Beauty and the Bayou

by Erin Nicholas

  She laughed even as desire pounded through her. “I guess we should maybe get up there and get going before anyone comes home then.”

  “But you missed a couple of What-Ifs,” Sawyer said.

  “Did I?” That was very unlike her.

  He leaned in, his mouth brushing over hers. “What if I make you come so hard you can’t move for several hours after?”

  Air whooshed out of her lungs and she just stared at him. That was a risk she was very willing to take.

  He met her gaze intently. “And what if you ruin me for all other women?”

  She wanted to do that.

  That was a terrible thought to have. She wasn’t staying here. Sawyer wasn’t leaving here. He belonged on this bayou no matter what had happened and how he felt about it now. And she…didn’t. She couldn’t even swim. Anymore. That was a complicated result of her fear and water phobia after nearly drowning, but it certainly wouldn’t make living near a big, sometimes dangerous body of water a good idea.

  “What if we don’t do it?” she finally asked softly. “Then we both spend forever wondering what it would have been like.” She could handle squeaking bedsprings and not being able to move from orgasms so intense her muscles all turned to goo. But she wasn’t sure she could handle never knowing what being with Sawyer Landry was like.

  Without another word, Sawyer stood swiftly, his hands cupping her ass. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him, linking her ankles, and grabbed his shoulders. Unable to resist, Juliet put her lips to his neck. She kissed him, flicking her tongue over the hot, salty skin. She felt the rumble of his groan as he started in the direction of the stairs, climbing them smoothly, as if he didn’t have his arms full of a woman wiggling to get her aching clit against his hard body. Really any hard part of his body would do at the moment.

  At the top of the stairs, he headed down the hallway with long strides, turning into the bedroom she was using, without asking. It didn’t matter how he knew which room was hers. It mattered that there was a bed in there.

  But he stopped abruptly in the doorway.

  Juliet pulled her lips from his neck and looked up.

  “What if,” he said slowly, “someone put a mosquito netting over their bed?”

  Oh yeah, that. “We can just push it back.”

  “What if there’s a bat caught in it?”

  Juliet pivoted in his arms so quickly that his grip on her slipped and she felt herself sliding to the floor. Abruptly. She was still against him—and he was big and hard and strong and all of that—so she didn’t fall exactly, but neither did she have time to really enjoy the slide down the Sawyer-pole.

  Because there was a bat in her bedroom. Caught in the mosquito netting she’d hung over her bed.

  “Oh my God!” she gasped. “What the— Oh my God!”

  “Not exactly the way I’d been expecting to hear oh my God up here,” Sawyer said dryly.

  Juliet, her eyes wide and fixed on the flapping brown thing trapped in the white netting, slipped around behind him, putting his big, used-to-critters-and-not-freaking-out body between her and that bat.

  “What if I’d been up here sleeping when that thing got caught up like that?” she whispered in an admittedly horrified-sounding voice.

  “Guessing I’d have been coming over to get it out a lot like I’m going to do now,” Sawyer told her.

  She looked up at him. “You’re going to get it out?” But of course he was. He was a big, strong bayou boy. He’d probably grown up playing with these things like they were puppies. She shuddered.

  “You would have come over?”

  “Of course,” he said. Then he shrugged. “If I didn’t wake up to your bloodcurdling scream, Cora would have leaned out of her bedroom window and shouted at me.”

  Juliet frowned. “Where do you live?”

  He pointed through her window at the house next door.

  He was her neighbor? Or Cora’s neighbor, anyway. “Oh.”

  He grinned. “You have another of those nets?”

  She did. She’d brought one for Chase, too. Who had laughed and said no thanks. She nodded, a bit sheepishly.

  Juliet wasn’t shocked Sawyer had assumed she’d have a second one.

  “Okay.” Sawyer entered the room and Juliet backed out of the room.

  The next thing she knew he was out again, the net and the bat in hand.

  In. Hand.

  He was holding onto the thing. It was wiggling but Sawyer seemed to have it under control.

