Still the One Read online

  So what if she was starting to shiver and looked like a drowned rat? She twirled in a circle and did a hip-shaking boogie just because she could. As a bonus, she didn’t fall on her ass.

  AJ stood there watching her dance in the rain, lips curved, those hazel eyes lit with affection and heat. Still apparently baffled by her love of being in the rain, he nevertheless always indulged her. The rain pelted at him, too, soaking his shirt, defining his sexy build.

  Sometimes in moments like these Darcy just stared at him, unable to believe he was all hers. But he was, for as long as she wanted him. He’d promised, and AJ never broke a promise. He was sharing his bed and his life with her, and just thinking about it had love swamping her. “You’re getting wet.”

  “No shit,” he said on a rough laugh. “It’s raining.” Reaching out, he stroked a strand of hair from her temple. “You’ve got some good moves.”

  “I do,” she agreed.

  “So do I.” And he started doing some sort of ridiculous white boy boogie that made her toss back her head and laugh.

  And then she was scooped close, up against his chest. He shook his head down at her, showering her with the water from his hair. “You laughing at my moves?”

  “Yes,” she said, still grinning.

  “I have more.”

  “Let’s see ’em.”

  Lowering his head, he kissed her. “Later,” he murmured against her lips.

  “Promise?”

  His answer was a wicked smile, and then suddenly he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder and went running. She shrieked as the water splashed off his shoes and hit her in the face.

  Not stopping, he ran around the side of the house and to his truck, tossing her into the passenger seat, stopping to strap her in and kiss her again until she was quivering with much more than the chill now.

  “You’re kidnapping me?” she asked hopefully.

  “Yes.”

  “A naughty sort of kidnapping, right? Where maybe you have to tie me up and everything?”

  He flashed her a grin. “I won’t need to tie you up.”

  A cocky statement, but the utter truth. She’d follow him anywhere and do anything he wanted, and he knew it.

  The drive to his place took two minutes. He parked in the back. They got out of his truck, but before she could dash inside he pushed her up against the passenger door.

  He was soaking wet, his eyelashes so long that drops clung to their tips and slid down his face, and when he smiled at her, she melted.

  All hers …

  Reaching out, he brushed the wet hair from her face. “Cold?”

  “Not anymore.” She fisted her hands in his shirt and rocked into him. The rain fell all around them, further drenching them, soaking the land, hitting the roof of the truck with a drumming sound that matched the beat of her heart. “Do you ever get enough?” she whispered.

  “Of you? Never.” He led her to his patio deck and to one of his huge lounge chairs.

  “Is it later?” she asked with great anticipation.

  “Yes,” he said, and unzipped her while she did the same thing to his pants.

  Her dress fell around her ankles and she kicked out of it. Her nipples contracted into two tight beads as his gaze skimmed her body, his eyes hot. He sat on the lounge and pulled her down to straddle him. She tilted her hips and rubbed herself against him, aided by his big hands at her hips.

  His head fell back to the lounge pillow and Darcy bent over him, trailing kisses down his throat. Slipping a hand between her thighs, he scraped the material of her panties out of his way, tracing circles with the rough pad of his thumb until she was slick and ready for him.

  “Now,” she gasped.

  He cupped her ass and squeezed. “Up on your knees.”

  She lifted up, shoved his pants to his thighs, fully freeing the beast, and then slowly lowered herself on him, taking him deep.

  They moved together, the heat building to an unbearable ache inside Darcy that she knew he could assuage.

  Only him …

  Lowering her head, she sucked the raindrops off his bottom lip, letting her hands trace the lines of his chest and abs.

  She was never going to be able to get enough of this, of him. Once upon a time that thought would’ve terrified her. Now it gave her comfort and security, and a sense of love such as she’d never known. “You’re like my mac and cheese,” she said against his mouth.

  His chest shook with his laugh. “Something that’s bad for you?”

  “No, something that makes me happy.”

  He brushed the hair out of her eyes and held her face in his hands. His gaze was lit with passion and affection and so much love it stole her breath. “You’re so beautiful, Darcy.”

  It was one thing to say it, another entirely to make her believe it. But looking into his eyes, Darcy absolutely believed herself beautiful.

  He slid his hands out of her hair and back down to her hips, guiding her into the rhythm he wanted. She arched her back, her wet hair brushing the tops of his thighs as they rocked against each other, his hands stoking the heat from within while the rain cooled her off. “So good,” she murmured, her eyes drifting shut.

  “Stay with me, Darcy.”

  She slipped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes, letting him see everything she felt as she started to pulse around him, pulling him into her vortex. When she came, she took him along with her. She fell forward onto his chest, feeling his heart racing with hers. Turning her head, she brushed her lips over his jaw. “I love you, AJ.”

  Holding her close to him, he laughed softly and kissed her.

  “I know,” she said. “Took me long enough to get comfy saying it without having a panic attack, right?”

  He flashed a grin and softly kissed her mouth. “Some things are worth waiting for.”

  Sunshine, Idaho, is a small, sunny town – the perfect home for man and beast. Well, maybe not for man, as pilot-for-hire Brady Miller discovers when his truck is rear-ended by what appears to be Noah’s Ark.

  As the co-owner of the town’s only kennel, Lilah Young has good reason to be distracted behind the wheel – there are puppies, a piglet and a duck in her Jeep. Still, she doesn’t find it hard to focus on the sexy, gorgeous stranger she’s collided with.

  Brady is just passing through, but there’s something about Lilah and her menagerie that makes the temptation of staying in Sunshine one that’s difficult to resist …