16. Nate
16
Nate
D etective Liam Buchanan stood with his arms across his broad chest, the brim of his black hat shadowing his narrowed eyes.
"Nice to meet you." I stretched out my hand and shook his. "Liam, was it?"
"Yeah." His jaw clenched as he squeezed my hand, then let it go. "I haven't seen you around before."
I shrugged, staring at him through my mirrored aviators. "I like to keep a low profile and stay off the police radar."
"How'd you know he was a cop?" Ava narrowed her eyes at me.
God, she's so suspicious.
"I assumed." Tucking my hand into my pants pocket. "Cops have a certain look." I turned my attention towards him as he eyed me. "Isn't that right?"
He nodded, then shot his doe-eyed gaze towards Ava, his heart on his sleeve.
Callie was right... he does have a thing for her.
How does she get this information?
"Did you get your bratwurst?"
Ava nodded. "Now we're on to the strudel, you?"
Liam smiled softly, and my cheeks twitched as a burning shot across my chest, the pastry losing its fluffy shape in my clenching hand.
"I haven't had one yet. Still trying to decide what beer I want." Liam chuckled, his eyes sliding over to me and then back to her.
"I don't recommend the Creepy Crawler, " I said, tilting my head to the side.
Liam's brows shot up, his hand running down his chin. "Oh yeah? Why is that?"
"Tastes as it sounds."
He gave a slight nod. "Noted." With a sigh, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug, drawing my hand away from her lower back. "I'm glad to see you out with a smile, Ava."
"Smile?" She feigned examining her body while touching her lips with her free hand. "What smile?"
The corners of my lips lifted, then fell as I concealed it.
"Let me have a bite, Ava? I want to see if it's worth it this year."
He grabbed her wrist and fed her strudel to his mouth, setting my teeth on edge as she pulled it away with a shaking hand.
"It tastes the same way it does every year, you big oaf." She slapped him across the shoulder with a radiant smile, her teeth braces straight and white. "Get your own."
He licked his lips free of crumbs, and my fist closed around my pastry as I drew in a deep breath through my nose.
"I think I might." He laughed, and yet the wrinkles around his eyes deepened as he strode away.
Claiming territory that isn’t yours, big boy?
"He must be a good friend." I placed my hand on the small of her back as she fixed the paper around her pastry and bit into it again, her head bobbing.
"I've known him for a while."
"You two came here together before?"
She shook her head and swallowed as I tossed mine into the trash. "No. We always see each other around here, though." She dropped the pastry to her side with an exhale. "In fact, you're the only one I've been with here since..."
Ava quieted as she glanced at a large, gnarled tree with a bench beneath.
Since when, my little recluse?
"Since your breakup with Darrel?"
Her brows narrowed as she pulled her gaze away from the tree and shook her head. "Never mind." Her eyes brightened as they landed on the stage across the field, where the German band settled beside their instruments. " Heeey. Do you want to listen to the band?" She grabbed my forearm and dragged me toward the front of the stage. "They're supposed to be awesome this year."
The lead singer wrapped his hand around the microphone and announced the name of the band as she finished her strudel.
"Does that mean they aren't good all the other years?"
She shook her head, a crumb resting on the corner of her lips. "No, they are. This one is different."
The band kicked up a traditional tune filled with the piano, saxophone, and drum. A tattooed man with long hair that belonged in a screamo band thumped the mallets against the glockenspiel, which resembled a xylophone.
"Okay, that is not what I was expecting."
Ava crumpled her strudel paper with a smile. "See, I told you they were better."
I nudged my shoulder against hers. "Didn't peg you for a beer-drinking, bratwurst-loving kind of girl."
"Shows what you know. There’s more to me than rooftop escapes and coffee orders."
My breath caught. "Oh, I believe it." I stepped closer as a new song with deep, steady beats started. "I'm curious what else I haven’t seen yet."
A crimson heat colored her cheeks as she held my gaze, making my aviators non-existent. "Maybe you'll find out."
She twisted her shoulders, and I raised a brow, leaning in closer, my breath against her cheek. "That sounds like an invitation."
Her fingers traced against my stomach, her touch burning through my shirt. "Maybe it is."
My hand pulsed, my heart racing as I reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Then I’d hate to disappoint you by leaving anything undiscovered." I pressed against her, holding her wrist at my waist, and guided her backward between the tents, my lips a breath away from hers. "I can be very thorough."
We stopped in the darkened intersection of tents, electrical cords, and the echoes of everything around, my hand sliding down her back.
"How thorough?" Her breath teased my lips with a rapid exhale.
"Depends on how far you're willing to let me go."
Ava reached up and slid my shades atop my head, her eyes bouncing between mine and then to the slip of space between the tents as if searching for an answer to an unspoken question.
"Fuck it."
