“Good thing we had lunch. At this rate, I’ll be starving by the time we unload after we get back to the lodge,” I commented.
Evie’s return smile was wry. “Sorry I couldn’t help with some of the bigger stuff.”
“I wasn’t saying that to give you a hard time. I like working hard. I’d rather that than stand around waiting for the time to pass. Do you want to eat here before we go or just head back?”
Evie was standing a few feet away from me. When she bit her lip, it felt as if an invisible string cinched tighter between us.
“Here,” Evie said softly. “You pick where.”
Damn, I wanted to kiss her. With the light turning silvery, her eyes seemed brighter. Her tongue darted out, sliding across her bottom lip. I knew she wasn’t trying to be coquettish. Still, I recalled the feel of her tongue slick against mine.
The barest hint of a breeze gusted, shifting the air between us, and I caught a whiff of her scent, spinning around and cinching me a little tighter to her.
When a car door slammed nearby, I took a breath, reminding myself we were only talking about what to get for dinner. Somehow, this felt so much heavier than that. But it was my reaction to her—a wheel rotating, its momentum picking up with each spin, the power of its motion multiplying infinitely.
“You want me to decide where we get dinner?”
She smiled slightly, lifting one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “Yes. Candy’s Diner was so good, I figure you can probably surprise me again.”
My heart felt squeezed hard by a fist, all over nothing more than knowing she enjoyed lunch with me.
Because I didn’t trust myself to do anything else, I pushed away from the tailgate. “Okay, then.” Rounding to the passenger side, I opened the door for her. She stopped with one foot on the running board and glanced up at me. “You’re such a gentleman, Dawson.”
I shrugged. “My mama taught me manners.”
For just a second, I thought she might lean up and kiss me, but she didn’t. My eyes landed on the slight pink stain on her cheeks as she turned away and climbed into the truck.
I took her to my second favorite place, yet another fairly nondescript basic place. It was my favorite pub in town. I’d never been much for fancy, maybe because we grew up poor. As far as I could tell, good food was good food, and sometimes fancy places got so full of themselves they messed it all up.
Dinner was largely uneventful. Except for me needing to manage my response to Evie’s mere presence. It was crowded when we got there, so we sat at the bar, tucked into a corner. Evie was so close to me that her knee kept bumping into the side of my thigh. Her warm, sweet musky scent spun around me. I didn’t drink because we had a bit of a drive.
“You should have a glass of wine,” I said at one point.
She held a sweet potato fry between her fingers, right in front of her mouth. Her eyes slid sideways to mine. She popped it in her mouth, and I swallowed at the sight of her pretty lips closing around it.
After she finished chewing, she shook her head. “It’s not fair for you to have to drive for an hour and a half while I’m all tipsy.”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
“I do.”
She snagged another sweet potato fry from the plate we were sharing, and I wondered how watching her eat could be such a turn-on.
It was fully dark by the time we pulled onto the highway. The drive was quiet at first, and then Evie asked if she could turn on the radio. She scrolled through the stations until the sound of blues filled the truck cab. This woman was going to officially kill me. She loved the blues, maybe as much as I did. Or so I guessed based on how she sighed and leaned into the seat.
We were about halfway back to Stolen Hearts Valley when she spoke between songs. “I need to pee.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. Isn’t there a rest area maybe a mile ahead or so?”
“Think so. I’ll pull over.”
Her guess was about spot-on. Not much more than a mile ahead on the highway, the exit sign for a rest area glowed in the darkness. Pulling off the highway, I glanced her way. “I’ll go in with you.”
She shrugged, hopping out so fast I didn’t have a chance to get to the door. I didn’t really have to go to the bathroom, but I considered rest areas to be sketchy places. In my father’s day, before he passed away, he did many a drug deals at rest areas. As they were transient places with many cars rotating through at just about any hour, it was easier to hide.
I went to the bathroom anyway and waited for Evie right outside the women’s room. Moments later, we walked back into the darkness together. A half-moon hung low in the sky above the mountain ridge ahead, its light glinting on Evie’s dark hair. She had it in her usual ponytail. I wanted to tug it loose and slide my fingers through the silky fall.
My heart was thudding, and my body felt as if I were standing on the edge of the precipice, tight with anticipation.
After I got the door for Evie and slid into the driver’s side, I sat for a moment. The visceral tug on the invisible string that kept shimmering to life between us had my head turning to look at her. She turned at the same time, and our gaze collided.
The subtle catch of her breath was loud in the quiet. I couldn’t help it. I had to kiss her.
Leaning over the console, I did exactly as I had imagined moments ago. Lifting a hand, I hooked my finger on the thin elastic holding her hair up and slid it free. The sound of her hair falling down was an audible whoosh in my ears.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” I heard myself saying, my voice coming out low and gruff.
It was as if I were waiting to give her a chance to tell me she didn’t want to. Not that I’d phrased it as a question. It felt as if sparks were flying in the air around us, the force of the desire so powerful it took on a life of itself.
Evie stared at me, and her breath came out in a little puff. Just when I meant to lean closer, she closed the distance between us, angling toward me. When her lips met mine, the hot joining sent an electric jolt straight through me.
