She hated sounding like a parent thanking her kid’s teacher. Next, she ought to put out her hand for a polite handshake and a formal goodbye. She could have kicked her own ass for sounding so prissy.
He watched her as she started past him and reached out at the last moment. He grabbed her hand, and dragged her towards him, taking her behind the tack door, and hiding them from their brothers who were honking the horn rather obnoxiously. He cupped her face with both his hands and held her gaze as his mouth descended on hers. With soft, almost languid pressure, his tongue barely touched her lips before he lifted his face from hers. “See you, Kailynn.”
Turning away from her, he walked towards the back of the horse trailer, his long duster billowing around his feet. She could hear him locking the trailer and her heart nearly split and fell down to her toes. When did he get so hot? So commanding? And the only man she could notice?
She turned and ran like the coward she truly was. She felt completely unsure as to where she stood with Ian Rydell.
Chapter Ten
KAILYNN HAD NO CHOICE but to continue with her regular routine as if the most monumental moment of her life never occurred. It was juvenile to everyone else, but having sex for the first time made her feel like something would change, or be different about her. She looked in the mirror, expecting to see something new or altered, since that was how she felt. But no. She had the same average face and long, brown hair. She wasn’t thin and her boobs were still too ugly, and way too big.
Her brothers talked as raunchy as ever as they sat around the trailer while her dad stayed in bed. She cooked their meals, unloaded all the stuff they’d taken to the mountains, and washed all the laundry that piled up while she was gone. Restraining a long sigh, she thought, yes, indeed, she was right back to her normal, ordinary life.
She had to work. She couldn’t refuse to go to the café. And no matter how much she wanted to quit the Rydells, she needed the money desperately. Worse still, it would have been totally obvious to Ian why she quit, so she didn’t.
She entered the café and Rhonda looked up with a smile and a tired hello. “Glad you’re back. Way too busy without your help.” Yes, Kailynn was slightly above average in her waitressing, cooking, and cleaning skills.
She went straight to work, serving coffee and water, as well as the breakfast specials and quickly delivered the bills to her tables. It was always busy on Monday mornings. That was when the valley got back to work. The afternoon usually brought in the elderly couples, and others who didn’t have to work. As a rule, they were usually super sweet, and chatted much longer than it took them to eat. Problem was: most of the elderly citizens didn’t have much money and rarely tipped more than a few dollars. She couldn’t get rich on that anytime soon.
She was halfway through her shift when she turned with a stack of menus in her hand. Dear Lord, there was Ian and Jack! She stopped dead in her tracks. No. It was bad enough she’d have to face Ian again, but here? In front of strangers? The lunch crowd was just starting to arrive and conversations buzzed back and forth. Rhonda was flying between her tables. Jack and Ian sat down at a booth that was in Kailynn’s section. Rhonda would never have covered for her. Besides, it would have been ridiculous not to serve the Rydells. It would have instantly been noticed by everyone too; after all, the only thing she did was serve the Rydells in one way or another.
She walked forward on trembling knees and pulled out her pad to write down their orders. She didn’t need the pad. She just wrote the orders down for the bills. She could remember every detail about every order from a ten-person table with very little effort.
“Hey, Lynnie. What’s the special today?” Jack asked. He smiled up at her as she set down the requisite glasses of ice water. She didn’t dare glance at Ian, although she knew those pale eyes were boring into her.
“Uh, hot turkey sandwiches with a side of fries and cole slaw.”
Jack flipped the menu to the end of the table. “Perfect. I’ll take one with coffee.”
Lifting her eyes to Ian, she saw he was indeed staring quite hard at her. His expression was dour and he didn’t have his hat on, so his red hair seemed to glow under the light. She forced a smile and nearly prayed for her voice to come out sounding semi-normal. “And you, Ian?”
She kept her gaze solidly on his, and did it so well, she almost wanted to pat her own back. She actually sounded almost like an adult. “Same,” Ian replied.
Jack leaned back against the booth. “So you liked our spot, huh?”
