by Elle Thorpe
“No, you should go. Get a proper night’s sleep.”
“And leave you out here on the side of the road for the entire night?”
“Not that big a deal, Sum. Country boy. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve spent a night under the stars.”
She rolled her eyes. “And what do you think I am? I’m just as capable as you are of camping out for a night, Dom.”
She was cute when she was annoyed. She was also the most stubborn woman I’d ever met, and I already knew better than to try to change her mind. “Fine. We’ll both be uncomfortable for the night. Deal?”
She smiled. “Deal.”
“Go into town and get some water and food, though, okay? They aren’t going anywhere in the next thirty minutes. It’d take them at least that long to get Digger back onto a truck.”
She looked as if she were going to argue for a minute, but then her stomach growled so loud they probably heard it up at the house. “Yeah, okay. I’ll go.”
We both got out of the truck, and she took the driver’s side, settling herself behind the wheel. I leaned on the doorframe and kissed her through the open window.
“Are you going to be okay?” she asked.
“Sure.”
“I’ll be quick.”
I kissed her again, letting my lips linger on hers for a moment too long. “Go.”
“Call me if anything happens.”
“Of course.”
She pulled away, leaving me on the side of road.
I sat in the shade, picking at grass and tossing pebbles into a ditch. When my phone rang, I scrambled to silence it, even though the odds of anyone noticing me out here, well out of hearing distance from the farmhouse, was slim.
“Mom? You okay?” I asked when I answered the phone.
“Fine. Just worried about you. Summer rang Kai and filled him in on what the two of you were doing.”
I cringed. “So you know about Felix then?”
She sighed. “Yes.” Her voice was so full of regret and sadness, it almost rivaled my own disappointment. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I can’t even imagine how betrayed you’re feeling right now.”
“For more reasons than one.” The words slipped out, a little harder and harsher than I’d meant them to.
My mother was no fool. She knew me well. She didn’t miss the tone. “What exactly does that mean?”
Now it was my turn to sigh. This wasn’t the way I’d planned on having this out with her, but it had to happen at some time, and maybe now was as good a time as any. “Why didn’t you tell me how sick Dad really was?”
“He’s not! He just needs to rest.”
Irritation trickled through my disappointment shroud. I had no idea if she was trying to shield me from upset, like I was still the baby she’d adopted years ago. Or if she honestly believed it. “Mom, he had a heart attack! And you didn’t tell me. I had to hear it from Theo.”
A tiny, shocked sound escaped her. “He shouldn’t have told you that.”
“Why, Mom? Should he have downplayed it to exhaustion, like you did? Dammit. You lied to me.”
She paused, and I knew exactly what she was doing. She’d be running her knuckles across her thigh, almost like they were a scrub brush. It was a habit she always had when she was stressed or upset about something. The more stressed she was, the harder she’d rub her knuckles across her leg. I still remembered the day she’d told me I was adopted. She rubbed her leg so hard that her knuckles had turned a distressed shade of red, and the next day, she’d been sporting a bruised thigh.
“Dom, it was a small heart attack. He didn’t need surgery. He was in and out of the hospital in two days.”
“And you didn’t think you should call me over that?” I was trying hard to reel in my anger over being left out of the loop. I knew it wasn’t all entirely stemming from my mother’s lack of communication, but also the fear over my dad’s condition, and the rejection from my birth mother, and of course, Felix.
Shit. I was taking it all out on her. That wasn’t any fairer than what she’d done to me. I sucked in a deep breath, right as Summer came rolling over the hill in the truck. “I gotta go, Mom. We’ll talk about this later, okay?”
“Okay. Dom?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
A little of the tension and anger fell off me. “Love you, too. But we’re talking about this more. Don’t go home before I can get back to the Hunts’ place, okay?”
“Of course not.”
Summer pulled the truck up in the same spot I’d parked it earlier today, and I grabbed the passenger side door handle, letting myself in. “Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, Dom. Be careful.”
“Always.”
29
SUMMER
As the evening turned into night, Dom grew more and more quiet with each passing minute, withdrawing further into himself, while focusing his sole attention on the house we were staking out.
“I bought chocolate.” I offered him the unopened bar. “Your favorite. The one with the nuts.”
He shook his head. “No, thanks.”
“Beer?”
He declined again. “Probably not a good idea. I want to be sharp enough to drive if we need to.”
It was a fair point, and the exact same reason I wasn’t planning to touch the alcohol I’d bought while I was in town getting supplies for the night. But I was worried about this funk that seemed to be settling over Dominic. It wasn’t him, and it concerned me.
“I bought some crosswords, too. And there’s an adult coloring book.” I started pulling things out of the bag of supplies and passing them over. “A set of cards…”
That finally got his attention. He dragged his gaze away from the property and leaned across to peer in the bag. “You really went all out, huh?”
“Well, I figured our phone batteries will probably die at some point, and there’s only so much Instagram scrolling one can do anyway. We’ve got a whole night to kill.”
“What else have you got in there?”
There was only one thing left. I lifted it out and shook the box at him with a smile.
