Page 26 of Solitary Man

I had no idea what any of that meant, but it was obvious my wife was far more experienced than me. Humiliation washed over me. How disappointed was she that she’d been stuck with me? She would have been better off with someone like Tucker, who asked her questions about her and her work, who made her laugh. A man who I could only assume, but didn’t doubt, knew how to please a woman without instruction.

“I’d love to read some of your work sometime,” Tuck said.

Riley beamed at him. “I’ll make sure to bring you a few of my books next time we stay.”

“I’d like that.”

Riley was still grinning as she stood. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I need the bathroom.”

She left the room and Tucker turned to me, an expression on his face I’d never seen before.

“Jesus, Cash. Where the hell did you find her? You have to be the luckiest son of a bitch on this planet. Does she have a twin sister? Can we clone her? Shit, you done good, my friend.”

“I know,” I said, my voice hoarse, my gut in knots. “And she got stuck with me.” Tuck and I were close. We talked, but I’d avoided topics that were too deep in the past.

Tuck frowned. “What the hell are you talking about? The way she looks at you? Honestly, I’m jealous as hell.”

My next words came from my chest, my gut. The thing that I worried about most since I started talking to Riley. “What if I can’t…make her happy.”

Tucker’s chin jerked back. “She already is.”

He was wrong. He had no idea that I kept messing everything up. That I hadn’t even known the kinds of books she wrote until right now, because he’d asked. How I’d had to get my wife to show me how to please her in bed.

And how I hadn’t taken her properly yet, like I desperately wanted to, afraid that if I did, I’d hurt her because I was an animal who wanted to fuck his sweet, little wife so hard the bed would break.

Riley walked back in, and I cleared my throat, wanting her closer to me but not knowing how to ask for it.

“You want another drink, Riley?” Tuck asked.

“As delicious as your moonshine is, I better not or Cash will be carrying me to bed tonight,” she said on a soft giggle.

My gut gripped tight, and then, like she could read my mind, instead of going back to her seat, she walked to me. I looked up at her as she took my hand, moving it out of my lap, and positioned herself between my spread knees. Her arm came around my neck, hand resting on my shoulder, and she perched her round, peachy behind on one of my thighs.

I stared at her in shock, my cock instantly hard, my heart racing a mile a minute, while the caveman in me roared with pleasure.

Her hand slid up the back of my neck, and she toyed with my hair, sending tingles all over my scalp. “Dinner was delicious, Tuck. Everything was perfect. I might have to get some tips from you. I’m not the best cook, and my husband has a big appetite.”

I swallowed audibly at her calling me her husband, and as for my appetite, she had no idea. None. But it most certainly wasn’t for food.

“Happy to,” Tuck said, lips twitching.

There was humor in his voice, but I didn’t look his way. I couldn’t, not with Riley perched in my lap. Not when she pressed her thighs together like she had in the plane before we took off, like she was trying to soothe an ache.

“Right, well, I’m feeling a little tired,” she said to Tucker. Her gaze came back to me, dipped to my lips. “I think I’m ready for bed, are you?”

Tuck chuckled low across from me, and I continued to ignore him.

“Yep,” I said and stood, placing Riley on her feet.

“Night, Tucker,” she said as I all but towed her from the room and out the door. I kept hold of her hand as we crossed the yard to the workshop.

This was where Tucker did his woodwork, and the smell of cedar and pine was strong when we walked in.

“Up here,” I said to Riley, motioning to the stairs.

She walked up ahead of me, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her lovely ass. A perfect peach. I wanted to lick all her juice, spread her wide, and slam inside.

I quickly adjusted my erection as we reached the top. Riley stood there looking around the small space Tuck had set up for guests when he very occasionally had them.