Her lips crashed into mine, her hands cupping my face as she wound her leg around the back of my knee.
I gripped her tight, my hand slipping beneath her fluffy, rustic orange sweater as our tongues slid against one another.
Ava moaned, sending a tsunami of blood straight to my cock.
Why?
She's only a job.
My hands slipped down to her ass, and I hefted her up, her legs wrapping around my waist. "This isn't the place..."
"It's as good a place as any." Her fingers thread through the top of my short hair, gripping hard, her teeth digging into my lip.
" Ah. " A surge rushed through me, and I squeezed her tight, rubbing her center against the hard length, begging to thrust inside her. "You drew blood." I pulled back, licking the warm drop off my lip.
"Don't tell me you don't like it."
I groaned, giving her a devilish grin. "Say when."
Shuffling, I threw open an empty tent curtain and stepped inside, then knelt on the ground. Her arms tightened around my neck.
"Don't drop me." Her hips gyrated against me. "I'd hate to end this night early."
My hand slammed over her mouth. " Shh... " I laid her down on the grass beneath us. "We wouldn't want you to get caught with your pants down."
Pulling the button free from her jeans, I dipped my fingers into the waistband and gave a sharp tug.
Her back arched off the ground, her hips lifting as she pressed up with her heels, allowing me to pull her pants to her ankles. Her brown boots hindered the final bit of freedom, my hand cupping the heel as I worked to free it.
"Forget it, Nate. I need you." She held her hands out, wrapping them around my neck and pulling me toward her.
"I've got it." The boot slipped free, and I snagged the other. She laid her arm over her eyes and laughed, her cheeks a deep crimson.
The second boot slipped off, and I tossed it aside, then added her jeans and panties to the pile.
I slapped her legs wide and settled on my knees between them. "Wow."
Ava peeked out from beneath her arm. "What?"
"Nothing. I didn't expect you to be so perfect."
"Oh, shut up." She reached up and grabbed my lapels, jerking me down on top of her, my chest pressing against her covered breasts.
Our mouths collided, her hands working my pants button. "Do you have a condom?"
I raised a brow and dug into my back pocket, now bunched up at my mid-thigh, as she shoved them over my hips. "Do I?" Holding the packet, I tore it with my teeth and unfurled it over my hard length.
Ava dropped back to the grass, her eyes scoring my skin as she watched my fingers run down to the base.
"You're big."
I chuckled. "Does that scare you?"
"I'm up for the challenge." Her hand wrapped around my cock, and I hissed as she came up on her elbows. "Are you?"
"Always." A slow, knowing grin tugged at my lips as my eyes locked onto hers, a burst of energy shooting down my spine. "Question is, are you ready for what happens when I don't back down?"
"So far, you're all talk, Nate."
I chuckled, a deep rumbling that had her teeth biting into her lower lip. My fingers brushed against her soaked folds, and she hissed.
Tipping her head, her eyes rolled back as her hand fell away. "More."
She bucked her hips against my light, teasing touch, my cock weeping in the condom.
"I imagined taking my time with you."
"Next time..." She sucked in a sharp inhale as my finger dipped inside. "God."
Sucking my wet finger into my mouth, I licked her essence off, my cock pulsing with need.
"I'm definitely going to need more of that." I groaned and lined the head up with her center. "Remember..." I put my finger to my lips, " Shhh ."
Pushing inside inch by slow inch, we let loose a synchronizing moan, violating the rule I'd set in place.
Goddamn.
"Ava, this might be quicker than I thought." I plunged deep, and her laughter morphed into a sensuous groan that had me clenching my fist on the ground beside her. "You're gonna need to be quiet, baby."
"Let them come."
I shook my head, my fingers slipping down to her sensitive nub, and rubbed in circles. "The only one I'm interested in watching come tonight is you."
Ava rocked her hips against my touch, my thrusts powering into her. Wet skin slapped in sharp snaps, filling the darkened space with the scent and sounds of pure erotic sex.
Her breaths caught with a whimper, my teeth gritting, keeping control of the pressure building in the head of my swollen cock.
"I'm almost there..."
I pressed my thumb against her clit, eliciting a moan. "Come for me, baby." I pressed my lips against her ear. "Let go, and I promise, it'll be so fucking good..."
Ava bucked against me, threw her head back, and screamed my name as she convulsed around me.
I slapped my hand over her mouth, muffling her cries, her muscles clenching around me like a vise, sending my body right over the edge.
With one final thrust, I exploded inside her, filling the condom with every last drop of my unexplainable lust and desperation—my cock pulsating with every spurt.
Ava groaned beneath my hand, her tongue licking my palm.
I pulled out of her and slid my fingers over her still-quivering folds, savoring her body as it came down from its peak.
"Okay, wow."
