Chapter 20 #2
I slam forward, the thick head of my cock pushing deep into her, the sound of her moan muffled against my shoulder.
She’s tight, hot, and slick in a way that makes my vision go black around the edges.
My hand shoots out, bracing against the column behind her as I start to move.
Hard. Fast. Every thrust drives her higher against the rough beam until she’s clawing at my back like she’s trying to hang on for dear life.
Her breath comes in sharp gasps, the sound echoing in the barn, too damn loud. I slap a hand over her mouth, pressing my lips to her ear. “Quiet, baby,” I growl, voice low and rough. “You want the whole damn party to hear how good I fuck you?”
She shakes her head, whimpering, eyes fluttering, body trembling.
“Then keep quiet,” I whisper, grinding in deep. “’Cause I’m not stopping.”
Her nails dig into my shoulders, her muffled moans vibrating against my palm as I fuck her harder, rougher, and filthier than I have yet.
Every thrust makes the wood behind her creak, the column scraping her bare back.
I’m half sure she’ll have splinters tomorrow, and I’ll be the one picking them out.
“Fuck—” I hiss through clenched teeth, watching her come apart. “That’s it, baby. Take it. You feel that? That’s mine. This pussy—” I spread her thighs wide and push her against the column before dragging my cock out of her slowly, then slamming back in. “—is mine.”
She nods, barely able to breathe, her whimpers caught under my hand. Her whole body tightens around me, pulsing, and I feel her break. The way her pussy clenches around me when she comes is fucking heaven. She milks me, every last drop.
“Goddamn, Adrienne,” I groan, driving into her one more time before I spill. The orgasm hits hard, my body jerking against hers, forehead pressed to the side of her neck as I empty into her, every muscle shaking.
For a second, neither of us moves. The world goes quiet except for the sound of our breathing, ragged and out of sync. My hand slips from her mouth, tracing down to her jaw as I kiss her shoulder. Her head falls back against the beam, eyes closed, skin flushed and damp.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper against her skin. “You’re gonna kill me.”
I kiss down her spine, my hands smoothing over the wrinkles in her dress, pulling the fabric back into place. She’s still trembling, still catching her breath. But when I pull back, I’m already hard again. Just looking at her does it. Her lips swollen, her hair wild, her body marked with me.
I groan, forehead dropping to her shoulder. “Fuck, it’s not enough.”
She turns her head, meets my eyes, dazed and soft. “Scotty…”
I kiss her, hard, no words, no patience, just hunger. When I pull back, I press my mouth against her ear. “Come with me,” I rasp. “Let me take you home and make you feel so good.”
She nods, still breathless, still lost in it. I take her hand, leading her toward the door. We slip through the shadows, her hair tousled, her cheeks pink, my shirt half undone. The sound of music and laughter from the Slades’ backyard drifts behind us, a world away from what just happened.
Her hands are on the wall, water streaming down her back, and I’m buried deep inside her. After we made it back to my place last night, we were both still so wound up from the barn that we got lost in each other the second we got through that back door.
The shower’s hot, steam thick enough to fog the mirror across the room. Her body’s slick and soft under my palms, skin flushed pink from the heat. Every sound she makes bounces off the tile, soft gasps, little moans she tries to hold back, but can’t.
“Oh, that feels so good.” Her head falls forward, resting against the tile.
I slide a hand around her waist, pull her back against me, thrusting slow and deep until she trembles. The pace isn’t rough like last night. This is passionate. Every movement meant to feel, not just fuck.
“Feels good?” I whisper against her shoulder.
She nods, forehead resting against the wall. “Yeah… God, yeah.”
I kiss the side of her neck, tasting water and skin. “You look so damn perfect like this.”
Her hips roll back to meet mine, and I grip her tighter, guiding her through the rhythm. The sound of water hitting the floor mixes with the quiet, broken noises coming from her throat.
When she starts to shake, I reach between us, rubbing her clit in slow circles until she’s coming apart in my arms, her back arching against my chest. I follow a heartbeat later, a low groan spilling from my chest as I push deep one last time.
We stand there, breathing heavy, the water washing over us. I rest my forehead between her shoulder blades, hands tracing idle lines across her stomach.
“Morning,” I murmur.
She laughs softly. “That’s one way to say good morning.”
I kiss her shoulder. “Best alarm I’ve ever had.”
Eventually, we step out, toweling off in silence. I pull on a pair of jeans, she slips into one of my shirts, and for a second I just watch her—bare legs, damp hair, moving around my space like she belongs here.
She catches me staring. “What?”
“Just… you.” I grin. “You look too damn good in my shirt.”
Her cheeks flush. “You say that like you’re surprised.”
I chuckle, reaching for the jeans I left on the floor last night, and grab the locket. In all of the excitement last night, I completely forgot to give it to her. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
We walk into the kitchen, and I pour us each a cup, handing it to her. “Mmm,” she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, “much needed this morning after last night.”
“Worth it?”
She nods enthusiastically while she swallows another gulp of coffee. “Very.”
“Good.” I hold out the little velvet envelope that Nate put the necklace in when he gave it back to me. “Got something for you.”
She turns, eyebrows lifting. “What’s this?”
“Open it.”
Her fingers tremble when she flips the tab on the pouch. The moment she sees what’s inside, she freezes.
“Oh my God…” She looks up at me, then back into the pouch, reaching inside to pull it out. “Scotty, where?” The locket glints in the morning light, delicate chain perfectly repaired.
“I found it in the Mustang,” I tell her. “It was broken, the clasp wouldn’t connect right. I took it to Nate Palmer the other day, and he fixed it up good as new.”
Her eyes are glassy. “I thought I lost this when I was twenty-one. I looked everywhere. I wore it that morning, but it was gone before I even made it out of the car.”
