Drawn Through You

by Sarina Rhoads

  “Let’s go slow this time, all right? No one will bother us here. Promise.”

  Shaun nodded in agreement, and her breasts rose and fell with every inhale of the charged air around them. She allowed him to take both of her hands, and he guided her back toward the truck.

  Cole sat down on the lowered tailgate and positioned himself flat on his back. Shimmying up near the center of the truck bed, he rested atop the quilted cotton. He urged Shaun over him by the hand and she rose to straddle his hips, a vision so glorious and almost unbelievable when he considered their tumultuous beginning.

  “Here.” He reached beneath the blanket and gave her one of the condoms he’d tucked there.

  Shaun snatched the packet from his fingers, her mouth a tight line. “Should I be concerned that you always seem to have one of these handy?” She attempted a coy smile, but her lips wavered, belying a hint of insecurity. He couldn’t blame her after the embarrassing display Christine had put on at the festival.

  Cradling her delicate jaw in both his hands, Cole met her eyes straight on. “No.” He gently led her lips down for a kiss. A soft brush that held so much emotion behind it.

  She broke away and traveled down his throat, stopping to suck on his Adam’s apple. Her tongue darted out from between her lips without warning, tasting every inch of his skin as she continued south, where he ached for her most. His cock, full and erect, rested below his navel, impatiently awaiting a turn for her attention. The heat of her breath skated over the tip and Cole groaned, whispering a low curse. She wrapped her smooth palm around the shaft, working up and down with long, lazy strokes.

  “I have a confession to make, Mr. Jacobson.”

  Dear god, he thought. She could confess to murder and he wouldn’t give a flying fuck so long as she didn’t stop touching him like that. He grunted, a sharp affirmation that he’d heard her and was listening between the heartbeats thrumming in his ears.

  “I wanted to have you like this our first time, but you didn’t give me a chance.” She grinned like a she-wolf and met his gaze, eyes lit with a predatory intensity, pinning her captive in place. Her tongue breached her plump lips, and she pressed the flat underside over the smooth head of his cock. “To control your pleasure with my mouth.” She gave a languid flick. Cole whimpered and allowed his eyes to close for only a moment. Shaun slid her mouth around his thick length, sucking and licking his cock like her pleasure depended on it. The cool air soon tingled along the slickened skin as she returned to using only her hand. “I enjoy having control almost as much as losing it … with you.” Cole felt his balls rise and pulse with the growing need to release.

  “Fuck.” He groaned and tugged the tie from her ponytail. Damp tendrils tickled his thighs, all of his body in high sensory mode. “Christ, Ms. Wright. Keep that up and I’m not going to last.” He threaded his fingers through her thick curls, holding her head with care. She pulled back and smiled up at him, her rare playfulness stroking his cock as effectively as her palm.

  “Come here,” he said in a deep voice he barely recognized. He crooked the forefinger of his free hand.

  Shaun poked out her bottom lip like a little girl reluctant to give up her toy. “But I’m not done.”

  Cole laughed low and raspy. “I know, but I’m afraid I will be if you keep that up, and I’m fucking dying to be inside you.”

  Contemplating his confession for only a moment, Shaun secured the condom in place before rising up on her knees. She positioned him beneath her, then watched the emotions play out on his face as she seated herself to the hilt. The warmth of her body permeated through the thin layer of latex, and they both released a sound somewhere between a groan and a curse. To Cole, the feeling of their bodies joined was damn near close to heaven on earth.

  He gathered his restraint and rested his palms on her hips when she’d caught her breath enough to move. Flattening the soles of his feet, Cole thrust his hips upwards, plunging deeper into her warm abyss. His mind lost in unyielding emotion. How easily he could fall for this woman, assuming he hadn’t already. Her pace quickened, and he matched the urgent rhythm.

  “Yes,” he coaxed. “Don’t stop. Take what you need.”

  Her breasts bounced with each crash of skin to skin. Cole cupped both, smoothing the beaded pearls with the pads of his thumbs. She pressed her palms into his chest, leveraging herself for the quickening pleasure assault. Her nails grated his flesh, which was slick from sweat and the scattered raindrops sneaking between the dense leaves.

