Chapter Fourteen
Ilet a quiet Austin lead me inside—his large, scarred hand wrapped tightly around mine. He nods at the guy operating the door before guiding me to a table in the back. He pulls out a chair and waits for me to sit before taking the one beside me.
“Order whatever you want. It’s on me.”
I grin, amused at his alpha bullshit. “You know I could buy this whole building if I wanted to, right?”
“You got a dick?”
“I’m sitting next to one. Does that count?”
His lips twitch as he leans in closer. “There isn’t much I can do for you that you can’t do for yourself. I get that. But when you’re with me, I’m going to be the one who pays, the one who opens your door and fastens your belt. It’s just the way I’m wired.”
I study him instead of brushing him off.
If I thought he was being flippant, I’d tell him to get over himself, but I can tell this means something to him.
Complaining when someone wants to look after me isn’t the hill I want to die on, so I shrug.
“Okay, if that’s what you need. Just know there will be times when I won’t give in to you, regardless of how you feel. ”
He smirks. “I can be very persuasive.”
“And I can be very stubborn. But let’s not turn this into a game of tit for tat. I’m hungry.”
He doesn’t argue, just hands me the menu. It’s nothing fancy—basic pub grub—so I order a tuna melt with fries on the side, along with a cherry Coke. Austin orders a burger with onion rings and a bottle of Bud. Once the server is gone, he leans into me, his spicy fragrance teasing my nose.
“So where do we go from here?”
“Home?” I reply by being deliberately obtuse.
“I mean you and me.”
“I don’t know if there is a me and you yet.”
His hand moves to the top of my thigh before sliding between them, where he rubs my damp panties with a feather-like touch. “Oh, there is. Tell me what I would find if I slipped my fingers inside you right now?”
Oh, this man wants to skip all the steps of etiquette, huh? Fine. I lean closer, so my lips graze his ear. “You’d find Riggs’s cum.”
His hand freezes for a second before a soft growl escapes him. I have a second to ponder if I’ve pushed him too hard before I’m up and being dragged to the accessible restroom. He pulls me inside and locks the door before he stalks toward me. “Show me.”
“What?”
“Show me his cum. I want to see it.”
There is no reason for my pussy to spasm like that, but holy fuck. “Austin…”
“Take your panties off, Cece, or so help me god, I’ll tear them off myself.”
I swallow, my body warring between obeying and rebelling.
Before it’s even a conscious thought, my hands move to the button of my skirt.
I pop it open and slide down the zipper before I shimmy the denim down over my ass.
When it reaches my knees, Austin grabs me, lifting me onto the counter before pulling my skirt the rest of the way off, tossing it on the counter beside me.
“The boots stay on,” he growls as he pushes himself closer, forcing me to spread my legs. “Now show me,” he orders, his voice taking on a dark, lethal tone.
I think now would be a good time to be scared, but as usual, my fucked-up head has its signals messed up.
Instead of fear, all I feel is arousal flooding my body, overriding my common sense.
I lift my feet so my heels rest on the edge of the countertop, and as I can’t actually take them off like this, I hook my pinky in the wet material covering my sex and pull it aside, giving him a clear shot.
A satisfied rumble rolls through him. I don’t know if it’s because he likes the view or because I obeyed him. “Show me more.”
Damn, the caveman routine really works for me. I slide the fingers of my free hand into my pussy before pulling them out wet. I hold them up for him to see, only to gasp as he sucks them into his mouth.
“Holy shit. That…that’s…”
“Mine now,” he snaps, waiting for me to argue. I’m too stunned to look at him in anything other than wonder. “My turn.” He pulls back and pops open the fly of his jeans before pulling out his stiff cock and stroking it.
“Austin,” I whisper, not sure I’m ready to go any further.
But he presses one hand above my pubic bone, holding me in place as he rapidly strokes himself with the other. “Play with yourself.”
It’s an order, not a request, and my defenses crumble.
I slide my fingers over the sticky mess Riggs left behind and strum my clit.
I’m already so turned on it wouldn’t take much to push me over the edge.
I hold back, not wanting to rush things.
There is something so fucking beautiful about watching a man as controlled as Austin come apart.
Even when he checks out, it’s as if his emotions are so tightly coiled that he can barely feel anything.
Now I see that control slipping, and it’s both terrifying and exciting in equal measure.