  With wide eyes, Juliet followed him down the stairs and out the front door.

  Sawyer crouched and set the thing, net and all, on the grass. The bat was clearly trying to bite him, but Sawyer flipped the net back and the bat crawled a few inches away and then took off.

  Juliet shrieked as it swooped up into the air. She hated that she’d screamed, but dammit, bats were not an everyday occurrence for her.

  Sawyer got to his feet and held up the net. “Good news. I didn’t have to cut it.”

  She stared at him. Yeah. Good news.

  Sawyer looked at her, then handed the net to her. “Need help hanging this back up?”

  “No.” She’d gotten it up there herself the first time.

  “I assume you’re gonna put it back up?”

  She wasn’t sure. It wasn’t supposed to catch things. “The net was supposed to keep things out,” she said, her voice a little shaky.

  Sawyer nodded. “What are the West Nile stats down here?”

  She peered up at him. Was he teasing her? But he seemed sincere. It made her feel a little warm—in a different way than his wide, naked chest did—to think that he’d figured her out.

  “Louisiana had the highest number of cases in the country last year,” she said.

  “Figured it was something like that.”

  She frowned a little. She’d overreacted with the netting, and it was the reason she was not riding the high of a Sawyer-induced orgasm at that very moment. Yeah, she was sure it wouldn’t have taken him long to get her there. “Only twenty percent of people infected actually show symptoms,” she said.

  “So eighty percent of those infected are walkin’ around without even knowing it,” he said. “Weird.”

  “Well, only one percent of those infected actually get West Nile encephalitis.”

  “Still, that would suck,” he said. “What if you were that one percent?”

  He didn’t laugh. He didn’t even smile as he said it. He seemed to mean it.

  “You’re not going to tell me I’m overreacting with the mosquito netting?” she asked. “You’re not going to tell me that those of you who live down here don’t use mosquito netting?”

  “Nope.” He tucked a hand into his front pocket.

  That pulled the waistband of his jeans down a little and she couldn’t help but note that sexy-as-fuck V that dove into the waistband on either side of his abs.

  She wet her lips and pulled her eyes away from his lower abs. “You actually think me sleeping with mosquito netting is no big deal?”

  “I really do,” he said. “It’s totally harmless, and if it makes you feel better and keeps you from getting a mosquito bite—West Nile infected mosquito or not—then great.”

  “It wasn’t exactly harmless,” she said. “I did catch a bat with it.”

  He lifted a shoulder. A big, naked shoulder. “Made it easier to get him out of there. And no one, including the bat, got hurt.”

  Juliet couldn’t name the emotion that went through her with that. Relief? Maybe. Gratitude? That was maybe more accurate. Sawyer’s simple acceptance of the whole thing made her feel…good. Her safety tendencies usually brought exasperation, teasing, or worry.

  “And,” he added. “I kind of got to bandage this situation up at the end. So I’m good.” He gave her an almost shy smile.

  The emotion that coursed through Juliet’s chest at that was something she hadn’t expected at all. She felt a bond with Sawyer that was hard to explai
n. He got her. He understood her, even supported her overreactive tendencies, but she also felt almost proud of him and pleased to have helped him, too. She’d done the safety thing by hanging the net and he understood why that was important to her, even if it had resulted in an unexpected consequence. A consequence he’d calmly and capably fixed—bandaged—for her.

  Maybe that meant that Sawyer wouldn’t worry about her or treat her as if she was fragile like so many men had before. She and her mom had come to some understanding about everything, but men—Ryan and Rhett, her father, her boyfriends—had a hard time not being careful with her once they knew about her stroke and how accident-prone she could be. It was exhausting. To the point she didn’t date much.

  But with Sawyer, he seemed to appreciate her What-Ifs and Yeah, Buts, and just rolled with it all. If Sawyer could accept everything like he had the mosquito netting, then they could maybe…

  Juliet frowned. She was leaving in just over a week. She hardly needed to worry about how he would react to her situation long-term.

