by Thalia Eames
The perennial erection he’d been fighting since he’d first walked into the Peach Pit Diner deflated. For the first time in his life Garrett appreciated the word flaccid. He actually welcomed it.
Lennox’s eyes rounded. He’d shocked her with his control. Hell, he’d surprised himself. But she didn’t need to know that. “See. I don’t want you as much as you think.”
She shrugged. “Honestly, Garrett, I think the little guy is just cold.”
Little guy? Not likely. He looked into her eyes and something wicked glinted within their depths. Garrett braced himself as she leaned over, in slow motion, and stopped with her mouth no more than an inch from his crotch. Slowly her lips parted and she huffed a hot breath over his underwear. Then another. And a third. He’d used the same technique to warm his son’s hands when he’d taken a younger Nox ice-skating. He’d seen many mothers do it too. But Lennox didn’t have motherly motives. She intended to fuck him up.
His cock jumped as warmth tightened in his balls and spread through it. His erection pushed up into his waistband and tented his boxer briefs. Shit. He fisted his hands in her hair and brought her up, nose to nose. Lennox smiled in triumph.
“See,” she said, “the little guy was cold.” Holding his gaze, she pumped her hips against him. Garrett gritted his teeth. He grabbed her waist and stilled her with one arm, while he tugged her hair in warning with the other. It took everything in him to keep from smashing her against the glass window behind him and screwing her every which way until the moon came up.
“Are you going to keep talking that ‘little guy’ nonsense?”
Lennox made an innocent moue. “Well, Garrett, how am I supposed to know how big it is unless you put it in my hand or in my mou—”
Fuck it. He crushed her body tight to his and claimed her smartass little mouth. His tongue delved deep. She sighed into it, throwing her arms around his neck and meeting his tongue with demanding need of her own. He pulled away, sucking her swollen bottom lip between his teeth and tasting it. She moaned, grinding against him. He groaned in answer, covered her mouth again and reveled in her perfection. It felt natural to kiss her. Finally, after so many years of friendship their first kiss blew his mind. He wanted more and as long as Lennox shivered, soft and wet, in his arms, he’d gladly claim the rest of her.
He broke the kiss and forced her to look at him. Her lids fluttered, desire making them heavy. “Listen to me, Lennox.”
“No.”
“Listen.” He shook her as gently as his amped-up emotions allowed. She gazed at him with an expression so hot he forgot what he wanted to say. Instead he looked down at the full curves of her breasts. Taking hold of the hem of her shirt, he pulled it taut across her front until the twin mounds strained against the material. He caught her eye, moistened his bottom lip, then ran his gaze over her kiss-bruised mouth and down the column of her throat, returning to her breasts. Her nipples peaked as though begging for more than his gaze. They wanted to be suckled. He lowered his head and nipped one. Lennox moaned again, grinding her hips against him.
“Listen to me, Lennox.” She nodded in response, arching her spine to push her breasts into his face. He licked across her other nipple and she shuddered. “I can give you what you need. But you need to accept that it won’t end the way you want it to.”
He could’ve slapped her with less effect. Her eyes flared and she straightened in his arms. “When has it ever, Garrett?” She sighed bitterly. “When have things ever worked out the way I wanted them to?”
“If you know that, then what do you hope to gain from this? I’m not going to change my mind.”
“You’re such an arrogant asshole. Who said I want you to change your mind?”
“Then tell me what you want.”
“I want to know what it feels like to come with you inside me. I want to beg and moan and suck and love and be left wasted when you leave my bed.”
His cock jumped again, the erection becoming painful. Still they needed to work things out before they went any further. “If we do this, it’s no strings, Elle. We don’t make it anything more than it is. We let go when it’s time.”
Lennox looked away. “You’re ruining the moment, Garrett.”
He swayed with her body pressed to his. “Believe me when I say I’m going to tear your walls down. But I need to make it clear that it ends with us as friends, as though nothing has changed.” He cupped one breast in the curve, running from the tip of his thumb to the tip of his index finger. His hand shook with the strain but he wouldn’t go any further until they settled things. “In the end I want to see you with a man who can give you the life and love you deserve. I know I don’t show it but I do want that for you. Even if it’s with Ian.”
“Are you saying you’re going to stop warring with him?”
Elle never missed a thing. “Um yeah, I’ll try.” Like hell he would, but he could pretend for her sake. “Why haven’t you let him satisfy you?”
A range of emotions crossed her face, from confusion to longing. “Garrett, are you really going to let all this go to waste?” She maneuvered between them and flicked the waistband of his boxer briefs down to free him. Her hand closed around his cock like it belonged to her. And for as long as she wanted it to, it did. He covered her hand with his and guided it to stroke up and down his length.
Yeah, just like that.
He pumped into her hand, enjoying the sweetness of it and imagining how it’d feel, first, inside her mouth and then inside her sex. He quickly pressed the spot at the base of his shaft to keep from coming. Burying his face in her hair, he made a promise. “I’ve already told you I’m going to have you. We’re way past the point of no return. I’m going to do things to you that… Elle, you have no idea.” He purred the words into her ear.
