"That was..." She gasped a breath. "It was like..."

He moved up her body and laved his tongue over her nipple, earning another s.e.xy moan. Her lips curved up as she reached for him, fisting her hands in his hair and meeting him in a greedy kiss.

"More," she begged. "Please more."

He lowered his arousal against her center, slicking his full, hard length along her but not entering her. It was pure, unadulterated torture to not bury himself deep inside her, but he wanted her to know what her body was capable of, to enjoy everything, which would make it that much sweeter when they finally came together.

She gripped his hips. "I want you inside me."

"Not yet." He kissed her again, feeling her need in the intensity of her kiss.

"This is torture. Please, just...please."

"Not yet. I want to see you, all of you." He wrapped her in his arms and rolled beneath her. "Sit up, baby." He positioned his erection flat along his body, and she straddled him, sliding along his shaft. He gripped her hips, fanning his fingers over her a.s.s. When she clutched his shoulders and found her rhythm, he rose and took her breast in his mouth.

"Oh G.o.d. You're gonna make me come again." She dug her nails into him as her hips moved frantically over the length of his throbbing erection.

He let her control their rhythm, moving one hand to her nipple, rolling it between his finger and thumb as his other hand slid between her legs, stroking the swollen, needy bundle of nerves that he knew would take her over the edge.

"You're stunning." Her breathing quickened with his words, so he gave her more. "Your whole body is flushed. So s.e.xy. So hot."

She whimpered and dug her nails deeper into him. "More. Tell me more."

"Your lips are pink from our kisses, and when you inhale those s.e.xy little breaths, it makes me want to come." He slid a finger inside her, and seconds later she arched back, gripping his wrists and holding his hands in place-one on her breast, the other between her legs. She rode his hand and his raging erection. He clenched his teeth against the need to give in to his own release, and as the last of her climax rolled through her, she collapsed on top of him. Her body bucked every few seconds as he gathered her in his arms and rolled her beneath him again, blanketing her body with his.

He pressed his lips to hers. "Still with me?"

"Oh G.o.d, yes," she whispered. "I never knew I could come so hard without you inside me."

He held her for a long moment, trying to regain enough control to reach for a condom.

"It was intense for me, too," he admitted. "Watching you let go, feeling you come apart against me. Sky...There's nothing more beautiful than your trust."

She closed her eyes, and her lips curved up in a sweet smile. He kissed her again and reached for his pants, fishing out a condom with shaky hands. After rolling it on, he came down over her, searching her eyes. If she was too tired, he would wait, despite how desperately he wanted her, needed her. Despite the longing he'd be left with. What he cared about most was that she felt safe and felt good about the two of them.

She must have seen his concern, because she reached up, touched his cheek, and said, "I want you, Sawyer. All of you."

He gave in to the emotions building inside him, and as their bodies joined together there was only Sky and the feel of their bodies moving as one. He gazed into her eyes, feeling every emotion as they washed through them. Every breath she took, every lift of her hips, every sweet sound that slipped from her lungs dragged him deeper into her, and deeper still, until it was hard to remember that they were two separate people.

Their mouths came together with the same eagerness of their bodies, moving, rocking, searching for more. She dug her heels into the mattress, angling her hips. He moved with her until her eyes fluttered closed with every stroke, and her jaw went tight, and he knew, felt, that she was quickly climbing up, up, up and nearing the edge again. He sealed his mouth over her neck the way he knew she loved, licking and stroking, and finally sinking his teeth into her shoulder at the same time as he slid his hands beneath her hips, lifting her higher so he could take her deeper. Heat rushed to the base of his spine. He laced his hands with hers, holding them tightly beside her head, wanting to lose himself in her.

"Sky-"

"Sawyer!"

Their mouths crashed together as her hips rose off the mattress. Her inner muscles pulsed around him, pulling the come right out of him. A thousand lights exploded behind Sawyer's lids as he called out her name, riding the wave of their pa.s.sion, the peak of their ecstasy, until they both collapsed to the mattress, their damp bodies tangled together as he gathered her in even closer, never wanting to let her go.

