Knitted Hearts by Amber Kelly

Foster

The next few weeks are a flurry of activity as Payne and Charlotte put the finishing touches on the cider mill.

Charlotte is a marketing genius because the week of Halloween, all I see and hear around town is the buzz about the grand opening.

She even managed to get advertising spots on local television stations out of Denver, Colorado Springs, and Aurora. The bed-and-breakfast and the inn downtown have been booked to capacity for those weeks, and a few of the local residents have even rented out their rooms above their garages or in their guesthouses. The whole town is excited about the visitors planning to stay in Poplar Falls.

“I’m turning people away,” Charlotte grumbles.

“Why?” I ask.

“They’re coming from out of town, and we don’t have any accommodations for them. They’ll have to drive forty miles to the nearest lodging.”

“Sounds like Myer can’t get those cottages and tree houses built fast enough. This place is going to be a gold mine,” I tell her.

She shrugs. “I don’t care about that. I just want for the rest of the world to get a little taste of the beauty that is Poplar Falls.”

That surprises me. “Really?”

She turns to me. “It might not seem like it, but I don’t place too much affection in material objects. I like nice things, but if they were lost, stolen, or damaged, I wouldn’t fall apart. Well, except when Payne destroyed our Nespresso machine, and that wasn’t about the cost; that was about good coffee. If I lost my grandma’s opal ring, I might be sad, but my memories of her are not locked in the ring. The joy of my wedding day won’t be tied in the pretty china we receive. If a dish chips, it chips. It means it was loved and used well. A car is a car. Suppose it gets dinged in the grocery store parking lot … oh well.

“Don’t get me wrong; I love presents as much as the next girl. I love wrapping paper and bows and surprises, the whole shebang, but if the gift tarnishes, breaks, or goes missing, I don’t freak out. I’m more excited by the fact that you took the time to pick something out just for me than by what’s inside.

“My affection is held in memories. I appreciate a trip together, an adventure with people I care about, a week of new memories, photographs of our shenanigans; I treasure those things the most. That’s what I’m trying to create here for others. People are more important, and their time and love are the best gifts they can give and share.”

I let what she said sink in, and I look at the place for the first time through a different lens. I saw a big profit machine for the farm and the town; now, I see a place for families to bond and kids to get the attention they are starving for from their overworked parents.

“Wow,” I say.

“Yeah, wow,” she agrees.

I’m about to head home when a pair of arms wraps around me from behind.

“Hi.”

The scent of honey surrounds me, and the ache of a hard day’s work just slides away.

“Hey yourself,” I say as I turn to take in her smiling face.

“I was on my way home, and for some reason, my car headed this way instead,” she says.

“Is that right?”

She nods.

“Remind me to thank it later,” I tell her before I pull her in for a kiss.

“Want to take a walk with me?” she asks against my lips.

“I sure do.”

I take her hand and lead her toward my house.

She stops and tugs my arm.

I look back at her, and she grins.

“I want to walk in the orchard.”

I look up at the darkening sky. It’s twilight, but it also looks like rain.

“We should probably do that when the sun’s up,” I inform her.

She stands there, fiddling with her jacket.

“Sonia?”

She sighs. “I wore layers,” she says.

“Huh?”

She steps closer and whispers, “I wore layers. To protect my back from prickly tree trunks.”

It takes my mind about ten seconds to catch up, and when it does, all thoughts of cold and rain fly right out of my head. I grab her hand and start marching us toward the apple trees.

“Foster,” she calls.

“Yeah?”

“Your legs are longer than mine. Can you slow down a bit?” she requests, and I realize that I’m more or less dragging her along with me.

I stop, and I scoop her up into my arms and continue my march.

I can hear her giggling against my neck, and it only spurs me forward.

When I get us deep enough into the cover of the trees, I set her on her feet, and she starts walking backward as I stalk toward her.

As soon as I have her up against one of the trees, my hands settle on her hips, and I bring my chest to hers.

My mouth finds hers in the dark, and I devour her lips as my hands slide down and around to cup her behind and bring her in closer. Her head falls back against the rough wood, opening her throat to me, just like the other night. I dip my mouth to the pulse point right behind her ear and kiss a trail down as she reaches up, threads her fingers through my hair, and tugs hard. I use my body to hold her in place as I explore with my hands and tongue. She is firm and soft, and the heat of her envelops me.

Her body starts trembling with need, and she brings her right leg up and hooks it around my hip, trying desperately to get closer.

I feel her back arch, and her shirt stretches across her breasts, drawing my attention there. She slides her hands from my hair and down my back, the tips of her fingers digging into my sore muscles.

I let out a guttural groan as my mouth runs down the column of her throat, sucking and nipping as I make my way to her chest.

The need that pulses through me catches me off guard. She’s like lava in my hands. She burns so hotly.

Did I ever think I was the one in control here?

I grip her tighter as my tongue explores the tops of her breasts, exposed above the deep plunge of her neckline.

I suck her nipple between my teeth through the thin fabric of her shirt, and she moans her approval, loud and expressive.

Her moan turns to a purr of encouragement as I move from one mound to the other.

I bring my head up at the sound, and before I have a chance to object, she drops to her knees in front of me and reaches for the button of my jeans.

“Sonia.” Her name falls from my lips in a raspy plea as she slowly slides my zipper down.

I’m hard as a rock and ready as she reaches in to release me from my boxer briefs.

She holds the base of my shaft with one hand and strokes me firmly with the other. When she runs the nail of her finger down the hard ridge of my erection, it twitches in her grip, and my breath catches as I watch her work me.

“Don’t tease me,” I say as my hands drop to her hair, and I begin to massage her scalp.

“I wouldn’t think of it,” she says as she darts her tongue out and licks my tip, causing a drop of salty serum to escape.

“Mmm,” she murmurs as she locks eyes with me, and I watch as she licks the release from me.

I groan, and my hands fist her hair.

She lets her tongue roll around my swollen bulb a few times before opening her mouth and taking me deep inside.

She keeps her fingers wrapped tight around me as I glide in as far as I can go, and then she begins sucking as I thrust slowly in and out of her mouth.

I throw my head back and mutter unintelligible words as my hips flex. I try to hold on to my control as best I can.

She sucks me in deeper, and then she relaxes. She grips the back of my thigh with her free hand and holds on as she pulls back her lips and lightly drags the edge of her teeth down my length.

I growl low and deep in my throat, and it sounds like a strangled cry as the speed of my thrusts increase.

This woman drives me completely wild. She can bring me to the brink of sanity with her touch.

My fingers tangle almost harder in her hair as I come close to losing myself.

I look down and watch her face as she gets completely lost in my pleasure.

My breaths quicken as I feel the bolt slide down my spine. Then, I groan her name as my body stiffens, and I come hard down her throat.

Her eyes are squeezed tightly closed as she swallows me down. Savoring every drop and no doubt the knowledge that she possesses the ability to bring me to my knees.

“You’re amazing, do you know that?” I say as she opens her eyes, and I fall from her lips that are still slick with my seed.

Her expression is intense, and it makes my heart clench. She is so fucking beautiful. Every part of her, seen and unseen.

I reach down and urge her to her feet, and I hold her to me as I feel the first few droplets hit my shoulder.

Then the sky opens and the rain comes down in cold steady sheets.

I lift her into my arms and shield her as best I can as I carry her toward the silo.

I don’t ever want to let her go.