Trust

by Casey Diam

  I brought the bag to Paige, and to avoid yelling over the loud music, I said in her ear, “Check to make sure everything’s inside. I’ll be right back.”

  I kissed her cheek and then headed to what she clarified for me without even knowing—the bedroom door. I’d only asked her about the bathroom so I would know where not to go. I pounded on the room door as loud as I could without creating a scene. I couldn’t wait to see that little punk because I knew in my gut that Paige would never have kissed him.

  It took a full minute before the door swung open. Right then, I put on my best shit-eating grin because, in this moment, I became that guy, and I didn’t like this guy. He was the guy my father had trained me to be. The guy who Paige had no business getting in bed with.

  “Ian. Oh, man,” I said, pushing the door open and heading inside to see Chelsey hiding beneath the covers with her head sticking out.

  Holy shit.

  Either this guy was good or this girl was stupid.

  “What the fuck are you doing? Who are you?”

  Pushing the door shut behind me to block out the music, I said, “I’m just here to finish delivering my message.”

  “Caleb, you asshole, get out of my room,” Chelsey squawked.

  “You?” Ian announced, catching on faster than I’d expected.

  “Yeah, me. Do I need to go over the conversation we had earlier? Because that isn’t what I’m here to do. I just don’t think you took me seriously enough, so now, I’m here to make sure you really understood. Since I’m a gentleman”—I signaled the suit I was still dressed in—”I’m going to give you a choice. Do you want me to punch you in the face before or after you put a shirt on?”

  He did exactly as I’d expected. He started to take a wild swing, and it would be a right-hand strike, I noted as I spotted his left foot moving forward, his right elbow rearing back and lengthening toward my face. I ducked to the side, aiming for the perfect knockout punch to the side of his head. He staggered and attempted to move toward me, fist raised, but he didn’t make it two steps before falling to the floor.

  “Ian!” Chelsey scrambled to the edge of the bed, sheet clutched to her neck as she peeked over.

  “Listen,” I said, looking at my watch, “he’ll be out for a few minutes. I would have broken his nose and kept him awake, but it seemed a little drastic for the warning I was delivering. Anyway, when this dipshit wakes, tell him I won’t be this nice the next time he feels the need to put his hands on Paige.”

  Closing the door behind me, I walked over to the kitchen sink to wash that asshole off my hands; I’d also touched the door handle, and God knows where his hands had been before he opened the door.

  Paige and I hurried out of the apartment and down the few flights of stairs to my car.

  I shouldn’t have come here, but after I’d told her I would be here, I’d had to stop by to tell her that I didn’t stand her up. I hadn’t expected that I’d be picking her up while Alex Connor’s package was in the trunk of my car.

  Once inside my car, she pulled a hoodie from her backpack. She was only dressed in a sleeveless dark-green top and the tiniest fucking shorts.

  I drove for a couple minutes to the highway.

  And as I made a winding left turn onto the ramp, I told her, “I have something to drop off before I can go to bed. If I give you the key to my apartment, can you wait for me there?”

  “Ugh. Yes.” Paige sighed. “You know, I actually wore these stupid shorts for you. And all it did all night was attract the wrong people.”

  My tongue slid across my lip. I was wondering why her delicious cheeks were so close to being on display for those immature pricks at the party.

  “I don’t like them.” I flashed her a smile. “They’re too sexy on you.”

  “Should I take them off then?”

  “What?” I chuckled and then swallowed as the lights on the highway glowed on her hands unbuttoning her shorts. My smile faded. “How much did you have to drink?”

  “Couple of shots and a lot of beer, but”—she unbuckled her seat belt—”before Ian ruined the night, I was thinking about you.”

  “Really?”

  “Mm-hmm.” She knelt in the seat and leaned over me, wrapping her hands around my neck and kissing my jaw. “There was someone having sex in the bathroom, and outside of the door, I could hear the sounds the girl was making. Like she didn’t care what anyone else thought or heard as long as she was enjoying herself. I wanted you so badly at that moment.”

