by J. H. Croix
I scanned the space, not finding anything amiss. Then, there was a scuffling sound.
“What in the world?” I began slowly. Then, my eyes landed on the distinct rump of a porcupine trying to hide under the shelves. “Oh, God. The latch must’ve been loose.”
“There’s your burglar,” Elias said with a chuckle.
The porcupine’s bottom wiggled, and its quills were up. Despite their prickly reputation, which was deserved, porcupines were shy creatures.
“I’m guessing he was curious and maybe a little hungry. You do have those cookies and muffins.”
“How do I get him out of here?” I mused.
We both stepped to the door, which was on the far end from where the porcupine was trying to appear invisible under a curtain that hung in front of the shelves. It was purple with tiny flowers on it. The sight of the prickly rump with the bright curtain draped over it was incongruous.
Elias cupped my elbow lightly. “Let’s get out and push the door open wider. I’m guessing we can lure him out.”
“We can?”
“Let’s just see.”
Elias and I climbed out and went around to the other end of the truck. He tapped lightly on the side of the truck near where the porcupine was inside. At that, we heard some motion. After some louder tapping, the porcupine clambered down the steps. Even when they were moving fast, porcupines didn’t actually move very fast. This one waddled rapidly across the parking lot before disappearing into the trees on the far side.
I laughed. “Well, that was definitely better than getting quilled.”
“Ever been quilled by a porcupine?” he asked as he followed me back into the truck.
“Actually, yes. I was a little girl, and a little too curious. It did hurt, but I only got two in me. You actually have to get right up close. The quills don’t travel very far.” I leaned over to fetch my laptop from its storage spot in a locked cabinet.
When I straightened, Elias commented, “Damn, just standing in here makes me want some coffee.”
“I’ll make you a coffee. Do you want one?”
“I’ll never say no to your coffee,” he said, so solemnly that I burst out laughing. “You don’t have to though.”
“Coming right up. It’s the least I can do after you gave me a ride and saved me from a porcupine.”
A gust of wind from the harbor nearby flew into the coffee truck, swinging the door shut with a thump.
“Do you want that open?” he asked.
“Nah. It’s chilly out anyway. Now that I’m making coffee for you, we might as well be comfortable.”
I tapped the button to turn on my industrial espresso machine and opened the cabinet above where I kept my supplies. “Your usual?”
“Of course.”
I’d worked in my coffee truck with more than one person on many occasions. I often hired extra help in the summers. But this was the very first time I’d been in here late at night, alone with a man who I wanted to kiss so fiercely the desire was almost an ache in my body.
Elias leaned his hips against the narrow counter running along the wall behind where I made coffee. “It’s very organized in here,” he observed as his eyes scanned the space.
“I have to keep it organized. It’s too small. Otherwise, it would be cluttered all the time.”
I started his coffee and turned to rest my hips against the counter opposite him. There was only about two feet between us. His eyes traveled up and down, lingering on mine when they landed on my face again. My thoughts fuzzed, and the air felt in short supply. I almost forgot to turn off the coffee, but the machine blessedly beeped when his shot was done, and I turned to switch it off.
Only a minute later, I handed him a coffee. He moved to take his wallet out of his back pocket, and I waved him away. “Don’t you dare. You’re giving me a ride home.”
Flustered with his presence, I busied myself cleaning up. I heard him take a swallow of coffee and then he let out a sound of pleasure. “Best. Coffee. Ever.”
Turning, I smiled. “Really?”
Elias held my eyes and nodded. “Absolutely. That’s why I come here every day I’m working on my way out to the plane hangar,” he said flatly. He set the coffee on the counter and surprised me when he reached across the space between us and caught one of my hands in his.
Before I could even wonder what he was doing, he reeled me to him in a smooth motion. I was standing bracketed between his feet, and I could feel his muscled thighs on the outsides of my legs. He held my gaze just long enough that I almost looked away from the intensity. My pulse was galloping along, and I could hardly get any air into my lungs.
Then he went and lifted his hand, lightly cupping my chin and tracing his thumb across my bottom lip. My brain cells went up in smoke.
Chapter Nine
Elias
Cammi’s eyes went dark. Her lips parted, and I wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt.
Although I hadn’t let myself spend too much time with Cammi, the reason I’d always steered away from getting too close was because she had a sweetness about her, a kindness that ran bone deep. I kind of lost my mind when I heard the bullshit that guy pulled on her. I knew she would never set out to have an affair with someone. She was loyal through and through and exuded it in everything she did.
I felt deeply protective of her, and I wanted to beat the shit out of that fucking asshole who’d used her like that. I hated to think her natural kindness could be soiled by cynicism.
And, the plain truth was, I wanted her, so fiercely I was tired of trying to swim against the current of my raw desire.
“I’m going to kiss you now.” My voice came out gruff, frayed by the need rushing through me.
Cammi’s lashes brushed against her cheeks before she lifted her eyes, slowly, searching mine. “Okay,” she whispered.
Somewhere in this moment where I had lost all sense of time, I’d slipped an arm around her waist, my palm resting at the base of her spine. Because I was selfish and greedy and couldn’t resist, I slid my hand down over the sweet curve of her bottom like I’d wanted to forever.
