AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She swallowed, struggling to find her voice. “Oh, yeah?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice low and husky as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Just recently, I got to have this amazing dessert. It was as sweet as chocolate cake, and now all I can think about is how much I want to eat it again.”
She swallowed again as heat surged through her. “You remember I told you that it’s okay to sometimes go off your diet for one night, or even two—really, a week wouldn’t hurt—then you can always pick it back up again and deprive yourself the next day.”
As she’d talked, he’d dipped his chin to her neck and inhaled her scent. “A week, huh?” His lips grazed her skin, and she shivered as his warm breath tickled her neck when he let out a soft laugh. “Sounds tempting.”
The shop was usually warm, so after work, she’d changed into a camisole top and a loose pair of cotton shorts before coming out to the ranch. As Dodge spoke, his hand drifted down her side and over her hip. Then she caught her breath as his fingers skimmed the hem of her shorts then slid under them, teasing her with soft touches. “My willpower seems to be failing me, darlin’. The hunger seems to be eating me up, and all I can think about is tasting that cake again.”
“Mmm.” All she could get out was a small hum as his fingers slipped under the fabric of her panties, and she gripped his shoulder.
His head dipped further, laying a trail of warm kisses down her neck and into her cleavage. “So, what do you think I should do about this craving I’ve been having?”
His hand was stroking her in the most delicious way, but she finally found her voice, because she knew she might die if he stopped. “I think you should screw your diet and have the dessert. Every last bite of it. And please, for the love of all that is holy, please eat the damn cake.”
With a growl, he hauled her against him, then lifted her up and carried her to the sofa in the middle of the shop. Setting her down, he didn’t bother to pull her top over her head, instead he pulled it and her bra down, and her breasts spilled over the top of the lacy fabric. Filling his hand with one, he bent to nip and sample, skimming his teeth over one nipple before sucking it between his lips.
His other hand was down her pants again then he jerked her loose shorts and underwear off, leaving her exposed on the sofa, naked except for her camisole that was off her shoulders and now around her middle, the lacy fabric of her crumpled bra pushing her bare breasts up as if in offering to Dodge.
And he was taking full advantage of their offer. The sensations of his mouth teasing her nipples rivaled the thrum his hand was causing as he caressed and stroked between her legs. Finding a rhythm, he drew her up and up, sending flames of heat shooting straight to her core.
Her slim grasp of control was slipping as she pressed against his palm, her body aching for more. Her breath came in short pants of need as he took her up and up, her frenzied nerve endings begging for release.
Then with one last stroke, he sent her over the edge. She cried out, clinging to him, her thighs trembling as she rocked against his hand, riding the waves of pleasure.
After, she collapsed back against the sofa, her good arm flung over her head as she tried to catch her breath. “That was amazing,” she gasped.
But Dodge wasn’t finished with her yet. His voice was husky as he drawled out, “Haven’t you ever heard the saying about having your cake…and then eating it too?” His head dipped to her belly, and her nerve-endings tingled again as his lips grazed over her belly button.
Then he spread her legs, and she gasped again at the rough scrape of his whiskers on the delicate skin of her inner thigh.
Oh. My.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Afterward, they lie naked together on the sofa, Dodge partly on his side with his back against the cushions and Maisie curled into the crook of his shoulder.
She looked up at him, a coy grin on her face. “So, how was your dessert?”
“Worth every damn bite. Best cake I’ve ever had.”
She laughed with him then narrowed her eyes as her voice took on a more serious tone. “I know we’re teasing, but you reallyarethe best cake I’ve ever had. And I’ve been dreaming about someday getting to have this particular cake for years.”
He shook his head as he furrowed his brow at her. “Why? I don’t get it. I was a nerdy kid in school—too tall, too skinny—mostly too shy to even talk to girls. What did you possibly see in me?”
“Oh gosh.Everything. I loved that you were shy, instead of cocky and arrogant like a lot of other high school boys. And you weresocute. I didn’t think you were skinny either. I thought you seemed strong, and you already had broad shoulders, and I loved how tall you were. But I loved the little bit of nerdy partabout you too. It was obvious by your answers in English class that you had read the book, and I practically swooned over that. Plus, you sometimes had a paperback stuffed into the pocket of your jacket, and I thought that was so sexy that it made me weak in the knees.” She paused to offer him a coy grin. “Well, I thought it did—until the past week when I realized what itreallymeant to be weak in the knees.”
He chuckled softly, and the sound resonated in her chest. “I can’t believe you really thought all that stuff about me. Why didn’t you ever tell me? Or at least talk to me?”
She huffed out a laugh. “Are you crazy? You wouldn’t look twice at a girl like me. I was so shy I spent most of high school staring down at my shoes. I got so nervous and tongue-tied around you, I could barely form a sentence. One time I tried to ask you what you thought of the book we were reading in class. But apparently, I must’ve spoken so quietly that you thought I asked if you had baked any bread lately. I was so embarrassed I thought I would die of humiliation.”
“That’s funny. I actually do remember that.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, but just because it was so weird. I’d never had a girl ask me if I’d baked bread before. I thought maybe it was some kind of code, likeNetflix and Chillis now, that I just didn’t get. I even asked Chevy about it, but he just thought I was making a dumb joke and said he didn’t get it.”
“Oh my gosh. Now I’m even more embarrassed. And the worst part is that even as an adult, I’m still just as dorky. I ran into you at the grocery store earlier this year and wanted to strike up a conversation, so I followed you for three aisles rehearsingquestions in my head about how your cattle were doing and what the weather was like. Then I thought about complaining about a recent snowfall and decided it was better to talk about how much we needed the moisture instead. Everybody in Colorado always talks about how much we need the moisture, right?”