She blushed. It looked good on her.
“So, help me out and answer my questions so we can get to it,” Garrett said. “Why not Ian?”
She curled her body away from him and looked down at his cock. A hint of pink tongue licked across her bottom lip. He shuddered, thinking about where he wanted it. “Shit, woman, don’t do that.”
She pouted ever so slightly. Not enough to annoy but more than enough to titillate. “Okay,” she said, “it’s because Ian loves me. Going to him for sex would be the same as committing to him. And if I’m not sure about my heart, it’ll hurt him.”
“Why aren’t you sure?”
A hint of sadness crossed her face. “Because I no longer trust my instincts when it comes to men. I get what I want mixed up with their intentions and I get hurt.”
“Then why let me, of all people, have you?”
She hesitated. Only the sound of her jagged breathing filled the room. “We’ve known each other for a long time, Garrett. Despite the way you hurt me, there’s a huge amount of trust between us. I can’t get that anywhere else. And…” She looked away.
“And…?”
“I’ve fantasized about being with you so many times. I don’t think I can move on without testing you out.”
She laughed at his quirked brow when he dryly intoned, “So you’re taking me out for a test drive?”
“Damn straight,” she said. “If I do all the things I’ve fantasized about doing with you, maybe I can get you out of my head and get on with my life.”
Get on with her life. Why did that sound so wrong? He wanted her to live her life. He truly did. “Let’s make a deal, Lennox. A no-strings deal. We look out for each other the way we always have, we comfort each other, listen to one another, and—”
“And what?” she breathed.
He stroked the curves of her hips with both hands. “And we fuck each other cross-eyed for as long as we both want it.”
She gripped his ass, drawing him closer. “There you go again with those words. No matter how close we get you keep me at an emotional distance. You say �
�fuck’ because it’s the harshest way to say it. If we make love, it means we’ve crossed the line.”
He ignored her words, not ready to admit she saw straight through him. “I can’t wait to hear these fantasies. And without a doubt I’m going fulfill every one of them.”
She threw her head back, closing her eyes for a moment. “The most important part is I don’t have the option of being with you. You’ve made that clear. It makes things less complicated in a strange way.”
He refused to deal with the implications of that confession either. When it came to Lennox he’d turned into a complete wuss. He wasn’t sure if this decision would make things less complicated or not. He didn’t care. His heart would always belong to his wife, but his body had needs only Lennox could satisfy. When the time came to let her go he’d do it. No hesitation. Keeping Tina as queen of his heart while taking Lennox’s love would be cruel. He couldn’t do that to his gorgeous little Elle. “Well, if you ever do choose Ian or anyone else, I’ll step aside because…”
“Because?”
“I still plan to dance at your wedding one day.”
“You’ve been saying that since the day we met. I used to think you planned on being the groom. Now I know it’s your way of pushing me away. You keep me close but not too close.”
She waited but he made it clear he had no intention of answering.
“What are your reasons for accepting this?” she asked. “It’d be easier to stay away from me.”
He shifted. He hadn’t expected Lennox to have questions. If he didn’t get inside her soon, he’d have blue balls. Exactly like the teenager he seemed to revert to in her presence. He measured his answer to hide his conflicting emotions. He didn’t want to give her hope but he didn’t want to hurt her, either. “Everything in my life is difficult. I’m not looking for anything easy now.”
She gave him a stony gaze, waiting for the real answer.
He smoothed the fine sheen of hair that had already started to grow along the line of his jaw and exhaled. “I want this because I suddenly have my own fantasies about you. When did you turn into this irresistibly sexy woman?”
“You weren’t paying attention.”
“Maybe not, but you’re my one distraction now.”
She grinned and he melted. “You want me?” she asked. “I mean, specifically me. Not just anyone with boobs and a pulse?”
He glanced skyward and confessed. “It’s bad, Elle. It’s real bad.” Reclaiming her hand, he pressed it to length of him.
“Then deal,” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss cleft in his chin. “I mean we have a deal.”
Oh good god, thank you. Unlike the lies teenaged boys told their girlfriends Garrett really did think his junk was going to fall off. He took her face in both hands and leaned in.
A knock rattled the door. “Garrett, Lennox,” Cash said. “The sheriff’s here to see you. He says his business won’t keep.”
Fuck the world. Did it hate him?
Chapter Ten
It took several creative maneuvers and the help of his boxer brief waistband to get Garrett tucked inside his pants. Lennox giggled at his look of discomfort.
“I’m funny, huh?”
She nodded.
“Well, you’ve got nipples hard enough to cut glass and a pair of damp spots on your shirt.”
The smile melted off her face and she sucked in one corner of her lower lip. That would teach her to laugh at him.
Lennox crossed her arms and tucked her hands under her armpits to cover her chest as they moved to the door. He gave her a once-over. “Yeah, ’cause twisting yourself into a pretzel isn’t conspicuous at all.”
“Well, what do you want me to do? It’s not like I have a jacket or anything.” She huffed, blowing a stray curl off her forehead. “How’s my hair?”
