by Desiree Holt
So now what?
As if reading her thoughts, Grady tightened his arm around her and pulled her closer, his hard cock pressed against the crevice of her buttocks. For a moment, she tensed, but when he shifted enough so his shaft rested against one cheek of her ass, she relaxed again and let the heat bubble up inside her.
Without saying a word, Grady moved one hand so it cupped her breast and the other slid down her tummy to the curls covering her mound. His fingers drifted idly through them until he found the hot button of her clit and lightening speared through her. She clenched the muscles of her pussy against the sudden surge of need, and a moan drifted from her mouth.
“Feel good, darlin?” he breathed in her ear. “Sure feels good to me. You’re already dripping wet.”
Erin wondered if she should be embarrassed at how quickly and easily she responded to him, but she felt so good, she just couldn’t care.
Grady stroked her clit while a thumb and forefinger squeezed and tugged on a nipple, and twin sparks of pleasure ignited her nerve endings. Tug, tug, stroke, stroke, his arm holding her in place even as his hand probed her slit. She rocked her hips against his touch, silently urging him to rub faster and harder.
“That’s it, sugar. Ride my hand. Go on. Let me feel you.”
He nipped at the lobe of her ear as she pushed herself into his touch. His tongue licking a path along her neck was like a brush of flame dusting against her. She groaned in protest when he hooked one leg over hers and pulled it back so she was spread wide open. When she tried to squeeze her thighs together, he tightened the pressure on her leg.
“Uh-uh, little girl. Like this.”
Rub, rub, rub. His fingers did wicked things to her cunt, stroking the lips, the clit, rimming the opening to her channel. Oh God, she wanted him inside her. Needed to feel him there, with a desperation threatening to consume her. But he was relentless, merciless, holding her open as he drove her to completion. She shuddered as the muscles of her pussy clenched on air and Grady squeezed her nipple and licked her skin.
The tremors subsided, but the orgasm hadn’t even taken the edge off her need. When Grady loosened his hold on her, she shifted and turned to him, reaching for his cock.
“I want you,” she murmured, wondering when her boldness had returned. She couldn’t remember ever wanting this deep this fast. Feeling as connected to anyone. Not any man who had come into her life until now. “I need you inside me. Now.” To give emphasis to her words, she reached between his legs to cup his sac, rubbing her fingers over the skin with the soft dusting of fine hair. She scraped her fingernails lightly over the surface, feelings his balls heavy inside and smiling at the groan it drew from him.
“Okay, okay,” he rasped. “Give me a minute here.”
He reached into the nightstand drawer and fished around until he pulled out a condom. Tearing the foil with his teeth, he dressed himself one-handed and rolled Erin beneath him.
“Give it to me, darlin’.” His voice was low, smoky, wakening the lust coiling rapidly in her belly.
She widened her thighs and bent her knees, opening herself to him.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry,” she urged.
Grady slid his hands beneath the cheeks of her ass to lift her to him and drove home with one strong thrust. Erin came again instantly—her small climax had the walls of her pussy flexing against his shaft. He held himself braced on his hands while she spasmed around him. Her eyes were closed, but she felt his gaze on her face as if she was looking at him.
When she lay panting beneath him, he bent his neck and took her mouth in a kiss both tender and predatory. She’d never been kissed like that before, greedy and taking, yet giving at the same time. His tongue swept inside, tasting her everywhere, and her tongue dueled with his. He drank from her mouth greedily, sucking on her tongue, fusing his lips to hers.
At the slight change in the rhythm of her breathing telling her unbelievably she was riding another crest of arousal, he began a slow rocking motion of his hips.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he urged.
She did as he asked, locking her ankles together at the small of his back, drawing him even deeper inside. He bent his head and captured a nipple in his mouth, pulling on it and lightly biting down on the pebbled point. She arched herself up to him, trying to urge him to pick up speed, but Grady seemed intent on slow, sensual torture.
His tongue licked fire on her nipple as he rocked in the tight clasp of her pussy, creating just enough friction to send her senses skyrocketing and fire bursting through her. She dug her heels into the small of his back and raked her nails down his skin, little cries of need bursting from her, but, still, he kept up his steady pace.
When she was at the point of promising anything if he’d get on with it, she felt a change in his rhythm, and his strokes in and out of her increased in pace, in thrust. Now he fucked her in earnest, mouth still tormenting her nipple, hips pumping, pumping, pumping.
“Open your eyes,” he gasped, releasing her nipple. “Look at me, Erin. I want you to know who’s fucking you.”
She opened her eyes wide and looked into his, darkened almost to navy, the heat from them scorching her. She couldn’t have torn her gaze away from him as he drove into her. Harder, harder. Riding her to the top of the roller coaster. She reached, reached, reached.
“Now, Erin,” he shouted. “Now.”
They exploded together, her sheath milking him, his semen pumping into the latex in thick, hot spurts. They shattered, everything fading away except their bodies and the shared climax and the thundering of their hearts. Spent at last, they relaxed against each other, and Grady managed enough energy to slide from her body and dispose of the condom.