  The rain continued its sensual serenade. Shaun threw her head back, signaling to Cole that she was close. Cole sat up, arms moving to grip her shoulders, yanking her down harder onto his spearing cock, pushing himself as deep as possible. Shaun cried out his name and he answered by grunting hers, losing himself at the first clench of her core.

  CHAPTER 24

  Cole held Shaun tight against his body, still slick with perspiration and rainwater. They stared upwards, entranced by the green and brown mosaic of branches and leaves. He tugged a corner of the blanket up and over their tangled limbs, a shield from the slight drop in temperature that was a product of the rainstorm.

  “Cole?”

  “Hmm?” he asked, voice still husky, contently wrapped in a burrito of postcoital bliss. He skated his fingertips up and down the smooth curve of Shaun’s back. Her damp skin shivered beneath his tender touch.

  “That guy at the festival. The one I shook hands with.”

  “Yeah, what about him?” he continued, knowing exactly what she was about to ask.

  “Who was he?”

  Cole chuckled to himself, imagining the look on his best friend’s face when Cole went all caveman and claimed Shaun with his lips for all the festival to see. “Just my best friend, Jake.” For the first time, Cole wondered if Shaun had a best friend. Someone to whom she confided the side of herself that he’d witnessed for only a few precious moments out of the many they’d spent together. He didn’t recall anyone at the dinner party she’d appeared cordial with on that level, but the appearance of Olivia had brought mingling of any kind to an abrupt halt.

  “Have you told him anything else about me? I mean, apart from the phone call I overheard. That was him, right?” Shaun shifted and propped her head up on her hand.

  “Yep, he’s became a huge fan of yours after that call, by the way.” She pinched his side and Cole yelped, tugging her back down against him, the friction stirring the lower region of his body to life. He nestled his nose in her hair, pressing a quick kiss to the crown of her head. “Seriously, though, I’ve told him about you. Other more genuine stuff.”

  “Oh?” she asked, turning her face up toward him, eyebrows rising high.

  Cole shrugged, sitting up to rest his back against the truck cab, the metal cold against his skin. Shaun sat up as well, positioning herself to face him. The blanket dipped, exposing one perfect breast. Blood rushed to the head between Cole’s legs as her nipple puckered when kissed by the cool, crisp air.

  Catching the heat of his gaze, Shaun smiled wide and pulled the blanket up higher, securing it with a hand to her chest. “Focus, Mr. Jacobson.”

  “Oh, I am focused, Ms. Wright. Very fucking focused.” He dropped his mouth to nibble at the fingers holding the impeding fabric. Shaun released a soft moan when his mouth ventured up over the swell of her breast, not shying away from him. Cole relished the casual ease between them, having finally shed the ever-present awkwardness brought on by working together.

  “It’s so beautiful here,” she breathed.

  Cole peeled open one eye. “On the contrary, the view only improved recently.” He continued to feast on her smooth skin, a salty sweetness.

  She laughed and nudged him with her shoulder. “I mean it.”

  Cole looked up and scanned the grounds around them, almost saying a silent goodbye. “Yeah. I was crazy when I bought it for myself.”

  “Crazy? Why?”

  “The money could’ve gone to something more worthwhile.
Should, actually.”

  “More worthwhile than a place of your own, perfect for seducing women who have no chance against your charm?” She smirked, wiggling her brows.

  “Few people know about this place. I’ve only had the nerve to show it to one other person who I knew wouldn’t laugh.” He reached a hand out and cradled her chin, his thumb smoothing over her high cheekbone.

  “Christine?” Shaun spit the name out, then darted her eyes away as if disappointed she’d laid bare a hint of jealousy.

  “No.”

  “No?” She met his gaze, challenging him to elaborate. “Eh, what business is it of mine anyway?” She shrugged and pulled away from him as if dismissing any claim she might’ve felt toward him. He had no doubt she could close her feelings off if need be.

