by Jaye Ripley
“What?” he asks.
“I think you fucked me stupid. I can’t stay on a coherent train of thought.”
We both laugh. Hunter kisses the top of my head and hugs me tighter against him. He doesn’t answer one way or another. His touch and hold on me is enough.
Stars sprinkle the sky. The moon has dipped lower, but shines bright enough in a clear sky. The wind blows salty kisses. The crashing waves beat against the sand in a rhythm that mimics my heartbeat. The pure romantic fictional scene of it all hits me.
Those books that Bethany reads excerpts to me from her phone describe scene after scene where the man takes his time to give pleasure to the woman. They aren’t real. Sex doesn’t last more than a chapter. As wound up as he twisted me, I hardly lasted more than a paragraph.
No way do men like those hot Alpha males exist. Except, my own evidence to the contrary lays right under me, his heart thumping under my ear. Doubt creeps in to replace my after-sex euphoria. We’ve played out our song to great success. Reality waits to come crashing in on our peace.
“What just happened?” Hunter asks. “You were all relaxed and mushy against me two seconds ago. And now, your body stiffened right up. What are you thinking about, Mel? Do I need to sex you up again?”
He tickles me, and I squeal like a little girl. “Don’t you dare,” I sputter, slapping his arms. “I don’t think I can come again for at least a week.”
“I’d like to take that bet.” He kisses my back and scrapes his stubble across my skin. His hands soften to caresses again.
I shrug off his touch and sit up. “Seriously, Hunter. This has been…” What words can follow that and cover everything enough so he won’t hate me tomorrow? Or the next day. Or any day after that as I send him on his way. No way does a night like tonight move on to something that looks remotely like a happy ending.
He waits for me to finish on my own, his hand rubbing my back with reassurance. His patience with me stands out against the bitch move I’m going to have to pull. Instead of waiting for reality to smack me in the face, I’ll control what comes next.
I sigh. “Hunter, I think you should take me home, and we should say goodbye.”
His hand stops. “Why?”
And how am I supposed to answer that question? If I tell the truth, that he scares the shit out of me, he may not understand that my hesitance and fear stem from years of learning that I’m not worthy of love or consideration from another person, especially from ones who are supposed to teach the first lessons and love unconditionally.
Sure, I can fall back on my own insecurities. Ones I know are half-truths. Of course I’ve battled my own demons, and I have the few special people I’ve let in who I know care about me. Shit, Bee fights for me all the time. What would she say to me right now?
So is it really my own dredged up issues? Or a fear of me, insignificant bartender, being left behind by him, country star sexy god, while he moves on to another state, another city, another girl, another night under the stars? What right do I really have to ask him not to have everything he has coming his way?
Hunter sits up and scoots himself so that his toolbox supports his back. He gasps as the cool metal touches his skin, but motions for me to slide back and lean against him.
No thank you, Cowboy. I can’t dive in any deeper. I’ll jump out of the back of the truck, scramble to find my clothes, and walk the miles back to my place. That’ll go over well, right?
Sighing, I give in to his embrace. I can’t deny that I want as many minutes as possible with him before it all has to end.
Hunter lets out a hard breath. His thumb worries soft circles on my arm.
“Listen,” I start. “I should explain some things. Then maybe you’ll understand why it ends here, and you go on to Nashville.”
“Is that what’s bothering you? That I’m leaving?” His deep voice rumbles inside his chest.
“That and other things.”
“Okay. What else?”
I shrug. Hunter’s hand sweeps my hair off my shoulders. He plants a firm kiss at the base of my neck. His lips rest there as he waits.
“It’s… you know… all this…” I stammer, my hands gesturing in the air. I draw my knees up and wrap my arms around them, unsure if it’s possible for me to give him all my reasons.
He rocks forward and shifts me until my balled up body nestles into his hard chest. His hand strokes my hair as he kisses the top of my head.
“Let’s see if we can compartmentalize things. All you have to do is tell me if I’m on or off track.”
I nod into his chest.
“Okay. Do you generally regret what just happened between us?”
I quickly shake my head no. In no way do I want him to think that what happened between us doesn’t equal a bag full of Skittles, a day of binge watching stupid sitcoms, a glass of very expensive bourbon, or a foot massage. Fuck that. He’s all of them at once plus some. What we’ve experienced together has become the Mt. Everest of experiences in my life.
“Good.” His chest moves up and down under my head, his breathing becoming more even. “Then, are you afraid that what we have between us might be more than just a one-night stand?”
I bury my face into his chest and breathe in his masculine scent laced with a hint of my own aroma. I nod in affirmation.
“I feel the same way, you know.”
My eyes pop wider in surprise. A man never admits to such romantic notions after doing the deed. Although technically, we’re still in his “bed.” Maybe it’s empty pillow talk. Or back-of-truck talk.
“Another question. If I promise you that, despite all odds, you already truly mean something to me and that I’d like to see where this could go, would you trust me?” His heart beats fast underneath my ear pressed to his chest.
