by Alison Bliss
Funny, since what I needed was for him to be honest with me. But his lusty diversion splintered my mind and was clearly working on me. Part of me wanted to press him for details of his past, while the other part of me wanted to just have some gratuitous sex with a hot guy in an old barn. I wasn’t entirely sure which would win out…until he began thrusting his hips. Damn him.
Whether I liked it or not, my brain focused on the task at hand and the erotic sensations Seth was building inside of me. He held himself up over me with his forearms while taking my mouth long and hard. Then he trailed his lips down the underside of my jaw, nipping and sucking, before sweeping his tongue over my collarbone.
As he pounded into me faster and harder, an exquisite sensation took hold of my body. Pleasure rushed through me, and desire swelled in my veins. My teeth sank into his shoulder, and my nails raked down his back, biting and scratching him like a feral barn cat. One that was hanging on the edge of an orgasmic cliff and silently begging to be put out of its misery.
Seth sat up on his knees to brace himself, grasped my hips, and pulled me farther onto his length, burying himself in me repeatedly. The move lit a flare in my abdomen, and a hot ball of pleasure in the center sent sparks flying and heat fanning outward. I strained against him with each spasm, and his body jerked against mine as he did the same. We came together in an audible array of loud moans and deep-chested grunting.
When our heated bodies finally came to rest, I rested a hand over my racing heart.
Seth and I had both called this getting it out of our systems. Problem was, it never really worked. It was as if certain parts of our anatomies hadn’t agreed to adhere to those terms, and no matter what, we just couldn’t seem to keep our hands off each other. The last three times we were alone, we’d wound up having sex on the nearest flat surface. None of which had even been a bed.
As much as I hated to admit it, the scorching chemistry between us had started a blaze inside of me—or possibly both of us—that couldn’t seem to be extinguished. I burned hot for this man no matter how many times we were together like this. As if it would never be enough.
I hated that he had that kind of power over me. Each time we came together, I walked away from our encounter completely satisfied, yet somehow never fulfilled. Because, although I knew I shouldn’t go there in my head, I wanted more from him. So much more.
And that was a huge problem.
…
The next day, I carried a large basket out to the garden with me and strolled slowly down each aisle, picking out the ripened vegetables that were ready for harvest. The entire row of tomato plants and summer squash had successfully produced enough that we wouldn’t be able to eat them all before they spoiled.
So I planned to get out my canning supplies and freezer bags later this afternoon. That way I’d be able to store the tomatoes to be used in soups and stews throughout the winter, and I would slice up the squash to store in my freezer. It would be a great addition to casseroles or even just something to throw in the steamer.
I’d just finished gathering the last of the produce and sat down on the top of the picnic table to take a break with my legs dangling over the edge when Junior’s truck pulled into the driveway. Seth had gone with him earlier this morning to help find some lost horses that had gotten out of their enclosure sometime during the night.
Seth climbed out of the cab and shut the door. He thumped twice on the outside of the truck as Junior pulled away, and Seth headed my direction. “Hey,” he said, nodding at me.
“Hey,” I said back, still feeling a little awkward about last night.
Although tension still sizzled between us when my eyes met his, we’d barely even spoken this morning. Probably because of the way I’d pulled away last night. After our barn escapade, I’d went back to the house to take a shower while he’d finished sweeping up the sawdust and putting away the tools he’d used. By the time he’d come inside for the night, I had already gone to bed.
Though it wasn’t like I got much sleep.
Not only had I worried about Austin all night long and listened out for the phone in case Jeremy called, but I’d needed to spend some quality alone time to analyze my thoughts and feelings when it came to Seth.
I had zero willpower when it came to him. That was perfectly clear. The utter abandon I felt in his arms had created a powerful bond between us, one that seemed to be somehow morphing our sexual connection into a totally different kind of relationship. And that was what scared me because the fear of getting hurt was becoming more real by the minute.
Seth was leaving, for Christ’s sake. Why would I even let myself long for something more with him when I knew that he wouldn’t be around much longer? Why dare to want something that could never be? But I couldn’t help myself. Something about this man made me want to throw caution to the wind and risk the pain of knowing that he wouldn’t stay. Not even for me.
It was my own fault, though. He’d been up front from the beginning that he was not the kind of man to stick around for long. These feelings I’d adopted were clearly one-sided and I couldn’t afford to fall for him. Not when I felt so overwhelmingly vulnerable. I couldn’t put my trust into another man that could break me so easily.
I didn’t know whether Seth had expected to spend the night in my bed last night or not, but, since he’d come inside, taken a shower, and gone into his own room without so much as knocking on my door, I could only assume he hadn’t. Further proof that my feelings were my own, and not his.
As he stopped in front of me, I gazed up at him. “That didn’t take you very long. You and Junior must’ve gotten to the horses before they made it to the Trinity River.”
He nodded. “Yeah. We split up on horseback and took separate shortcuts that got us there ahead of them. We were afraid they’d try to swim across, and the river is moving too fast for that. They would’ve drowned.”
“Who got to them first?” I asked, though I already knew the answer to my question.
