Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Desire

“Now that you’re cleaned up, I think you’re ready for the next thing.”

And the next thing appeared to be tormenting her. Hope gasped as he directed the pulsing stream directly at her right nipple. The pressure was hard enough to make her body tighten. A tingling began, leading from her sensitive breasts to deep inside where she grew achy and needy for him. She wanted him to put down the playthings and simply give her his cock.

Matt sat on the edge of the tub and switched the water to the other breast. Then he covered her right nipple with his mouth and sucked.

“I like that.”

“Hmm.” Matt mumbled around his mouthful, lashing his tongue over the responsive tip before using his teeth and dragging out a little scream.

She watched him—there was something so erotic about seeing his mouth on her that increased the wonderfulness of it. Observing his other hand approach, anticipating the second before he made contact with her waist.

What she didn’t anticipate was him dropping the level of the showerhead until the hard stream pulsed in a direct line with her clit.

“Matt!”

“Spread your legs more,” he ordered. Hope obeyed, then shivered as he put his mouth back on her breast and sucked hard. When his free hand snuck around her ass, she was ready to explode.

He fingered the crease between her cheeks, all soapy and slick. One finger circled her most sensitive spot. She was in overload. Her breasts, her clit…her entire body vibrated on the edge. So when he pushed that finger deep into her ass, it was no surprise that she came. Sex pulsing, constricting around a cock that wasn’t there. Her ass clenching tight on his finger.

It was a miracle her legs didn’t give out and let her collapse into the tub.

He finally crawled over the edge and joined her, putting the showerhead back into place and adjusting the spray to cover them both as he pulled her still-shaking body against his firm muscles.

Hope snuggled in tight. “I feel guilty. Or I would if I had the energy to feel anything right now.”

“Really?” Matt helped wet her hair, stroking his fingers over her scalp and working the shampoo into a lather. “Why guilt?”

Hope leaned her hip against his groin in answer. His cock was back up to full strength. “I thought we’d do something about that for you.”

He lifted her chin and unleashed his sexy smile on her. “Oh, you’ll be doing something about it soon enough. But if you want me to call the shots, I ain’t gonna always do what you expect.”

That was for sure. “I like that idea.”

His gaze dropped to her lips, his thumb rising to rub along her bottom lip. “I’m glad to hear it.”

He pressed his thumb between her lips, and Hope sucked, closing her mouth around the digit. She shivered as his eyes darkened, his body tightened.

It was hard to remember she’d started out early this morning dealing with her sister, and now? If the expression on Matt’s face was any indication, she wasn’t going to get much sleep for a while.

The day had definitely gotten better as it went along.

“Shove over,” Jaxi ordered, nudging past her cousins and Beth to plop down at Hope’s side. She leaned in close and lowered her volume, making it impossible for anyone else in the music-filled pool hall to overhear their discussion. “It took forever for the babies to settle. Now spill. What’s the latest?”

Hope double-checked no one was listening. Tamara and Karen, the oldest two of the Whiskey Creek Colemans, were deep in conversation with Beth. All the Coleman males in attendance for the semiregular Friday night clan get-together, a scattering of the older cousins and their friends, were gathered around the pool tables at the back of Traders Pub. The urge to tease Jaxi was too strong to resist. Hope played with the tab on her can of Coke and shrugged innocently. “There’s a great new valentine’s fabric in the shop I bet you could use as curtains for the girls’ room.”

Jaxi pulled a face and poked Hope in the arm. “That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”

A second’s pause ensued as Hope considered what she wanted to talk about and what was easier to start ignoring. Just because Jaxi would keep things quiet didn’t mean every dirty detail had to be shared.

And there was no way she was making public any parts of the conversation she’d had with Matt regarding their sex lives, even though a week later that was probably the first thing that still popped to mind, crowding out the frustrations of dealing with her sister.

Hmm, positive thinking was working.

She hid her smile and answered. “If you’re wondering about Helen, I haven’t talked to her since last Thursday. I heard through the grapevine she’s sharing an apartment with an old friend.”

“She hasn’t called yet?”

“No. Although, she did stop in at the bank and ask a few questions. The manager contacted me to let me know that everything is still confidential—Helen’s name wasn’t on any of the access forms, and he simply turned her away.”

Jaxi whistled low. “Bet that pissed her off.”

Hope didn’t give a damn. “I mean it, Jaxi. She’s not getting her hands on anything I’ve worked so hard for.”

“You don’t owe her anything. Information or charity.” Jaxi leaned against her side comfortingly.

“But if she does call and try to be polite…” Hope took a swig of her Coke. There was still a ton simmering under the surface in terms of fear and anger. “I hope I’m mature enough to forgive her. It’s hard to overlook how much she’s hurt me, but she is family. She’s the only family I’ve got left.”

“Deal with that later. Wait and see what happens, okay? I hate that you’re tormenting yourself like this. Relax and try to forget her for a bit.”

Hope nodded, her gaze darting into the room and focusing on Matt. He sent the pool balls spinning before standing and laughing with his brothers. He glanced in her direction, and the way he stared made her heart leap unevenly—the slightly lopsided smile with one side of his mouth quirked up in the corner. As if he had all sorts of interesting ideas running through his brain when he looked at her.

“Relaxing, I can work on.” Hope gave Jaxi a quick squeeze before nudging her with a hip. “Let me out. I have some distracting to do.”

Jaxi moved over to the next table where more Coleman cousins sat shooting the breeze. Hope nonchalantly adjusted her T-shirt, tugging the neckline downward to strategically expose a bit more cleavage before pacing over to the pool tables.

