by Gemma Weir
“You and me both, what did he think he was doing bringing Mitchell?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll be speaking with him after he finishes his shift, and I had a chat with your father too last night. Although I swear he listened to every word I said and heard none of it,” Mom groans frustratedly.
“This is why I’m considering turning to women,” I confess straight-faced.
“I’ve considered it in the past too,” Mom nods with a smile.
Unable to resist, I smile back, laughing lightly. “It’s not your fault that the men in our family are more swayed by expensive cars than common sense.”
Mom sighs in agreement. “Are you okay though? I hate that you had to run off early just to avoid that insipid lump of a man. I swear if he was ugly, no one would ever speak to him again.”
“But he isn’t ugly. Unfortunately, he was basically blessed by the angels, all good looks and no brain or personality,” I sigh wistfully.
“I’m sorry, darling, but to cheer you up, I bought the samples that got delivered to the house, I think you’re going to love them,” she says, disappearing back outside and returning a moment later with a huge cardboard box.
Smiling widely, I snatch the box from her arms, dropping it to the floor and pulling out item after item, oohing and arrghing over the beautiful garments.
“Gorgeous, aren’t they? This supplier is such a find, darling, I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks Mom,” I say, blushing at her compliment.
“Right, I have to go, your dad’s taking me out for lunch, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye Mom.”
She glides to the door, but all my attention is focused on the awesome new stock I can’t wait to get out and display. At six o clock, I flip the sign on the door to closed and twist the lock into place. With today’s takings clutched against my chest, I head for the bank, glad that it’s only three doors down.
My parents have been banking with Rockhead Point Municipal Bank since they were teenagers, and despite the fact that they could get better rates with a bigger chain bank, it’s definitely a perk of small town living that Ralph stays open late just for local businesses so we can deposit our days takings rather than having to keep them in the store overnight.
Pushing through the heavy metal door, I wave at Ralph’s wife Doris as I take my place in the line for the counter. A couple of minutes later, I’m on the sidewalk again, my stomach growling. When I pass the coffee shop Bonnie works in, I glance in and spot her behind the counter, a smile etched across her face as she stares down at the cell in her hand.
She looks up the moment I push through the door, the bell chiming, heralding my arrival. “Hi,” she cries excitedly.
“Someone’s been testing the product too much today,” I mock.
“What?”
“Coffee hon, have you had too much coffee today?” I ask, laughing.
“What? No.” Stepping out from behind the counter, she grabs my arm and pulls me back into the kitchen.
“What the fuck, Bon? What’s up with you?”
“Beau asked me to marry him,” she gushes, her smile so big it literally spreads from ear to ear.
“He what?” I screech.
“He asked me to marry him and I said yes,” she giggles, lifting her hand and turning it towards me to show off the huge diamond that’s now resting on a band of gold on her finger.
“Oh my god.” I grab her hand and bring it closer to me so I can see the huge chunk of rock she’s wearing. “This ring is to die for, oh my god, you’re getting married. You’re getting married,” I cry.
“I’m getting married,” she nods quickly, happiness shining from her.
“I’m so happy for you.” I pull her in for a tight hug.
“I’m marrying Beau Barnett,” she laughs, pulling away from me, her eyes shining with tears.
“Oh my god. You’re marrying Beau freaking Barnett. You’re marrying your childhood crush.”
“I love him so much,” Bonnie says seriously.
Pulling her in for another hug, I hold her tight. I’m over the moon for her, I really am, but there’s a part of me, deep down inside that’s a little jealous. I’m not desperate for a ring and a wedding, I’m only twenty-one, but I’d like someone who wanted me the way Beau wants Bonnie.
The way he looks at her, the desperate intensity is intoxicating. I’ve never been looked at like that.
“Do I get to be bridesmaid?”
“Of course,” she laughs.
The bell chimes in the front of the store and I smile, lifting my hands to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “Congratulations, Bon, warn Beau he’s not coming on your bachelorette weekend. Cancun baby!”