Seth grinned. “Well, I like to think I have superb tracking skills. I mean, Junior taught me how to track at a young age. So I’m good, but…”
“He’s better,” I said, smiling.
“Yeah. I hate to admit it, but my uncle beat me there by three minutes. And he took the longer shortcut. The cocky asshole.”
I laughed. “Sounds about right. But I’m glad you found them before it started raining.”
Seth glanced up at sky and then cocked his head at me. “How did you know rain was coming in? Did you watch the weather or something?”
“No, I…” I glanced up at the clear sky and felt the heat of the blazing sun caress my face. There wasn’t a single rain cloud in sight. I shook my head. “I don’t really know how I knew that. It’s just…something in the air. Like I can feel it coming.”
He smirked. “You’re finally tuning in to your senses.”
I shrugged. “I guess so.”
Seth moved toward me and nestled his hips in between my legs that were swinging over the edge of the picnic table. His hands ran up the hem of my skirt and onto my inner thighs. “Wanna tune in even more?”
My legs trembled, and my heart beat faster. “W-what do you mean?”
“I mean, I need to be inside you again. Like right now.”
My eyes widened, and I eyed the picnic table. “Um, here?”
“Right here,” he confirmed with a nod. His fingers trailed up my bare collarbone and onto the side of my neck where he grasped the string of my sundress and gave it a little tug. It came untied, and the top immediately loosened. “You good with that?”
I meant to refuse him, to tell him no, to push him away even. But instead I ended up nodding like a moron and gave him a breathy little, “Uh-huh.”
He bent his head and his lips covered mine as his fingers worked the top of my sundress down and peeled off my strapless bra. Within seconds, the top of my garment was pooling around my waist with the warm breeze wafting over my bare nipples, hardening the
m.
His hands moved over my breasts, his fingers touching my nipples ever so gently. Then his mouth left mine and followed the path his hands had taken, drawing his lips around one rigid bud and sucking it into his mouth. He lavished my breasts with his wet tongue until I strained against him, unable to take any more.
Seth ripped his white T-shirt over his head, and my mouth went dry. His biceps flexed as his tanned, dark skin glistened under the hot sun. He draped the shirt behind me across the wood of the picnic table and then pushed lightly against my shoulders to get me to lie back. I did as he nonverbally suggested and almost immediately closed my eyes to keep the bright sun from blinding me.
Large, rough hands shoved my skirt higher and trailed up my thighs until they reached the waistband of my panties. Calloused fingertips slipped beneath the band and slowly pulled them off as I lifted my hips to assist with the maneuver. When his hands returned to pull at my sundress, I swatted his hands away. “Just leave it.”
“You don’t want me to take your dress off?” he asked, confusion deeply embedded into his tone.
Thus far, I had only ever been half naked during any of the previous times we’d been together. It wasn’t like I was all that shy about my body or had any hang-ups with my curvy figure. That wasn’t it at all. It was more like the thought of baring myself completely to him scared the hell out of me. “No. It’s not in the way. Just leave it.”
He was quiet for a moment, and then said, “If it’s covering even an inch of your skin, then it’s in the way.”
Maybe I was being silly and it didn’t really matter, but taking all of my clothes off and sharing every piece of me somehow just translated to something more intimate. Stupid as it probably was, it felt like I would be baring my soul to him. So I held tight to what little clothing I had left to hide behind. As if the mere scraps of fabric could stop me from falling completely in love with him.
I didn’t know if he even was looking at me or not, but I shook my head anyway. “It’s fine. I imagine you can find your way around them pretty easily,” I said firmly, not giving an inch.
“All right,” he said calmly, though I detected a bit of underlying irritation and possibly a little confusion in his tone.
The rasp of his zipper and the crinkling of a condom wrapper sounded in the breeze before his hard hands moved back onto my thighs, lifting them and spreading them wider. He moved closer, using one hand to position the head of his cock at my entrance while his other hand held on to my hip. And then he thrust forward slowly.
My hands slapped down on the table beside me, bracing myself in place, as my body absorbed the tremendous pressure of his large cock. Once his erection was cushioned all the way inside of me, his agile fingers found their way to my clit, where he massaged and fondled my flesh in order to relax me.
No doubt this was probably the weirdest place I’d ever had sex, but I couldn’t muster up the energy to even care. I only hoped like hell that no one would choose this moment to stop by and say hello. But even if they did, chances were good that we’d hear them coming up the drive before they ever got close enough to the house to see anything. That thought comforted me a lot.
As warm pleasure unfurled in my abdomen, an acute surge of desire raced through me. Aching tension built inside of me, and he began to rock his hips at a slow, even pace. A moan escaped my lips, and the strength of his hands on my hips tightened, gripping me harder as he held me up and pumped his body into mine.
Then I felt something I’d never experienced before.
Something strange vibrated in the air around us. Even with my eyes still closed, I could tell that the harsh rays of the sun had suddenly dimmed. I cracked open one eye only to see a dim gray cloud passing over us just as drops of cool rainwater landed on my heated skin. The exquisite contrast sent blood humming through my veins.