"I like...that," she whispered.

He couldn't keep his heart from tumbling out. "Ecstasy rolls like thunder, rippling through my sweet summer Sky." He rubbed his thumb over her jaw. "She weeps, she whimpers, she gasps, she roars." He pressed his lips to hers. "She stills my heart and steals my breath."

Sky sighed, her eyes full of emotions too big, too powerful for him to name.

Sawyer kissed her again. "She came in like a whisper and claimed pieces of me as if they were stars, taking them as her own like a pixie in the night." He closed his eyes and lay back, holding Sky against him. Emotions exploded inside of him. He waited for them to ebb and flow like the tide, but the surge continued, growing bigger, stronger than anything he'd ever felt, and he knew he wasn't far from falling over the edge.

"Sawyer," Sky whispered. "That's beautiful."

"That's you, my sweet girl. Only you."

Chapter Sixteen.

THE MORNING SUN beat down on the basket in the center of the table, illuminating the slips of papers and napkins, giving weight and importance to the snippets of words that had spoken to Sky's heart so perfectly that she was sure each one was meant just for her. Her mind was still reveling in the aftermath of making love to Sawyer, and she couldn't help but wonder once more if he'd written them. He'd spent the night again and had gone running an hour ago. She missed him already. She'd thought about asking him about the papers in the basket before he left for his run, but they'd had such a wonderful evening and morning that she didn't want to take a chance of ruining it.

She pushed the basket farther away and turned her attention back to her poetry book, but her eyes refused to remain on the page and shifted to the basket again. She pulled it closer, staring at the darn thing like it was going to do something. She almost wished it would, instead of feeling like a giant question mark.

The worst part was that it wasn't just the stupid basket that had her tied in knots. Last night, when she'd opened herself up to Sawyer and he'd held back, wanting her to feel safe and wanting to know that she had no qualms about them before he did anything to restrain her-she'd felt her feelings for him bloom so large she'd nearly said she loved him. Loved him! She'd never been in love before. Could she fall in love and still need answers about something like a silly basket of notes? And was it fair of her not to want to watch him fight when he gave so much of himself so freely?

Sky heard Jenna laughing and looked across the quad, glad for the distraction from her thoughts.

Bella and Amy were shaking their heads as Jenna tugged at the hem of her dress, which even from a distance Sky could see was way too tight. Bella grabbed Amy's arm and pulled her toward Sky's cottage. They both waved. Jenna trailed behind them, still tugging at her dress. The way the bright morning sun was shining down on them, they really did look as though they each had a pregnancy glow. Their cheeks were fuller, their eyes brighter. Sky wasn't ready for babies, but she couldn't deny that seeing her friends so happily in love brought her thoughts to places she hadn't considered before.

"She's reading again," Bella said as she stepped onto the deck and sat beside Sky.

"She's mooning," Jenna said as she wiggled her hips. "Sky, what do you think of this dress? Does it still work for me? Bella says it's too small, but I think it's kind of s.e.xy."

Amy placed her hand on Sky's shoulder and squeezed as Sky tried to figure out how to tell Jenna that her spaghetti-strap dress was too tight across her b.o.o.bs and her hips and made her look a little like a bowling pin.

"Jenna, how does it feel?" Sky asked, hoping Jenna would say something like, A little tight, giving her an opening to agree.

Jenna ran her hands down her hips and wiggled. How the h.e.l.l she managed to look s.e.xy in that dress was beyond Sky, but when she swayed her hips from side to side, she did.

"Hot. Sizzling hot." Jenna raised her brows, her blue eyes wide with delight.

Amy pulled Jenna into a chair. "Sit your hot bod down before you set the place on fire."

"Wait. I want Sky's opinion. Sky?" Jenna pushed.

"I think you always look hot," Sky said honestly. "It's a little tight, but if you feel good in it..."

Bella rolled her eyes. "He's not even here. He and Caden went out on the boat for the morning."