His eyes are fixed on my fingers as he licks his lips unconsciously. I whimper, my need clawing at me, but I refuse to come before he does. When his fist moves faster, I know it won’t be long. I pick up speed myself, mimicking his actions as my release hovers on the edge of my senses.
When he curses and presses closer, aiming the head of his cock at my pussy, my orgasm hits me like a sledgehammer.
The first splash of his cum covers my fingers, making my clit so slippery it’s hard for my fingers to find purchase, but I’m too far gone to care.
I cry out his name as he pushes the tip of his cock into me.
He holds it there as he releases pulse after pulse of cum, filling me up and diluting Riggs’s cum with his.
By the time my euphoria fades, Austin has hold of my hand and presses my fingers inside me, pushing his cum as far as he can. Then he covers my pussy with my soaked panties. He pulls back, looking down at me with lethal intent as he swipes his thumb across my bottom lip.
“Such a pretty pussy,” he leans down and slides his lips over mine. “When he fucks you, he’ll be fucking part of me into you too.”
I groan.
“Oh, and he will fuck you. After spending the day with me, I doubt you’ll even make it to the bedroom.
He’ll probably spin you around and fuck you right against the door.
He’ll smell me on you, and it will drive him crazy.
He’ll fill you over and over until you’re so bloated with cum you won’t be able to move. ”
He gives me a wicked grin before he grabs my skirt and helps slide me back into it. He lowers me to my feet and then pulls the material up and over my ass. He fastens the top button before pulling the zipper up. Only then does he put his cock away.
My cheeks are flushed as he takes me in, a wicked smile on his face. “Let’s go. Our food will be ready.”
“I need to wash my hands,” I manage to croak out.
He shakes his head. “Every time you take a bite of your melt, you’ll smell me on your hands. When you lick the sauce from your fingers, you’ll taste me. Like fuck are you washing your hands.”
“And squirming in my seat because my underwear is soaked isn’t enough?”
“No. When it comes to you, it’s never going to be enough.”
Itake another bite of my food and remind myself not to fidget. I don’t make eye contact, convinced everyone here knows what we just did. I focus on my food and wait until I can make my escape.
“You look so pretty with that blush across your cheeks.”
“Shut up,” I mutter, making him laugh. “I can’t believe we just did that. What the hell is wrong with me?”
“Not a damn thing, and I’ll shoot any motherfucker who says differently.”
I grumble in response but continue to eat, ignoring the thought of his cum all over my fingers, or I really will start squirming.
Once I’m done, I wipe my hands and push my plate away.
I glance around the room. Most people keep their eyes to themselves.
I know they know I’m here, though. I lean back and wait for Austin to finish.
The door opens, and a familiar face walks in.
I bite my lip to hide my grin, but I can’t help the excitement that tingles along my skin.
My earlier embarrassment is replaced with anticipation.
He glances around, clearly looking for someone.
When his eyes land on me, he’s found exactly who he’s looking for.
I idly wonder who called him and told him I was here, or if he could sense it thanks to my creamer additive.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. This is precisely what I hoped would happen.
“You fucking whore.”
The room goes so silent you could hear a pin drop. Austin lifts his head, his eyes blazing. I reach under the table and give his leg a squeeze. He’s tense, but he leans back, giving me space to handle it. That will change the second Porter tries to put his hands on me.
“I’m sorry, are you talking to me?” I ask, my voice the picture of innocence, even if my eyes flash with fire.
“You stole my kid, and you’re keeping my wife from me,” he roars.
I get to my feet and walk around the table, leaving plenty of space between us so I don’t trigger Austin’s protective instincts. Shame. If Austin weren’t here, I’d have let Porter hit me, just so I could have him hauled in by Shepard.
“You talking about Dawn, who came to me with a split lip, black eye, and busted ribs, among other things? Or Hannah, who arrived with a handprint on her face?” I sense the mood in the room change, but I don’t back down.
Unfortunately for Porter, neither does he. “You don’t get a say in my fucking marriage. You stupid fucking bitch, I should have ended you when I had the chance.”
I press my hand to my chest in fake shock. “I barely even know you. I think you might need professional help. Probably some anger management classes, too. You keep turning up at the ranch and—”
“Why you little—” He stalks toward me but stops short when Austin stands up and moves to stand beside me.