Laughing, she shakes her head and grabs my arm, pulling me out of the kitchen and back into the front of the shop. I blow her a kiss as I head for the door, pushing outside and onto the sidewalk.
As I stroll down the street, I take the time to enjoy the evening, the beginning of fall makes the air almost crisp, burning off the heat that we’re still enjoying during the day. Soon the days will cool off and the leaves will color. Right now is that wonderful time of year where summer is still present, but you know winter is on its way.
My apartment block is full of warm inviting light by the time I get to the entrance door. I don’t really know many of my neighbors, but all of them appear to be home and when I key in the security lock and open the door, I nod to the handful of people milling about collecting their mail, or carrying laundry from the washing machines in the basement.
Pressing the button for the elevator, I wait for it arrive, glancing over my shoulder when I feel a presence at my back.
“Hi,” a cute red headed guy nods.
“Hi.” The elevator dings its arrival and I step inside as soon as the doors are fully parted. The guy follows me on, a bundle of mail in his hand. “What floor?” I ask.
“Fourth please. I’m Darren by the way, I just moved in last week.”
“Cora,” I say, waving awkwardly.
“Nice to meet you, Cora. You going to the fourth floor too?”
Glancing down to the buttons, I internally punch myself when I realize I haven’t even pressed the button for my floor. “Jesus,” I mutter beneath my breath, reaching out and hitting the button for my floor as the elevator begins to move.
“Long day?” Darren asks.
“Not too bad actually. Are you a local, or have you just moved into town?”
“Rockhead Point born and bred, I’ve been out of town for a few years though. I actually think I remember you from high school, I was a senior when you were a freshman.”
Squinting, I try to remember a Darren, but I can’t. “I’m sorry but I don’t think I remember you.”
“That’s okay, I’ll forgive you,” he smiles flirtily.
The elevator stops and the doors opens revealing Huck Barnett standing at my front door. “Huck?” I call out, Darren’s presence all but forgotten.
“See you later, Cora.”
I nod distractedly, not even bothering to turn around and acknowledge the cute guy beside me, as I stomp out of the elevator and over to the infuriatingly hot guy at my door. “Huck, what are you doing here?”
“What the fuck is this?” he demands, holding something up in front of him, an angry scowl etched across his face.
“I have no clue,” I say, closing the distance between us.
“It’s your key under the fucking mat. What did I tell you about leaving it there, Cora?”
“I remember us discussing my key being none of your business,” I shrug, trying to act nonchalantly and not think about the fact that I woke up wet and raring to go after dreaming about him all night.
“I’m replacing this lock with a keycode one.”
“You’re what?” I demand.
“I’m taking the key lock off your door and installing a lock with a keycode instead of a key,” he says slowly, enunciating each word like I’m an idiot.
His eyes narrow as he closes the distance between us, reaching out and gripping my chin between his fingers in an unyielding grip. “I’m doing it because apparently I’m the only one who gives a fuck about keeping you safe.”
My breath gets shallow, like his attention has stopped my lungs from working properly as I stare up into his piercing gaze. The silence stretches between us and I wait for him to let me go, or say something or kiss me. I want him to kiss me again. I don’t care what I resolved this morning, I don’t care that I shouldn’t want him and definitely shouldn’t touch him. None of that matters as I feel my eyelids flutter closed.
His lips don’t press against mine and I open my eyes again, mortification ploughing through me as I blink up at his impassive gaze, his mouth still barely six inches from mine.
“You’re a firecracker aren’t you, little Peaches. The way you’re looking at me, it’s like you want to kill me and fuck me all at the same time. Maybe that’s the plan. Maybe that wet cunt of yours will end up being poisonous like the apple in the garden of Eden. Are you the test, baby, are you the ultimate temptation?” he asks quietly, his voice rough and low.
“I…” I start.