"Is that a good 'wow'?" I planted kisses along her neck and trailed down her body.
"It's an amazing 'wow'."
Lifting her shirt, I peppered kisses around her belly button, each one drawing a quiet sigh from her lips. I moved lower, nestling between her thighs, and lapped at her swollen sex until her breaths quickened.
"Fuck. Fuck."
I glanced up the length of her body as she shoved her fist in her mouth and came on my tongue.
"We need to do that again." I sat on my haunches and wiped her taste from my lips.
"Yeah," a male voice said from the outside of the tent. "I think I heard something coming from there."
Shit.
I jumped to my feet, pulling my pants up as Ava stood, grabbing her own pants and shoes. I jerked my head to the side of the tent where a collapsible table sat.
My heart settled into a calming rhythm, one that I'd trained for, as I tugged her down beside me and tipped the table to its side.
What would Keith say if I was arrested for sex in public?
And with my target, no less...
I shook my head.
So reckless.
The tent curtain rustled, and footsteps shuffled inside. "I swear I heard something."
"Well, it doesn't look like anything has stepped foot in here since it was set up yesterday," another male voice said.
Ava curled into me, her face buried in my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her down as the beam of light flashed over our heads.
Keith is gonna kill me.
"We'll keep an eye out. But we have more security issues than lovers checking off a random bucket list item."
"Oh, come on." The curtain rustled, and footsteps shuffled out of the tent. "It's disgusting..."
Ava burst into a fit of laughter, her shoulders shaking as she fell away to her bare ass, her hand muffling the sound.
"That was too close." I stood, reached my hand in my pants, and snapped off the used condom affixed to my flaccid dick.
Her laughter petered out as I twisted the condom into a knot and stuck it in my pocket. "I haven't had that much fun since I was a pimply teenager."
Ava's legs spread, and my gaze dropped to that succulent pussy I'd devoured.
A rumble of laughter hit my chest. "You're dangerous, Ava." I bent at the waist, cradled her face in my hands, and studied her joyous smile. "But so amazing." My lips touched hers, and she moaned, pressing into me, our kiss searing and intoxicating.
"That's the first time I've been called that." She broke away from my hold and shoved her foot through her pant legs, sending my heart stuttering back to reality, her icy wall kicking our moment to the curb.
Interesting...
I raised a brow, tore my gaze from her struggle, and scanned the tent. Her soft, lacy panties lay beside her sideways boot. "Do you want these?" I swiped her panties up and held them in my fingers.
Ava flicked her honeyed gaze up with a smirk as she adjusted the shoulder on her plush sweater. "You keep 'em."
I chuckled, stuck them to my nose, and inhaled. "The best gift ever."
Standing, she gave a little hop and pulled the tight black jeans over her hips, then buttoned them in place. "Do you think it's safe to walk out of here?"
Moving towards the makeshift door, I cracked a piece of fabric and peered out, my stomach clenching as though I'd been punched.
"What's wrong?" Ava stood behind me, her hand resting on my forearm.
A five-foot-something, barrel-bellied man stood at the end of the narrow path between tents, staring down our direction.
"Shit."
"Yup." I nodded as I glanced around the tent. "We're going to have to split up."
"Split up?" Her brows narrowed. "Why?"
"I figured you wouldn't want to be found out."
" Psshh. " She frowned. "Do I look like a girl who gives a crap what the town thinks?"
Yes.
You strive for perfection.
Your desire for success.
"I mean..."
"Don't answer that." She walked back to the overturned table and peered over the edge.
"Here." I kneeled beside the back wall and lifted the bottom, creating an opening we could crawl through. "We can go out this way."
Ava's eyes dropped down to the ground, her hands fixing her hair over her shoulder. "I'm good." With a quick spin on her heel, she flipped the front flap open on the tent and strode out into the walkway.
A lopsided smile formed on my lips as I followed her out. My hand wrapped around hers as the barreled man locked eyes on us. "Time to run?"
"Nah." She straightened the bottom of her shirt and smiled at the man whose red cheeks matched the worst sunburn in history.
Turning, we walked out the way we came in as the man took his first three steps towards us. "You're not worried?"
"Of Frank? Not hardly."
"You know him?" We disappeared into the crowd dancing by the stage.
"I know almost everyone here, Nate."
"That makes sense." I pulled my aviators off my head and tucked them into the front of my shirt as we walked toward the parking lot.
"I had fun." She spun around as we stopped at her car. "I'll see you around. Okay?"
My brows raised. "Yeah." I pulled her close.
What's happening here?
Is she ditching me?
Did I do something to tip her off?
Her lips touched my cheek, and before I could grab her, she opened her door, slipped inside, and shut the door.
The engine started, and she backed out of her parking space, speeding off down the road like she'd catch an STD if she stayed any longer.
What the hell just happened?