Spot? She turned toward Jack. What was he talking about? The lake? Her heart clenched. Oh crap, did Ian tell Jack what happened? “What?”
“The camp. Shane said you liked it.”
“Oh. Yes. I did. We had a nice trip.”
Nice? She sensed Ian leaning forward and smiling with wan interest as she spun on her heels and nearly ran behind the counter. She darted behind the soda fountain machine. Ian was sprawled in the booth, looking like a spider with his long limbs. He and Jack were non-stop talking, they were so engrossed in their conversation. They seemed to be discussing something important. Ian didn’t so much as even scan the place for Kailynn. He completely ignored her. She didn’t know if she should get on her knees, and be happy he didn’t seem to care about her, or fall into a puddle on the ground because she meant so little to him. She gritted her teeth. She would not let him see how he affected her. She grabbed the coffee pot and started another round of refills. She cheerfully offered the best service to all of her patrons. She approached the Rydells, but only after their orders were ready, which she quietly placed on the table between them. Without stopping their conversation, they both leaned out of her way and talked around her intrusion. Ian glanced up at her, but kept speaking to Jack.
“Well what else do you expect Erin to do?” Ian asked.
“Something. I’ve been trying to be patient, but I just don’t get it. I try to get it. I just don’t. Shoot me. I’m an insensitive ass.”
“Did you tell her that?”
Jack scoffed. “Of course not. I’m telling you.”
“Then you’re not a total ass.”
Kailynn grabbed the serving tray to leave, but really, she was dying to know what they were discussing about Erin. Was it her lack of effort in learning to read? Or refusing to move into the house and out of her trailer? But Kailynn just kept her distance and set their bill down. Assuming they wouldn’t stop talking at her disturbance, she watched Ian pull his wallet out and pay, without even a single glance up at her. He threw a bill down and shook his head at Jack before turning and walking out the front door.
Her heart plummeted into her stomach. Of course, she didn’t want Ian. But… well, maybe she would have liked having some effect on the man with whom she mistakenly sacrificed her virginity. How long would she feel that way? Her hands and feet almost went numb with nerves when she caught even a glimpse of Ian. She got tongue-tied and had no idea what to say to him. She trudged over to the table with a heavy heart. Lifting up the check, she found a fifty dollar bill underneath it, but their total was only twenty-two dollars and fifty cents. She frowned; was he for real? What did he mean by that? Payment for services rendered?
She flipped him off even though he had already pulled out in his truck.
What did it matter? She’d be at his house tomorrow anyway.
****
Kailynn reluctantly opened the back door of the Rydells’ sprawling log home. She was given access long ago, and didn’t have to knock. She came and went at her own discretion. It was really a great set-up. She had total autonomy and could schedule her housework around her other full-time job. Not many employers would have allowed that. She set her coat and purse down on the laundry counter. Piles of dirty laundry filled the baskets. Erin, no doubt, must’ve brought them down. Erin did a lot of niceties that none of the men were used to, even though she didn’t even live there. She still did her own laundry too, no matter how many times Jack insisted that Kailynn could do it.
She threw the first load in to start the day. Nearly recoiling in horror, she realized it was laundry from, of course, the week she was gone. The week Ian was gone. His dirty clothes were now hers to clean; and she really hated that.
She wandered into the kitchen and stopped dead. Shane was sprawled on the couch and Ian was just coming out of the downstairs bathroom. Shane waved hello, and again, Ian just stared at her, looking all strange and foreboding. It was starting to irritate the shit out of her.
She ignored them both and began washing the morning dishes, and going about her work as she usually did. The Rydells often ignored her presence, they were as comfortable with her as they were with just each other. Farts and burps were never excused or restrained. She was more or less like the furniture: always there and available for use and service.
When she turned, Ian was standing in the middle of the room, his hands on his lean hips. He was watching her before frowning at his brother, shaking his head, and walking out the door.