He snorted on a laugh. “Condoms? Really? You wanna do it in the truck?”
It was the first time he’d smiled since we’d realized Felix was in on the theft. It filled me with relief. I’d barely recognized the quiet sullen man sitting beside me for the last few hours. Seeing the Dom I knew and loved shine through made me want him to hang around.
Loved.
Maybe that thought should have scared me. I’d thought I loved Austin, too, and look how that had turned out. But instinctively, something deep within me knew this thing with Dominic was different. I was different when I was with him. I wasn’t the girl who gave up on her dreams and shut down when they were hard to achieve. So the realization didn’t scare me. It did the complete opposite. It kindled a tiny fire inside me that sent pleasant warmth right through my entire body. I’d been falling steadily since the very day he’d arrived. I knew that now. Being with Austin had given Dom and I the time to build on the friendship we’d started as kids. I’d loved him as my friend, then fallen for him steadily, day by day, hour by hour ever since. The fact he was here with me, fighting for my family’s ranch, just made me love him all the more.
None of this was his fault.
“Staying up all night with you has never been a problem when we’ve had an adequate supply of condoms.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but we’re in a pretty public place right now.”
I cast an eye over the pitch-black, empty road. “It’s been at least two hours since a car even drove by. But hey, if you’d rather fill the time with the crossword puzzles…”
Dom plucked the crossword puzzle book from my lap and tossed it into the back seat.
I laughed and pulled him in for a kiss. His lips met mine, both of us smiling, pressing quick kisses to each other’s mouths and playing around. I slid my hand down his chest and straight below t
he waistband of his jeans to cup him. He laid his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. “Crossword puzzles are for people who don’t have smoking-hot girlfriends.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “No slacking on the job. You’re supposed to be watching that driveway.”
His eyelashes fluttered open, and he squinted at me. “I’m male, Sum. I can’t multitask.”
I rolled my eyes and then moved my lips close to his ear. “You seemed to be able to multitask just fine when your tongue is on my clit and your fingers are deep inside me.”
Heat flared in his eyes. “You gonna let me do that to you out here, in this truck?”
I shrugged as innocently as possible. “In the truck. Or maybe up against it…”
He groaned low. “I’ll keep my eyes on the driveway if you keep talking like that.”
I tugged his jeans, encouraging him to lift his ass so I could free his swelling erection. “Good, because I can’t watch it if I’m sucking your dick.”
He speared a hand into my hair and hauled me in, his tongue invading my mouth in a deep, soul-drenching kiss that had me desperate to do more.
I wouldn’t let myself have as much of him as I wanted. Not yet. I shifted away and fit my mouth over the head of his cock. Soft skin covered the steel hardness beneath, and I ran my tongue over the tip of him, tasting his arousal. His hips jerked up ever so slightly, thrusting shallowly into my mouth.
“Watch the driveway, Dom,” I warned without looking up at him.
His only response was a tighter grip on my hair and a low moan.
I wanted to hear more of it. I wanted to make him feel as good as he made me. I wanted to show this man I loved him, even if I couldn’t quite find the words to tell him yet. It had been a shit day, but having him by my side had made it easier. Now I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to distract him from the guilt I knew he’d placed on his shoulders
I took him deep into my throat, rolling my tongue up and down his length, with one hand moving in time to cover the bottom half of his shaft. I cupped his balls with my free hand, squeezing and stroking them, and enjoying the way he somehow stiffened further beneath my touch. His fingers tangled around the lengths of my hair, tugging and releasing as I bobbed over his lap.
“Still watching?” I asked, pulling off his dick only long enough to mumble the words. Shooting tingles started up between my thighs, just from the way his breathing changed, the longer I worked him.
His gaze clashed with mine. “I’m watching,” he assured me.
We both knew he didn’t mean the driveway.
I reached for a condom and stretched it down over his cock. Once he was suited up, I undid my own shorts and shimmied out of them, taking my panties with them. Then I climbed across the center console, settling my knees either side of his thighs, and hovered over his straining dick.
He gripped my arm tight. “I haven’t even started with you.”
I shook my head. I knew what he meant, but I didn’t need it. I was wet just from sucking his cock, and probably a little from the excitement of being in a public place, even if it did feel incredibly private, shrouded in darkness and half hidden beneath the low-hanging branches of the tree. I just wanted to feel him inside me, and to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him while I rode him, making him forget all about the shit things that had happened today.
“I need you.” That realization hit me hard. But it was easier to voice than an I love you.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
I reached between us and guided his dick to my entrance. He watched me silently, his gaze steady on my face while I eased myself down onto him.
It was only when he was fully sheathed inside me that he finally relaxed enough to move. His fingers gripped my ass, and I rocked my hips over him, rising and falling, riding him in the darkness, our breaths and little noises of pleasure the only sounds in the quiet night. He lifted one hand to my breast and pinched my nipple through my T-shirt and bra, but neither of us was game enough to get fully naked out here. I already had no idea where my panties and shorts were, and if someone drove past, they’d cop a glaring eyeful.
But nobody was driving past, and Dom felt too good to stop. I rode him harder and faster, while he stretched me deliciously and kissed my mouth until my head spun.
