by Rue Volley
He missed a step as she straightened away from the building. “I’m sorry? How’d you know I drove a Camaro?”
She shrugged negligently, the necklace ring of her halter dress catching the streetlight with the movement. “Ellie mentioned it.”
It was all he could do not to fall over as he almost tripped again. “You tell El you were leaving with me?” Sean’s girlfriend would be all over him like a bad case of hives about this when he wasn’t even sure what this constituted. She meant well but, now that she was blissfully happy, she was bound and determined to inflict it on everyone around her.
Cheyenne shook her head, appearing unconcerned. “No. I’m pretty sure it was just something that came up in conversation.”
The idea of her talking about him was intriguing. “Conversation. About me. Do tell,” he goaded as he hit the fob to unlock the doors on his jacked-up, black and chrome baby.
She smirked at him, but remained silent as he held the door open and handed her up onto the running board and into his truck. When he joined her inside, she seemed engrossed in touching all the gadgets and gizmos on his dash. “This is nice.”
As tempted as he was to prompt her to continue the conversation from outside, he decided to let it go and just be pleased that he and his choice of vehicular transport merited both a discussion and a memory as far as she was concerned. “Thank you. I love her. Plus, I can’t really tow a boat with the Camaro. I mean, I could, but—”
Her eyes widened in eagerness as she clicked her seatbelt into place. “Ooh, a boat?”
Rick chuckled as he gunned the engine. “I like to fish.”
He was especially proud of his boat, but didn’t want to bore the lovely creature next to him with talk of knots and meditative qualities of floating on an inner tube on a cool lake in the warm sunshine. Especially when his mind immediately skipped to her enjoying the sunshine and water-wearing nothing but briefest bikini. He wasn’t a Neanderthal, truly, but damn, sometimes he was a slave to his baser inclinations.
“So where to?” Cheyenne leaned back in her seat behind the seatbelt and crossed her legs. He could not get over how sexy she looked just chilling in his passenger seat. Her long legs looked to soft and smooth to the touch, her dress rode up her thighs - he found it hard to keep his focus on the road and not the hot woman next to him.
He turned right out of the parking lot and headed toward the interstate. “How do you feel about stargazing?”
* * *
When Cheyenne agreed to go with Detective Sexy, as she thought of him, to look at the stars, it was because he was hot and she was curious, in that order. Tonight especially, dressed up in his obviously tailored suit, because she knew it had to be hard for a guy of his stature to find nice stuff just off the rack, he looked positively delicious. Everything about him intrigued her, from his laid back demeanor to his astoundingly broad range of knowledge. He wasn’t what she considered the typical cop and he topped her list of mysteries she’d like to unravel.
Not once in the twenty or so minutes that they’d been on the interstate, then off at some state road, then left on some county road down to some creekside she had no idea where, did it occur to her that he might be serious about stargazing. Yet, as she watched him gather a thick and fancifully patterned fleece blanket from behind the back seat of his crew cab and spread it into the bed of his truck, she was somewhat suspicious and definitely confused.
“You need help climbing in?” he asked solicitously as he tugged off his tie and shrugged out of his suit jacket and tossed them into the back seat. His dress shirt showed off his arms, and it was a challenge not to reach out and touch them just to assure herself of their reality. He was a big guy, and very smart, and those were a serious turn-on for her.
She appreciated that he didn’t assume she needed help and had no problem asking instead of just manhandling her because he could. In this case, though, unless she wanted to flash her panties at him, since that was likely not on the menu, she would need his assistance. “Please.”
He placed her with her legs dangling from the high tailgate before she could take her next breath and was up next to her the breath after that. Her eyes caught his forearms as he methodically rolled up both his sleeves, each slight movement reminding her how small she was compared to him.
“C’mon.” He scuttled between the wheel wells, careful not to displace the soft covering, and opened the sliding back window to let the country music he’d left playing on the stereo out into the night with them. The low melodies blended into the night around them and lent a magical overtone to the otherwise quiet darkness.