  “And,” Sawyer said, leaning closer and breaking into her thoughts. “I’m thinking that net will also keep out the black widows.”

  Juliet stared up at him, her mouth open. “I can’t believe you just said that,” she told him. “I need to sleep tonight.”

  He chuckled. “I’m kiddin’. Cora sprays around the house with her homemade repellent.”

  “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

  “Nah, it’s true. It’s amazing stuff.”

  “But it’s homemade? Shouldn’t she buy some extra toxic chemical stuff?”

  Sawyer grinned. “She and Ellie don’t do that stuff. They don’t want to kill them, just keep them out of the house.”

  Juliet shuddered. “I think we should kill them. All of them. With fire.”

  “They eat mosquitoes,” he said with a wink.

  She groaned. “Not fair.” She sighed. “But the repellent works?”

  “It does. How did her muscle cream work for ya?” His gaze tracked over her shoulders and then dropped to her breasts but bounced back up to her face after only a second.

  Her muscles all felt hot and melty at the moment. As did the rest of her. “Um, good.” She rotated her neck. She hadn’t realized until now that she wasn’t sore at all. “Actually, great.”

  He nodded. “All the stuff they make works. Don’t worry about the widows.”

  “Okay. If you say so.”

  “You trust me?” he asked, his voice a little softer.

  “Of course I do,” she said with confidence. She knew that Sawyer would feel terrible if she got bitten by a black widow. Well, bitten by anything, really.

  “Come on.” He grabbed her hand, as if it was the most natural thing, and started tugging her back toward the porch.

  She was barefoot, which was never a good idea for her, and as they changed terrain from the grass onto Cora’s front path, Juliet’s right ankle wobbled and turned. Her knee buckled and she grabbed for Sawyer’s arm. But before she even got her hand on his biceps, he’d slipped his arm around her waist, holding her up.

  “Whoa.”

  He was staring down at her, his nose inches from hers. She was pressed against him now, his skin hot over all that hard muscle, and for the first time in her life, she was glad she’d wobbled.

  “Sorry,” she said, breathlessly.

  “Don’t be,” he said, his voice husky.

  He continued to hold her against him, looking into her eyes.

  Juliet became very aware that her breasts were pressed against his side and there was no way he could miss the hard tips poking him. His big hand was splayed over her lower back and she felt every single one of his fingers burning through the thin cotton of her shirt.

  She wanted to kiss him. She couldn’t reach his lips unless he bent over. Or lifted her up. But she really wanted to put her lips on him somewhere. She actually wasn’t picky.

  She’d never met a guy like Sawyer. He was all man. The definition of alpha. He worked with his hands. He could cut wood and take apart a boat motor. But he also did the worst-case-scenario thing. He had a grandmother he obviously loved and an entire family that he saw every single day. He could French braid. He’d accepted the fact that she was going to wear a hard hat and put mosquito netting over her bed and he still seemed to find her attractive.

  He was a lot of things, and she found every one of them hot.

  She wanted him to know that. She wanted to show him how much he turned her on. She wanted to seduce him. She needed to get her mouth on him.

  Juliet leaned in and put her lips against the first spot she could reach. His right pec. Well, more like the side of his pec, closer to his armpit. Okay, it was basically his armpit. Not directly in it. She was below any hair. But it was his armpit more than it was anything else. An armpit that smelled really good considering it was, well, an armpit.

  Sawyer’s muscles tensed, his arm tightened around her, he even stopped breathing. She knew because her lips were now against a part of him that moved when he was breathing in and out.

  It wasn’t moving now.

  Well, this wasn’t sexy. It was awkward as hell. This was what happened when she didn’t What-If a situation. What if I can’t reach any sexy spots and end up kissing his armpit would have been a good one to start with. As would have what if you do end up kissing his armpit…then what?

  Since she honestly didn’t know what to do next, Juliet just stayed right where she was, her lips against his lower armpit. She didn’t move them. She just kept them resting there.

