Chapter 42 #2
I couldn't bring myself to ask. I wasn't prepared to watch her deflect. Wasn't prepared to deal with the loud, galloping feeling inside me and what it would do if she said yes.
"This way," Audrey whispered, leading me across the gravel drive and around to the far side of a massive yellow barn. A hedgerow of sunflowers greeted us, their faces bright and bold and humming with bees. "No one will find us back here."
It felt like we'd stepped into a different world, one completely cut off from the enormous party underway. "Good," I said, steering her toward the yellow shingles. "It's my turn to have you."
Her back met the barn and she reached for me, her hands smoothing up my chest and around my neck as our lips met. The kiss was urgent, a little vicious. Guttural noises sounded low in my throat. She bit me twice and I had to believe it was intentional. I liked it. I also deserved it.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you," I said to the corner of her mouth. "I tried. I fucking tried but it only made me think about you more."
I pushed a knee between her legs as she yanked my shirt loose and skimmed her hands up my torso. Her fingers scraped along my neck and into my hair, drawing a shiver from her touch.
"Why did you try so hard?"
"I'll explain why I'm an idiot later. First—" I dropped my hands to her hips. "Is it actually okay to wrinkle this dress?"
"No one here is looking at me or my dress."
I ran my fingers up her thighs, gathering the long skirt as I went. "You're very wrong about that."
"The entire point of a wedding is to gush over the bride," she said. "None of this day is about me."
A growl rumbled out of me as my hand slipped between her legs.
I cupped her there, letting the heel of my palm rock against her clit.
Her breath stuttered and it really was remarkable that I'd nearly convinced myself I could live without this.
Without her. "Doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people who'd be happy to keep you warm tonight. "
"I'm not looking for anyone to do that for me."
"Are you sure about that?"
Her shoulder hitched up in a defiant shrug and I knew she was still pissed about the past week. Fair. Extremely fair.
All I could do was grind up against her clit and drop to my knees. I rolled down the thin, stretchy shorts she wore, the ones that were completely sheer and put her cunt on display in a way that wasn't meant to be sexy but still made me pant.
With the shorts out of my way, I dragged a finger along her seam and then leaned in, kissing my way down the same trail. I loved the taste of her. It activated something primal inside me and I was powerless to do anything but suck her clit until she screamed.
She didn't say anything as I traced circles around her clit, lapping at her like we had all day, all night for this. Like there was no limit to our time now, those looming shadows left behind in Arizona. I liked that very much.
I slipped a finger inside her, then another. She found a rhythm as I sucked and stroked, and she let out a surprised gasp when her muscles clenched tight. Her inner walls fluttered around my fingers, pulling me, holding me, as her pleasure unfurled.
"How did you do that so fast?" she whispered.
"I think you did that, princess." I pushed to my feet, wrenching my belt and zipper open as I went. "Can you do it for me one more time?"
She nodded, shaky, a little lost in the orgasm, but she grabbed me by my tie and yanked me close.
I settled between her legs and hitched her thigh high on my hip.
She was wet like I couldn't comprehend. My cock was already soaked just from pressing up against her and I knew I could come like this, right here. I wouldn't even mind.
"I missed you," I said, taking myself in hand and dragging my cockhead through her slippery heat. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips swollen. Tendrils slipped free from her bun. A bit of beard rash reddened her neck. Perfect. Just perfect. Like this, right here.
"You couldn't have missed me that much. You went dark and made me wait more than a week."
She peered at me. There was hurt in her eyes, hurt I'd put there. I'd known what I was doing when I boarded my flight in Phoenix. I knew she'd opened a door and I'd…walked right past it. Which was worse than slamming it shut, I thought.
"I know." I tapped my cock against her clit. Waited for the glint in her eyes to soften. "Let me apologize for that."
She glanced between us, working hard at being unaffected when I knew how much she loved to be teased this way. "You can try."
"Then I'll try."
I filled my hands with her ass, boosting her up against the barn.
I slammed into her and a wild roar built in my chest as the unbelievable heat of her swamped my senses.
Of the many things I hadn't been able to stop thinking about, the way her cunt gripped me was one of the most prominent. It came back to me like a haunting.
I kept my lips on her neck even though I worried there would be a mark there tomorrow. My hands stayed fixed on her ass, moving her as I wanted. If this was my best chance to offer up an apology, I was making it a good one.
She raked her fingers through my hair, twisting and pulling with every demanding thrust. I met her eyes as I rocked into her, begging her to feel what I felt.
To know that I was here with her, even if it was fucking complicated and our history was full of land mines and I couldn't promise much of anything.
That I wanted her, I'd always wanted her, and maybe that could be enough.
"I need—" Audrey moaned as my fingers dug hard into her ass.
"Anything, baby," I growled into her neck. "What do you need? Tell me and I'll give it to you."