“I figured it might mean something.”
“It does.” Her voice cracks. She brushes her thumb over the tiny clasp.
“It really does. My dad gave it to me on my seventh birthday.” She laughs, like she’s recalling the day it happened.
“He said that I would always be his little girl, even when I became a beautiful woman just like mom. She turns her back to me. “Will you?”
“Yeah.” I step closer, lift the chain, and fasten it around her neck. The cool silver rests just above her collarbone. I glance at our reflection in the window. She lifts her hand and touches the locket softly.
“Thank you so much for finding it.”
“Looks right on you,” I murmur, fingers brushing her skin.
She turns, eyes meeting mine. “And for getting it fixed and cleaned. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to.”
If I were a betting man, I’d say the look she’s giving me right now is about as close as you can get to saying I love you, with your eyes. She rises onto her toes and kisses me, slow and warm. When she finally pulls back, her voice is soft. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, baby.”
“Hey,” she spins around, hooking her arms around my neck. “Do we have time for you to stop by my place so I can change and maybe do a little something with this wet hair before work?”
“Yeah, of course, I’d planned on dropping you at home.”
“No, I mean—will you wait? I’ll be quick, then you can drop me off at work. And then maybe pick me up after work?” She peppers every few words with a kiss.
“I’d like that very much,” I say with a smile so wide it almost hurts.
I drop Adrienne at her place so she can change, wait like I promised, then take her to work.
She kisses me once more on the curb, fingers brushing the locket like it’s a secret between us.
I sit there for a second after she goes in, grinning like an idiot at my windshield, then shake it off and head to the shop.
I pull into the lot, kill the engine, and that’s when I see him.
Axel’s posted up against the building near the bay doors. My shoulders lock, just for a breath. Then I roll it off and climb out.
“Morning,” I say, tossing my keys in the air and catching them. “You need an oil change, or is there another hydraulic issue at the brewery?”
He doesn’t offer any pleasantries. “Got a minute?”
“Yeah.” I nod toward the bay doors. “Back office.”
We cut through the shop. The guys look up from the lifts, offer a couple of chin lifts, and morning grunts.
In the office, I shut the door with my boot.
The room’s cramped and a mess. There’s my desk, which I’m never at, two mismatched chairs, and an out-of-date wall calendar. Axel stays standing. So do I.
“Heard you fixed up Mrs. Arthur’s Buick the other night. She said you wouldn’t take extra for the after-hours call.”
“She tried to pay me in oatmeal raisin cookies,” I say. “I’m not above bribery, but those were a crime.”
He smirks. It fades as fast as it came. His eyes go serious again. “I’m gonna skip the dance, man.”
I set my palms on the back of the chair, bracing myself. “All right.”
“I can see what’s going on,” he says. “Between you and Adrienne. She’s my sister, Scotty,” he adds, like I might’ve forgotten.
“I know who she is.”
“Then you know why I’m here?”
Silence stretches. Somewhere outside, a ratchet clacks; somebody swears, then laughs it off. Axel doesn’t look away. He exhales through his nose, voice even but with a warning. “I don’t want to watch her get hurt.”
“I’m not—”
He lifts a hand, cutting me off without heat. “Listen. You do what you want with your life. God knows we’ve all done our share. But Adrienne?” He shakes his head once. “She’s not playing. Whether she’s said the words or not, it’s written all over her face.”
The chair bites my fingers where I’m gripping it. A muscle in my jaw ticks. “What is?”
“You know. You know she’s in love with you, Scotty, she always has been.
” He steps in half a pace. “She looks at you like you hung the damn moon. It was all a joke and nothing serious when you guys were growing up, but things are different now, and you know that. And I need to know if you’re gonna be what she deserves, or if you’re gonna be the reason she ends up hating me. ”
Heat rises under my collar. “Why do you always say shit like that?” The words come out harder than I plan, tight and raw. “Like I can’t take care of her. Like, I don’t know how a relationship works.”
His brows flick up. “I didn’t say—”
“I know what people say about me.” I tap my chest with two fingers, sharp.
“Yeah, I’ve—” I drag a breath. “I’ve had my fun.
I’ve made mistakes. But I’ve never been a cheater.
Not once. I don’t make promises I can’t keep, and I don’t lie to the women I’m with.
So don’t stand in my shop and act like I’m going to forget how to be decent the second your sister looks at me soft. ”
The room hums with the muffled noise of work. Axel studies me quietly. The hard line of his mouth eases. “I didn’t come here to pick a fight,” he says, voice lower. “And I’m not calling you a cheater. I know you. You show up when it matters. You’ve shown up for me more than once.”
I breathe a little easier, but the adrenaline’s still there, buzzing.
He nods, slowly. “I meant what I said, though. She comes first. That’s not about you and me. It’s about her.”
“I hear you,” I say, and I mean it. My voice is rough. “I hear you.”
He looks past me, out the small office window toward the bays.
“I don’t need the details. I don’t want ’em.
But if this is… if this is something you’re serious about?
Figure your shit out fast.” His gaze returns to mine.
“She’s all in. That’s who Adrienne is. She won’t say it until she’s sure you won’t run. But she’s already there.”
He turns for the door. At the threshold, he pauses, glancing back. “We’ve been friends a long time, Scotty.”
“Yeah.”
“I want you to be happy. I want her to be happier. And if that means you two together, then so be it, I’m happy for you both. You’re one of my best friends, you know I had to say what I said.”
I walk out of my office and stand there another beat after he leaves. My pulse thuds in my throat. I scrub a hand over my jaw and blow out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“Everything good, boss?” Pete gives me a questioning look.
“Peachy,” I say, grabbing a work order from the counter. The letters blur for a second before snapping into place. “Let’s get that Dodge on the lift.”