Cheyenne scooted over to give him room as he stretched out on his back with his hand under his head. This guy was really going to stare up at the stars! she thought to herself.
She opened her mouth a couple times, but closed it after she realized that she couldn’t decide if she was annoyed that he wasn’t putting the moves on her or with herself for wishing he was. Rather than unpack that thought, she moved into the spot he’d saved for her; just enough room for her to stretch out without being smooshed up against his side.
“Comfortable?” His voice sounded closer, a little more intimate given their proximity as the night quickly filled in the empty spaces.
“I’m okay,” she answered, hushed, maybe a little awed at the display overhead. It was hard to find a place dark enough to see this back in town, if not impossible and yet, just a few minutes away, they could feast on the celestial offerings to their hearts’ content. “So why here?”
“Tonight’s supposed to be the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.”
The matter of fact way he said had her stifling a giggle. “Really?” she croaked out.
“Yes, really. I schedule my vacation around it, believe it or not. It’s amazing out on the lake in the boat. A little music, maybe a beer or two, and no lights but those in the sky. It’s fantastic.”
He did make it sound quite dreamy. And a small part of her envisioned being out there on the boat with him, but that wasn’t something she planned to give voice to. “I’ve never seen a falling star. Where am I supposed to be looking? At Perseus, I’m guessing?”
Rick held his watch over his face, then dropped his arm. “No, they should be all over the sky here soon, but Perseus…” He leaned up on one elbow as he surveyed the sky around them. “He’s right…there. Northeast portion of the sky.”
Cheyenne leaned up and did her best to follow the line from where he pointed, but came up short. “Yeah, I got nothing.” She flopped back into the bed with her arm behind her head.
“Really? You’ve never been to a planetarium or anything?” He sounded absolutely astounded at the possibility.
“Once or twice back in high school. I was a history kid. I can tell you the story of Perseus, but damn if I could find him in the night sky.”
He resumed his position on the truck bed next to her. “I love the myths that go with all the constellations. Doesn’t matter if they’re Greek, Roman, Norse, or Navajo, they’re fascinating.” The dreamy quality returned to his voice.
“It’s amazing…” she murmured, barely louder than the music.
“Yes?” She could hear him shift.
“The romance we give to old light.”
“How so?”
She turned her head and found his eyes in the dark, still lighter than she felt any man’s had a right to be and said, “The way we translate billions of years of old light moving through a vacuum into a sky full of diamonds.”
The corner of his mouth curled. “I suppose we’re inclined to see what we want to see.”
“Maybe.” What Cheyenne wanted to see was him, so she shifted onto her side to face him. With her head resting on her one arm, her other held the bottom of her dress more or less in place against the slight breeze that dipped over the edge of the bed and seemed intent on a Marilyn Monroe moment. “And maybe I just wouldn’t know romance if it bit me in the ass.” It was a common enough accusation from h
er exes, so it was easy to believe that he’d feel the same.
“Nah.” Rick shook his head as he shifted to mirror her position. Laying the way they were, she could feel the heat of his body as a tantalizing counterpoint to the slight chill in the breeze. “Maybe you’re just pragmatic. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Says you.” His easy dismissal was a little startling and not what she’d expected. Something about his voice piqued something within her. She knew it went along with the rest of her not-so-subtle crush on the gentle blond giant, but being this close to him, alone, with voices hushed except for the truth in their words, it did something to her. “You really brought me out here to look at the sky?”
The dimple in his cheek deepened as he graced her with a flash of teeth. “Yeah. I did, actually. Why? You worried I was looking for a way to talk you into allowing me into your panties?”
She blinked at his frank question. So he wasn’t immune or oblivious to the growing chemistry between them. “Crossed my mind, I admit.” She bit her lip as his gaze slipped down her face and slowly toured each curve of her body.
“I can promise you I wasn’t… then.” His words danced in the air between them.