That wasn't entirely true since I was fucking her up against the broad side of a barn with roughly four hundred people partying not that far away and it wouldn't surprise me if a security guard wandered down here in a minute or two. There were limits.
"I need you," she whispered, and those words sharpened my arousal into a fine, dangerous thing.
There were going to be small bruises on her backside tomorrow, of that I was certain.
One for each of my fingertips. And probably a few on her back from the barn's shingles.
But I'd kiss it all better. I pumped into her hard, harder when her lips landed on my neck and her teeth nipped at my skin. "You have me."
"For how long?"
My brain took those words and ran with them. "As long as you want me," I said.
"Promise?"
She clenched around me, softer than the first time she came but somehow deeper, like her body was trying to swallow me whole.
I made the mistake of focusing on those pulses and it snapped my hold on the orgasm gathering at the base of my spine.
It was over, out of my hands, nothing I could do to regain control.
And it felt so fucking good. Like my entire life had been nothing more than precursors to this moment, this woman. Even this barn.
Her name tumbled out of me over and over as I rutted into her, giving myself to some primitive need to fuck her like I meant it.
My cock pulsed for an hour. It seemed that way.
When the world came back to me and I could function again, I peppered her neck and bare shoulders with kisses.
A few bites too, because she kept flexing her inner muscles and I kept thinking I was about to drop dead from it.
But right now, with my hands roaming over her skin and my cock mostly hard inside her, I regretted everything.
There were hours left in this party and people were expecting to see her.
I'd have to let her go soon and I'd have to spend the rest of the evening acting like the taste of her cunt wasn't lingering on my tongue.
I ran my hands down her back, brushing away the dust and bits of yellow paint that we'd shaken loose from the barn. She pressed her lips to mine. I could feel her smile. "I should probably get back to Emme," she said.
"I counted eight other bridesmaids. Does she need all of you at once?" I was being an ass, but in all fairness, I was still inside her. Life beyond the side of this barn did not matter to me.
"Four of them are Ryan's sisters and she loves them, of course, but she's not asking any of them to help her pee." I must've made a face about that because she added, "She needs at least two people holding the dress. Ideally, three."
I untangled her leg from around my hip and eased out of her with great reluctance. I tried to go slow, thinking that controlled movements resulted in less friction, but that didn't stop an almighty flood from streaking down her thighs.
"Oh my," Audrey whispered, her hands overflowing with blue fabric and bare from the waist down, eyes wide, lips parted.
I swallowed hard as I tucked myself back into my trousers. Fuck.
"Let me take care of this." I went to my knees and pulled the pocket square from my jacket. "I've got you."
Audrey shrieked when I ran the silky fabric up the inside of her leg, laughing and twisting away from me. "That tickles!" she cried.
I stared up at her, lost in the space between her bright, infectious smile and the pink, puffy folds just a few inches from my face. I could stay here until my days ran short and want for nothing.
I finished cleaning my release from her legs and stowed the cloth in my pocket, and then helped her back into the stretchy shorts.
My phone buzzed a few times though I chose to ignore it.
My kid probably needed to complain about Brenda's cooking again.
He was a picky little tyrant when he wanted to be and he really didn't understand the Midwestern philosophy on casseroles and salads.
When I gained my feet, we made an attempt at smoothing out her skirt but there wasn't much hope for it. "You look like you've been fucked against a barn," I said.
She ran a hand through my hair, saying, "You too."
We stared at each other for a moment. I knew if I opened my mouth, it would be to suggest we try out the other three sides of this barn or see about a potting shed.
And I knew that wasn't fair. Not only because I'd fucked her like I wanted her to wake up tomorrow and feel me in every overused muscle but because this was a big night for her friends.
She deserved to have fun with them, regardless of whether I craved her on a level that was troubling.
A breeze off the nearby cove kicked up and Audrey rubbed her palms over her bare arms. "Here," I said, shrugging out of my jacket. I draped it over her shoulders. "I'll walk you back."
She led me through a different set of gardens this time, telling me stories about weekends spent here with Shay and Jamie, Grace and Emme. We stopped near the house when she said, "I'm going to run inside and fix my hair. Grab a drink and I'll find you."
"Not so fast," I said, pulling her against my chest and dragging her lower lip between my teeth. I kissed her one last time, stroking my thumbs over her delicate cheeks. "I need to check on Percy. I'm going to give him a call and then I'll find you."
"You always do," she said.
I grinned. "You noticed that?"
She straightened my tie and then smoothed a hand down my chest, stopping only when she hit my belt. I did not mind her hand settling there. "What? Like you were trying to be discreet with that entrance at the reunion? Or what about my wedding day?"
I considered these points. "I guess not."
"That's all I'm saying." She laughed, fussing with my collar again. "Go make your call. I'll meet you in the tent."
I kissed her forehead and then watched her slip into the house, hitching her skirt up as she went. I lingered there for a minute, not ready to slide back into reality. Eventually, I pulled out my phone and swiped it to life—and everything changed.