  It took only about five seconds for that to get weird.

  But she still hadn’t moved after twelve.

  What if you just give him a little nuzzle and pretend it’s kind of a hug-thing?

  What if running your whole face back and forth in his armpit is even weirder?

  What if you say something sexy?

  What if he thinks that means you have an armpit fetish and that’s even weirder yet?

  Finally, because she seemingly had no other options, she flicked out her tongue and licked him.

  It might have been because he couldn’t hold his breath any longer or because she’d freaking licked him just under his armpit and that was really only acceptable in maybe two situations—sex and being offered a million dollars to do it—but Sawyer did finally move.

  His hand went to the back of her hair and he slid his fingers through it, to cup her head, then he tipped her head back.

  Even the way he looked at her was intense.

  Maybe she should have been grateful for the soft, lingering, slow kisses in the kitchen. Because in that moment, she wasn’t sure she was ready for a full-on, take-over-everything-including-her-body-and-heart Sawyer.

  That was absolutely the best way to describe how he was looking at her right now.

  She had no time to get ready though. Sawyer’s mouth took hers in a deep, hot kiss. He didn’t say a word, gave her no real warning, just sealed his lips over hers and started kissing her as if it was his single goal in life to make her come with just his lips on hers.

  It wasn’t hard to believe that could happen. Heat exploded in her belly and shot through her, up and down her limbs, lingering at her nipples, then diving between her legs making her hot and wet and needy instantly.

  Then he groaned. A deep, gravely, hungry sound and she felt her inner muscles tighten. His tongue slid along hers in a firm, carnal way that made her clit tingle, begging to be the focus of that same stroke. His hand tightened in her hair and he moved her fully to the front of his body so they could press closer.

  He was huge and hard behind his fly when she felt him against her belly.

  Finally, Sawyer lifted his head. He still had his hand in her hair, though, preventing her from looking away. Which meant staring into his hot, penetrating gaze. That look made everything in her melt.

  He was breathing hard and that gave her a surge of triumph that surprised her. She lik
ed having an effect on the big, gruff guy.

  “What if,” she said, her voice soft and husky, “we pretended that I didn’t awkwardly kiss your…armpit? We could just focus on the part when our mouths met and we could pretend I was sophisticated and seductive about the whole thing.”

  He leaned in, nearly touching her nose with his. “Yeah, but,” he said, “then my desire to kiss and lick that same spot on you to see if it’s an erogenous zone for you, too, won’t make as much sense.”

  She wasn’t sure if it was his clearly purposeful use of yeah, but or what he’d actually said—that spot was an erogenous zone on him? Good to know—but her nipples tightened almost painfully.

  “Oh,” was really all she could come up with in response.

  He straightened and slowly pulled his fingers through her hair, letting her go. He was smiling at her with a combination of cockiness and wonder. As if he was completely surprised but very pleased by what had just happened.

  Yeah, well, ditto.

  He held out his hand. “Let’s put you back to bed.”

  Oh, yes, please.

  Once inside, instead of heading for the staircase, Sawyer went straight for the kitchen, however. Then onto Cora’s screened-in back porch. He scanned the long wooden shelf that hung over the hooks full of jackets and the mat under them that was covered with shoes and boots. He reached for a spray bottle and turned it so Juliet could see the label.

  It was a plain white sticker with scrawling handwriting that said, Keep the Fuck Out.

  Juliet looked up at him. “The bug repellent?”

  He smiled. “Yep.”

  She wasn’t sure what was going on. They’d gone from making out to bug repellent. But they weren’t discussing armpits, so that was something. Then he started for the stairs and she felt hopeful again.

  That didn’t last long.

  “Get up on the bed.”

  She did so, eagerly.

  Sawyer stretched to put the netting back up around the top of the bed. The sight of his muscles flexing and bunching along his shoulders and back was definitely captivating, and she had visions of putting her lips and tongue against the hard planes of the muscles that dove into his jeans and led to his very fine ass. But she resisted.