“And now?” she teased. The way he licked his lips to wet them before he spoke had her in the mood to pounce but she still wasn’t quite clear on all the rules.
“Hell.” Rick reached out and laid his hand on the curve of her hip. “At the moment I can think of very little else.”
Her fingertips traced the words as he spoke them and she felt no shame stealing his next inhalation as she plastered herself against him from lips to where her toes met his shins. His mouth was so soft and tasted of his moans and cinnamon gum as their tongues introduced themselves and became intimately acquainted.
It was difficult for her to be patient as she explored what she’d been secretly coveting for so long. The slight stubble on his cheek, the softness of his freshly shorn blond hair, exactly what he looked like behind the buttons of his very proper dress shirt. The moment she opened the first, she tore her mouth from his and nibbled her way down to the recently revealed skin of his collarbone.
His hand that had been kneading her ass slid down to her knee and pulled her thigh over his, spreading her wide as he moved over her and between her legs. His other hand cradled her head against the hard metal of the truck bed. He surrounded her, overwhelmed her, as he imprinted himself on each of her senses: the scrape of teeth over her shoulder, the teasing warmth of his palm as it slid confidently up her side to cup her breast.
“Fuck,” she hissed as his thumb flicked over her nipple.
His hum of approval was punctuated with another flick and a grind of his hips as his hard cock did its level best to bring her off before they’d even been properly naked. He aimed to rectify at least part of that as he moved back and coaxed her to sit up enough for him to unhook the top of her dress. She hadn’t bothered with a bra as she loved the feel of the silk against her skin.
He slowly raised the dress over her body like the curtain call on a Broadway show. The moment it was over her head, he dropped it behind her and sat back in stunned silence.
His reaction to finding her just in her panties was priceless. Slackjawed, panting, wide-eyed, he stretched her back out, but remained on his knees over her to look his fill. Not one to be passive, she reached for the button of his pants, but he shook his head. “Lie back. I’ve been thinking about this since I saw you in your dress this evening.”
She pouted for a moment, but only until he lightly trailed his fingertips from her knees up her inner thigh to the edge of her panties. Her body rose up to his touch but he stopped short of giving her what she wanted. Again with his fingertips, he started at her shoulders this time, leaving goosebumps and shaky sighs in his wake as he made her squirm with no relief in sight. For a moment she thought he’d taken pity on her when he leaned over and brushed his lips against her swollen nipple but the brush of his lips was nothing compared to the scrape of the stubble that had her moaning out loud and clawing his arms.
His tongue danced over her abraded flesh as those silvery blue eyes snared her gaze. “You like that?”
She answered by winding her fingers through his hair and pressing his mouth to her plump breast, which he suckled most obligingly for only a second before he was on his knees between her splayed legs again. With one hand low on her stomach just above her panties, he began drawing little peaks and valleys at the edge lace edge of the elastic.
“I want to taste you,” he drawled as his other hand inched up her thigh again. “I want to know if your pussy tastes as good as it smells.” To illustrate the point, he dipped down and brushed his nose across the top of her panties, leaving her lightheaded as she held her breath, awaiting his touch. He moved to lick her inner thigh, staring up at her again. “I want to take my time and learn everything that makes you moan,” he bit her right at the edge of her panties making her body jump and arch into him, “and sigh,” brushing his stubble over the wet patch of silk in her panties as she fisted her hands in the blankets at her sides, “and call my name.”
Instead of biting the other thigh like she’d anticipated, he hooked a finger in her panties and pulled them to the side as he buried his face in her flesh. His tongue, his lips, hell, even his stubble and nose had her on the ragged edge for him and he’d only just started. She’d been so wet for him and he’d known it. He knew exactly what he was doing to her and loved every goddamn second of it.
Just when his tongue was settling into a rhythm that had her hips rising to meet his touch, he pulled back and made her whimper. “Patience,” he counseled as he rolled her panties down her legs and tossed them toward the open back window.