Erin watched the flex of muscles in his taut ass as he walked away from her, the hard abs and defined muscles as he walked toward her again. He sat on the edge of the bed, lightly stroking her cheek with the tips of his fingers.
“We have a problem,” he told her in a soft voice.
She frowned. They’d used a condom. What could be the problem? “What?”
“Last night was the end of my gig at Smoky’s. I’ll be moving on today.”
Pain shot through her, but what had she expected? “It’s-it’s okay,” she managed, drinking in his face. Memorizing the sight of him. She hadn’t even begun to think of the fallout she’d have to face when she finally headed back to the ranch.
“I don’t know a thing about you,” he went on as if she’d never spoken, “but I can tell you this. Something connected between us last night.” He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. “Right, darlin’?”
She nodded.
“I’ve got some baggage I’m carrying around, Erin. I’ve got to deal with it sooner or later. But if you give me a number, I promise to come back for you after I unload it. See where we go from there.”
Take me with you now.
But she nodded again, licking his thumb.
“Okay. I’m gonna shower and toss on some clothes, pack up my truck, and take you back to yours.” He paused. “Aren’t there people searching for you? Weren’t you missed last night? You don’t look like someone who could drop off the radar.”
“No,” she lied. “No one. But I’m good.” She rose up on her knees and wound her arms around his neck. “But you’d better come back for me.”
Although I have no idea where the hell I’ll be in the meantime.
“You want a shower, too?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’ll do it later when I get…. When I get back to my place.”
“All right.” He brushed his mouth over hers. “Just give me a few here.”
When she heard the shower running, Erin found the remote and turned on the television, flipping to one of the local channels. She nearly passed out when she caught the tail end of the news bulletin.
“And her father, Rance Braddock,” the anchor was saying, “tells us the Texas Rangers have also been called in to help in the hunt for his missing daught
er. In a prepared statement, he said, ‘When I find the person who took my daughter, he’ll wish he’d never been born.’ The Braddock Ranch is in lockdown as they await further word. As of this moment, no ransom has been demanded, but kidnapping is still not being ruled out.”
A picture of her flashed on the screen, the engagement shot T.J. and her father had insisted on. It was replaced in seconds by a shot of her father and T.J. speaking to a reporter on the front porch of the ranch house.
Erin turned off the television and stuck the remote under a pillow with shaking hands.
Shit, shit, shit.
Now what? If she got in her truck and went home, they’d lock her up despite the fact she was nearly thirty-one years old. Her father would make sure the wedding went on, no matter what, and end any chance she had to regain control of her life. And, suddenly, with Grady, she wanted that very badly. She didn’t care she’d known him less than twenty-four hours. He was right when he’d said they’d connected on the most elemental, the deepest levels. She couldn’t walk away from special newness, like a breath of fresh air.
So what if she knew nothing about him? Something strong had blossomed instantly between them, something her gut instinct told her she should hang onto. She knew deep down he wasn’t Cal, and nothing else mattered. And she couldn’t go back to the ranch. Not an option. The freedom from restrictions and control of Grady’s life beckoned to her like the sweetest chocolate.
Thirty-one years old and I’m running away from home.
She swallowed the hysterical laughter threatening to bubble up inside her.
By the time Grady opened the bathroom door, she’d turned everything over in her mind about a hundred times and knew she had only one possibility open to her. She swung her legs off the bed and plastered her body against his, winding her arms around his neck.
“Take me with you.” She stood on tiptoe and whispered kisses along his jawline.
Grady froze and stared at her. “What?”
“Take me with you. Please, Grady. I won’t be any trouble.” She was babbling, but she didn’t care. “I even have some money. And I’ll bet at the places where you work I can get jobs waiting tables.”
She stared straight into his eyes. Could he tell how desperate she was?
“Erin.” He tried to set her away from him. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I do. I do. You said we’d connected and you wanted to see me again. This way, we won’t have to wait.”
“I said when I got rid of the baggage filling up my head. Sugar, you’ve probably got people waiting for you. A home to go to.” He dropped his hands from her and spread them wide. “I’m just a bum. A whistling gypsy bumming from place to place. You don’t want my kind of life.”
“Yes, I do.” She grabbed the front of his T-shirt. “I have no one, Grady. No place I need to be. And I want out of this town more than you can imagine.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and let his gaze travel down her body and back up again. “Does this have anything to do with those scars you’ve got?”
A cold knot settled in the pit of her stomach. She’d completely forgotten it was daylight and she was naked. She backed away uneasily, crossing her arms over herself but not knowing what part of herself to hide first. Finally, she pushed her insecurities to the back of her mind while she concentrated on convincing him to take her with him.
“Yes.” She swallowed. “It does.” In a very remote way, but he didn’t need the details.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t. Please don’t ask me. I didn’t want you to see them.”
“Darlin’, if we keep getting naked, they’ll be a little hard to hide.” He touched her cheek. “And I really like it with the lights on.”
She rubbed herself against him, her nipples chafing against the fabric of his shirt. Desperately, she pressed her cunt against the erection hardening through his jeans.
Again, he moved her slightly away from him. “Erin, listen to me before you really decide. You’re not like the girls I usually pick up. This isn’t a life for you. You’ve got class. I can tell. You deserve so much more than I can give you.”