Funnily enough she reminded him of an alley cat who’d lost a catfight with a tiger. Since he was the tiger in question, he rather liked the effect of her hair smashed to one side where he’d caught the curls between his fingers and brought her in for a kiss.
His body twitched beneath the elastic of his waistband. Shit, who knew her kisses would blow his brains out and set his skull on fire. Somebody should have warned him tangling with Lennox would fry his mind. He might’ve kept the promise he’d made himself if he’d known how much damage she could do.
She cleared her throat. “Hi. Yeah, so, my hair?”
“You look crazy as hell. Hold on a sec.” He ran his fingers through her hair, combing it into some semblance of order. Taking her face in both hands, he turned her head side to side, examining his handiwork.
“Better?” she asked with a faint smile.
He shrugged. “It’ll have to do.”
The minute they walked into the living room Garrett knew fixing their clothes and hair had been a waste of time. Cash wouldn’t look at him. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand. Above his shaking fingers his eyes danced with silent laughter.
Jules kept glancing at Cash as though trying to figure out what had the idiot so amused.
The robust man holding a pale cowboy hat gave Lennox the disapproving glare of a father. This had to be the sheriff.
Nox covered his ears with both hands.
Every shifter in the room had heard his and Lennox’s negotiations. Well, damn. That was embarrassing.
Nox shook his head in disbelief. “It can’t be unheard. My whole life needs parental controls.”
“Boy,” Garrett said, giving his son the same glare the sheriff gave Lennox.
“I don’t know what went down in that office…” Jules stepped forward to pat Lennox on the arm, “…but I want a play-by-play recap when I see you later tonight, Leni.”
The smaller woman grabbed her bag off one of the horseshoe chairs and headed for the door. “I’ve got to get out of here and go manage the diner. Later, peeps.”
Cash watched her disappear through the front door. When he looked at Garrett his mirth hadn’t lessened a bit.
The man with the cowboy hat took center stage and extended his hand. “I’m Stan Hewett, the sheriff of LuPines.” The sheriff had clearly been all muscle in his prim but he now carried a considerable layer of fat over his stout body.
They shook. The sheriff put more strength in the hold than necessary. Garrett didn’t miss the message of dominance in the handshake. It seemed the whole town wanted to protect Lennox from the biggest baddest wolf they’d ever seen.
They could all kiss his ass.
“How can you be the sheriff and the exterminator?” Nox asked. “And why does the whole house smell of bacon all of a sudden?”
Cash went into a coughing fit in order to hide a fresh round of guffaws. Garrett shot his second-in-command a look that didn’t do much more than make Cash’s shoulders shake behind a wall of silent amusement. The Sheriff coughed too but more to dispel the embarrassment dotting his weathered cheeks.
“Well, son,” he said to Nox. “It’s a small town and my daddy was an exterminator. I didn’t want to give up the family business.”
Nox nodded in response. After a couple of sniffs he quickly reiterated to his second puzzlement. “Did you have sausage for breakfast, Sheriff Stan the Exterminator?”
The Sheriff blanched.
“Stan doesn’t eat pork,” Lennox said. “I’ve been trying to feed him breakfast at the Peach Pit for years. He won’t even stop by. You’d think he had something against my cooking. I guess he just doesn’t dig on swine.”
Stan’s lips firmed into a thin line. Cash choked. He made excuses to leave the room before he peed himself with laughter. Garrett glowered after his friend. That fool had travelled the world and dined with royalty yet he still didn’t know how to behave like a gentleman. Anybody could tell the sheriff’s boar shifter nature had confused Nox. His son had never met a wild boar shifter
before, and boars were close cousins to pigs. The nose didn’t lie. No need for Cash to act idiotic about it and embarrass both the boy and the lawman.
“Are you Muslim or maybe Orthodox?” Nox picked up where Lennox left off. “Or is it because you think pigs are filthy animals?” Dammit, he and his godmother were too much alike for comfort. Neither of them could get past their curiosity long enough to take a cue to shut up.
“Nox,” Garrett said.
His son looked at him but kept rambling. “Cash says they’re about the filthiest animal on a farm.” He faced the sheriff again. “Oh, a man in Oregon got eaten by a pig. Is that why you don’t like them?”
“Oh my gosh, Stan,” Lennox said, her eyes flaring wide. “Is that why? Do you not want to eat pork in case a pig comes looking for revenge one day?”
The sheriff sputtered. Who could blame him?
“Gran,” Garrett bellowed. The boar shifter needed rescuing before the two Lennoxes gave him a stroke. Gran appeared as quickly as a lady her age could. “What are you bellowing for?”
“Take your grandson somewhere as far away from this room as the two of you can get,” Garrett said. “Please.”
The elder Averdeen waved Nox over. “What did I say?” he asked as he jogged to join her. She put her arms around his shoulders and led him down the hall.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve only known you for three days and I’m guessing it was something loud and insulting all at once.”
Leaning in she whispered so low even Garrett had to strain to hear. “That’s awesome,” Nox shouted in response. “Do you think he’ll show me?”
Garrett shook his head. Lennox gave him a look. “What did he say?”