  Surprising himself, Cole realized he wanted her to feel the complete opposite. That she had every right to know where she stood with him. He dropped his hand and picked at the blanket between them. “It’s Jake. I haven’t seen Christine in years. I mean, I broke it off on summer break of my first year at RCIT. We exchanged a polite greeting every once and a while after, but then she went away to college.”

  “Cole, you don’t have to.” She shook her head, but he could see the hazel pools relay something completely different, as if she wanted more validation of his feelings for her. And damn him for wanting to give it.

  “Maybe. But I was hoping that if I told you about Christine, you might tell me if Olivia was the model you were with at that stupid fashion show my sister can’t stop talking about. You know, scar for scar.”

  She released a short laugh, eyes betraying her amusement. “Is that so?”

  He gave a sly smirk and shrugged.

  A ray of light chose that moment to lance through the willow tree and blind Cole. He reached a hand up to shield his eyes, and left behind the awkward subject that could suck the joy out of their long-awaited time alone. “Looks like the rain has stopped.”

  “Yeah,” Shaun agreed, apparently sharing his disappointment.

  “Well, what would you like to do? Lady’s choice.”

  She lifted her shoulders, but held firm to the blanket across her breasts. “I don’t know. You’re the local.”

  “Would you like to see more of Sweetwater? We didn’t get a chance to go anywhere yesterday.”

  “No, we didn’t.” She smiled, teeth biting down on her lower lip. “I’d like that very much, actually.”

  Cole stood, not caring that he was naked, and reached a hand down for Shaun. With a little more hesitation, she rose to her feet with his offered help, kicking up the other corner of the blanket to reveal the condom packets he’d hidden there.

  “What the–?” Shaun knelt back down and collected a few, waving them in front of his face when she stood again.

  Expression sheepish, Cole circled his arm around her waist and pulled her into him hard. The packets flew out of her hands, raining down on the blanket when their bodies collided. “I plan on us using each and every one.” He slanted his mouth over hers, and a palm that started to push against his chest maneuvered around his neck, guiding him closer. The kiss ending all too quickly, they went in search of their clothes and dressed enough to appear decent through the truck windows for the ride back to his cottage.

  Showered and dressed, Shaun and Cole returned to their humble carriage. He pulled the pickup out of the driveway long before any of his family returned from the festival. A relief, considering that the last time Cole had checked his voicemail, his mom had sounded desperate to know his whereabouts. He’d promptly turned his phone off.

  With a quick glance sideways as the truck cruised up Main Street, Cole snaked his arm behind Shaun’s back and urged her closer to him. She obliged, and the scent of her hair enveloped him in a pleasurable embrace. He pointed out places of interest, like the auto repair shop Jake worked at and the old schoolhouse every kid in Sweetwater believed was haunted. They spent most of the ride in comfortable silence, enjoying how beautiful the day had turned out to be.

  Cole ended the short tour of his home town in the empty parking lot of Jacobson’s Lumber Co., identified by the wooden sign with navy block letters resting on the roof of the main building. A much smaller handwritten sign that hung from one of the doors read CLOSED FOR THE FESTIVAL. The weight of reuniting with the family business was stifling.

  “Your father’s business?” Shaun asked when he shifted the truck into park, headlamps facing the front entryway.

  Cole hadn’t expected to feel so unbearably homesick all at once. He nodded, convinced his voice would shake.

  “It’s a lot bigger than I’d imagined.”

  The lumberyard itself neared the size of a football field. Six open-air buildings were filled with lumber of all shapes, sizes, and types. The pine-green, barn-shaped main building stood a quarter as large. Cole didn’t need to walk inside to know the layout, having committed the whole of it to memory.

  “Your life here seems pretty terrific. I’m really sorry you were forced to leave it behind for Mason.”

  Cole considered his life for a moment. Yeah, he agreed that he found a degree of happiness in the comfortable shoe of Sweetwater, but now that he saw other possibilities while still doing something he loved, he yearned for both sides of the coin.

  “You know, things aren’t all that terrible for me. I did luck out as far as bosses go.” He smirked, giving Shaun a suggestive once-over. Battling back a smile, she rolled her eyes.

