Chapter 31
RACHEL
“Bye, baby.” I kiss the top of Emma’s head and soak in the feel of her arms around my middle. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
“’Kay.” She jogs down the front steps to join her brother and Craig at the truck. “Love you!”
“Love you, too.” I blow her a kiss and then do the same for Mason. Naturally, he rolls his eyes in response, then turns and climbs into the passenger seat.
One side of Craig’s mouth tips up in amusement as he watches Mason slam the truck door. Then to me, he says, “See you in a few hours. Enjoy your alone time.”
Yeah, right. On instinct, I huff a laugh, only to stop myself at the genuinely friendly expression on his face.
Wait. Is he being sincere?
Holy crap. I think he might be.
I give a little finger wave to the kids as they back out and then retreat into the house. My phone dings with a notification almost immediately.
Justin: The kids leave yet?
Oh, he’s good.
Me: Just left.
Justin: Perfect. Now go for a walk.
Go for a walk? I rode my bike for forty-five minutes this morning. I don’t need another workout. Unless…
Alone time.
I grin like a fool and type out my response.
Me: Okay. Anywhere in particular I should walk?
Justin: Surprise me.
Ah. Excitement stirs low in my belly. We’re going to play, are we? I can get behind that.
Me: Give me five.
He doesn’t respond, but the read notification appears on my screen.
Giddy with anticipation, I change quickly. Rather than pulling on a sports bra, I go with a feminine but still practical white lace one with a matching thong. A woman wearing Lycra leggings can’t have panty lines, after all. And the white tank top paired with the purple pants makes my curves look pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.
Hair in a messy bun and feet shoved into my sneakers, I grab my earbuds and my phone and head out. I’m tempted to keep the volume down so I can hear Justin approach, but that feels like cheating. And far less fun.
With my favorite rock playlist blasting in my ears, I make it past the edge of town and head for the trail that circles the lake. As I approach the entrance to the trail, the feeling of being watched sends a shiver down my spine.
Seconds later, strong hands grip my hips and haul me back against a hard, formidable body. I gasp as a rush of fear and excitement washes through me.
Warm breath teases against my temple as he plucks the earbuds from my ears. He hums as he tucks them into the pocket of my leggings. Then he murmurs, “Pretty girls like you shouldn’t be out in the woods alone.”
“Handsome boys like you shouldn’t tell them to go there, then.”
He nips playfully at my ear. “I told you to take a walk, not play hide and seek.”
A zap of elation courses through me. “Oops.”
Thick arms wrap around my waist as he curls down and buries his face in my neck. It feels like his big body is trying to swallow me and keep me safe. I close my eyes, wishing he could.
“I think you like playing games,” he says, his lips grazing along my skin. He gently bites the flesh of my neck, then soothes it with his tongue. “Don’t you, Sunny?”
“I-I think I do.”
“You’re not sure?”
I shake my head, the move jerky. “I’ve never… before.”
“Ah.”
He smiles against me. It’s no doubt one of those wickedly delicious ones that turns me into a puddle of want.
“Should we experiment then?”
“Yes, please.” My voice is a pleading whisper, so raw and needy that I almost don’t recognize it.
“You trust me?”
So much so that it should probably frighten me. I never thought I’d want to give this much of myself to another man, but with Justin, I can’t imagine not. Being with him, trusting him, completes me in a way I never thought possible.
“I do.”
“Good.”
With his arms still wrapped around me, he lifts me off the gravel and spins around. Silently, he carries me to his truck a few yards away. When we approach the passenger side, I expect him to open the rear door and toss me inside. Instead, he opens the front passenger door and pins me between the truck and his body as his rough, eager hands tug up on my tank top.
“Anyone could drive by right now,” he husks as he cups and then kneads my breasts. “Anyone could see me touching you like this.”
I sink my teeth into my lip to keep from moaning. What does he have planned for me? Will he strip me bare right here on the side of the road? Have his way with me in his truck?
With a yank of my bra, he frees my breasts so he can stroke his thumbs over my nipples.
I hiss and arch back against him, not surprised but spurred on when I find that he’s already hard. We’ve had so few intimate moments like this. How is it possible that he’s already figured out just how to touch me and how to make me so freaking wet?
“More,” I beg. “Please.”
A satisfied laugh rumbles out of him, then he’s pinching my peaks between his thumbs and forefingers. My butt slams back into his lap again, and this time, there’s no stopping the low, greedy groan that rises from my belly to my throat.
“So needy.” He tsks, sliding one of those big, calloused palms down my stomach and to the waistband of my leggings. “Maybe I should check and see just how badly you want me.”
My eyes roll and my lashes flutter when he slips his hand into my pants and my panties. He parts my flesh with his middle finger. It glides easily over my clit because I’ve been dripping for him since the moment he snuck up on me.