  She sucked on my neck, and I had to widen my eyes as they’d just about closed from desire.

  “Baby, you’re distracting me.”

  “Then you should probably pull over. I’m just getting started.”

  I laughed. “You’re being silly.”

  She giggled. “I’m being serious. I think it’s the suit. It’s too sexy on you. You should take it off.”

  “Later,” I assured, chuckling.

  The nerve endings in my body were igniting from her touch, and I felt like a fucking teenager. As I felt her hand sliding over my crotch, feeling for me, I inhaled.

  “Paige, tell me again, how much did you drink?”

  She caressed me through my pants, and my cock pulsed, relishing her undivided attention.

  “Enough that I have the confidence to do this.” She repositioned herself, so her torso stretched across the center console, and her head lowered to my crotch. Small hands unzipped my pants and dipped inside.

  Holy shit.

  “Paige, fuck. I can’t let you do that; you’re drunk.”

  “Shh... I’m not that drunk. Besides, drunk or not, I would still want your cock in my mouth, Caleb.”

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  Those words from her had my cock aching as she pulled it out through the loop of my opened zipper.

  “Turn the music on. Just pretend I’m not here.”

  Yeah, that was not even possible, but I humored her, skimming my hand through her hair and down her back before turning the music on. Her warm tongue glided over the tip of my cock, and my eyes drooped closed again.

  Oh. Oh, wow.

  I swallowed, my mouth opening as she sucked me between her lips, and then I was openly sighing. “Oh fuck.”

  The speedometer lowered as the strength I needed in my legs to push the gas pedal lessened with each suction, each lick she treated my throbbing cock to. My hand stretched down the length of her back, reaching for her ass, and I bit my lip.

  “You’re right; I should probably pull over—right now. It’s easier to forget I’m driving than pretend like you are not here.”

  If I kept driving like this, I would risk getting caught with my father’s briefcase in the trunk. And, even though the radar was on to alert me if any cops rolled into my vicinity, it wasn’t worth risking with her in here. Pulling the car onto the shoulder and putting it in park, I unfastened my seat belt and my belt buckle in succession.

  “Take off your shorts,” I told her as I pressed the button for the seat to slide back and for the back to recline.

  After she did as I’d asked, I leaned over and cupped her chin. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “More than anything.”

  I kissed her, tasting her sweetness and sucking her lips between mine until my dick ached for her attention. As if she could read my mind, her hand wrapped around my cock again. Fuck, I couldn’t get enough of her. And since she was already fondling me when her mouth joined in, I fell into a dreamlike state for minutes while I played with the soft flesh between her thighs.

  “Paige, I need to fuck you.”

  “Good, because I need to feel you.”

  She climbed over to my side as I instructed her while I slid on a condom. “Sit on my lap, facing the dashboard, spread your legs, and rest your feet on the air vents on either side of the steering wheel.”

  I pressed the button to raise the seat back up a bit to support my back as I eased our hips to the edge of the seat. Bracing my hands bene
ath her bottom, I lifted, and she grabbed on to the oh shit handle for support, making it easier for me to guide myself into her.

  I groaned. “Always so wet for me. You can let go now. Lean back on me.”

  She did as I’d said, and I rolled my hips beneath hers, creating languid strokes into the tight, heated muscles stretching for me. She became slicker as I ran my hand up under her shirt and caressed her breast.

  Fuck, this had to be what heaven was like, what happiness was like. I’d never felt anything like it. Not even the first two times we’d had sex. No, this time, it felt like my cock had finally created the perfect pocket—the perfect channel, the perfect pussy to glide into.

  Her moans moved a pitch above the alternative rock playing in the background. “Oh my God. Please don’t stop. I can’t even explain how good this feels.”

  “Do you have any idea how sexy you are right now, like this in my car?”

  “Tell me.”

  “So sexy I want to fuck you like this all the time now. On the side of the road where I’m almost sure I wouldn’t be able to stop if anyone pulled up behind us.”

