by Cora Seton
After getting a sign from Gabe, who was his catcher, Braden wound up again, and Sunny watched his hand, saw the ball. Off-speed, a little high and outside, just the pitch she’d been waiting for. Sunny swung, extending her arms as she transferred her weight to her front foot. With a loud ping that felt solid against her hands, effortless, she connected with the ball making sure she followed all the way through. Her eyes followed it as she dropped the bat and took off for first base to the roar of both benches.
When her foot hit the bag the ball was still sailing, so she rounded and hauled ass for second. Austin’s voice boomed instructions to the leftfielder from the dugout, but her pounding heart muffled everything as she glanced outfield and saw Collins at the fence. Heart in her throat, knowing she was chancing losing the hard fought run they needed to catch up with Austin’s team, Sunny went for it. Collins was either going to catch it and throw her out—he had a strong arm—or he’d miss it and she’d take home.
They needed to push the envelope if they were going to win, she thought, focusing on the bag at third base. Halfway there, Sunny prepared to execute a headfirst slide, something else she used to be damned good at, but the roar of the third base dugout, hers, and the groans from Austin’s bench had her looking back to see Collins jumping the fence to get the ball. Her stride slowed, and a wide grin split her face as she danced over third base, making damned sure she touched it. Home plate looked like heaven as she strolled toward it. She looked over at Austin’s dugout, wanting to stick her tongue out, but he wasn’t there. She looked back at the plate, and right there in the mix of her guys waiting to congratulate her was Austin McBride, grinning almost as much as she was. Her heart floated in her chest, as her endorphins tripled, leaving her brain in a love-soaked fog as she looked at him.
Damn, the man, he wasn’t supposed to congratulate her, he was supposed to be mad, she thought, holding his excited, proud gray eyes as she slapped the guys hands when she passed along the baseline, and they slapped her back. But that didn’t seem to be his style. Austin was the most supportive man she’d ever met, even when he was challenging her. He enjoyed seeing her win, as much as he enjoyed winning.
I don’t want the job, I want you to have it. Her smile slipped a notch with that thought. The question was did she still want it? With every day that passed, and she saw him at the station, watched him work and lead, Sunny realized he was much better suited, and infinitely more qualified to lead their station than she was. If she decided she didn’t want the job though, after all the effort he’d put into helping her get it, how in the hell could she tell him that? He’d be disappointed in her, and probably pissed too.
As soon as her foot hit the center of home plate, her feet left the ground as Austin lifted her to twirl her in circles, and Billy jumped beside him squealing. Sunny melted against him, soaked up Austin’s warmth and breathed in his delicious scent, relished the feeling of being in his arms again, somewhere she hadn’t been since the ranch.
Since he decided he was going to help her get the Chief’s job, he’d evidently adopted a hands-off policy to go along with that decision. It was irritating and frustrating. No matter how many hints she dropped, or passes she made, he just dodged her. Hell, for all she knew, maybe the man just didn’t want her anymore. She couldn’t blame him really. Sunny knew she wasn’t the easiest woman in the world to deal with, but his comments, and constant compliments, told her he found her attractive.
Austin slid her down his body, then met her gaze with intense eyes. His fingers dug into her arms, and Sunny’s gaze dropped to his mouth. His head gravitated toward her and her breath caught, but instead of kissing her, his hands fell away and he stepped back, leaving her lips buzzing like he’d kissed her anyway. Rubbing a hand over them, Sunny turned and picked up her bat, then walked on leaden feet to her dugout.
If and when she decided whether she still wanted the Chief’s job, she’d just have to cross that bridge then. Because right now? All she wanted was Austin McBride to carry her off the field and make love to her again.
Chapter Sixteen
‡
“Get me another box of nails will you?” Austin asked, patting his empty nail apron. Sitting back on his heels he laid his nail gun down to shove his hat back, and use the tail of his t-shirt to wipe his face. It was September already, so you’d think the weather would have cooled off some, but summer was still going strong in South Texas.
