I couldn’t think much beyond that, so I stopped talking and went back to showing her that she was mine. With her fingers holding her pussy open, I slid my hands up to cup her tits, then twisted and plucked her nipples as I lapped at her clit until she was writhing and crying out for release.

  “Lincoln! Yes, yes, yes! Don’t stop! Make me come, now!”

  Pulling back, I waited for her to finish shouting in frustration and meet my gaze. “You don’t decide when I give you pleasure, little one. You give it and take it when I say so.” She nodded, and I petted her pussy, making her moan. “If you are going to ask, make sure you at least say please.”

  Bethenny dropped her head back and groaned, “Please.”

  Going back to the task at hand, I worked her up again. “I fucking love the way you moan for me,” I groaned. “It makes it so fucking hard not to fill you with my dick right now and fuck you until you’re screaming. But we’ll get to that later.”

  My hips were grinding into the bed as I tried to find some relief from the building pressure without losing control and wasting my come outside of her.

  When she was close, I pinched her nipples, and her pelvis rocked up. I licked her a few more times before finally wrapping my lips around her clit and sucking hard. She flew apart, calling my name and shuddering with ecstasy as her orgasm overtook her.

  Her pussy was the most relaxed while she was coming, so I crawled over her, raising her hands above her head again. Then I curled my arms under her thighs and pushed her bent legs back against her chest, opening her wide and leaving me with the perfect view to watch my shaft disappear inside her as I claimed my woman.

  I teased the hole with the tip, making her gasp, “Lincoln. I can’t—oh!”

  “You will,” I said firmly as I began to push in, little by little. She was so fucking tight. I was already leaking come, but added with her juices, it made it slightly easier to slide in. She was still trembling from her orgasm when I bumped her virginity. So, I rubbed her clit, pushing her back up, then told her, “I’ll try to keep the pain as minimal as I can. Take a deep breath, little one.”

  She looked at me, and I felt my chest swell with pride at the trust I saw there. It fed my hunger, and as soon as she inhaled, I thrust in until I was fully seated, the head of my cock pushing against her cervix.

  I vaguely remembered hearing someone say that my boys would have a better shot at doing their job if it was soft and loose, which happened when she climaxed. Soft and sweet was what she deserved, but the grip she had on my cock and the image of her naked with a round, swollen belly were enough to snap the last of my control.

  Pushing her legs back even farther, I elevated her hips as I began to withdraw. Then I saw the pink tinge of the cream coating my cock, and my primitive side took over. “Mine,” I growled right before I slammed back in with a shout of rapture and soaked in the sound of her scream as her hips bucked up to meet me.

  “Hold on to the headboard,” I commanded, and she immediately did as she was told, which only made me burn even hotter. “Oh, fuck, Bethenny,” I groaned as I moved, fucking her hard and fast. “You’re squeezing me so fucking tight, I can’t—fuck! Oh, yeah, little one. You’re taking my big cock so well. Oh, fuck, yeah, baby. Yes!”

  “Lincoln!” Her cries rang in my ears, driving me to pound even harder. “Yes! Yes!”

  “I want to hear you scream, Bethenny,” I gritted out. “Scream until you’re hoarse. I don’t want you to be able to fucking walk or talk tomorrow without remembering who you belong to.” My orgasm was fast approaching, and she was close, very close. So I pulled all of the way out, slapped her pussy hard, then shoved back in, bottoming out just as she threw her head back and gave me the scream I’d been working toward. Her bliss vibrated in her voice as my name poured from her lips, and she clenched the headboard so hard her knuckles turned white.

  Her climax was the trigger I needed to give myself permission to let go. Buried as deep as possible, I roared her name as pleasure crashed over me in wave after wave. Each one causing a burst of hot come from my cock, filling her womb so full it began to leak out.

  “Holy crap,” Bethenny muttered when her breathing regulated enough for her to speak. “That was...holy cow.”

  I released her legs and shoved my face in her neck as I laughed. My arms went around her, and I rolled us over, keeping her plugged tight with my cock, which was still long and swollen. Once was clearly not enough, not that I’d expected it to be. I had a feeling that a lifetime with Bethenny would never be enough.

  Chapter 6

  Bethenny

  I’d been right...Lincoln had been just the distraction I’d needed from the blizzard. With high winds and a ton of snow being dumped on my town, I couldn’t do much to help my constituents. My lack of control over the situation would normally have frustrated me to no end. But cuddled in his arms on my super comfy couch with a roaring fire, I was more content than I could remember being in a long time. “You do realize that I would’ve driven myself up a wall or done something silly like go out there and brave the storm if it hadn’t been for you.”

  His arms tightened around me. “No risking your safety like that again, little one. Promise me.”

  If anyone had tried to tell me that I would get turned on by a guy’s bossiness, I would’ve told them it would never happen. But Lincoln changed all that. When he challenged me to think about what I really wanted from him on Christmas Day, I discovered how much I liked handing control over to him. My trust in Lincoln was instinctual and hadn’t steered me wrong yet. Giving him free rein had resulted in many mind-blowing orgasms over the past three days. “I won’t.”

