They panted together for the titillating count of five heartbeats and then he lifted her, introducing her to the motion of riding him.
She sucked in a breath and he helped her take another stroke. And another.
He felt a rush to his head as she took over from him, lifting and falling on him, creaming for him so sweetly he had to grit his teeth and start counting backwards from one-hundred.
When he thought he had a modicum of control and couldn't stand it anymore, he put a hand on her jaw and lifted her face to him. His mouth sunk down on hers, opening her lips and plunging his tongue inside for a hot, wet, deep kiss that blew his mind.
He was close, but he needed her to come first.
While she clung to his lips and gyrated over him, he slipped a hand between them and began rubbing her sweet spot.
It was silky, so silky, and the combination of her internal muscles clenching him was too much for him. He felt a last surge of blood thickening him, making him even harder and then his mind shut down to everything but the ecstasy consuming him.
Only when he was at the peak of pleasure did his disjointed mind realize she was feeling it too.
They were coming together.
*
Two weeks slid by. The best two weeks Elaina had experienced since before her mother had fallen ill.
The time was magical. Her days were spent learning her new job, and her evenings were spent with Raul.
By the time he came and picked her up after he finished working on his ranch and she got back from her job in town, there was no sunlight left to do anything outside.
But he came and got her every night. And they spent every evening together, either cooking at his house or having supper at the diner in town. They watched movies sitting on his couch together and usually never made it to the end of the film before they were touching each other and were out of breath and naked.
He never complained about her job, but he did ask her leading questions that at first seemed innocuous. But the more nonchalant the question was, the more she knew the answer meant to him. Finally she threw up her hands and told him he had no reason to be jealous. She only wanted him. She saw that statement sink in and a calmness come over him that was almost tangible.
He still brought her back to her aunt's home every night. He usually became tense but he never verbally attacked. He never criticized, but he would stand erect, rigid, and Elaina knew he was never happy to take her home.
But he did, and she gave him points in her head.
She was immensely happy. He was going out of his way to please her, and she knew why. He wanted her. Completely. And he was trying to prove it to her.
He was going for her.
Totally.
For the win.
*
Three wonderful weeks later, Elaina was heading back to the bank at the end of her lunch break. She'd spent most of the hour in the small, county library with a yogurt cup and granola bar, using the internet for nothing more important than a bit of online shopping.
She was walking past the only grocery store in town when Trevor opened the door, walked out and bumped into her.
He reached out to steady her at the same time he realized who he had in his arms.
His grin was infectious.
"Hey."
"Hey."
They grinned at each other a moment before he spoke again with the smile still in his voice as he studied her. "Raul Vega? Seriously, Elaina?"
A small laugh erupted from her throat. "Yeah, seriously."
Trevor sobered. "He's a good man."
"Yeah, he is."
"Even though you could have had all this," he lifted his hands from her and motioned to himself like he was a chocolate donut with cream filling.
"Right."
They laughed and chatted a few minutes. She looked at her watch. She was going to be late if she wasn't careful. "Later, dude, I need to get back to work."
Elaina turned away from him and kept walking as he went in the opposite direction.
She was still smiling when she came to the entrance of the bank and saw Raul leaning against the front of the building, arms crossed, a frown on his face, watching her.
Her insides quivered and her legs trembled from the shock of him appearing out of the blue when she wasn't expecting it. "What are you doing here?"
She came to stand within a foot of him as he answered, "I bank here, Elaina. It's the only bank in town." His voice was strained.
She bit her lip against the unintentional grin that began encompassing her face. She motioned with her head in the direction she had just come from and asked him, "Did you see all that?"
His eyes narrowed on her and his lips flattened. "Yeah."
The smile won and took over her whole expression. "Really? You saw Trevor? You saw the whole thing?"
His nostrils flared. "Yeah. The whole goddamn thing," his voice hissed out.
Elaina walked the last few inches toward him. She stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She studied his handsome, virile face and the smile fell from her lips as a deeper emotion took hold of her. "I love you."
His hands wrapped around her jaw line and sifted through her hair until he was holding her by the scalp. "Jesus. Finally." His eyes searched hers. "I love you, too."
He leaned down and put his mouth on hers in a kiss that sealed her fate.
Epilogue
Five years later
"Happy birthday, baby." It was just past midnight when Raul came up behind Elaina and wrapped his arms around her. She turned away from the twin bed and snuggled into his arms.
He kept his voice purposefully quiet. "Is she asleep?"
"Yeah, she finally exhausted herself."
He reached down and around his wife to touch the soft, downy cheek of the three-year old. Her cheeks were rosy and she looked absolutely cherubic in sleep.
He knew it wouldn't last long. She'd been giving them fits for awhile now as her terrible two's lingered. On fast chubby legs, their daughter was a little terror.
Raul led Elaina by the hand and walked her out of the baby's room.
He sat on the couch and pulled her into his lap and put a protective hand over her swollen belly.
Their gazes tangled and held. "You don't look twenty-seven. You still look like a teenager. You're just as beautiful as you were the first time I saw you."
She let out a small, disbelieving laugh.
"I'm serious," he said.
She lifted her hand to his cheek and flashed wickedly seductive eyes at him. "You don't have to flatter me. I'm a sure thing, Raul. Haven't you figured that out yet?"
"A sure thing, hell." His hand absently caressed her taut belly where his next baby snuggled safely. "You put me through the ringer, baby, remember? You were never a sure thing. I sweated bullets thinking you weren't going to give in."
Their gazes caught and held. "You were hard to resist," she said.
"Damn straight. I had to be. I couldn't take the chance of you getting away."
"I never wanted to get away."
He watched her with an appreciation and love so deep, it vibrated between them.
He leaned his forehead against hers and ran his hand down and clenched it around the silky cheek of her butt.
He lifted her chin and his expression grew serious. "I mean it, baby. I love you so much. More than life itself."
His eyes swallowed hers and she felt the same flutter in her stomach as she had when she first met him. "I love you, too."
He kissed her lips and began the sweet seduction that still managed to blow her mind. He whispered in her ear, "Let me prove it."
She kissed him back and asked, "Again?"
"Yeah, again. Always."