“Wanna make you come,” he groaned, thrusting up into me with a jerk of his hips. He yanked the lever on the side of his seat, and the backrest went flying down, taking Dom and me with it.
I squealed, completely unprepared, and ending up lying completely on top of him.
“Don’t stop,” he demanded.
I found my rhythm again, kissing him hard while rolling my hips, taking him deep inside me, only to pull out then do it all over again.
His fingers squeezed my ass cheeks, then wandered in between.
My eyes rolled back.
“I love how much you love that,” he whispered. “It’s hot.”
If anyone else had said it to me, I probably would have been embarrassed. But Dom’s gaze and the deep rumble of his voice left no doubt in my mind that he meant every word.
His tongue slid up my neck and over my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
“I want to take you here,” he whispered, a dirty little secret just for the two of us. “Not now. But one day, when you’re ready.” He pressed his finger just a tiny bit inside my ass.
Sparks went off behind my eyes.
“Don’t stop, Summer,” he encouraged, lifting his hips to meet mine.
I kept my rhythm while my internal walls clenched down around his cock and his finger. I rode him harder and faster, my orgasm demanding it.
Dom worked me just as intensely, that finger rimming my entrance, his other hand guiding the movement of my hips. He thrust up, over and over, until the entire truck was rocking, but neither of us cared.
“Oh my God,” I moaned, orgasm overtaking me again, blinding me with its intensity.
“Fuck,” he groaned. With a final piston of his hips he clutched me tighter, muffling his shouts by clamping his mouth down on my shoulder.
My head spun in dizzying circles, my pussy continuing to clench and release around him, the aftereffects of my orgasm still holding on to his. But the two of us stilled, me sticky and sweaty on top of him, the windows fogged with our heavy breathing.
He pressed a slow kiss to my neck. “Summer?”
“Mmm?” I said groggily, the orgasm relaxing me so much that I felt like I could take a nap.
“I…um…”
I lifted my head to peer at him. “What?”
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Indecision flickered all over his face.
My heart picked up the pace, shouting hopeful little exclamations that he was going to tell me he loved me.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
The hopeful exclamations disintegrated. But I picked myself back up quickly. We had all the time in the world. We didn’t need to rush it. It wasn’t like I was saying it either.
But I would. I already knew the feeling in my heart was soon going to be too big to contain.
But I kind of wanted him to say it first. I could wait.
I climbed off Dom and went back to the driver’s seat, finding my panties and shorts and pulling them back on as Dom did the same with his own clothes.
“Shit, we really fogged the car up,” he laughed, wiping a hand over his window. “This is some next-level, Titanic-style fog. I can’t see shit outside.” He opened his door.
My bladder gave a gentle nudge that using a bathroom might not be the worst idea, even if out here the bathroom was the side of the road. “Wait for me. I’m coming, too.”
I stepped out and circled around to his side of the car. “I guess this will make us a real couple, huh? Peeing on the side of the road, side by side? How romantic.” I reached for his hand, not wanting to fall down an embankment in the dark.
A f
lashlight lit up the night.
Dom and I both froze and spun around, raising arms to block the glare and blinking rapidly to clear it from our eyes.
The deep male voice cutting through the darkness was completely unfamiliar. “Want to tell me what the two of you are doing out here on my property in the middle of the night?”
30
DOMINIC
On instinct, I pulled Summer behind me. The light lowered to my chest level, and I was finally able to see through the darkness beyond.
I didn’t recognize the man who held the flashlight. But I did recognize the gun he held. A single-barreled shotgun, pointed right at us.
“Car broke down,” I explained. “We’re just camping out for the night until our friends can come get us in the morning.”
The man cocked his head to one side. “That so?” He circled us, never dropping his gun, and went to the driver’s side door. With one eyebrow raised, he opened it, and turned the key Summer had left in the ignition.
The engine started perfectly.
Fuck. I cursed myself for not loosening the battery or something.
“Doesn’t sound very broken down to me.”
Neither Summer nor I said anything. There was no point in denying it.
“Why don’t the two of you come up to the house? It’s getting chilly out here. I’ll make you a cup of tea.”
“No, thank you.” I held Summer’s arm a little tighter.
The older man raised his bushy eyebrow again. “No? You’re refusing my hospitality? Where’s your manners, young man? Is that any way for you to speak to your relative?”
“Relative?” I blinked in confusion. But then took in the man’s olive skin, noticeable even in the darkness. His dark-brown eyes, almost black in the low light cast by the flashlight. I suddenly remembered Felix saying he worked for his grandmother’s brother. This had to be him.
“You’re Maria’s boy.”
I shook my head. “I’m Johnny and Isabel’s boy, if I’m anyone’s,” I corrected.
The man huffed at that. “You’re a Kaur. Through and through. Lucky told me all about you. Refused to invite you around, though, but that kid ain’t got no manners either. Not like me. Which is why I expect you’ll come on up to the house. And maybe while we’re there, you can tell me what the fuck you’re doing out here, watching my property.” The gun inched closer to me.