by Stasia Black
He thrust his cock inside her pussy again. She cried out because yes, oh God yes. Not exactly what she meant but she’d take him wherever she could get him.
But then the next second he’d pulled out again. Slick with her wetness, the head of his cock pressed at her anus.
Her eyes popped open wide and her stomach swooped, both in anxiety and excitement as she wriggled her ass at him. An invitation.
His cock pressed in. He didn’t shove. More like he kept up a constant pressure until her muscles gave way and let him in.
She grunted at the feel of him. His hands caressed her hips. “You’re so beautiful. Christ, Bel, you’re so fucking beautiful.”
He leaned over and kissed along her spine even as he continued pushing in. Oh, oh, wow. It was— She felt—
“Bel, you giving me this, Christ.” He groaned low once he was fully seated in her ass, squeezing her hip with the hand not bracing on the back window. “There’s no going back.”
He reached over her shoulder to tilt her head back so she was looking at him. And what she saw in his eyes was enough to have her catching her breath.
“No more running. No more games.” He pulled out slowly and then pushed in again. Slowly, so achingly slowly. “You’re mine now.”
She was glad that he kissed her then because she didn’t know what to— How could she— She kissed him fervently, hoping a kiss could communicate what she couldn’t yet formulate in words.
“Touch yourself,” he whispered. “I don’t have a good angle and I want to feel you come around me while I’m in your ass.”
Her whole body shivered in delight at his words. He stroked in and out again. She reached and started rubbing her clit just like she did when she was alone. But she wasn’t alone now. And that made it so much hotter. God. Oh God—
“Fuck that’s so hot,” Hunter whispered, his breath hot on her neck. “Stick two fingers in your cunt. Fuck yourself with your fingers, baby.”
She let out a tortured moan as she obeyed. She was drenched and her fingers slipped right inside.
Hunter’s cock jerked in her ass. “Now three. Three fingers.” His voice was hoarse. Isobel’s breathing went shallow. He was close to losing control. God, she could hear it. And it made her own need spark like nothing ever had before.
“I’m fucking myself,” she said, her voice high-pitched and strained. “What now?”
“Aw hell, baby. Tell me what it feels like.”
“I’m tight,” she gasped. “My little cunt is a tight fit. I bet my ass is even tighter, though.” When he next thrust in, she clenched around him with all her might.
“Bel. Oh Jesus. Bel. I can’t— It’s so fucking good. I’m gonna—”
His movements got frantic. He yanked out and then jammed back in her ass. Over and over, just reaming her out and God, oh God, it was so dirty and so goddamned hot. She fucked herself with her fingers and rubbed her clit with her thumb.
“Fuck! Isobel!” He grabbed both her hips and shoved himself so far inside her, her eyes popped open wide. And she shoved her fingers in and out and ground at her clit until— until—
“Ohhhhhhhhhh—” She screamed, fingers digging into the seat as Hunter’s cum pumped into her ass and she rode out her own orgasm.
He slumped over her, breathing so hard it was like he’d just run a marathon. They were both sweaty and she was being mashed into the seat, but she barely cared.
“Shit, sorry Bel. Am I crushing you?” Hunter withdrew. He rustled behind her but she barely had the energy to look over her shoulder.
She felt limp and sated and for once, like everything was right in the world. It was such an unfamiliar, wonderful feeling, and she didn’t want it to end.
But a few seconds later, Hunter was helping her tug her pants back up her legs. It was awkward and she had to twist and stretch her legs at odd angles before she finally managed to get herself back in order. She avoided Hunter’s eyes. Because what now? After that insanely intense sex? Were they supposed to just—
“Hey.” Hunter’s voice was confident as he pulled her over to the passenger side and up onto his lap. He put his hand underneath her chin. “I meant it. No more games or misunderstandings or whatever the fuck’s been keeping us apart. You’re mine now.”
Isobel gripped his hand so tight she hoped it left a bruise. He wasn’t the only one who could leave marks. “And you’re mine.”
She didn’t know what all that meant. What kind of commitment he was claiming, if any at all. Maybe he just meant she was his in this moment. Right here, right now, they owned each other completely. That was true enough. As for the future…
But thinking of the future only brought up the past. Would Hunter be holding her so snugly if he knew what kind of person she really was?
Fear lodged in her throat. How long before she failed him just like she did everybody? No more running, he’d said. But it was what she did best.
Not this time, she whispered internally. Not this time.
But as Hunter kissed her shoulder blades reverently as he slipped out of her ass, she wondered if she’d ever be capable of staying and being the woman he thought she was. She knew better. She’d fall apart again and he’d see her for the weakling she really was. She could hardly bear the thought of it.
“We should get going,” she said, slipping off his lap.
Hunter grumbled something that sounded like assent but the next second he was pulling her back and kissing her breathless. He kissed all other thoughts out of her head.
When he kissed her like that, for just a moment, he made her believe that anything was possible.
Chapter 20
ISOBEL
“Well look who actually came home for once,” Mel teased Isobel over breakfast several weeks later. Isobel’s cheeks went pink.
It was true, she had been spending more nights at Hunter’s cabin than at home lately. But ever since they’d reconnected—as in really reconnected—in the truck that afternoon, well, they couldn’t get enough of each other.