As the raindrops began to pelt against both of us more and more, tingles ran the length of my spine, and I gazed up at Seth. Rainwater dripped from his hair onto his bare shoulders, and his golden eyes glimmered as he bore into me faster and harder than before. He looked primitive, wild, and possibly a bit savage.
My wet body surged upward to meet his, accepting the brutal strength of his passion. Almost immediately, a gripping sensation took over my body and I arched my back as my inner muscles squeezed around him. I cried out as wave after wave of pleasure cascaded through me. The orgasm was incredible—my body chilled by rain but blown apart by the heat Seth had created inside of me.
After Seth watched me come undone, he drove into me a few more times and let himself go as well. The guttural groan he released echoed around us as the thunder rumbled in the distance. Both sounds were so low and deep that I almost couldn’t tell which was which.
All I knew was that Seth had just taken all of me, whether he meant to or not, even the parts I hadn’t been willing to share. I was so screwed.
Chapter Fifteen
A couple of days later, I finished getting ready for work and then drove Austin over to my mom’s house. She was standing on the porch watching for us and walked out to the truck to get Austin when I pulled up.
“Hey, sweetheart,” she cooed to him as she pulled him out of his booster seat.
“Hi, Grandma,” Austin said, giving her a big hug.
She smiled lovingly at him, ruffled his hair, and then set him on his two feet. Austin immediately took off for the house, making her laugh. “Boy, someone’s in a hurry today.”
“Well, that’s because he remembered that you two were making cookies. By the time I pick him up this afternoon, I fully expect him to be in a sugar coma,” I told her.
Mom laughed. “I won’t let him eat that many.”
I grinned. “Liar.”
“Hey, I can’t help it if I spoil my only grandson. If you don’t want him to eat all the cookies, then maybe you should start thinking about giving him a little brother or sister to share them with.” Her brows lifted, as if she was challenging me.
I rolled my eyes. “You wish.”
“Yes, I do. I’m not getting any younger. I’d love to have some more grandbabies to spoil rotten before I die of old age.”
“Give me a break, Mom. You’re only forty-eight years old. At this rate, you’ll be around to spoil your great-grandchildren.”
She smiled. “Not if Austin turns out to be as stubborn as you are.”
I giggled. “Well, at least then you’ll be harassing him about giving you some babies to play with and not me.”
“I wouldn’t have to harass you if you would just do it already.” She winked and headed for the house as Austin waved goodbye to me from the porch.
I waved back and then pulled away from the house, shaking my head. The woman was insane if she thought I was going to get knocked up again just so she could have another grandchild to spoil. Besides, it didn’t matter anyway, since I would be starting my cycle on—
My period! Shit.
I veered onto the shoulder and slammed on my brakes, bringing the truck to an abrupt stop. The car behind me swerved around and honked their horn. But I ignored them and reached for my purse, rooting through it like a lunatic until I found my mini day planner. I opened it to the current month, and my heart leaped into my throat, strangling me instantly.
Holy hell. I was supposed to start last week! Between worrying about Austin while he’d been with Jeremy over the weekend and realizing I’d fallen in love with a man who refused to tell me about his past, I’d completely lost track of my days and hadn’t even thought once about it. But confusion still swamped me. My periods had always been irregular in the past so normally being late wouldn’t be such a big deal. Ever since the doctor put me on the pill, though, I’d been having them like clockwork. So how the hell was being late even possible?
Unless I was pregnant. Crap.
Though I’d been on the pill and using condoms, I knew from prior experience that birth control wasn’t always 100 percent effective. And with as much sex as Seth and I had be
en having for almost two weeks… Well, there was a slight chance that an accidental pregnancy may have occurred.
I swallowed the knot in my throat. Could it be true? Was it actually possible that I was pregnant with Seth’s baby? And if so, what the hell was I going to do about it? Jesus. He was leaving soon. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel forced into staying all because I might be pregnant with his child. I rested my elbows on the steering wheel and covered my face with my hands, feeling like such an idiot.
Then another thought crossed my mind. Would he think I did it on purpose in order to trap him? My stomach twisted with nausea. God. Things just kept getting worse, and everything seemed to be spinning out of control in my head.
So I did the only thing I could do. I pulled back out onto the road and drove into town, stopping at the first grocery store I came to. I went inside and found the aisle where the pregnancy tests were located and then looked around to make sure I didn’t see anyone I knew. That was hard in a small town, seeing how I knew almost everyone.
As soon as the aisle was clear, I grabbed a test, held it facedown, and made my way to the checkout area as fast as I could. Unfortunately, a woman who knew my mother was working the only checkout they had available this early in the morning. There was no way in hell I was going through her lane.
And thankfully I didn’t have to. I was just about to slip the pregnancy test between two bags of chips on a nearby rack so I wouldn’t be seen with it in my hand and could haul ass out of there. But then I remembered they had a self-checkout at the other end of the empty lanes. Thank God.
I hurried down there, ducking to keep my mom’s friend from spotting me, and used the first self-checkout station I came to. I slid the box across the scanner and deposited it into a bag. An automated voice coming from the scanner asked me to place the item in a bag…which I had already done. So I lifted it out of the bag and tossed it back inside. Again, the machine repeated the request.