Being on a black asphalt roof intensified that heat tenfold too.
“Sure, but not until you drink this,” Sunny said, handing him a bottle of ice cold water from the mini-cooler beside her. “I don’t want to have to haul your butt to see Foxy, because you’re too stupid to keep hydrated.”
Austin cut his eyes at her and grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
Uncapping the bottle, he drank thirstily, while watching for another flash of her ass through the rip at the bottom of her right cheek as she crawled to the ladder propped against the eave. He’d noticed the rip earlier, and had been looking for more since then. The rip was just in the right place for him to see her underwear, but all he’d seen was her creamy flesh. That led him to wonder if she was wearing underwear. Either that or she was wearing a thong. A visual of that floated through his mind and he stiffened. Again.
The weather wasn’t the only thing hot on her mother’s roof today.
Turning, Sunny reached back with her foot until she found the rung, then her blonde head disappeared. Austin sat back on his haunches and finished his water. By the time he sat the bottle beside him, she was scrambling back up the ladder.
“You’re getting pretty good on that ladder, Chief.” Sunny’s brilliant smile kicked him in the gut. His eyes fell to her scooped neck tank and he watched her breasts bounce as she crawled over to hand him the nails. “That tower climb should be a piece of cake next week.”
“I’m not Chief yet, but I’m working my ass off to at least qualify.”
And what an ass it was, Austin thought. Feeling that round flesh in his hands as he pushed his cock in that tight pussy was all he could think about these days. But Sunny didn’t seem to even remember that they’d had sex. With a huffed breath, he rolled to his side away from her to push up on his knees so she didn’t see the result of those thoughts in his workout shorts.
She has other things to think about right now McBride. Like her physical fitness testing next week, the second part of her qualification tests to become Chief. The tower climb was her weakest point. Carrying a fifty pound sack up twelve flights of stairs would tax anyone. Especially a woman who was in general weaker in the upper body than a man. The trick was positioning of the sack, and once he showed her that, Sunny was meeting the required time.
Because he hadn’t pulled his resume yet, Austin was scheduled for that too. He’d taken the written fire exam and scored five points higher than Sunny had. She scored higher than him on the medic portion, but not by much. He wasn’t wasting his time, because to be a full-time Captain, with the exception of the Chief’s exam, he’d need all those things anyway.
Austin hadn’t brought it up, so he didn’t know if she knew or not. It didn’t matter anyway, because Austin was contemplating having a chat with Silas about withdrawing his application. It had been a month since their talk, since her breakdown, and Sunny had done an about-face in her approach at the station. They were working together like a well-oiled machine now, and the guys had commented to him about the dramatic change in Sunny. Even Billy had noticed, and he seemed a lot more settled, less antsy and rebellious. That could be because he’d started school now and felt like a big boy, or it could be all about Sunny’s approach with him too.
Austin didn’t know if it was her increasing confidence from the trainings and their talks, or if it was the weekly counseling sessions. Maybe it was a combination of all of those things. Whatever it was, Sunny was a much happier person. And because she was happier, everyone in her world was happier too. Including him.
But he could be h
appier, and he was going to talk to Sunny about that real soon. Now that things had settled down at the station it was time for them to talk about other things. Like the connection they had that night they made love at the ranch. He wanted them to date, go out and have a good time, maybe take Billy with them sometimes.
And have sex. That bed at the Rosebud was getting harder and harder every night. But not nearly as hard as he was most nights thinking about Captain Sunny Gleason. Lord he couldn’t take seeing her in those thin tank tops and turnout pants at the station and not want to haul her to the shower. It was just about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
Austin was sweating like a fiend now. Laying the nail gun back down he yanked the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head to sop his face, chest and shoulders, before throwing it down on the bundle of shingles beside him. Thunder rumbled overhead, and he looked up to see the clouds were getting pretty dark. He probably should stop messing around, and focus on getting this done. He damn sure wasn’t going to be up here when the lightning started.
