“Right,” he snorted. “That sounds like a lot of help.”
I glared at him, refusing to give in. “Look, I can’t just sit around the house all day. And you keep a surprisingly tidy house, so there’s not a lot for me to do around here. You don’t have any books, or even a TV, so there’s nothing for me to do but sit around and think about all the things I don’t know about myself. Which really sucks. And despite the fact that you have to be the rudest man on the face of the earth, I’d still rather be standing out in the cold with you than just sitting in here wondering about myself.”
He eyed me for a moment before relenting. “Fine, but dress warm. We’re going to be out there for a while.”
I grinned for the first time in what felt like forever. “Alright, I’ll be right down!”
I spun on my heel, hearing him grumble something about how that probably meant it would be a half hour. Whatever, I was just happy I wasn’t going to be moping around. It did take me longer than I thought it would to get dressed, and when I got downstairs, I still had to get on my new snow pants and my winter boots.
I hobbled down the stairs, slipping halfway. I would have broken my neck if Antonio hadn’t caught me. I wasn’t sure how he did it. One second, he was by the door and the next, he was catching me as I tumbled down the steps.
Breathing heavily, I looked up at him in shock. “How did you do that?”
“Save you from breaking your neck? Easy, I pay attention. You were off balance. It wasn’t hard to see that you were going to fall.”
“Well…I didn’t know I was going to fall.”
“Of course not,” he grumbled, setting me on my feet. He grabbed my snow pants and motioned for me to sit on the couch. “Sit down.”
“I can put on my own snow pants.”
He glared at me with that really cold look that sent chills down my spine. I don’t think he realized it, but the more he looked at me like that, the more I started to think things about him, things that had me staring at his cock this morning. I sat down on the couch and allowed him to help me into my snow pants. When his hands brushed my ass, they lingered for just a bit longer than necessary. His eyes met mine and he stared me down, like he was waiting for something. Was he expecting me to make the first move? I had no moves. I didn’t know any moves.
He cleared his throat. “I need you to lift your ass up so I can slide your pants the rest of the way up.”
“Oh,” I said, lifting my tushy off the couch as he slid my pants into place. I barely noticed how he put on my boots or brought me my coat. I was too wrapped up in watching him for any sign that he was feeling something along the same lines as me. But he gave nothing away, his face completely impassive.
“You need your hat and gloves,” he sighed. “Christ, it’s like dressing a toddler.”
“Have you done that before?” I really doubted he had.
“No, but I imagine this is what it’s like.”
I pulled my hat on, sticking my tongue out at him, even though he couldn’t see me. As I was pulling my gloves on, I opened the door, only to have it slammed shut. He spun me around and caged my body in with his.
“Next time you stick your tongue out at me, you’d better be prepared to do other things with it.”
“Suck it,” the man said, grabbing me by the back of my head and pulling me forward.
I opened my mouth and took him in, gagging on his length. He tasted foul and smelled even worse, but I had a job to do, and I couldn’t fail. My jaw hurt as he forced his length even deeper inside me. I thought for sure I was going to throw up. My stomach churned and my knees hurt as I took each punishing thrust into my mouth. I closed my eyes and prayed he would finish soon.
I stumbled backward, Antonio’s hands clasping around my arms as he caught me. What the hell was that?
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his face pinched in concern.
Shaking my head, I yanked my arm away from him. I wasn’t sure what I had just seen, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him. I didn’t even know if it was real, but I definitely didn’t want him to know that apparently I was a hooker or something. What other explanation was there for doing something like that as a job? If it was real, I reminded myself.
“Ciara, what the hell is wrong?”
Plastering a smile on my face, I looked him right in the eyes and lied. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit. I was talking to you, but it was like you weren’t there. What were you thinking about?”
“I wasn’t thinking about anything,” I snapped. “I just lost my balance.”
“Then maybe you should stay inside.”
“No, I’m fine. I just stepped funny. I’ll be more careful.”
He shook his head, obviously irritated with me, but stepped aside and waited for me to move out of the way. Then he was out the door and down the steps before I even walked through the door.
15
Antonio
She was lying to me, and I hated liars. Whatever happened back there, it was enough to really shake her up. The minute I said something about her having another use for her tongue, her eyes glazed over and she went someplace else. It had to have been a memory. Her face was pale, like she had just donated half her blood. I had seen that look before. Whatever she remembered was horrible and absolutely terrified her. But then she closed up on me.
I glanced over my shoulder, watching as she eased her way down the stairs. I should go help her, but I was too pissed to be near her right now. I headed for the shed and pulled out the chainsaw. By the time I grabbed everything I needed, she was just catching up. I handed her the safety goggles and headed for the tree that was splitting. The weight of the snow from the last snow storm had broken some branches, some of which were too close to the cabin for comfort. I needed to cut it down before the tree fell on the cabin and I had an even bigger problem on my hands.
I spent the next few hours cutting off branches while she dragged them away with her one good arm. It was actually kind of cute to watch. She got all frustrated, grunting and screaming under her breath when she couldn’t grab the branch the right way.
“Leave this one for me,” I said as she walked back.