I bite my lip, pondering the loaded question. He’s been asking me to trust him all night. When I gave into him earlier, he didn’t betray me or let me down. In fact, he knows better than me what I need and how to get me there, despite my occasional rebellion.
“Yeah, I guess I do.” The admission surprises me, but I taste the truth of the words.
Hunter releases a breath he holds in anticipation of the answer. “Good. Then why don’t we stop overthinking things? Stop asking too much of each other tonight. We don’t have to make promises of forever or exchange rings.”
My body tenses with those words. He slaps my arm with gentleness.
“Oh, lighten up. I’m saying that, despite my future move out of state—”
“Very-soon-to-be future,” I interrupt.
He pinches my arm. “Despite my moving out of state, I’m interested in seeing where you and I could take things.” He laces his fingers through mine.
I smirk. “Do you want me for my body or my awesome voice?”
“Would it be wrong if I said both?”
We both chuckle. I unfurl my body and melt into his.
“Then I agree. No contracts signed tonight. For now, we don’t say goodbye. But you will have to take me home eventually. I can’t live the rest of my life with no panties. You tore mine off.”
“I don’t know. I think a ‘no-panties clause’ should be added for consideration.”
“If we’re moving into negotiations, we need to add in a ‘blindfold’ clause as well.”
“For or against?”
I turn my head and brush my lips against his. The taste of him refuels the glowing embers of craving, and I claim his mouth as mine. He returns the kiss with matched desire.
When I finally pull away from him, breathless, I whisper, “What do you think?”
His hands pull me into him until he almost crushes me. I playfully beat against his strength.
“Can’t. Breathe,” I joke.
We both quiet down into a peace unknown to me before. The night sky moves in small increments as we hold onto each other. At one point, his voice reverberates under my ear as he hums a tune. It changes a bit from when he started, but it even
tually works its way into a pattern.
“You writing a song?” I ask.
“Mm-hmm.” His humming starts again.
I listen to him for a while, enjoying his timbre, following the tune as it gains structure. When he gets to the part I figure must be his chorus, I add a low harmonizing hum with his.
He stops. With quick moves, he surprises me with a passionate kiss.
“You never stop amazing me, always knowing how to join me in exactly the right way. I don’t give a shit if this scares you, but you have to know how rare that is.” He covers my lips with his again and kisses me hard.
When he stops, my thoughts scatter in the wind again, leaving me with a dopey grin.
“So, who’s the song for, Cowboy? Some sexy woman?”
Hunter shifts his body until he lies on his back. He lifts me with ease until I lay on top of him. My hair cascades over his face, and he brushes it away as he frames my face with his hands.
“It’s my melody. And I will spend as much time as possible trying to figure it out. With. You.”
He kisses me after each emphasized word, and any reservations I have about him, the night, or what will happen when the sun comes up evaporate into the night air. My body melts into his as we start our song all over again.
15
Hunter
The sky lightens before we leave our temporary bed in the back of my truck. At some point, Mel fell asleep on top of me, her soft breaths coming and going like the waves on the beach in front of us. I lost count of how many times and how many ways we pleasured each other. Shit, the girl just gives me that certain look, runs her finger down my chest, and I come. I’ll have to get something really great for Bethany to thank her for her gift of condoms she put in Mel’s bag. We put many to good use.
My racing mind’s kept me up all night, trying to come up with some plan not to screw things up with Mel. She’s dropped more than one hint that she might be a runner. At least she’s given in to admit that there might be something more than just a temporary fuckable friendship between us. But that sure as hell doesn’t mean I won’t have to be careful in how I handle the huge transitions about to go down in my life.
As the sun breaks over the ocean in pink and red hues, our time for now has to end. Although I parked us pretty far down the beach in a secluded area, I don’t want an early morning runner catching us. Mel stirs on top of me as if in tune to my thoughts. One eye opens and looks at me. A slow grin spreads on her face.
“Morning. You make a nice bed.” She buries her head on my chest again.
“And you make a beautiful blanket. I could bury myself in you all day.” My cock twitches.
She sighs. “That’s a lovely thought, but I think you broke me. I’m ruined for anything else. Tell your dick to settle down.” Her gravelly voice has the exact opposite effect.
“He has his own mind. Can’t tell him shit.”
Her hair falls across her face, covering her sly grin. “Well then. Let’s see what I can do about him.”
Her head disappears under the blanket. My own drops back when her warm mouth covers my cock, her tongue licking while she sucks. God, my girl has a talented mouth. Her hand joins her sassy lips as she pumps me. My balls tighten, and I lift my hips to shove as much of myself inside her. She takes me in deep without complaint.
“Fuck, Mel. You’re incredible.”
She sucks me into oblivion. After a night like we had, it should have taken more effort. But I come like a horny teenager, quick and hot. She licks and kisses a path up my torso, and her head pops out from under the blanket.
“Good morning, sexy,” she says.
“That should be my line.” I can’t believe I can form words right now. Stars still fill my eyes as the dizziness from coming abates.
“Don’t you think we should be going? We could get caught out here. Especially with the loud noises you just made.” She giggles.