"A little tight?" Jenna frowned. "I was kind of hoping you'd say that these two preggos were wrong. They want me to go maternity clothes shopping, and I want to look s.e.xy for Pete. I don't think I'll be my hot and s.e.xy self in maternity clothes." She fluttered her lashes like she was teasing, but Sky knew Jenna probably did worry about those things.

"Pete would think you were s.e.xy wearing a muumuu," Sky a.s.sured her. "He adores you."

Bella pulled a few pieces of paper from the basket and silently read one after another, and Sky's stomach knotted with each one. She shouldn't have brought the basket home. She didn't know what it meant that Sawyer said he wasn't the P-town poet, but the more she tried to let it go, the more she wanted answers to how his words had ended up in Cree's hands.

"Petey does, doesn't he?" Jenna said happily. "I guess it's time to go maternity clothes shopping after all."

"Why do you listen to Sky and not to us?" Amy asked.

"Because you and Bella just want to go buy more clothes and drag me along. Sky has no vested interest in shopping for maternity clothes."

"You're so weird. We'd never lead you astray." Amy leaned across the table and put her face close to Jenna's. "We love you, you goofnut. We want you to look great, too. You're just not used to having a belly." Amy sat back and patted her stomach. "I love being pregnant. I can't wait to meet our little one."

"Enough baby talk. We have a single friend who looks freshly s.e.xed-up, and she's got a basket full of love notes," Bella said. "So, Sky, did Sawyer stay up all night writing you these love notes and then give you that freshly effed glow, or did the writing come after the superfab s.e.x session?" Bella read from a slip of paper, "Fire in my belly, you in my soul."

Freshly s.e.xed-up? She could say that again. Just thinking about the way Sawyer touched her and the weight of his body on hers brought a rush of heat to her cheeks. She thought about how s.e.xy he looked when he came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel before his run, his hair wet and adorably tousled from his shower. He kept a gym bag in his car, and when he'd changed into his running shorts, memories of how aroused he'd been the other morning in a similar pair of shorts had swept through her, making her want him all over again. She'd had to fight the urge to beg him to come back to bed-and his scorching-hot goodbye kiss hadn't made it any easier.

"Sky?" Bella nudged her.

Sky tore her eyes from the basket and pushed her book aside.

"Sorry. I s.p.a.ced out." She exhaled a sigh that sounded overly swoony and a little embarra.s.sing.

"s.e.x first and last," Jenna said.

"Definitely." Amy patted Sky's hand. "You're so cute when you blush."

Sky rolled her eyes and smiled. "I don't know if he wrote those. My suspicion is that he did, and I'm going to ask him when he gets back from his run."

Amy pressed her hand to her belly. "OhmyG.o.d. Baby surfer is kicking."

"Baby surfer?" Bella laughed. "We really need to pick names."

"We already know our baby's name," Jenna said proudly. "Bea for Pete's mom or Neil for his dad."

"You're..." Sky swallowed past the lump that instantly filled her throat. "You're thinking of using our mom's name?"

"Oh, Sky." Jenna's brows knitted together. "We just talked about it last night. We should have asked you first. I don't want to take your baby names."

"I've never thought about baby names, but, Jenna..." She looked away, blinking tears from her eyes. "I love that you guys thought of our mom. If you have a girl, it would mean a lot if you named your baby after her."

"Really?" Jenna asked. "But you're tearing up."

Sky fanned her eyes to dry them. "I just miss her. Sometimes it hits me. I wish she were still here. I think it's Sawyer. If she were here, I could tell her all the things I was feeling and she'd put it all into perspective."

Amy wrapped Sky in her arms. "Honey, there's no perspective when it comes to matters of the heart. If anyone knows that, I do."

"But I'm so confused about everything, and I'm sure you guys were never this confused." She wiped her eyes and watched her friends exchange looks like she'd said something crazy.

"We were all confused," Bella said. "I drove back home and almost didn't come back to the Cape, but in the end I couldn't imagine life without Caden and Evan."