Matt leaned over the pool table, his ass toward her as he bent forward. She was tempted to keep walking until she could slap both hands against his butt to enjoy his muscles flexing in the palms of her hands. Before she could make it all the way there, though, he’d taken his shot and turned, his grin widening as he caught a glimpse of her.

Hope let her hips swing a little extra as she approached.

“Oh, sweetheart. You keep moving like that and Matt’s gonna have a fight on his hands keeping you to himself.” Travis leaned a hip on the table, his gaze running over her body.

The brother standing closest to him, Blake, poked Travis in the shoulder. “Cool it, Casanova. I don’t want anyone else in our family traumatized while at this pool hall.”

Matt turned his sexy grin in Hope’s direction. “Now, Blake. You really think any woman’s crazy enough to pick Travis over me?”

“Rub it in, why don’t you?” Travis grumbled.

There was something almost sad in his tone, and impulsively Hope went right up to his side and hugged him. He tightened for a second before squeezing back. His whispered thanks brushed past her ear, and she winked as he let her free.

A loud, exaggerated sigh rose from Matt. “Sure. Give him a hug before me. I’m gonna get a complex.”

“Just making the crowd jealous, that’s all.” Travis twirled her to face Matt. “That’s my admirers, I’m talking about, by the way. It’s always good for them to see a pretty girl in my arms and know they ain’t the only one wanting a piece of me.”

“Then since you’ve usually got a woman hanging somewhere over you, you must have quite the jealous following.” Daniel shook his head. “You and the twins. I’m waiting eagerly for you all to meet your match someday.”

“Someday. But for now?” Travis waggled his brows and picked up his beer from the edge of the table, raising it in a toast in Hope’s direction.

While she’d been watching the interplay between the boys, Matt had stepped to her side. He took her hand and pulled her against his body, speaking quietly.

“You made him happier than you know. Travis talks big, but sometimes I think he’s a hell of a lot more lonely than he lets on.” The smile on Matt’s face reassured her. He tucked his knuckles under her chin and lifted her lips to his kiss. A slow, heated exchange followed that increased her pulse to a rocking tempo. A leg slipped between her thighs as he brought them closer, and she hummed happily.

“How’s the game going?” she asked.

Matt shrugged, all his attention on her. “Who cares?”

He would have kissed her again, but she ducked away, slipping up the room toward the pool cues. “I care. I figure if you’re losing, I can convince the guys to let me play instead of you.”

Daniel laughed, holding forward his cue stick. “You want to take over for someone, you can play for me. I’d be happy to take a breather and see how Beth is doing.”

“Hey. That means she’s not on my team,” Matt complained.

Travis scooted forward to take Hope’s hand in his and lift it to his lips. “You and I will kick their asses.”

He winked saucily before kissing her knuckles. Matt growled in the background and Hope laughed out loud. Travis was so obviously pulling Matt’s strings, she returned the flirt’s smile. “Ass kicking, beginning now.”

The game was lighthearted and fun. Hope enjoyed the banter among the brothers, Blake and Travis and Matt all giving each other hell as they played. By the time they’d nearly finished three games, she wasn’t sure if her stomach could take much more laughing. “You’re supposed to be concentrating on the game. Give me a break.”

Matt dropped the final ball for him and Blake, and won the deciding matchup. “Diversion works wonders. Now if you’d been ignoring us and snickering a little less, you might have won.”

She stepped back against him and snuggled in as he draped an arm over her shoulders. “Winning isn’t everything.”

Travis tapped her on the nose. “What kind of dream world you living in? Winning is everything.”

Matt batted his brother’s hand away good-naturedly. Hope sighed with contentment. It was so nice to enjoy an evening out with people who didn’t have an agenda.

Travis straightened up from his relaxed slouch and excused himself, heading for the front doors of the bar like his ass was on fire. She followed his gaze, but didn’t see anything that should have made him move that quickly.

Then Matt distracted her by turning her back to the wall and leaning in close, lifting her chin and working his way over her lips as if he was determined to make her legs collapse. The heat of his torso pressed against her, and she relaxed back, luxuriating in his touch.

“Damn it.” Blake’s growl pulled her back to earth. “Bad enough I have to put up with Jaxi talking about you lovebirds all the time. Do you have to do that here?”

Matt didn’t take his eyes off hers. “I think I need to do this just about everywhere. You got any objections, Hope?”

She shook her head. “Hell, no.”

“Guess my brother is out of luck. Sorry, Blake. The show continues.”

Hope laughed but slipped a hand between them to cover his mouth. “Except, I need to go to the washroom.”

Matt sighed and backed away. “I’ll be at the table. You want another Coke?”

Hope nodded then scooted down the back hall to where the bathrooms were. This was wonderful. Just a relaxing evening out. No deadlines hanging over her head. Plus, the lack of interference from her sister seemed to imply Helen was coming to grips with reality.

Life was pretty damn wonderful.

And now that they’d dealt with that stupid hesitation of Matt’s to being the kind of man he wanted to be in the bedroom—there was the potential for things to get even better. They’d shared a ton of good sex in the past few days—rocking-good sex where Matt made her more than glad she’d shared regarding her fantasy lover.

She exited the ladies room and paused. Out of the corner of her eye she’d caught movement. Pressed against the far wall beside the fire exit she spied a couple in pretty much the same position she and Matt had just enjoyed. A tall figure with a short crew cut leaned one hand on the wall, the other hand caught in his partner’s hair. Hope peered through the darkness and hesitated. She had no intention of interrupting—especially not when the top kisser rocked his hips slowly. A shot of something wild and sensual flashed through her. Hmm. She snuck deeper into the shadows, the need to allow them piracy forgotten as she watched and listened.