“You should probably stop now, it’s gonna rain in a minute,” Sunny said with a laugh, and Austin’s eyes swung to her. “Mama left early for Pokeno, they have some kind of banquet tonight, so she’s going to help them cook. Billy won’t be home from school for another hour.”
Her tongue sounded thick, her eyelids heavy over her eyes which weren’t focused on him. Austin followed her line of vision realized she was staring at his crotch. His dick hardened more.
“Is that so?” he asked, his voice rough with need, his hand squeezing the nail gun.
“Yeah, and you look like you could use a…shower.” Her breathy voice and eyes which were still locked on his dick told him exactly what she wanted to do in that shower.
A loud pop startled Austin, the recoil from the nail gun knocked him off balance and Austin rolled toward the edge of the roof. He tried to catch himself, but the pitch of the roof was too steep. His legs went off the edge first, his hat tumbled off and hit the ground and Austin fought to dig his fingers into the rough shingles to stop himself. The tips of his fingers finally caught at the edge of the roof and he dangled.
Sunny appeared at the edge of the roof, looking down at him grinning. “You need to be rescued, cowboy? I could call 9-1-1 and get the guys over here to help you. I’m sure they’d want to see this,” she said, with a belly laugh.
“Get the damned ladder, Sunny,” he growled, gritting his teeth, digging his now numb fingers in deeper.
“Please save me, ma’am, might work better,” she said, her eyes sparkling as she threw her head back and laughed, but not making a move to get the ladder.
Austin huffed a couple of frustrated breaths, looked down at the ground that was about four feet from his sneakers and contemplated letting himself fall. If he broke an ankle though, he wouldn’t be able to do the physical fitness tests. His muscles strained, his fingers were probably bleeding from the rough texture of the shingles. Sweat dripped from his hair down his nose to hang there like he was hanging from the roof. And she still stood there waiting, instead of moving toward the ladder.
“Please save me, ma’am,” he growled up at her, and her laugh rang inside his head as she finally walked to the ladder.
Sunny Gleason was going to pay for this big time. And she was going to pay for every minute he’d thought about her in that bed at the Rosebud Motel. It was time for Ms. Gleason to pay the piper. Just as soon as his feet touched the ground that is exactly what she was going to do.
Suddenly she appeared beside him, propped the ladder beside him and moved back. Austin maneuvered his right foot onto a rung, shifted his position then managed to get his left on the ladder then scrambled down, and turned to pin Sunny with his eyes. Her eyes challenged him and in two steps he was in front of her. He bent, put his shoulder into her midsection and she squealed when he lifted her over his shoulder. Clamping his arm around her knees, he bounced her twice and she grunted.
“Put me down,” she squealed, slapping his back.
Austin swatted her ass. Hard. Then rubbed it, as he walked to the front porch. Was that a whimper he heard? His cock was so hard now his shorts were probably a pup tent in the front. He opened the front door, walked in and kicked it shut before he eased her to her feet. Turning her he pushed her into the door and covered that sassy mouth of hers. Her heat poured into his mouth, her hands slid up his chest and Austin felt down her thigh to lift her calf to his side. Pistoning his hips, he put himself right where he wanted to be and swallowed Sunny’s moan.
Blood pounded in his ears in time with the throb in his cock, as he kissed her, took her tongue and sucked her sweetness. Sunny ground her hips against him, and Austin groaned as tingles at the base of his spine told him he needed to stop her. Breathing hard Austin pulled away.
“I need you now—take your pants off,” he said, hurriedly shoving his shorts down to his knees and stepping out of them. By the time he stood back up, Sunny had removed her pants, but stood there in her panties looking unsure. Frustration surged up to make him lightheaded. “What’s wrong?” he asked gruffly.
“Do you have a condom?” she asked.
“Fuck me,” Austin hissed, shoving a hand through his wet hair. “My wallet is in the truck. I didn’t wear jeans today.”
“Let me go check Rand’s room,” Sunny said, running across the living room then down the hall.