“Don’t lie. Don’t tell me you don’t want me to kiss you, don’t tell me that you don’t want to rub your clit against my leg till you come. Don’t tell me you didn’t touch yourself and think of me. Don’t lie to me, Peaches, and I won’t lie to you either. Last night, I was so hard I fucked my hand and pretended it was you. I pretended you were down on your knees begging for my cock, that you licked and sucked me until I came all over your face and tits. My sleep was plagued with you, and all the ways I’d fuck you, all the ways I could use you like a fuck toy. Then this morning I was hard again, and I jerked off in the shower imagining I had you bent over with my dick in your pussy and a plug in your ass.”
He stops speaking and I pant, more turned on from his words than I’ve ever been in my entire life. My pussy is pulsing, every nerve ending in my body alight and eager. I want to scream, yes. Yes, do that, do all of that and more, fuck me, use me, make me scream. Own me. But I don’t, because my tongue feels too full in my mouth and I can’t speak, so I stay silent, mute, just staring.
“But I can’t fuck you. I can’t play with you, because you’re my new sister’s best friend, and so you’re off limits, but I’ve never been a rule follower and even though I know I should, I just can’t stay away. So here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to make you hate me, then you’ll learn never to let me near you, and I’ll hate myself for doing it and I’ll know I don’t deserve to touch all that sweetness. Okay, Peaches?”
Tears fill my eyes and I don’t know why. Huck isn’t my friend, or boyfriend. I never envisaged a life with him or a happy ever after. But to know I’ll never even get to know what it’s like to give myself over to him and let him fuck me into oblivion feels like a loss I barely know how to cope with.
“Nod baby, let me know you hear me.”
I nod just because he told me to and right now, I don’t seem to be able to form a rational thought that doesn’t include us both naked.
“Get your ass into the apartment, and I’ll explain again why it’s stupid as fuck to leave your house key under the mat,” he growls, releasing me and taking an instant step back and away from me.
Throwing open the door, he glares until I walk in, following barely an inch behind me, his body heat taunting me as he slams the door closed behind us with a thud.
“Do you want to be attacked? Raped? Murdered? Are you hoping that some crackhead with a hard on for a red-head will follow you home and then keep you as his pet?” he barks before I’ve barely had time to step into the room.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, the words wrenched from me as the sexual tension that’s been keeping me mute for the last few minutes dissolves.
“It’s what you’re asking for when you take zero interest in your own safety. I warned you how stupid it was to leave your key in such a vulnerable place, it wouldn’t be too bad if you had a key safe, but it’s just sitting there for anyone to help themselves to,” he snarls.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Do I look like I’m fucking joking? I told you how dangerous this was. I told your fucking brother how dangerous it was, and yet today I let myself into your apartment building and then into your home, and not a single person questioned why I was here.”
I want to argue, but even though I hate how fucking aroused I am and how much of a dick he’s being, he’s kind of right. “You let yourself into my apartment?”
“Why shouldn’t I? The key was just sitting there for me to use,” he growls, his arms crossed across his chest.
“I have no idea if you’re seriously asking for a reason why you shouldn’t have just let yourself into my apartment when I wasn’t home,” I say, all of the lust and want from just moments ago completely gone in the face of his asshole attitude.
“A woman who looks like you is a walking target and you need to start to take this shit seriously. I shouldn’t have to be the one stepping up to call you on your childish, ridiculous behavior but apparently I’m the only one who actually does.”
“I’m childish,” I gasp.
“Would you prefer idiotic, because I think that description fits the bill too,” he mocks.
“You’re right, hating you is gonna be easier than wanting to fuck you,” I snap, taking a step away from him and crossing my arms over my chest. “Get the fuck out and stay the fuck away from me.”
“Soon as I fit the new lock, I’m gone,” he snarls, his eyes raking over my body like he’s not sure if he wants to throttle me or eat me alive.
“Just go, I’ll arrange for someone to come fit me a different lock, I don’t need your help.”