Cammi’s breath hitched, and she made a little sound at the back of her throat as I nudged her closer. Her soft curves bumped against my body. Her scent, sugar and flowers, spun around me. I slid my hand around to cup the base of her neck. Her head tilted back just as I dipped to brush my lips across hers. I meant to start this kiss gently. That lasted all of a second, if that. The moment my lips touched hers, it felt as if a bolt of lightning struck my body.
Every cell lit on fire, and the only way to save myself from getting burned was to dive into it. I fit my mouth over hers, growling when she let out a sigh into our kiss. And then, I was devouring her with deep strokes of my tongue, which she met stroke for stroke as she flexed against me.
Any intentions I had—and I couldn’t say I thought this through at all—flew out the window. I squeezed her bottom and then slid my hand up under her T-shirt, curling around her side to cup her breast. Her nipple pebbled under my touch through the thin silk of her bra, and I growled again as I brushed my thumb back and forth over it.
Fuck me. I needed more, and I needed it now. Cammi’s hands were busy, one mapping my chest, and the other stealing under the hem of my shirt, her touch was warm against my skin. I tore free from her mouth, breathing in long gulps of air. When I looked down, her chest was heaving and her lips were damp with her skin flushed pink.
I brushed my thumb over her nipple again, and I felt her shift her thighs. I needed more.
With my eyes on hers, I dipped my head before letting my gaze break free to dust kisses along her collarbone, pressing a hot open kiss at the base of her throat. She gasped my name, and I dragged her shirt down, almost dying a little inside when I saw she was wearing a black lace bra. Her pink nipples teased me through the dark lace. I shoved it down, and her breast plumped up over the top. I laved my tongue over one nipple before sucking lightly, savoring her little gasp and the feel of
her fingers spearing in my hair.
I wasn’t going to take it that far tonight, but my cock was hard, to the point of pain. Sweet Cammi had tempted me for too long.
She had this penchant for wearing skirts. Thank fuck she had one on tonight, with boots of course. That was her style, kind of feminine and tomboy at once. I loved it. Moving swiftly, I pushed away from the counter and lifted her, sliding her hips onto the counter behind her, the very one where she’d served me coffee so many times.
I slid my palms up her legs, the fabric of her skirt rising up with my touch until it was in a rumple around her hips. “What are you doing” she whispered on the heels of a soft whimper when I cupped my palm between her thighs, feeling the damp silk there.
“You tell me. I can stop right now, or I can make you come all over my fingers and mouth.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. I took that as an opportunity to kiss her again. Her tongue was sassy with mine.
Drawing back, I prompted, “Tell me what you want.”
“Well, I mean, when you put it like that.” Her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink and her eyes fell.
“Look at me.”
Those pretty blues met mine again. “What?” she whispered, lifting her chin slightly.
“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?”
She shook her head.
“Since the first day I saw you.” I let that fall between us, watching her eyes widen slightly and her breath come out in a startled puff. “Now, where was I?” I dipped my head and pressed kisses on her neck again. She liked that, arching and letting out a little whimper when I nipped lightly. Straightening, I added, “Just tell me to stop if you don’t want this.”
“Oh, there’s no chance of that,” she said, her voice husky. “I didn’t let myself think too far, but I’ve wanted you ever since I saw you.”
She bit her lip. I kissed her once, hard and fast, before letting my hand slide up the inside of her thigh again to tease over the damp silk. I pushed it aside, letting out a growl of satisfaction when I found her satiny, wet heat.
Cammi let out a ragged gasp as I teased my fingers through her slick folds. Lifting my eyes, I took her in. With her cheeks flushed pink, her breasts rising and falling with every breath she took, and her eyes darkening to navy, she was fucking glorious.
I dipped my head, nipping lightly at her earlobe. She arched her head, gasping when I sank two fingers in her channel. I needed to taste her sweet mouth, so I made my way there, dropping hot kisses along her neck before capturing her lips with mine again.
Her hips rocked into my touch as I delved into the very core of her. She murmured something into our kiss, and I drew away, asking, “Yes?”
Her eyes dragged open, her gaze heavy-lidded as she stared at me. “I don’t know, I think I said your name.”
I teased my thumb over her clit, watching as her teeth sank into her bottom lip and she let out a little whimper of pleasure when her hips rocked into my touch. Fuck, watching Cammi experience pleasure like this, so raw, so unvarnished, was its own form of torture. I could feel the teeth of my zipper pressing against my cock.
That was going to have to wait. I would eventually experience all of Cammi, but not here, in a hasty fuck in her coffee truck.
“Come for me,” I murmured as I drew my fingers out and buried them inside of her again. “Tell me what you need.”
She let out a frustrated gasp. “More,” she finally said, her tone a little bossy.
I fucked her with my fingers slowly before teasing over her swollen button of need. “That, more of that,” she gasped.
I could feel her body tightening as her channel rippled around my fingers, so I kept on going, drawing them out and sinking them in as I stretched her and teased over her clit. One of her hands curled on the edge of the counter, and she gripped it tightly as her body arched like a bow. She let out a long moan and gasped my name in a ragged cry.