  I moved my hand down to massage her clit as I increased my pace, filling her over and over again until her muscles seized my cock, her loud moans reverberating through me and inside the car.

  As I started to move inside her again, she let out the cutest little sound, and I smiled.

  “We’re taking this to the backseat.”

  Raindrops started on the windshield, but only one or two cars were passing by every now and then. It was the perfect timing for us, as the traffic would start dying as the rain came in. She climbed over the center console first, and I followed, easing the front seat back upright to give us more room and then pushing my pants to my ankles. I loosened my tie and unbuttoned the top button on my shirt.

  “I want you on top, riding me.”

  She started to say something, but I hauled her over my lap to straddle me. The quick time it took us to settle into a feverish, all-consuming rhythm, the rain started pouring, and her moans grew louder as my hips lifted off the seat to meet her. I sucked on her nipple, but a stronger need to drive deep into her hard and fast was more pressing. Probably even more so because of how constricting the space was in the car. My mind focused on the rain pelting the car as I rotated us and let her back lie flat on the too-small backseat, though average for a two-door car. One of her legs elevated and hooked around the headrest toward her head.

  “Holy shit, Paige.”

  Is she trying to kill me?

  But, with her this flexible, space was less of a problem. I dug my elbows into the seat on either side of her torso, sliding my hands up under her back to grip her shoulders. Kissing her, I tunneled myself deep, deeper than I’d ever been before, not stopping until she panted against my lips.

  “Baby, keep relaxing. This is perfect. And so good. I want to bury this whole cock inside you.” I made my way to the hilt and pushed, stretching her until she made a sound like she’d lost all the air from her lungs. “You like my cock in you, fucking you like this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fuck,” I hissed, gripping her shoulders and pumping into her.

  Her leg dropped from the headrest, and I kept going, ignoring the steam rising in the car from our heated bodies but listening to the sound of the rain around us, the music, her cries of pleasure, her telling me she was going to come. Fuck, that was my favorite part; she’d never said that before.

  Raw, dirty words flew out of me as I fucked her with everything I’d been holding back. I closed my eyes as her body trembled and bowed beneath me. I became an animal, and I knew I shouldn’t be this rough with her, but I couldn’t stop. The urge was stronger each time I pounded into her, and she let me, so I continued until my body went rigid, and my pelvis stiffened in a final thrust. Empty yet filled, my body liquefied on top of hers.

  Exhaling, I confessed, “This was hands down the best sex I’ve ever had. Ever, Paige. Ever.”

  Her voice was a whisper against my damp jaw as she said, “There’s someone outside.”

  “What?”

  Chapter Thirty

  Paige

  A flashlight gleamed across the dark-tinted, misty windshield as Caleb rose and struggled into his pants from the seated position. And, while everything moved in slow motion for me, Caleb crawled back over to the driver’s seat before the person even reached his window.

  “Forget the shorts. It’s a cop,” he said, handing me my hoodie and wiping the sweat from his face. “Just come to the front and put this on. Do you have your weapon on you?”

  I shook my head and hurried to the passenger seat as the person outside reached his window and tapped. There wasn’t any sign of flashing blue and red lights behind us. At this point, I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  How does he know it’s a cop?

  “Don’t do or say anything unless I tell you to, okay?” he whispered, tossing his jacket over my lap and turning off the music.

  I nodded, leaning my head against the headrest and turning my face to my window. Now, I was able to see the tiny red and blue lights in the side mirror. It must have been one of those unmarked police cars, judging by where the lights were positioned on the vehicle. Low on either side of the bumper and right at the base of the windshield.

  The rain grew noisier, and wind whooshed inside as Caleb’s window rolled down. A bright light beamed over us.

  “Is there a problem here?” a female asked.

  “No, Officer. I just picked up a friend from a party not long ago, and she felt nauseous, so I pulled over.”

  Wow, he’s good.

  “Have you been drinking tonight?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “License and registration, please.”