“Fuck. Is this all for me?”
I nod, my body trembling with every stroke of that single finger. He delves deeper and deeper into my panties until he finds my opening and dips inside.
“Oh god.” My knees nearly buckle, and I have to grip the seat for leverage.
“Lean forward.” He presses between my shoulder blades with his free hand, gently urging me down onto my chest. Then he tugs my leggings and panties over my ass, baring me to him and the warm summer air. “So fucking perfect,” he murmurs, smoothing a hand from my hip to the curve of my ass and then squeezing. It’s not hard enough to bruise, but it is enough for me to wish he’d do it again.
“More,” I beg. “Please.”
“What do you need, baby? This?” He slaps my ass and then soothes it with another tender squeeze. “Or this?” His finger retreats, then quickly returns, joined by another.
I bite my arm to muffle my cry of pleasure.
“Both?” He chuckles darkly. “I think you like both.” Gripping my hip again, he grinds his hard cock against me while he continues to fuck me with his hand. It’s slow and tender at first, and then harder and deeper until my head spins and arousal dampens my thighs.
I want to come so badly.
I need to come.
But I’ve never orgasmed like this. Never without a toy.
Emotion burns in my chest and in my throat, and my traitorous body gives me away by shaking when I try not to cry.
He gentles his movements, his thumb rubbing lazy circles over my clit as he leans down and places a reassuring kiss between my shoulder and my neck. “It’s okay, baby. Don’t overthink it.”
How does he know? How does he always know?
“Focus on how good it feels.” He slips those fingers inside me again, crooking just right and with so much tenderness and determination that I do cry. Not out loud, but I surrender to the emotion and let my tears fall.
Letting go makes it easier to concentrate on his touch. On the way he fills me and loves me and makes me feel so many things at once.
The fire builds again, slowly but fiercely, the low flame turning into a fiery blaze. I want this. I want this so badly with him.
He kisses his way down the middle of my back, his lips so warm and so hungry against my skin until he’s rightthere.
The caress of his breath against my slickened skin is my only warning before his tongue flicks across my pussy from behind. With hand and fingers still pumping in the front, he laps at the arousal that weeps from me, drinking me down like a starved man. And the sounds he makes… the moans… my god.
I should be embarrassed.
I should be ashamed of how much it turns me on.
But I’m not.
Not with him.
JINX
I didn’t planfor this to happen.
I didn’t plan to accost Rachel on the side of the fucking road, let alone give in and finally taste her.
But the second I discovered how badly she needed me, how badly she’d been deprived, I had no choice.
There isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do for this woman, not that burying my face in her pussy and devouring her is any hardship. She tastes like fucking heaven, and the way she pulses back against me, trying to capture more of my mouth, is the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced.
“That’s it, baby. Fuck my face,” I growl into her as she reaches back and fists my hair to keep me where she wants me.
“Oh god,” she pants. “Oh god. That feels so good.”
“Mm-hmm.” I try to catch her clit with every backward shift of her hips, but the position isn’t right. And her pants… the fucking pants have to go.
Without a word, I grip her hips, spin her around, yank her leggings down to her ankles, and discard a shoe. Once that one leg is free, I spread her wide before me, and I damn near come from the sight alone.
Just the faintest strip of auburn hair, puffy lips, and a swollen pink clit that practically begs to be sucked.
“Fucking hell, Sunny. You’re so much prettier in person.”
A ghost of a smile dances across her lips as I lift her leg to my shoulder and dive in.
Tongue, teeth, lips, fingers… I give her everything. Sucking and teasing, humming and lapping. I explore until there isn’t a single bit of her perfect pussy that I haven’t tasted and claimed.
She is mine.
There’s no question in my mind.
And I take care of what’s mine.
“Oh god.” Her hands wind in my hair as she gives herself over to me. With every flick of my tongue and every pull of my lips, her hips rise to meet me, fucking my face while fire blazes in her eyes.
I love that she watches. That she can’t take her eyes off me while I devour her.
I’ll eat her every day just for her to look at me the way she is now. Like I’m her sin and her salvation.
“J-Justin…” Her breath quickens and her tits, still spilling from her bunched up bra, rise and fall with every frenzied inhale and exhale. “Oh god, oh god, oh god…”
Lost in euphoria, I stay the course, using my fingers and my mouth, sucking her clit and fucking her with my hand like my life depends on it. My beard is soaked, and gravel digs into my knees through my jeans. It’s the greatest fucking sensation.
I need to give her this. I want to give her this.
I break away long enough to encourage her, to coax her. “Come for me, baby. I wanna taste it. Wanna feel it on my tongue.”
Her dilated gaze locks on mine for a heartbeat, then her lashes flutter shut, her nostrils flare, and her cheeks stain the sexiest pink. She’s right there. I can feel it in the way her body tenses and in the way her walls tighten around my fingers, the promise of her release right fucking there.