I waited until the tremors running through her body stopped. I slowly drew my fingers away and pulled her panties back in place. Conveniently, there was a sink right beside us. I needed to taste her first before I washed it away. Lifting my fingers, I sucked them in my mouth just as Cammi opened her eyes.
Her mouth parted again, her eyes still dark. Her little coffee truck was quiet, save for the sound of her rough breathing as it slowed. Meanwhile, my body felt like a race car, the engine revving and revving. But I wasn’t going to let it loose, not tonight.
A sense of fierce tenderness squeezed my heart as I stared at her. This girl had had me since the first day I’d ever laid eyes on her. If she knew me, really, I didn’t think she would be here right now.
She reached between us, curling her palm over my cock through my jeans. She gave me a bold stroke, and my cock leaped under her touch. “Let me—” she began, her words stopping abruptly when I shook my head.
“Not tonight. I don’t wanna be too greedy.”
She looked confused for a minute, so I let my hand trail through the ends of her hair, sliding around to her cheek. “The first time I’m inside of you, it won’t be here in your coffee truck.”
Her eyes searched mine. “I think I’m the greedy one, but is there something wrong with my coffee truck?”
Chapter Ten
Cammi
Elias’s dark eyes searched mine as he shook his head slowly. “To the contrary, I love your coffee truck. And we should christen it, just not the first time.”
The implication that there would be more sent butterflies spinning madly in my belly. Although Elias had just given me a rather spectacular orgasm and I should’ve been sated, he was so hot that I already wanted more.
I was in a daze as he helped me off the counter and smoothed my skirt down over my hips. This version of Elias was nothing like I expected.
He’d been coming to get coffee from me for years. He was always polite and tipped on the extravagant side, but he wasn’t a man of many words, and he held himself back with an edge of grumpy. I’d actually assumed he didn’t like me. I was still marveling at him saying he’d wanted me since he met me.
Tonight, he was solicitous, if still quiet. He waited while I made sure everything was put away, taking his coffee with a warm smile. He drove me home and insisted on walking me to my door, which I thought was kind of ridiculous.
I walked in moments later after he had laid another devouring kiss on me. I leaned against the door after I closed it, pressing two fingers over my mouth as if I could hold his kiss there. It felt as if tiny fireworks were exploding in my body.
I listened to the sound of his tires on the gravel as he drove away and wondered when I might see him again. He’d insisted on putting my number in his phone, telling me he’d call me soon.
My night had been weird, to say the least. Dinner with my friends had been nice, but it had all been ruined when I ran into Brad, excuse me, Joel, and his wife. And my tire! Someone slashed my tire. I couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with Joel and Fran, but that seemed crazy. I needed to get over the fact that I couldn’t do anything about what his wife thought of me. Whether or not she believed that I’d knowingly had an affair with her husband was something I couldn’t do anything about. Bitterness twisted in my chest. I forcefully shoved those thoughts away and went to take a shower, almost reluctant to do so because I hated to wash away the feel of Elias’s touch. That man sure knew how to use his hands.
The following morning, I hitched a ride in to my coffee truck with a neighbor who delivered newspapers in the early hours. I opened at five in the morning during the summer, so my days started before dawn. I was grateful to be a morning person because I made bank from the fisherman and tourists who were heading out to the harbor to fish all day. They wanted coffee, and they wanted it early. I was the girl to make it happen. I’d always loved being out and about in these hours. The world felt quiet, as if you were in on a secret that nobody else knew, or at least not many people. I loved the sunrise and
the feeling of watching the world wake up.
A few hours later, it was going on eight o’clock and I was finally getting a breather from the madness of the morning rush. My line was gone, and I expected a more stately run of customers now until things slowed down around noon.
My back was to the opening of my serving counter while I quickly stacked fresh cups and got out the muffins I’d bought from the ski lodge. I idly stared at them as I lined them up in the small serving case. I hadn’t wanted to compete with Misty Mountain Café all these years. Considering that they had a full-service kitchen, the only thing I competed with them on was coffee. I had to admit, I was good at coffee, and I usually beat them on that front.
I made a mental note to talk to Tess and Susie about their ideas for planning the concept of even buying the coffee shop. I heard the sound of tires on gravel and turned a moment later, anticipating my next customer. My eyes landed on Elias climbing out of his truck. I swallowed as my pulse took off like a rocket and my belly executed a flip.
Sweet hell. That man was hot, need-a-fan hot. Susie’s comment was stuck in my head, perhaps because it was so apt. He wore faded jeans, so soft the fabric molded over his muscled thighs. He paired that with leather boots and a faded light blue T-shirt that did nothing to hide his muscled chest and shoulders. I noticed that subtle hitch to his gait again, and my heart squeezed slightly.
He was off his crutches, but I knew that ankle break and the complications hadn’t been an easy recovery for him. I hoped he wasn’t in pain anymore.
The moment he stopped in front of my window, I felt as if fire flashed over my skin. I shivered in the aftermath of the blast of heat. I instantly recalled that I’d come all over his fingers on this very counter where I now held a coffee cup with my hand resting on the cool steel surface.