  I bit my lip, sweating more than I already had been from what transpired in the backseat moments before. I was underage and would be screwed if she asked for my ID.

  “Is she awake, Mr. Sheppard?”

  Mr. Sheppard? I pondered as Caleb touched my shoulder.

  I turned to see the officer peering inside from beneath an umbrella.

  “You okay, miss?”

  She was older, and from the vague lighting, I only saw a part of her name tag as her flashlight passed over it.

  Rodrig...

  “Yeah,” I answered, “just a bit nauseous, but I think I’ll survive.”

  She handed back Caleb’s paperwork. “Okay. Well, you kids go on home now. There’s a tornado warning in the area, and I wouldn’t want you to get trapped in the storm.”

  The window slid up, and my eyes followed the officer as she walked to the vehicle parked a few feet behind us. I threw his jacket off my lap and tugged up my shorts.

  “Mr. Sheppard?” I scoffed. “You lied to me. Who are you?”

  “I didn’t lie to you.”

  “I might be drunk, but I’m not deaf or stupid.” I grabbed the door handle. “And no offense, Mr. Sheppard, but I think I would feel safer asking the officer for a ride home.”

  The dim lighting coming from the roof of the car gave away the hurt flooding his eyes, but he had no right to be, not after lying to me.

  “Paige, I lied to her. Not you.”

  I gasped, giving him a look of disbelief. “That’s worse. You’re hiding from the cops?”

  “I need to go, or she’s going to think something is wrong.”

  “Something is wrong!”

  “Paige,” he begged, reaching out to me.

  Bracing against my door, I shook my head. “Don’t touch me.”

  I wanted to run out of the car, but after all he and I had shared, I needed to know who he was and why he had lied to an officer. Hoping I wasn’t making the stupidest decision of my life, the one that would get me killed, I raised my hand, switched off the light in the roof, and pulled my knife from my pocket, though keeping it hidden. “Fine, go. Just don’t touch me.”

  “Fuck, you’re cold.” He swerved off the sh
oulder and onto the highway, picking up speed.

  “Yeah? Well, I’m not the liar here.”

  Caleb, if that was even his name, hadn’t seen cold from me yet, but he would if I found out he was one of them.

  “Why are you carrying around false documents?”

  “I’m not able to answer that right now. It’ll unravel too many questions,” he said, waiting a few seconds before speaking again. “My answering that question would be like me asking you why you’d been having nightmares. Just like you didn’t expect me to find out about your nightmares, I didn’t expect you to find out about this. Are you willing to accept that it is one of the things that matters? I just can’t talk about it right now.”

  I chewed on my lip as I thought of something. Madelyn Wells was smack dab on my ID. I was being a hypocrite, and if I wanted to learn the truth, I needed to be as patient with him as he was with me. An idea arose from the fog in my head. He wasn’t who he’d said he was, and if I agreed to let it go, he might still take me back to his apartment. There had to be some other clue about who he was in there somewhere.

  “What is your real name?”

  “Caleb Connor.”

  “Did you know me before that day we met at the coffee shop?”

  He hesitated and then passed a glance my way. “Are you planning to kill me with that knife?”

  I swallowed.

  How did he know I’ve been holding on to it? It’s been outside of his view. Distraction. He’s trying to distract me. What did I ask him again? The worst night to have consumed this much alcohol. Damn it.

  “I don’t trust you. I won’t be staying at your place anymore.”

  “I can’t say I trust you either. What college girl keeps so many secrets and carries around a knife and gun?” He stopped at the red light, and my uneasiness grew. “What have you done, Paige? Why is someone after you?”

  The light changed, and I considered telling him the truth to see his reaction because nothing was making sense. If he was working for the people who had killed my family, wouldn’t he know why they were after me, why he was after me?

  I looked to my right at the blinding lights I’d glimpsed in my peripheral, but I didn’t have time to say a word, only relax my muscles like I did during sparring sessions to prepare for the impact. But this wouldn’t be like getting thrown to the ground. This could be how I died. After everything.