  Deep down, Cole didn’t want to talk about Mason or leaving Sweetwater. He didn’t want to talk about the firm or his sleaze-ball uncle. But if he wanted anything more permanent with the woman sitting next to him, he would have to, and sooner rather than later.

  “Hungry?” he asked.

  “I could stand to eat something.”

  “Good. I hope you like burgers.”

  “And if I don’t?” she snapped back with playful sass.

  “Too late. I already know you like meat…” Cole winked.

  “Ew, really?” she groaned, giving his shoulder a shove.

  “Oh, you love it!” He laughed and tugged her tight against him and kissed her temple. He then shifted the truck into drive, retreating from the overwhelming memories assaulting him.

  Cole parked Old Bess in the back lot of Charlie’s. The pub appeared fairly quiet, as expected with the festival in town and the favorable change in weather. They chose an empty booth near the pool tables in the back. Shaun plucked one of the menus from a caddy behind the salt and pepper shakers.

  “I recommend the Grill Monster with waffle fries,” Cole said.

  Shaun searched the menu for more details on his suggestion. “What’s in the Grill Monster, or should I not ask?”

  “Alligator, hence the ‘monster.’” Cole chuckled at the horrified expression on Shaun’s face. Apparently she wasn’t a fan of exotic meats. “Just kidding. A grass-fed Angus mix of rib eye and brisket, topped with bacon and aged Vermont cheddar.”

  “Okay, that I can handle.”

  “Is my one good eye deceiving me or has Mr. Cole Jacobson returned to Sweetwater?”

  Cole recognized the whiskey rasp of Grace Dixon. She had been a waitress at Charlie’s since before he was born and had stayed on long after old man Chuck had passed and left the pub to his nephew Dean. He stood and gave the thin, sturdy black woman with short waves of dove-gray hair a tight hug, inhaling a nose full of cherry tobacco and butterscotch, the signature scents care of a hand-rolled cigarette she’d most likely smoked on her last break and the butterscotch candies she used to mask the scent of the tobacco.

  “Let’s have a look at you.” She took a step backwards and poked his midsection with a candy-apple-red fingernail. “Doesn’t look like you’ve been eating all that well.”

  “I blame the lack of good food and even better company.” He grinned.

  “Always the charmer.” She let loose a deep, throaty chuckle. “And who do we have here?” Grace peered over at Shaun, wh
o rose to her feet. If the small-town friendliness made her uncomfortable, she was doing a very good job of hiding it.

  “Hi, I’m Shaun.” She offered her hand to the older woman, who studied her from behind large, thick-rimmed glasses.

  “Oh, no. We don’t do handshakes in Sweetwater. Come here and give me a hug.” Reluctantly, Shaun walked into Grace’s open arms, but relaxed when limbs kept strong by carrying trays stacked high with plates of food encircled her. The older woman then looked Shaun over with a frown and tsked. “Another one who could use a good meal. You can’t live on all that fancy gourmet nonsense they serve in those big-city restaurants. Food was meant to sticks to your ribs. Satisfy you after a day of hard work.” Grace motioned for them to sit down. “You are real pretty, though. And super smart, seeing as you scored yourself Sweetwater’s most eligible bachelor.” Cole coughed, feeling his face light on fire. Shaun tittered as well. “Now what can I get you? Your regular?”

  Cole nodded. “Yes, with two Sams.”

  “Sounds good, but you better leave some room for dessert. Dean let Jessie have her run at the kitchen this morning and she outdid herself.”

  “My mouth is already watering.”

  “Do all women in Sweetwater throw food your way?” Shaun quipped, making herself comfortable on her side of the booth.

  “Remember what Grace said – most eligible bachelor right here.” Cole pointed a finger at himself. “Do you cook?”

  “Nope. Not at all,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “That’s okay. If you’re really good, maybe I’ll be the one cooking for you.”

  Grace left and returned soon after with a basket of mozzarella corn fritters. “Dean said those are on the house after I told him how sad the two of you look.”

  “Tell him thanks,” Cole said.