Porter looks from him to me before he starts laughing—a nasty, vicious sound that for once bounces right off my Teflon skin. Once upon a time, I’d have done anything for his approval. But now I don’t give a damn.
“Now it makes perfect sense. Whoring yourself out to anyone that will have you. Your daddy would be so disappointed,” he throws out, making me grin.
“Lord, I hope so. Though if I’m really lucky, he’s burning in hell and the last thing he’s worried about is little old me.”
“He’s only with you for the ranch. He’ll throw you away like yesterday’s trash when he gets what he wants.”
“Now we both know that’s not true. Aside from the fact that Austin doesn’t need my money or my ranch, he knows, as well as you do, that nobody but a Hart can own Corvis Wing. And it has to be a female descendant at that.”
His eyes narrow as my words spark a warning in his brain. Oh, he knows I know what I am. He’s questioning whether I know who he is. I see the second he brushes it off, writing me off as dumb like always.
“You’ll give me back my property, or you’ll regret it.”
“That ranch is mine, old man,” I hiss at him.
“I’m talking about my wife and kid.” A couple of people look at him in disgust.
“Men like you are the reason there is a male loneliness epidemic. Hell, I think most women would vote for extinction if you were the alternative.” I ignore the snigger from behind me and cross my arms over my chest. “Stay away from me. Stay away from my ranch and stay away from Dawn and Hannah. Go be your sad, pathetic self somewhere far away from here.”
He prepares to launch himself at me, but Austin steps in front of me. Not that it’s needed. What Porter failed to notice with his back to the door was that Shepard moved up behind him. The second he lunges for me, Shepard has him on the ground with his hands behind his back.
Shepard looks up at me, a look of exasperation on his face as I try to look innocent.
“Hey, Sheriff.”
“Poppy.”
I narrow my eyes at him. He knows how I feel about him using that nickname when I’m still mad at him.
When his eyes drift from me to Austin, I wince.
I’m being unfair. If I can forgive Austin for what he did, I can forgive Shepard.
What Austin did was far worse. The only difference between the two is that I’d been building something with Shepard when he shit all over it.
“Someone want to tell me what the fuck is going on here?”
“That prick was about to put his hands on Cece,” Austin snarls.
Shepard’s eyes lock on mine. “Cece?”
I look at Austin and see his lips twitch. It was a deliberate move after hearing Shepard call me Poppy. Damn these fucking men.
“Austin took me to run some errands. We came here to eat, and then Porter turned up and started spewing shit about wanting Dawn and Hannah back. Or his property, as he referred to them. And then he called me a whore.”
Shepard presses more of his weight into Porter’s back, making him cry out. “Is that right?” He pulls out a pair of cuffs and snaps them around Porter’s wrists before dragging him to his feet and reading him his rights. He hands him off to one of his officers before walking over to me.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reassure him.
He reaches up and tucks my hair behind my ear before he leans in and asks in a quiet voice, “Want to explain why it looks like you’re on a date with a man you wanted to murder a month ago?”
I huff and pull back. “I don’t murder every man I meet, Sheriff. Give me some credit.”
He rolls his eyes at me. “You know what I mean.”
“I was hungry, that’s all.”
“Yeah?” He dips his head, his lips skimming over mine. Someone gasps. Or maybe it’s me. “Then why do you smell like sex?”
I blink in surprise before I feel my cheeks heat up. “We didn’t—” I snap my mouth shut. We might not have had full-blown sex, but what we did was about as close as you can get. I bite my lip, unsure how to respond.
He shakes his head, looking amused. “It bodes well for me that you forgive easily.”
“I haven’t spoken to you for months until recently. How is that forgiving easily?”
“If I know Austin, he fucked up big, maybe even bigger than me. And yet here he is, alive and kicking. So like I said, I like those odds. Now I’d better go book Porter. I’ll get your statement later at dinner.”
“Fine.” My shoulders slump. I don’t have it in me to fight anymore. At least not today.
“Good girl. I’ll see you at dinner.” He kisses me lightly before pulling back and tipping his hat to Austin. “Dyer.”
“Sheriff,” Austin replies. There is a weird undertone between them. I don’t know if it’s because of me or because they are on opposite ends of the law. Either way, I keep my mouth shut until Shepard has gone before whirling on Austin, hands on hips, ready to lay into him.
He places a kiss on my temple. “So what time is dinner?”