Austin followed her, but didn’t stop at Rand’s room. He went into the bathroom and flicked on the shower then stepped inside. It could take her thirty minutes to find a condom, and he was hot. The cold water felt good on his heated skin as he quickly soaped up, washed his hair then opened the door to jerk a towel from the hook. Wrapping it around his waist, he walked to the door and found Sunny outside the door looking upset.
“No luck?” he guessed. She nodded, and he headed down the hallway. “I’ll go to the truck.”
“It’s storming now,” Sunny informed, following behind him. “As hot it was outside, it’s not surprising.”
A lightning bolt struck very close to the house right then, rattling the wooden floor. Austin stopped at the door, dropped his chin to his chest and sighed. “Why can’t anything ever be easy for us?” he asked.
“Because anything worth having isn’t easy,” Sunny said softly, putting her hand on the back of his shoulder. “But if you’re determined, you can make it happen anyway.” Her other hand snaked around his waist to unknot the towel. It fell to the floor and his breath caught when her hand slid down his back, over his ass and she said, “Turn around, Austin.”
Those three words echoed through his skull, and were punctuated by a loud clap of thunder outside. Austin turned, and looked down into her heated blue eyes. The intent there was clear, clearer still when her hand closed around him and his breath lodged in his throat.
“I wanted to catch you in the shower to do this, but you were too fast,” she said, her tongue flicking out.
Every muscle in his body seized when her hot tongue rasped around the edge of his head. She licked over the top, and his fingers curled into his palms. Her heat closed over the head of his cock and Austin groaned loudly, his knees buckled, and he fell back against the door. Sunny moved with him, leaning into him she took more of him into her mouth. Austin’s breath came in short, labored gasps as her hand slid down to give her mouth more room stretching him tighter.
Her lips pinched around him and his balls tightened as her teeth grazed down his shaft almost to the base. She slid him out of her mouth inch by agonizing inch, leaving a hot wet trail behind on his cock. He thought the feel of her tongue as she dragged it up the underside of his cock was the most incredible sensation he’d ever felt. But then she ringed the cap at the top of his cock and sucked hard. Blood rushed to his head, tingles started at his spine, pressure built and Austin knew he was close to coming. Sunny kept sucking him, pulling his come closer and closer to the head of his cock. It felt so fucking good, his toes curled. But he needed to let her
know.
Austin grabbed her hair and tried to pull her away, but Sunny just moaned. The vibrations on his sensitive skin almost sent him over the edge. A tremor rocked him and he gritted his teeth to fight it as she cupped his balls to go down on him again. Fisting him near the base of his cock, Sunny set a rhythm pumping him with her mouth, with her hand, until he lost his mind. His fingers fisted in her hair, she moaned and hot lava crashed over him. Throwing his head back, Austin roared as his body shook violently, and he poured himself into her mouth. When Sunny pulled her mouth from him, feeling boneless, Austin sank to the floor.
The rumble of the storm outside intensified, wind howled, and branches slapped the window panes, but nothing compared to the storm swirling inside of him right then. This woman had just wrecked him. He felt wrung out, and raw inside.
She sat down beside him, and laughed as she crawled into his lap, curling into his chest like a kitten. Asking nothing except his warmth. She kissed his neck and snuggled there. Something snapped inside of Austin, and he was just as determined to make it happen for her, as she had been for him. His hand fisted her hair as his mouth crashed down over her swollen lips. Sunny moaned low in her throat, and he absorbed it. His tongue sought hers, as he slid his hand down her body to find her heat. Her fucking wet heat. Lord, she was dripping. Blowing him had evidently turned her on as much as it had wrecked him.
He dipped a finger inside of her and her breath hitched as she pushed against his hand. Gathering her moisture, Austin slicked it up to her bud and made a slow circle. Sunny whimpered, spreading her thighs to give him better access. Austin circled her again, pressing the bud, flicking it to hear that delicious little sound she made when he did. Her excited scent wafted up to his nose enflaming him again. Austin hardened, and she wiggled her soft ass against him.