She spent three hours cleaning downstairs before she even got to the boys’ rooms upstairs. A week was a long time between cleanings for these guys. She grimaced as she continued to find more dirty laundry, having already started her fourth load. Scrubbing the sink in Shane’s bathroom, she suddenly screamed and pulled out her earphones when someone grabbed her from behind. Her heart thumped anxiously up and down at being so startled. Ian was behind her. He was the culprit that nearly gave her a heart attack. She set the iPod down. “You scared me.” Her voice sounded timid and unsure. What was he doing? He didn’t apologize, or say anything. He stared at her in the bathroom mirror for a long, pronounced moment, before turning and taking her hand in his. Then, he led her into his room.
Oh dear God. What was he doing? He stopped inside the door. She started to open her mouth to protest when he leaned down and planted his mouth over hers. Stepping forward, he shoved his door closed and locked it while his mouth kept twisting over hers. Her words of protest died in her throat as her knees immediately wobbled, and she nearly collapsed. Oh, Christ. It felt as good as it did the first time. She didn’t get it. Why did it feel so good with Ian? He wasn’t even her boyfriend. Or her date. Or… even her friend. He was Ian Rydell. He made her feel so strange and weird as he stared at her. It… turned her on. Hot, throbbing, and eager, barely described how he managed to turn her on with just the sweep of his tongue over her mouth. Her hands crept up and gripped the front of his shirt in her fists, using him to keep herself standing. The whimper that came out of her mouth should have embarrassed her, but her brain was already buzzing with passion, and she wasn’t even sure she said it out loud.
Ian’s arms enveloped her. He settled his hands on her waist and she could feel the flex and pull of the muscles in his biceps and forearms as he shifted her closer to him. She slid her hands up around his neck as he bent lower to reach her. She stood on her tiptoes to diminish the height difference. His moved his hands along her sides and over her breasts.
He stepped back and pulled her with him. Then, turning them both, he set her on his bed. She held onto his neck as he gently kept pushing her back before lying down alongside of her. Their lips didn’t stop touching, and his tongue seemed to melt her insides to liquid. He nibbled on her bottom lip, then on the side of her mouth, leaving a small trail of kisses to her ear. His tongue touched her earlobe and her entire body jerked in shock. She didn’t expect the spark that bolted through her. She never considered her ears as erogenous zones. What the hell was that?
Rolling over, he pulled her on top of him. He clasped her to his chest tightly, and she could feel his heart beating. The warmth of his chest radiated through their clothes. She shut her eyes for a moment. It felt so good. She was so rarely touched by anyone. For any reason. Not for sex, or affection, or concern, or even care. This felt so wonderful. He pushed her hair out of her face when she looked at him. He smiled tenderly and her heart expanded and contracted.
His hands bunched on her back, pulling her shirt and becoming entangled in her hair as his mouth attacked hers again. He sat up so they were seated, and facing each other. He tugged her shirt off her torso and slid it over her head as his eyes studied her. Daylight couldn’t obscure the round, puffy, white globes of her breasts, which were tightly confined by the bland, beige bra. He undid the clasp before she could blink or figure out if that was a good idea. His hands left her back and moved over to her breasts. She didn’t see why men liked them so much. They seemed like a waste of body parts to her. Well, that is, until the first time Ian touched them. She sighed her need as his hands played and tugged with her nipples.
Laying her back on the bed again, he undid her pants and pulled everything off her. She blinked, feeling rather shocked. She expected him to go slower, for some reason. Now she was naked and his gaze grew hot on her. She knew it, and wished she were some kind of fantasy woman, or had more confidence so she could pass off her flaws; but she wasn’t.
She couldn’t watch him any longer since she didn’t like her body and couldn’t bear to see his reaction when he saw her naked. His hands touched her knees before he ran them up her thighs. Her core quivered at the delicate brush as her body instantly warmed with a new comfort she suddenly felt. She liked to be touched. She didn’t know it before. She never expected Ian’s hands on her to feel so good. She nearly jumped off the bed when his mouth descended to her thigh. Whimpering… in protest? Impatience? What? She had no idea, and her brain began to buzz strangely.