In the next second, the orgasm crashes over her. Waves pulse through her from head to toe, puckering her nipples and sending goose bumps across her bare skin. When she comes back down, she’s wearing the prettiest, most sated smile.
For several moments, she keeps her eyes closed and just breathes, almost like she’s savoring every last bit of pleasure still humming in her body.
One thing I know for sure: I’m going to do this for her every damn chance I get. No matter what it takes. This woman is a goddess, and she deserves to be treated like one, well and often.
With a deep breath, she finally opens her eyes and strokes her fingers against my cheek. “That was amazing.”
I kiss one thigh, then the other, then haul myself up from the gravel, gathering her close, and kissing the top of her head. “You’re fucking gorgeous when you come.”
She gives a light, somewhat embarrassed laugh. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“I’m going to get you a mirror.”
“Oh my god.”
She shoves me away and reaches down for her leggings and panties, but I gently bat her hand out of the way.
“Uh-uh. I undressed you, so I get to redress you,” I say as I guide her leg into her panties and then her pants.
She steadies herself with her hands on my shoulder. “You’re too much.”
I’m not. She’s just been with the wrong guy.
“Hop up on the seat. I’ll put your shoe back on, too.”
She rolls her eyes but climbs into the truck. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
“I can’t believe it took me this long,” I counter. “You can bet your sweet ass I’m gonna be doing it all the damn time now.”
She gives a soft sigh, even as the pink stain in her cheeks darkens. “I wouldn’t complain.”
“Good.” I move in for a kiss, but she pulls back suddenly.
“Wait…” She presses a finger to my lips.
Ah. She’s not into kissing after eating. All right. Not a big deal.
“I have to tell you something.”
My heart stumbles in my chest. That doesn’t sound like it’s a flavor issue.
“Okay. Let’s hear it.”
“I have another date.”
What the fuck?That simple sentence sends the damn organ in my chest plummeting.
“Tomorrow night.” She ducks her head and presses her teeth into her lip.
Is she seriously going to see the teacher again? She said she didn’t like him. And what about what we’re doing now? Am I mistaken to think we just upped the ante in our relationship?
Like me, she didn’t know this was going to happen, so I can’t fault her there, I guess.
I clear my throat and go for neutral. “With that Reese guy?”
She shakes her head, her eyes averted.
Another dude? I force myself to take a breath and not get pissed. I’m the one who told her she needed to date, after all.
“All right.” I force a smile I’m sure she can see right through. “Who’s the lucky guy?” Just don’t tell me it’s Craig.
“Jamie Stroud.”
Fuck me with a chainsaw.His name hits me like a punch to the solar plexus. It’s enough to steal my breath.
“You know him, right?”
Do I know him? I almost laugh. “He’s Jack’s dad.”
“Exactly.” She wets her lips. “That’s why I figured you’d be okay with it. Crystal says he’s a nice guy.”
Right. Nice. Nice and jacked, too. The guy is massive. Has a good job, and he’s apparently a ladies’ man.
He’s the only guy in town that I’d want to see her with less than Craig.
“You don’t look happy.” She reaches for my arm, warm fingers wrapping around my wrist. “Should I cancel?”
Laughing, I rough a hand over the back of my head. “No, you shouldn’t cancel. And you shouldn’t ask me if it’s something you should do, either. You’re supposed to be doing this for yourself, Sunny, not me.”
Her concerned eyes dart back and forth between mine. “I don’t want to see anyone but you.”
I don’t want her to, either, but she’s only been on a single date so far. I can’t suggest she call it quits already.
But Jamie Stroud? Fucking hell.
I suppose I should have seen that coming, considering we live in a small town and he’s supposedly a hot commodity. The worst part of it all is that I can actually see Rachel with him. In a hazy shade of red, naturally, but she could do a lot worse, that’s for damn sure.
“Look, babe, we knew this wouldn’t be easy. But we’ve gotta stay the course.” I grip her upper arms and stroke my thumbs over her skin.
She fists my T-shirt and pulls me close. “Even after what just happened?”
Closing my eyes, I swallow hard. I can still taste her, and I’m already looking forward to doing it again. But maybe we need to slow things down. “Yes, Sunny. In fact, maybe this—”
She presses her fingers to my lips, silencing me. “Don’t say it.”
Whether I say it or not doesn’t make it any less true.
She needs time to do this the right way, and if we keep hooking up like this, there’s no way she can do that.
Fighting back the emotion welling up inside me, I tuck a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “Go on your date, Sunny girl. We’ll figure things out from there.”
She leans into my hand, her eyes swimming with sadness. “Are you sure?”
No, but I’m a man of my word. I told her I’d be okay with this, and I will be.
Somehow.