It was work all morning in the clinic, then out to farm calls in the afternoon. Hunter was finally taking a hands-on role in her internship and she was learning more than she would have ever thought possible back in her stuffy Cornell classes. There was nothing like up close and personal experience with the animals.
Hunter was patient as he helped her learn the difference between how a heifer’s ovaries felt when she was ovulating and ready to breed and when she wasn’t at peak cycle. They’d been called out for more calvings than she could count since it was the season for it—they didn’t always end happily, but she learned more and grew more confident with each one. While there was nothing to be done about stillborn calves sometimes, they hadn’t lost a mother cow yet.
Isobel had always known that working with horses made her feel good, but she hadn’t expected the bone-deep satisfaction of saving an animal’s life that people depended on for their livelihood. They were both saving an animal and helping people. It brought an insane rush of adrenaline each time. If she were doomed to be an addict, she might as well channel her impulses toward healthy obsessions.
“You just let us know if that boy isn’t treating you right,” Mel’s husband Xavier said gruffly. Several of the other guys at the table chimed in, agreeing with him.
Isobel smiled at Xavier. “Hunter’s great.”
Xavier just grunted. “He better be.”
It had taken Isobel a little while to get used to Xavier’s scarred face. He was such a big man, and then with his face—it was hard not to be intimidated. But then she saw how clearly his wife and sons adored him and after a few weeks she barely noticed the scarring anymore. His older son especially seemed to idolize him. Even though Reece was officially manny to both boys, Dean spent half his day out shadowing Xavier, imitating whatever his father was doing.
Currently, Dean was sitting across the table from Isobel, crammed in between his brother and his father. “Daddy, Daddy.” He grabbed at his fat
her’s giant forearm while Xavier lifted a biscuit to his mouth. “Can we go now? Look, I finished my spinach.” He held up his empty plate for his father’s inspection. “You said I could ride with you if I ate it. Can we go?”
“Me come too!” said Brent, turning and standing up on his chair, holding the back of it for balance.
“Whoa, buddy,” Reece said, snatching Brent up and setting him back on his bottom. The little boy jumped right back up again like a jack in the box. “I wanna go with Daddy and Dean!”
Dean rolled his eyes.
It was such an exasperated expression to see on a six-year-old that Isobel had to choke back a laugh.
“Tell you what, bud,” Xavier stood up, wiping his mouth with his napkin as he went, “later today when I finish up my work, you and me will go around and pet the horses together. Just you and me. Deal?”
“I wanna go now!” the little boy shrieked.
“Whoa, Brent,” Reece said, “that’s not how we talk to—”
But Xavier already had Brent up in his arms, his face only inches away from the little boy. “Do you want to have special time with Daddy later or not?”
The little boy’s lip trembled, his face uncertain. “I wanna go now.”
Xavier arched a warning eyebrow. “Do I need to count?”
The little boy’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “No, daddy. I be good.”
Xavier smiled and his whole face warmed. “You’re always my good boy. Daddy loves you.” He rubbed noses with his son, then tossed him up in the air and caught him again. Brent shrieked and giggled.
“Xav, don’t,” Mel said when he went to toss him again. “All his breakfast will come back up.”
“One more time?” Both father and son looked pleadingly at Mel. She waved a hand and rolled her eyes. “Don’t come crying to me if you end up with pancake all over you.”
Up Brent went into the air again. Then Xavier kissed him on the top of his head and patted his behind before sitting him back down in his chair.
Isobel took a last bite of her eggs and bagel before moving her chair back when Liam came and grabbed the seat beside her that Jeremiah had just vacated.
“So, birthday girl, what kind of cake do you want Nicholas to bake for dinner tonight?”
“Oh that’s right,” Mel said, raising a hand to her head, “I almost forgot. Happy birthday, Isobel.”
Isobel waved a hand. “Oh. It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing,” Reece said, wiping Brent’s face with a napkin. “Your birthday should be the most special day of the year.”
“Which is why you’ve gotta tell us your favorite cake and liquor so we can have both on hand for dinner.”
“That’s so sweet, guys.” Isobel put a hand on Liam’s arm. “But Hunter’s actually taking me out on a date tonight.”
“Well of course he is. He’d be a brute not to wine and dine his girlfriend on her big day.”
Liam’s words made her freeze. Girlfriend? Yeah, she guessed she sort of was. Not that she and Hunter had sat down and made it official or anything.
Everything was just so wonderful… which was terrifying. It was like she was floating in some dream bubble and any second it would pop. Then she’d come crashing back down to reality. And it would be ten times more crushing to bear because she’d glimpsed what crazy happy could feel like.
“So we celebrate tomorrow,” Liam continued. “Still need to know what kind of cake. Your American desserts are disgustingly sweet, but when in Rome,” he shrugged and grinned. “I’m trying to develop my sweet tooth. So what’ll it be?”
Isobel shook her head at everyone around the table staring at her expectantly. “Well, I actually don’t like cake either. When I was little, my mom used to always bake me an apple pie on my birthday. It sort of became tradition.”