He opened her legs, placing his face between them before she had a chance to close them tightly shut while forbidding him absolutely from putting his face there. There was no way. She wasn’t ready for it, but he skipped all the foreplay she assumed might lead to that. Simply setting his mouth on her, his tongue was soon deep inside her. She lifted her butt towards his mouth, out of some kind of primal, instinctual need. Clutching the bedspread between her fingers, she threw her head back, crying out her pleasure when his mouth and tongue did the same things down there that she expected could only be felt in her mouth.
She had no idea what to expect next. None. She knew what oral sex was, of course, and just pretended to ignore all the crude references her brothers made about it. It never sounded all that good to her. Someone’s face right there? Yish! Why would anyone choose to be front and center for that? She also thought the vagina and penis were the ugliest parts of anatomy nature ever designed.
But Ian doing that? Nothing she ever experienced in her life felt like this did now. There were no words to describe the combination of hot, intense pressure and a kind of melting, squishy feeling down deep inside of her. And it all seemed to be building to a crescendo while enhancing her world all around. His mouth, tongue, and teeth ever so gently, but ever so thoroughly and for a long time, sucked and licked her. She might have screamed. She heard herself begging and pleading for more, but was nearly incoherent as to what she was craving.
He tucked his hands under her butt and lifted her even closer to his mouth while spreading her legs wider before propping them over his shoulders.
That was it. Those sensations were literally overwhelming, and had to be what everyone talked about. And the reason some people got addicted to sex. That was why people did it everywhere and in every possible way. For that feeling. She was his slave, now, and begging him for more. She was nearly torn apart when her entire body suddenly tensed and she shook her head back and forth, succumbing to her body’s spasms which almost destroyed her. She couldn’t handle it. It became too much. The pleasure was so unending. And intense. For a woman who rarely indulged her feelings, it was exhausting.
Finally, the heat came to a boil, rushing through her entire body, and she pressed her heels into his back, pushing his tongue even deeper inside her. Screaming his name over and over, Kailynn was soon lost to the overwhelming sensations. Time and space had no relevance to her. His mouth eventually lifted off her and he kissed her stomach and the mounds of her boobs. Sucking first on a nipple, he the
n tenderly kissed the ridge of her collarbone and came up to her lips. Her eyelids fluttered open when she tasted herself on his lips and tongue. It repulsed her at first, then melted her like butter again. She couldn’t understand her reaction to all of this. It was so much more than she ever imagined. And she was also very uncomfortable and didn’t know how to handle even a single moment of it.
She rolled toward him, suddenly feeling cold and upset as well as satiated and happy. She couldn’t explain what she felt. Frowning, when she realized he was still fully dressed, she didn’t flinch when his hands came around her waist. He placed them platonically on her back as he lifted his mouth off hers and let his chin land on top of her head, holding her tightly to his chest. She wanted him even closer. She wanted him to fill up every lonely moment of her life. She wanted his hands and mouth to demonstrate, again, what it felt like to be worshiped and shown tenderness and care. She suddenly felt very vulnerable to him, something she never felt toward anyone. His hands gently massaged her back and she thought that might have been the best part of the entire business. Her heart rate started to slow and her eyelids fluttered shut. She snuggled into him more, and felt him jolt with surprise, but he instantly raised his leg and covered hers with his.
“Yo! Ian! What’s taking you so long?” They heard a loud smack on Ian’s door.
Kailynn’s heart thudded when Shane’s voice filled the hall. She tensed and every soft, squishy feeling she had previously enjoyed fled in terror. Stiffening, she pushed on Ian’s chest as she was suddenly unable to breathe. He sighed as he released her, then rolled over and got to his feet. She grabbed her t-shirt and clutched it to her chest.
“Dude, come on. Quit jacking off and let’s go.”
Ian jerked the door open just enough to stick his head out. “I’m busy right now. Go ahead.”
River's Escape (River's End Series, #2) Page 17