  “Good.” He brushed a kiss against the top of my head. “I’d hate to have to turn your perfect little ass bright red because you didn’t keep yourself safe for me.”

  I wiggled on his lap, my lips curving into a satisfied smile when I felt his dick harden beneath my butt. We’d just had another round of sex thirty minutes ago, but I had grown used to the fact that Lincoln always seemed up to taking me. Literally.

  “You like that sound of that,” he rasped in my ear.

  “Uh-huh,” I admitted softly.

  “If you ever want to break the rules to get your ass spanked, you better not do anything that puts you in an unsafe situation. You’ll bite off more than you can chew there, baby,” he warned.

  “If I ever give in to the urge, I’ll keep it to something small,” I promised.

  His hold on me tightened further. “And won’t involve another man, either. I’d hate to have to beat the shit out of some unsuspecting guy for thinking he might have a shot with you. You’re mine, and I sure as fuck am not going to share.”

  If I’d been wearing panties, they would’ve grown damp at his possessive growl. It was so darn sexy. “That’s something you never need to worry about. I already have my hands full with you, Lincoln.”

  “More than just your hands, baby.” His hold on me loosened, and one of his palms drifted down my body to cup between my legs. “Your pussy has been full of me often enough to know who she belongs to.”

  My inner walls fluttered at the reminder. “Definitely you.”

  I felt his lips curve into a smile against my temple. “Damn straight.”

  “This is kind of crazy, right?” I twisted my neck to look up at him. “We’ve only known each other for three days.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “I’m probably not the best person to ask about what’s normal for relationships. Not only haven’t I been in one for too many years to count but my closest friend also fell in love with his mail-order bride on their first day together.”

  “Mail-order bride?” I echoed in surprise. That wasn’t the kind of relationship you heard about every day, except maybe on a reality television show. “There’s got to be one heck of a story there.”

  “Yeah, there sure as fuck is,” he confirmed with a smile. “Our hometown, Snow Valley, was up for sale last year, and a big corporation was interested in buying it.”

  “Whoa,” I breathed, my eyes going wide. “That sounds like a plot straight out of a movie.”

  “Brace yourself for a major plot twist,” he teased with a grin. “Christopher’s mom was worried about the company taking away the small-town feel, so Christopher and his brothers were going to pool their money together to buy it instead. But it turned out the town’s founder had put a stipulation into place way back when that only someone married could own the town.”

  I shot up to a sitting position, turned around to face Lincoln, and straddled his lap. “Let me guess. None of them were married.”

  “Good guess, baby.” His approval felt almost as good as it did when we were having sex and he called me his “good girl” for obeying his commands. “His mom came up with a plan to fix that, though. She found them mail-order brides.”

  I snorted, picturing how my brothers would react if our mom told them they were getting married, and she’d ordered the women to walk down the aisle. “I’m willing to bet her idea went over like a lead balloon.”

  “That’s a wager I wouldn’t take because you’re right. Christopher wasn’t thrilled with the plan, and the only way he was willing to go along with it was if his marriage was in name only.” He stroked his hands down my back and rolled his hips, rocking his hard-on against my core. “But then he met Winter, and his plan flew out the window because he couldn’t keep his hands off her.”

  I grinned down at him. “Kind of like how you are with me.”

  “Yeah, I definitely owe Christopher an apology.” His hand dipped under my shirt, and his thumb stroked my bare skin. “I gave him a ton of shit for falling for Winter so quickly, and now here I am, doing the same thing with you. So be prepared for him to have a lot to say about our relationship when you meet him.”

  I loved how he seemed comfortable talking about us as though we’d be together in the future, but I wasn’t sure how we were going to make that happen. Lincoln traveled a lot for his snowboarding career, and I couldn’t travel much because my job was a twenty-four-seven kind of gig. I usually only took off one week a year, which meant the only time we’d have together would basically be when he could come see me in Winter Falls. Not that we’d had an actual conversation about what was going to happen after the blizzard. I might have been assuming too much, but I was afraid to ask because I wasn’t ready for the possibility that we were just a holiday fling to him. Except time was quickly running out for me to keep my head in the sand since the storm was winding down and we’d be leaving our little bubble soon.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t let your friend tease you too much,” I promised.

  “Thanks, baby.” He wrapped my hair around his fist and pulled me down for a passionate kiss that left me breathless.

  Things were starting to heat up between us when my landline rang in the kitchen. “No,” I cried, dropping my forehead against his.

  “You better get that, little one.” He released my hair and gripped my hips to lift me off his lap. “It might be an emergency.”

  It amazed me that I’d found a man who wasn’t intimidated by my position of power and didn’t give me any crap about it interrupting our time together. In fact, I was pretty sure I was more annoyed than him.

  “Stupid job,” I grumbled as I stomped into the kitchen to yank the phone receiver off the wall. “Hello.”

  “Hey, Bethenny,” Hayden greeted. “Since it looks like the snow is going to let up overnight, I thought I’d check if you’ve already confirmed with Mike that he’s going to send the plows out in the morning.”