“That’s sweet,” Reece said, hiking the little boy onto his hip. Only Reece could pull off such a maternal move and not seem a bit effeminate.
“Apple pie it is,” Nicholas said. “Do you like crumble or pastry topping?”
“Crumble, if you know how. But really, you don’t have to go through the trouble if you—”
“Consider it done.”
Isobel couldn’t help smiling as she walked out the door. The longer she stayed here, the longer everyone started to feel like the family she’d never had.
A thought which had the smile falling from her face. Because again, when was the other shoe going to drop?
God, did she have to be such a fatalist all the time? Maybe some people actually got to have a happily ever after?
Chapter 21
HUNTER
Hunter finished his pork chops and then just sat watching Isobel as she took dainty bites of her burger. He kept waiting for it to get old—watching her, finding out new little quirks of hers, waiting to find some habit that annoyed the hell out of him. Hunter hadn’t done a ton of dating before Janine because well, he just hadn’t found that many women that he wanted to spend time with.
Either they were interested in things he found mind-numbingly boring or they wanted more of his attention than he had to give. Or they wanted to change him. Or their voices were too shrill. Or they wanted to call him daddy in bed—
Yeah. He hadn’t been big on the whole dating thing. But Isobel was just— Jesus, even when they were fighting he was still enthralled by her. And lately since they hadn’t been fighting, he’d been able to find out even more about the way her intelligent mind worked. They talked for hours in the car between farm calls, and—
“What?” Isobel’s eyes widened. “Do I have something on my face?” She immediately brought her napkin up and swiped around her mouth.
“No,” Hunter laughed. “You’re gorgeous as ever. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life, actually.”
She frowned and looked down at the tablecloth. She hadn’t talked much throughout dinner. Actually she’d gone quiet about halfway through doing the rounds of farm calls this afternoon. Hunter hadn’t pressed it because he knew there were days he didn’t feel like talking much and he hated it when people constantly pestered him to know what he was thinking. Sometimes he just wanted to drive and let his mind wander.
But now he wondered if there wasn’t more to it. Isobel looked upset.
“I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.” She set her burger down on her plate and pushed it away from her. Was she not hungry? He knew firsthand the burger tasted amazing. She’d offered him a bite earlier.
“Say things like what?”
She glanced up at him and then back down at her plate. “Never mind.” She waved a hand but he could tell by the way her brow was furrowed that she was upset about something.
“Bel, talk to me. What’s going on?”
Her jaw flexed and she grabbed her napkin, scrunching it into a ball between her fingers. He thought he was going to have to spend the next ten minutes pulling it out of her but she finally started talking. “Guys usually have a type when it comes to women, right?”
Um. What? Where was she going with this? Hunter slowly shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess?”
Apparently that was the wrong answer. She nodded, looking like she was about to start crying even as she stood up and yanked her purse over her shoulder. “I’m tired. I’m gonna turn in early and—”
Hunter jumped to his feet and moved to stop her. “Bel. It’s your birthday. We haven’t even—”
But she was already hurrying to the door. And goddammit, all eyes in the diner were on them. Jesus. The diner was Gossip Central. Not the place to be having this conversation. Or argument. Or whatever the hell was going on.
Then again, Isobel was almost out the door. Swearing, Hunter fumbled for his wallet and threw a few twenties on the table, then rushed after her.
Outside on the sidewalk in front of the diner, he finally grasped her arm and spun her so she was forced to look at him. Only to find tears running down her cheeks. “Bel—”
She jerked
out of his grasp. “I saw the framed wedding picture you keep in your glove compartment earlier when I was looking for hand sanitizer.” Her eyes were both devastated and accusing as they flashed up at him. “You keep a picture of her in your truck? I guess you’re not as over her as you pretend to be.”
Hunter felt like she’d punched him in the chest. He couldn’t help taking a step back from her.
She just started nodding rapidly. “That’s what I thought. And I’m not exactly your type, am I? I’m not skinny or blonde or—” She broke off and shook her head. “Just forget it.”
Hunter heaved out a deep breath and ran a hand into his hair. Christ. How did he even begin to untangle all this?
“Jesus, Bel, it’s not about being blonde or— I mean, if I think about it I guess you and Janine do have some things in common.” Speaking Janine’s name hadn’t hurt as much as he expected it to.
And suddenly he wanted to tell Isobel about her. As much for Isobel’s sake as his own. He took a step closer to her, speaking quietly as he reached for her hand. She let him take it. “Janine was strong. And stubborn.” He felt the familiar twinge in his chest every time he thought about her. “She was a good woman. Passionate. Rebellious.” He smiled sadly.
“Do you still love her?”
Hunter let his eyes drift, thinking about the small blonde firecracker he had married. They’d made so many mistakes, but he liked to think the love had been genuine. He nodded. “I hope some part of me will always love her.”
Isobel yanked her hand out of his and she backed up several steps. More tears shone in her eyes. Seeing her like that made Hunter’s chest ache.
“Isobel, wait.” Hunter started to follow her but she held up a hand.
“If you love your ex so much, maybe you should go find her and be having dinner with her.”
Then, before he could grab her hand again, she turned and hurried down the sidewalk.