper in my hair, holding me to her chest like she never wanted me to let go.
I grinned against her, sucking her n****e into my mouth, lavishing it with my tongue before dragging my teeth across it lightly. The small scrape sent her arching, a broken moan spilling from her lips. I kissed the soft flesh around it, worshipping every inch of her, then moved to the other side, giving it the same attention until she was trembling beneath me, her sounds growing louder,
more desperate.
She was trying to hold them in, trying not to be too vocal, but I could feel her body betraying her. Her hips shifted beneath me, restless, needing friction, needing more than my mouth could give.
“Gage, please,” she moaned, her voice raw, one hand sliding over my shoulder before curling back
into my hair again.
That was all I needed. I kissed lower, my mouth trailing across the soft plane of her stomach. My lips brushed every curve, every dip, worshipping her body as I descended. My fingers hooked into the edge of her underwear, and I stilled, lifting my head to meet her gaze one more time.
Her eyes found mine, ocean-blue and shimmering with heat, with need. Lust burned there, yes, but it wasn’t just lust-it was trust, open and raw. And f**k, the sight almost made me lose it. I was so
close to coming undone, so close to embarrassing myself like some horny teenager.
But Bree lifted her hips for me, granting me silent permission. That single movement stole the last of my control. I slid her panties down her thighs, easing them off, before placing them on the
blanket next to her bra.
When I looked back at her, she was already opening herself to me, her legs parting, welcoming me into the sight of her. Heat flushed her body, her skin painted pink from her cheeks all the way down
across her chest.
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And God, she was perfect.
Every inch of her was mine to see, mine to touch, mine to claim.
More Rewards!
The thought of anyone else ever having this-the thought that some asshole had once touched
what should’ve always been mine-lit a white-hot fury in my chest. The fact that he’d taken something so sacred, so f*****g divine, and cheapened it, shared it like it was meaningless? It
didn’t make sense. It would never make sense.
Because as I stared down at Bree Morgan, as her blue eyes locked onto mine, there was only one
word echoing in my head, pounding with every heartbeat.
Mine.
Mine.
Mine forever.