  Mike was the head of the streets and sewers department, and they were responsible for snow removal. “Not yet.”

  “Are you coming down with something?” His tone was filled with concern.

  “No, I’m perfectly healthy. Why do you ask?”

  “You just don’t seem like yourself. I expected you to call me a few times a day to ask for status updates, but you didn’t reach out a single time since the storm hit,” he explained. “At first, I thought you were feeling blue because your family had to cancel their trip and you were alone for the holiday, but you’re not the kind of person who would let you get that down for this long.”

  “Um, yeah. Sorry.” Lincoln had followed me into the kitchen and leaned his hip against the counter. I met his gaze as I conceded, “I guess I’ve been a little off my game the past few days. You’re probably right, and it’s just because I’m missing my family.”

  “Do you want me to call Gavin, too? See if they need any help on the mountain?” he asked.

  Gavin headed up the ski patrol for Winter Falls Resort and was a good friend of my brother Benjamin’s since they were the same age and had gone to school together. Because of our connection, it would’ve made more sense for me to be the one to reach out to him, but judging by the determined expression on Lincoln’s face, I wasn’t going to be available for a little while.

  Chapter 7

  Lincoln

  I narrowed my eyes, a frown creasing my face when Bethenny told her deputy she’d been out of communication due to missing her family. Without mentioning me. I had no intention of hiding or even being discreet about our relationship. And, from the guilty look in her eyes, she knew exactly where my mind had gone.

  When she hung up, I prowled over to her and took her chin in a firm grip. “Care to explain?”

  She licked her lips, and my cock hardened at the image of those sexy lips wrapped around me. But we needed to deal with this first, so I pushed those thoughts away.

  “I wasn’t sure if we were ready to share our relationship. And we haven’t really talked about what happens next.” I raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged. “Not with any real detail or plans.”

  “Okay, you have a point,” I conceded, releasing her chin to pull her into my arms. “However, I thought I’d made it very clear that whatever the future holds, it includes us being together. There is no if in that sentence, Bethenny.”

  “The thing is, I don’t want to be without you,” she said softly, and her solemn tone confused me.

  “That’s good, little one. Because I don’t intend to let you go.”

  “But being mayor means being here nearly all the time—I’m basically on call twenty-four seven. I only take one week of vacation each year.”

  I nodded and dropped one of my arms around her so I could walk us into the living room and over to sit on the couch. “I’m aware of that, and I have no problem with your job. Although, I might insist on a few extra-long weekends just for our little family a few times a year. Especially after we have kids.”

  Her eyes lit up for a second before turning sad again. “I can’t travel with you, Lincoln, and you’re on the road most of the year. I don’t think I could handle being separated so often. When I have children, I want their dad to be present, not dropping in whenever he has a few days off here and there.”

  It had taken me a minute, but I finally caught on to what had her so worried. “Bethenny, I can’t live without you by my side. I’m retiring. That means making Winter Falls my home, and I won’t be missing any of our life together. Although, I may have to pop out of town for promotional events every once in a while.”

  Bethenny blinked in surprise, and hope sparked in her eyes, though she was still hesitant. “I love the sound of that, but I can’t ask you to give up your career for me.”

  I smiled and ran a hand through her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear. “Although I would give up anything to be with you, I’m not retiring for you. You are, however, what tipped the scales since I’ve been on the fence about it for a couple of years now. Everything that used to excite me about my job has lost a lot of its luster. I’m tired of the traveling, the pressure, the loneliness, and so many other things. I even had my agent put a stipulation in my last few sponsorship contracts stating that I’ll still represent the brand for several years even after I stop competing. I want to settle down and”—I winked and cupped her hips before lifting her into my lap—“start a family. The moment I met you, I knew I wanted to do those things with you.”

  “But…”

  “No buts, Bethenny,” I said in a firm tone. “I’m staying here. We’re going to get married, have babies, and be deliriously happy.”

  “Why?”

  I frowned and tilted my head to the side. “Why what? I think I’ve been pretty damn clear, little one.”

  “You have. It’s just...I was wondering if I was just convenient. The right place at the right time. Or if you…”

  She trailed off, glancing away nervously, and it hit me. I was a fucking idiot. “Bethenny,” I said softly. “Look at me.” I waited until her beautiful hazel eyes met mine. “You want to know why I knew the second we met that you were it for me?” Her head bobbed and her small smile was adorable. I couldn’t help giving her a quick kiss before saying, “Because it took even less time than that for me to fall in love with you.”

  Her eyes lit up like her Christmas tree, and she beamed at me. “You love me?”

  “Desperately.”

  “I love you, too.”

  I smirked and cupped her face. “I know, little one.”

  Her nose scrunched in an annoyed expression. “How could you possibly know that?”

  “The way you gave yourself over to me, trusting me and letting me take charge. You wouldn’t have done that with someone you didn’t love.”

  She harrumphed, crossing her arms over her chest. “True,” she admitted. “But you don’t have to be so cocky about it.”