It was too big for her to drag with one arm, and even with two, I wasn’t sure she would make it. But did she listen? Not at all. Huffing loudly, like she just had to let me know she wasn’t listening to me, she dug one arm under the branch and hoisted it up until it was resting against her shoulder. Panting hard, she regained her balance and started walking backward, which was just stupid because she couldn’t see where she was going.
Shaking my head, I went back to cutting down branches, but her yelp had me glancing over my shoulder at her. I chuckled under my breath, watching as she struggled to get out from under the branch. It appeared that there was no damage, aside from her bruised ego. The branch laid across her chest as she lay panting on the ground. The bright red flush of her cheeks would have been adorable if it was coming from anything other than her own stupidity.
“Are you going to help me or just stand there?”
I cocked my head, wondering what I wanted to do here. “Well, I guess that depends.”
“On what?” she wheezed.
“Well, I did tell you not to move the branch.”
“So, you want me to apologize?” she asked, trying to lift the branch off her.
Taking all the time in the world, I leaned against a nearby tree. “I wouldn’t be opposed to a You were right, Antonio. I should have listened to you.”
“Fine,” she barked, trying to lift the branch. If she kept doing that, she really would hurt herself. “You were right. I shouldn’t have tried to move it myself.”
“And?”
“And what? Is that not enough for you?”
I walked over to her and knelt down so I was just inches from her face. “And you’re going to start fucking listening to me and doing what I say,” I said threateningly.
Instead of mouthing off like she usually did
, she nodded. “Fine. I’ll listen to you and do as you say.” The words were right, but the tone was all off, too sweet or something.
I hauled the branch off her, tossing it to the side and then holding my hand out for her. She reluctantly placed her hand in mine, but I didn’t expect the sudden jerk that had me landing on top of her. Or her to wrap her leg around my waist and spin me underneath her. She was a lot stronger than she looked…or she was trained.
She was grinning down at me in triumph, but now I was thinking back to last night. I had assumed that it was adrenaline that gave her the upper hand when she tossed me to the ground. But as I stared at her now, that didn’t feel right.
“You need to let loose a little.”
“Yeah?” I asked, staring at her intently.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re way too uptight?”
“Never.”
“Yeah, like I believe that.”
She grabbed a handful of snow, and though I knew it was coming, I let her go through with it, curious as to how this would all play out. She shoved the snow down my jacket, then jumped up and started running. Well, as much as she could run for a gimp. Pretending that I was slow getting to my feet because of the snow down my jacket, I watched her every move, waiting to see what she would do next. Despite her gimp, she wove through the trees like she was trained to avoid detection.
I started running after her, gathering a snowball as I went. Hiding behind a tree, I waited for her to make the wrong move, just a peek out from behind a tree would give me the opportunity that I needed. But as the minutes crept by, she never appeared. Slipping out of my hiding spot, I followed her tracks, staying close to the trees. The further I got into the forest, the more I worried that something had happened to her. Either she was really good at hiding or she’d gotten herself eaten by a bear. But since I didn’t hear any growls, I had to assume that she was just damn good at hiding.
But it didn’t make sense. She had on that damn orange coat that I had purposely gotten so she would be visible. But there wasn’t a hint of orange anywhere. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, but it was too late. She had buried herself in the snow and then popped up as I walked past. She was whipping snowballs at me, nailing me with deadly accuracy. But when she ran out of snowballs, she couldn’t outrun me, and she knew it.
I ran toward her, tackling her back to the ground as she tried to make a run for the house. Landing with her face in the snow, she had nowhere to go. She wiggled underneath me, trying to get away, but all it did was make me hard.
“Stop moving that ass,” I growled against her ear. But this woman didn’t have a sensible bone in her body. She thrust her ass up against me, grinding against my cock like she was going on a fair ride.
Groaning, I rolled her over and slammed my lips down on hers. She opened for me, kissing me back just as hard. Her fingers slid under my winter hat, grasping at my hair, pulling me closer. Laying on top of her, I thrust my cock against her body as she moaned against my lips. I couldn’t get enough of her. She tasted like heaven, but the way she was rubbing her pussy against me, she probably fucked like the devil.
Sitting up, I yanked her up with me, pulling her against me as I stood. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I trudged back through the snow toward the house. Her lips nipped at mine, her tongue sliding against my skin as she licked the shell of my ear, nibbling at the lobe. I walked faster, needing to get her inside. Any thoughts I might have had about her not being ready were erased when she started unzipping my coat as I walked up the steps of the cabin. By the time I swung the door open, she was shoving it off my shoulders, which was a little inconvenient when I was carrying her.
I didn’t bother to stop and take off my shoes. I headed right back to the room, dropping her down on the bed as I kicked my shoes off. Her hands immediately went to my pants, yanking them down as I tore off my coat. I didn’t want to stop and think about how she seemed to know exactly what she was doing. I was just going with it for now, and I’d worry about the rest later.
