She stared at him, fascinated again by another facet of this man. “I’ve never heard you talk about this.”
“That’s because me’n Dalton keep it to ourselves. Brandt knows we won some money because he’s on the land deed. Our cousin Ben knows because we tried to do a business deal with him a year and a half ago, but it fell through. But no one in my family knows and that’s the way we wanna keep it.”
“I won’t breathe a word, I promise.” She sighed. “I’m boring compared to you. You have this secret life and—”
Tell stopped her protest with a kiss.
After he released her mouth, she rested the side of her face on his chest. He nuzzled the top of her head and continued his caresses on her arm.
A soft breeze blew. Between the sway of the hammock, the comforting beat of Tell’s heart beneath her ear, and the chirping crickets, Georgia could’ve easily fallen asleep. Being with him like this settled every ragged nerve inside her.
“You up for more ice cream?” he murmured a little while later. “Because one bowl doesn’t count as wallowing.”
“Sure. But I am pretty comfy right now.”
“I could tell, bein’s you were snoring.”
“Maybe I did doze off. But I’m blaming you. You’re so easy to be with.”
“I don’t know whether I oughta take that as a compliment or not,” he grumbled.
Georgia pecked his pouting lips. “Fine. I’ll eat another bowl of ice cream if it’ll make you happy. How do we get out of this contraption?”
“Straddle me.”
She sighed. “Nice try, Mr. Insatiable.”
He grinned and lightly tapped her ass. “I’m serious. You bein’ on my center of gravity will stabilize us.”
“Okay. But if I feel your dick get hard, I can’t be held accountable for attacking you.” She balanced one hand on his shoulder and threw her other leg over his pelvis.
“Too late. I’m always hard around you. Hang on.” Gripping her hips, Tell twisted and the hammock swung upward as he dropped both feet to the ground. Then he stood, sliding his hands down to cup her ass as he carried her into the house.
“You don’t have to carry me everywhere,” she said halfheartedly.
“I like it. You’re pocket-size.” He laughed when she drummed her heels into his butt. “Besides, you ain’t wearin’ pants. It’s the least I could do.”
Tell set her on a kitchen chair. Looking at him now, she understood Mr. Sweet and Funny had taken a powder, leaving Mr. Intense in charge.
“I’m gonna want that shirt back now.”
Her heart rate sped up and a tingle of anticipation rolled through her.
“Also, I don’t want you dripping ice cream on your panties, so you’d better take them off too.”
Once she stood naked before him, he offered a wolfish grin. “I’ll be feeding you. My way. If you don’t stay still, well, darlin’, I’m gonna be forced to tie you up.”
Her midsection went hot and tight. And wet, a little further south.
“Understood?”
She nodded.
“Good. Now sit in the chair so I can reach all parts of you while I dish up.”
What the heck did he mean so I can reach all parts of you? Georgia slid her naked, flabby ass to the edge of the seat. But being short, it put her head and her neck at a weird angle. She’d been so busy trying to get herself situated that she hadn’t noticed Tell stood not two feet away, holding a bowl.
He frowned. “That ain’t gonna work. Hop up on the table.”
Although it was still warm in the house, the table surface was cool on her butt. Her legs dangled over the edge and she braced her hands behind her.
When she saw the flour sack dishtowel in Tell’s hand, she said, “What’s that for?” with just a little trepidation.
“To keep your arms outta my way. ’Cause I have the feeling this is gonna make you a little jumpy.”
Georgia didn’t fidget as he bound her, but her body was hyperaware of his. Then he ran his fingertips up the outside of her arms, over her shoulders, stopping to cup her face in his hands.
“Ready for your ice cream?”
“Umm. Yeah.”
“Open up.”
She closed her eyes after he spooned in the first bite of butterscotch ripple. The creamy goodness slid down her throat.
“Huh-uh. Eyes on me.”
She gazed at him as he slipped the spoon into her mouth. As soon as she swallowed, Tell’s lips were on hers; his tongue was diving into her mouth. The shock of his warm tongue against her cold one, the sweet taste of the ice cream and the familiar taste of Tell had her moaning. She wanted to curl her hand around the back of his neck, holding him in place as she lapped up every bit of this new taste combo, but her hands were out of commission. So when Tell broke the kiss, she whimpered.
“Take another bite before it melts.” He fed her three bites, hungrily watching her mouth as she licked her lips. After the next spoonful, he kissed her again. Talk about melting. Hot and cold. Sweet and intense.
Keeping his lust-filled blue eyes on hers, he held the spoon at chin level. He tipped the spoon to the side and ice cream dribbled on her breast, sliding down the center of her chest.
She gasped.
“Oops. Looks like I’ll be havin’ a taste too.” His tongue started at the bottom of the drip and he slowly licked up, savoring her ice-cream-flavored skin.
With the way Tell stood between her thighs, he had to know how wet this was making her.
The next pass, he used the end of the spoon to paint her lips with ice cream. Then he licked and nibbled, teasing her endlessly with mouth-on-mouth action, but denying her a full-blown kiss.
Talk about erotic. He’d feed her a bite. Then he’d hold the spoon just out of her reach and angle it, so the thick droplets never landed in the same place on her body twice. And only once on her nipple.
But he cleaned off every last speck of melted ice cream. Suckling to the point that she started to shake. Inside. Outside.
Georgia was damn close to begging.
And he knew it.
Then he hooked his foot around the chair, bringing it to the table, sitting so close her crotch was right in his face.
Her entire body flushed at the intense way he stared at the most intimate part of her.
“Goddamn, you look so pretty like this.” He traced her slit from the top of her pubic bone down to her entrance. “Judging by how wet you are, you must really like ice cream.”