Naked but for her shoes, in the bed of his pickup truck on a two lane dirt road with nothing but the night sky overhead, Cheyenne felt hot and wild and free. She loved the way his nostrils flared when she licked her lips. “Are you going to look or are you going to eat?”
The gleam was back in his eye as he scooted down the bed and situated himself between her spread thighs. “Oh, I’m gonna eat.” He nuzzled the crease between the lips of her pussy. “I am definitely going to eat.”
He settled his mouth over her and all conversation ceased. Her mouth kept moving as he tongued and teased her clit but all that came out were gasps and the occasional groan of pleasure as he took his time wringing every drop of pleasure from her. His concentrated attention on her clit had her on the edge damn near instantly and he seemed to revel in keeping her there, holding her hostage to his torturous pleasure.
Occasionally he’d dip his tongue into her well, tasting all she had to offer and doing his best to coax more out of her. He was unreasonably skilled, like he’d been given a blueprint to her body and all he had to do was follow the directions. When Rick slid two fingers inside her, she knew it was going to be game over before much longer.
As with everything, he took his time, following the trail of moans and sighs she left for him and attentively doing any and every thing to make her completely insensate with lust. She opened her eyes for a moment and caught him watching her as he surveyed his work in progress. She couldn’t keep still even if she tried, but goddamn if he didn’t wink as he settled his mouth back over her and began to relentlessly lash her clit with his tongue once more. She begged him not to stop, those were the only words her brain could produce until finally there were no more words, just moans as she let go of the blanket and grabbed the top of his head to keep him right where she needed him for as long as she needed. If anything she had to push him away because he seemed more than happy to carry on in his efforts to bring her off again.
Rick sat back on his knees between her legs, his lips swollen and obviously wet from taking care of her. With a grin that damn near wound her up again, he said, “Fuck, that was good. Exactly what I’d hoped for.”
It was flattering to hear that he’d given her orgasms some thought though she could not put the words together to exp
ress that. “Uh huh.” She stretched her arms over her head and did her best to adjust her legs so they didn’t cramp. She felt decadent and luxurious.
“I want inside you so fucking bad,” he muttered as he leaned over and took her nipple into his mouth again.
Gone were the feelings of languor and relaxation in the face of renewed temptation. She dragged her nails lightly across his scalp as he tended to her gently. “What’s stopping you?” She could definitely appreciate his proposed course of action.
“No condom,” he mumbled around her flesh. Even now his hand was wandering down her belly to resume its earlier activities.
“Hell.” She didn’t carry them with her either, but then, this had been the last thing on her radar of late. As practical as she was, the recent lack of male attentions in her life had obviated the need for such accoutrements. Still, they weren’t entirely without options.
Threading her fingers through his hair, she brought his mouth back to his, loving the feeling of his body sliding over hers as his mouth claimed her lips. She could taste herself as his tongue slid against hers, and loved the way he moaned when she wriggled underneath him. His suit would be ruined but she was pretty sure from the feel of the ridge of his dick against her pussy lips he didn’t give a single damn. Tearing her lips from his, she nipped at his jaw, his neck, before breathing into his ear, “I need your cock in my mouth.”
* * *
Rick froze as the words penetrated his consciousness. Those kinds of offers did not come every day, much less from beautiful naked women he’d lusted after secretly for weeks. As diamond hard as his cock was, he still wasn’t processing especially well.
To encourage him, she pushed on his shoulders until he moved off to the side and let her slide out from underneath him. He reclined on his elbows and she straddled him, providing him with an unparalleled view as she made quick work of the line of buttons from his chest to his belt.
“Off,” she panted as she yanked the shirt from his waistband, and he was only too happy to comply, sitting up to suck an available nipple as he worked it off his arms and into a ball in his hands. He handed it over to her and she immediately donned it, taking a minute to savor his scent from a lapel with a lusty inhalation.