"Why are you confused?" Jenna asked. "Did something bad happen last night?"

"No, something wonderful. Really wonderful. The whole night was like a dream come true, but that's the problem."

"Sky, that's what love is all about. It's full of hopes and dreams and makes you feel like you're walking among the clouds one minute and drowning the next." Amy reached for her again, holding her tight. She stroked Sky's back and said, "Tell us what's wrong. We're not your mom, but we care, and we can help."

Sky tried to gain control of her rampant emotions, thankful for the women who had opened their hearts to her at a time when she was hurting-when she'd first returned to the Cape and found out about her father's drinking-and welcomed her into their lives without question. These were the sisters she'd never had, and she knew they'd do all they could to fill the gap her mother had left behind.

She drew in a steadying breath and tried to put words to what was whirling around in her mind.

"Well, for starters, love? I don't know if this is love." Is it? "That's part of the problem. When I'm with him I feel so much, but this is like a bullet train. I haven't really ever dated anyone seriously, and almost overnight I'm head over heels for Sawyer. Last night he and his boxing buddies sang at this bar. Get this. They're the A Cappella Boys. It was really funny, but do you know what it was like watching these powerful men sing to each other like lovers?"

"Maybe they are," Jenna said with an arched brow.

"No, they're not," Sky responded with a soft laugh. "They're so different from when they're at the gym. When I met his friends in the gym, they were intimidating. All sharp edges and bruiser-like. And then they smiled, and the harshness softened, but the underlying power and some kind of darkness was still there. Like...like coffee brewing, when the steam lifts and lowers the lid of the pot. You know what I mean?"

"Oh yeah. I know what that looks like," Jenna said. "Have you ever seen Grayson and Pete get into it over something? They don't do it often, but sometimes they push each other's b.u.t.tons and I have to walk away."

"Right. Same thing. Anyway, away from the gym and the testosterone that must fill their lungs in that place, they were just these guys who laughed and sang like they'd never lift a hand to hurt a soul."

"So this all wraps back to Sawyer and his fighting?" Bella asked.

"No, I don't think so. I think this has to do with me and my selfishness-and that d.a.m.ned basket. Sawyer is doing this huge t.i.tle fight to win money to take care of his dad's medical bills, and it doesn't get more chivalrous than that, right? He sank his savings into buying a beach house that had been in his family for generations but his parents had to sell a long time ago. I mean, it's obvious that Sawyer has the biggest heart on the planet. He's got the fight of his life coming up, and all I can think about is how hard it would be to watch him and how I don't want to go. And that kind of makes me a b.i.t.c.h, right?" Before they could answer she added, "I met his friend Brock's sisters, and one of them fights, too. A girl! Fighting! She can fight and I can't even watch? What is that about?" She still couldn't picture Jana's cute little figure in a boxing ring.

"Well, first of all, lots of girls fight," Bella said. "You really have lived a sheltered life. How do you not know about sports? You grew up in a house full of guys."

"Because she was always outside in her art studio," Jenna said. "I totally get it. Was she all muscles or feminine?"

"Cute as a b.u.t.ton. I loved her, and her sister, and their brothers. I loved them all, and Jana and Harper, Brock's sisters, and I exchanged numbers. Jana offered to help me learn self-defense, but I don't know."

"I wanna go," Bella said. "That would be awesome, learning to defend ourselves."

Amy dropped her eyes to Bella's belly. "You cannot fight with baby handcuffs inside you."

"Baby handcuffs?" Jenna laughed.

"Well, Caden is a police officer," Amy explained.

"I don't want to fight now," Bella said. "But I think there's definitely something cool about being able to defend yourself."

Amy waved a dismissive hand. "Our men will defend us."

"See?" Sky said. "That's another thing that I'm confused about. I really love being taken care of by Sawyer."

"Every woman loves to be taken care of," Jenna agreed.

"I don't think so. It annoys the h.e.l.l out of me lately when my brothers do it."