Did I make loud noises? Shit. I lose all sense of my surroundings when I’m with her.
We check the nearby landscape around us. With no sign of anything except seagulls and a couple of pelicans flying overhead, we detangle ourselves and get up. The search for our clothes becomes laughable.
“Found it.” Mel holds up the R&R T-shirt she swiped for me from a clump of sea grass.
“Yeah, but have you found your bra? I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to leave it out here.”
She walks back toward the truck where I’ve managed to clean up our temporary bed.
“No. It’ll be fine.”
Fuck no, it won’t be fine. I want to take her out for something to eat, and she’s not going to sit there with no bra for other fuckers to stare at.
“Wait. Here it is. How the hell did it get under the truck?”
Sand pours out of the bra cups, and we both crack up. She takes her arms out of her sleeves and lifts up her shirt. Her round breasts face me. In the light, their perfection slays me. Those beauties were touched by me, devoured by my tongue and my mouth last night. Fuck, I want to touch them again.
She covers them up with her bra, hooking the black lace behind her and adjusting everything before pulling down her shirt. When she looks up at me, her face turns quizzical.
“What? Oh my God, Hunter. They’re only breasts.”
“They’re your breasts. And they’re magnificent. Why don’t you bring them over here and let me worship them a while.” I jump down from the truck.
“Nice try, Cowboy. But I think you mentioned something about breakfast. And no.” She puts a hand up to stop me from attacking her. “Sucking on any part of my body doesn’t count. I’m starving. Now get in the truck, and let’s get out of here.”
* * *
My ass shifts in the seat. There’s sand everywhere in my clothes. We’d shaken them out as best we could, but sand has a way of popping up from nowhere. Thank God we didn’t have sex on the beach, or we’d have sand in even more uncomfortable places.
“Where are we going?” Mel asks, wiping under her eyes and checking her hair in the tiny mirror of the sun visor.
Where indeed. Once we get breakfast, I’ll have to take her home. And then what comes next? When will she let me see her again?
“If you’re up for the drive, we can drive south down the two-laner and hit up Pop’s Place, this cute little diner that’s been there so long it’s considered retro. It’s right on the beach. I’m guessing that their biscuits will be fresh by the time we get there.”
I try to hide my pleased look at my idea. It would take us a couple hours there and back in the truck, plus the meal together. The more time I can coax her into spending with me, the bigger chance I have at fighting any instinct to run.
“Some other time, maybe.” She leans back in the seat. “But I’m starving now. Need to refuel. Somebody used up all my energy last night.”
“And into this morning,” I remind her.
She nods. “So take me some place with lots of choices. And definitely bacon. If the place doesn’t serve bacon, we don’t go there.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
To take my mind off of the anxiety of what comes next for us, I play with a few lyrics in my head.
Looking down at where your head rests
When you lift yourself up I see your beautiful breasts
Holy Hell, she’s fucked me so sideways I’ve lost the ability to come up with decent lines.
When we’re together you’re a ton of fun
I can’t handle myself when I watch you come
So I’m left with only dirty rhymes? And those aren’t even that close. Pull yourself together, Ford.
Now listen, baby, I don’t mean to be blunt
But when you look at me that way I want your sweet little…
“No, no, no, no.” My head tries to shake those horrible attempts at composing out of my head. Not only are they damn inappropriate, they keep reminding me of last night. When will my dick get enough? And how bad is it that the answer is never?
“Nothing.” I clamp my lips shut and turn on the radio.
By the time I pull into the parking lot of Citrus, my stomach growls and distracts me from my dirty lyrics. I put on the baseball hat from the floor behind me and step out. When Mel jumps down from the cab, she smooths out her clothes.
“Do you think it’s that obvious that we’ve been fucking each other’s brains out?”
She looks a little rumpled, but it adds to her sexiness.
My finger brushes over the R&R logo on her shirt. “No, but it does look like we’re a couple of employees who had a late night.”
She shrugs. “All of us who work late hang out and meet up after work sometimes. You and I look like we worked really, really late.” She takes my hand and walks toward the door. “On each other.”
The place isn’t packed yet since we’re so early. It smells of morning food delights. Especially bacon. Mel takes a deep breath and smiles. We follow the hostess to a small table and beg for coffee before we sit down. We don’t really talk to each other until after we place our order.
“Damn, I should have ordered some pumpkin pancakes. They’re so good, and they have this amazing walnut and maple syrup thing happening.”
I can’t stop marveling at her. She sings, she’s sexy as hell, and she actually eats. Amazing. And so damn rare.
“You want me to order you some?” Whatever she wants, I’m going to give it to her.
She laughs. “No, I think my eggs, hash browns, grits, and bacon should do me just fine. I was only saying. Their pumpkin pancakes are really good. I was this close to ordering them.” She holds her fingers up to show me the lack of space between them.
Our conversation flows better than I anticipated. We talk about the Rock & Rodeo, how much she likes it there, what she does during the day before she goes to work, and other mundane details that I hang on to like gems. Mentally, I take notice of any detail that may help me win her.