She dropped her hands. “I’ve got nothing.” She turned away from him, shoulders drooping. “Never mind. Take me back to the bar. No, better yet, drop me at the diner in town. Then you can make tracks and forget about me.”
For a very long moment, he said nothing. Erin held her breath, hoping, hoping, hoping.
“It’s not just about the fucking.” His voice sounded as if it came from a long way off. “I want to be very clear. I have too much respect for you to use you that way.” He touched her shoulder and turned her toward him. “Not that it won’t be a part of it, but maybe we can, I don’t know, find our way together.”
“Oh!” She was limp with relief. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She threw herself at him again, raining kisses everywhere she could reach.
“Hey!” He grinned. “Save it for later. If we’re going, we need to go. Smoky paid me before I started last night, so I’m all set.” He paused. “What about your truck?”
“Leave it. I borrowed it. The owner can come and get it.”
Finally, he pulled her in for a deep kiss. “Then we’d best get moving. I hope you don’t regret this.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
I hope you don’t, either.
Chapter Three
He whistled and he sang ’til the greenwoods rang
And he won the heart of a lady
Grady looked over at the woman sitting beside him as his truck ate up the miles on Interstate 10. Dark brown hair fell in waves to her shoulders, framing an elfin face and hazel eyes peering from beneath thick lashes. She sat quietly, staring straight ahead through the windshield, but her fingers played nervously together in her lap. He’d give a lot to know what had her so uptight, or why she’d been so desperate for him to take her with him. He still couldn’t believe he’d let her talk him into it. He had enough personal baggage to fill the bed of his truck and could barely keep himself straight, let alone someone else.
He’d watched her in Smoky’s both nights she’d been there, pain and sorrow in every line of her body. He knew all about suffering. When she came back last night by herself, he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t just want her. He needed her. And lordy, hadn’t the sex blown his mind. No, not sex. He’d had plenty with women whose names he forgot the minute they walked away. Last night and this morning was making love. Their emotional connection had shocked the shit out of him.
They hadn’t talked much. Hell, he’d never been a big talkin’ man, and small talk, at least for him, was about as painful as a root canal. And conversation certainly hadn’t been at the top of the list for either of them.
Now, he wished he’d pushed her a little more, tried to find out what she was running away from. Because that sure as hell was what she was doing. And didn’t he know about that, too. He’d also discovered, no matter how fast and how far you ran, you couldn’t get away from the thing chasing you.
“Hungry?” he asked.
They’d stopped on the highway for breakfast a few hours ago, but she hadn’t eaten much.
She shrugged. “Not so much.”
“Well, you need to fuel the pump, anyway. When we get to Fort Worth, we’ll grab a bite.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw her turn her head to look at him. “Is that where we’re going? I didn’t even ask.”
“Uh-huh. Smoky set me up with a buddy of his who owns a shit-kicker bar in a suburb. Slow the early part of the week but busy starting on Thursday.”
“Well, that’s good, right? Busy on the weekend?”
He shrugged. It was all the same to him.
“Do you always go right from one job to the other?” she wanted to know. “And isn’t it unusual for you to finish up on a Saturday and start on a Sunday?”
“Sometimes I catch a few days betw
een gigs, sometimes not. But apparently this guy had someone cancel out on him at the last minute.” He slid a glance at her. “You okay with Fort Worth?”
What did it matter? He had a job to get to. If she wanted to come along, he wasn’t going to turn her away, not after the chemistry that exploded between them. The smart thing would have been to take her back to her truck and kiss her good-bye, but who ever said he was smart? Besides, the thought of leaving her didn’t set well with him at all. Not one bit.
“Yes. Sure. Of course. I mean, I’m just glad you let me come along.”
He reached over and brushed his fingers against her cheek. “I’m guessing you’re running from trouble. I’m just glad I’m the one you decided to run with. I didn’t want to give you any illusions about what you walked into. Crazy hours. Cheap bars. Going where the wind blows me.”
“It’s fine,” she insisted. “Thanks for taking me with you.”
The silence stretched out.
“How long is the, um, gig for? That’s what it’s called, right?”
He gave a small chuckle. “Yeah, that’s what it’s called. It’s for two weeks.” He stole a look at her. “You can still change your mind, you know. I can put you on a bus back to Walton Creek. Maybe the friend who lent you the truck can pick you up.”
“No!” She practically shouted the word then more softly repeated it. “No. I want to stay with you. If you…still want me.”
He reached over and closed his hand over both of hers. “If that’s what you want, Erin, then I’m good with it. But since the gig’s so short, I won’t be renting a room in a house. Just a motel close to the bar. Nothing fancy.”
“Grady, I’m not expecting a mansion or a fancy hotel. Whatever you get is fine.”
He wanted to ask her how long she planned on hanging around with him but sensed this was definitely not the time to push her. But, sooner or later, they’d have to get to it. When this job was over, he could be heading anywhere. From Montana to Oregon or maybe another place in Texas. The road was no life for a woman. Certainly not one who appeared to have as much class as Erin Braddock.