The scowl on his face deepens and he closes the distance between us, forcing my head to tip back to look up into his angry eyes. “Don’t fucking argue with me right now, Peaches. I’m gonna fit the fucking lock while you eat and shower, then when I’ve showed you how to use it, I’ll leave.”
Lust and heat starts at my toes and shoots up through my body like a rocket, and instead of the anger that was fueling me two seconds ago I’m a puddle of desire ready for him to own me again. I know I’m being pathetic right now, but I just can’t help it. I have never felt more off kilter, more out of sync with my own body as I do when I’m around him. It’s like his closeness affects me and how I feel is directly related to how he feels. One minute I’m furious, the next wet and I have zero control.
His eyes turn molten, the amber color seeming to almost warm as he stares down at me, his chest visibly moving up and down as he licks his lips like he’s dying to taste me.
“Go,” he growls, the single word almost inhuman. “Now.”
Shaking my head, I worry my bottom lip with my teeth. I’m playing with fire and even though I know I shouldn’t, I want to get burned. He’s flame and I’m gasoline, were playing a dangerous game, but no matter what we do, I know he’s just as drawn to me as I am to him.
His arms band round my waist and he hauls me off my feet so quickly that I grab his shoulders to stop myself from falling. In a second we’re in my bedroom, my back hitting the bed as he throws me onto the comforter.
Smiling I take him in, noticing for the first time that he’s in his workwear. Black work trousers with large pockets, worn boots and a grey Henley with a warm looking plaid shirt unbuttoned over the top.
I can feel my nipples pebbling against the fabric of my bra, making my breasts feel heavy and eager to be touched. My panties are wet and I fight the urge to rip off my clothes so he can be touching me sooner. But instead of shedding his clothes he’s backing away, his fingers tangled in his messy hair, pulling at the strands. “Take a cold fucking shower, Cora, I can smell your desperation from here.”
My mouth falls open and I watch as
he takes one last look at me then turns and leaves, closing my bedroom door behind him.
6
Huck
I’ve either got a will of iron or I’m a fucking masochist and I had no idea. I could see her want, smell her arousal, and feel the way her body melted into mine like she was giving herself to me like the best fucking gift in the world.
I have never wanted another woman the way I want Cora fucking Cunningham. She’s an addiction and she’s going to ruin me, and I have no idea how I’m going to stop her. I shouldn’t have come here tonight. The whole way down the mountain I called myself every kind of fucking idiot, but no matter how stupid I warned myself it was to be around her, it still didn’t stop me from walking into her apartment block and up to her front door. I promised myself if she wasn’t in I’d leave, and I was about to, right up until my gaze fell to the door mat at my feet. I had to check and there it was, that fucking key, taunting me, telling me she needs me, that she needs to be looked after, protected, cared for.
Worry colored my thoughts as I bought the keycode lock and made my way back to her home. But the moment my eyes fell on her as she stepped off the elevator, that guy watching her ass as she walked away, I completely lost my shit.
I’m not a fucking caveman, I leave that crap to Beau and Bay and fuck, maybe even Granger. I’m the easy going one, the happy, chilled, reasonable one. But I’m none of those things around her. Around her, I’m a fucking nightmare. Unreasonable, unpredictable, angry. She brings out my worst qualities and I just can’t help myself.
‘My sleep was plagued with you, and all the ways I’d fuck you, all the ways I could use you like a fuck toy.’ I have never spoken to a woman like that in my life. My mama would tan my ass red raw if she was alive and heard that shit come out of my mouth. But around Peaches, it’s like I’m reduced to my most basic form.
I want to fuck her, but I also want so much more than that. I want to own her in the most basic way, and that scares the shit out of me.
With her bedroom door closed tightly behind me, I pull in a ragged breath. Walking away is the right thing to do, but all I can think about is how she’d taste riding my face, how she’d feel impaled on my dick. I told her I’d make her hate me, but even then, I still don’t think I’m going to be able to leave her alone like I know I should.