It took what felt like minutes to get her fully undressed and naked beneath me. I didn’t even have a chance to fully take in her body before I was pressed between her thighs, sliding my cock inside her. Her eyes closed as her mouth opened in a gorgeous, earth-shattering cry. Leaning on one hand, I hitched her good leg up around my waist and pulled out, then slammed into her again. Her moans grew louder, making my cock harder. I couldn’t control myself. It felt like if I didn’t fuck her hard and fast right in this moment, I would die a very painful death. With every ragged breath I dragged in, she matched me, crying out, shouting my name over and over.
I came hard, shouting as I spilled my cum inside her cunt. Panting, I rested down on my elbow, my hand slipping from her leg. My body was lying on top of hers, and for a moment I thought I was crushing her, but then her hand started stroking up and down my back. It was so…different than anything I was used to. I’d never laid like this with a woman after sex. I fucked women and rolled away, ready to move on.
Still breathing hard, I pressed my lips to hers, kissing her hard as my tongue slid into her mouth. Fuck, it was amazing. With every kiss, I grew harder inside her, which wasn’t all that surprising considering I hadn’t had sex in over a year. But I’d never gotten hard just kissing a woman. I started thrusting slowly back inside her, my mouth never leaving hers. Her fingers trailed up and down my back, somehow making the sex even more intense.
Soon, her lips weren’t enough. I needed to taste more of her. Sitting up, I pulled her up on my lap as she straddled my cock. I knew she wouldn’t be able to move very much with her leg, but I wanted a taste of her tits. Sliding my tongue down her neck, I licked the length of her neck as she arched to the side, allowing me access to every inch of her skin. The salt on her skin had me jerking inside her, but when I pulled her nipple into my mouth and felt her pussy clench around me, I nearly blew my load.
Sliding my hand down to her pussy, I pinched at her clit, playing with the tight bud for only a few seconds before she was gasping and thrashing in my arms.
“God,” she groaned, her pussy tightening around me. She creamed all over my fingers, her body quivering as she came hard. Sliding off the bed, I laid her on her back, spreading her legs wide as I watched myself slide out of her slick pussy, and then slammed home. She cried out at the same time as me. She was still coming, still choking me. I clenched my jaw and thrust back into her, fucking her hard and fast. I couldn’t take my eyes off my cock moving in and out of her body. I was soaked in her juices, and that was enough to send me over the edge. With one more thrust, I buried myself deep inside her and came with a shout.
Pulling out, I watched as my cum dripped out of her, soaking the sheets beneath her. Hefting her back up on the bed, I laid down beside her, keeping to my own side of the bed as sleep overcame me.
16
Ciara
That was probably a big mistake. I don’t know what overcame me, but when he started kissing me, everything just fell into place. It was like riding a bike. I just knew what to do. My body took over and guided me to where I needed to be. Antonio was amazing in bed, even caring with how he kissed me and held me. Granted, now he was asleep on the other side of the bed, and I was pretty sure he was keeping his distance on purpose. Still, it was good while it lasted.
Sighing, I got out of bed and started picking up all our clothes. After hanging up the coats and snow pants, and placing the boots by the door, I gathered up my clothes and headed upstairs to grab some clean clothes. When I came back down, he was still asleep, so I crept into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
Once again, I stared at myself in the mirror, looking for any sign of who I was, but there was still nothing. That struck me as odd. Wouldn’t something as big as sex make me remember something? But as I stared at myself even longer in the mirror, I felt like the woman staring back was even more of a stranger than before.
I stepped into the shower, letting my head drop back
as the water rushed over my body. I was sore everywhere, whether from the exercise I’d just gotten or from running around outside, I really didn’t know. My eyes slipped closed, but a flash of headlights in the dark had me opening my eyes suddenly. What the hell was that?
Shaking my head, I got back to cleaning myself, washing my hair and rinsing it. But when I added conditioner, another flash had me leaning against the wall. I could hear screaming, something that sounded similar to my own. I could feel my body being thrown around, something tight being pressed against my chest. My hand slid across my breasts, and I looked down where the bruise from a strap still marred my skin.
My head slammed against the window as the car flipped over again. I reached out for anything to hold onto, but the car was whipping me around faster than I could do anything. I felt the groan as the car came to a crashing halt. My head was leaning back against the seat and I was tilted back, facing the road. Snapping out it, I undid my seatbelt, jerking at the handle, trying desperately to get out of the car. I almost screamed when it wouldn’t open.
My eyes flew open and I gasped. My legs felt shaky and my heart was hammering out of control, like this had just happened to me. I couldn’t hold myself up any more and slid down the shower wall, just waiting for the panic to pass. Had that been the accident? I took a deep breath, my eyes closing, but more flashes started playing out in front of me. I covered my ears, not wanting to remember anymore.
“Give me your hand!”
I looked up in the stranger’s eyes, praying he could save me, praying I didn’t die today. But as I thrust my other hand out, the car creaked and then I was airborne, my body flying down the cliff over the hill, and all I could see were the stranger’s eyes as the car crashed to the ground and my body came to a sickening crunch against the backseat of the car. I thought it was over, but the car fell one last time and my body flopped to the roof of the car. I stared out at the snow falling just before I passed out.
Dead Man's Hand: A Small Town Romance (A Good Run Of Bad Luck Book 1) Page 9