She drew back the barest distance, her lips brushing against mine when she spoke. “Please do.”
Cupping her cheek with my fingers teasing in her silky hair, I traced my thumb across her bottom lip. The air was electric at that moment. It felt as if a drum roll were echoing, the need between us burgeoning and increasing in speed and velocity.
I meant to start slowly, and I managed that for maybe five seconds. With a brush of my lips over hers, my thumb slid down, tracing along her jaw and over the wild beat of her pulse as I slipped my hand down to cup the nape of her neck.
When she sighed, a little sound escaped from her throat. It was a lash of the whip in the air between us, sparking a flame into a full-blown conflagration. Angling her head to the side, I fit my mouth over hers and lost myself in her warm, welcoming sweetness. Our kiss went wild, wet, and messy almost instantly.
Evie had this capacity to make me feel like nothing more than a boy. Skill fell to the wayside as I tumbled into everything that was her. By the time I drew back, I was gasping for air, my heartbeat thundering so loudly I could barely hear over the sound of blood rushing through my ears.
When Evie’s eyes fluttered open, they were unfocused and hazy. Although the lights from the parking lot were dim, I could still see the pink on her flushed cheeks. Her lips were puffy from our kiss. My need for her pounded through my body. All I wanted was to kiss her again.
So I did. I dove right back into the fire. God, I loved the way she kissed—her mouth lush and mobile and her tongue darting in to lick against mine. She took little nips on my bottom lip. Over and over again, those soft little sounds from the back of her throat made me fucking crazy.
Restless and aching down to my bones to have her closer, I reached over and tugged her onto my lap. Our kiss broke apart as she shifted, her knee catching on the console between us. The little giggle that escaped from her was another lash of the whip on my need. She settled
in my lap, leaning against the steering wheel with a small smile curling her lips.
She rocked her hips slightly as she settled down over my arousal, making me acutely aware of how hard I was and how much I needed her. Her smile faded as we stared at each other with my heart kicking hard inside the cage of my ribs.
“What are we doing?” she asked, her voice raspy.
I pressed a kiss just above the point where the collar of her shirt dipped down above her breasts. “Kissing,” I murmured.
I leaned back, giving in to the need to feel more of her. I slid my hand under her shirt, encountering her warm skin and savoring the soft little sigh that escaped her lips.
“And this,” I murmured as I slid my palm up, lightly cupping one of her breasts. I could feel the nipple puckering under the silk. As aroused as I was—and let’s face it, I wanted to be buried deep inside her—all I wanted was to give her pleasure.
For a man accustomed to approaching sex as a transaction, the way I felt with Evie was unfamiliar and disorienting. As intense and potentially fraught with emotional implications as it was, I didn’t shy away from it.
My need for her was too fierce and overpowering.
“Dawson,” she gasped when I caught her tight nipple between my thumb and forefinger and squeezed lightly.
“Just let me take care of you.”
When I looked into her eyes, I saw surprise and recognized the uncertainty flickering there. Sliding her shirt up, I flicked the clasp loose between her breasts and groaned aloud at the lush weight of her breasts and the feel of her silky skin.
Dipping my head, I sucked one of her sweet, pink nipples into my mouth. Her hips rocked over the hard ridge of my cock, and she let out a little whimper.
Evie was a fan of leggings and conveniently wore a pair today. They were soft and stretchy. After taking a moment to give her sweet ass a squeeze, I shimmied my hand down into the front of her panties. She was hot and slick, her channel rippling around my fingers when I sank two inside her.
She gasped, leaning forward and pressing a messy kiss on the side of my neck. With her hips rolling slightly as I teased around her clit and fucked her hot pussy with my fingers, I wanted to see her fly apart so badly. Nothing about this was for me, well, except for the fact that it mattered so much to me that she found her release.
Evie lifted her head, her blue eyes glittering in the darkness when she arched into my fingers. “Dawson,” she gasped, the frayed sound of her voice sending a hot jolt straight to my balls. “I want you inside me.”
Her words were blunt and direct, cinching me tighter and tighter to her. Circling my thumb, I drew my fingers out, watching her face. She bit her lip, a low moan escaping and her eyes on me the whole time.
“This isn’t exactly the best place for that,” I choked out when she pressed down over my arousal.
Her lips curled in a slight smile. “This isn’t exactly the best place for what we’re already doing.”
Just when I thought I had the situation in hand, she shifted her hips back slightly. With a quick flick, she had my fly unbuttoned and was curling her hand around my cock.
My head fell back. “Evie…” I growled.
I felt her shifting and opened my eyes to see her kick one leg free from her leggings and rise up over me. Her slick heat slid over my shaft, her wet core teasing the tip.
“Fuck, Evie. I need a condom.”
Her eyes widened slightly, but I was already moving, reaching for my wallet. She shook her head. “Didn’t we already discuss this? I’m on the pill.” She gasped as she rocked her hips again, the slick kiss of her pussy on the head of my cock nearly undoing me.
Holding still, I eyed her, recalling we had, in fact, had this chat in the early morning hours. When she bit her lip, I nodded, gripping her hips as she rose. With a slow slide, she brought me inside her, sheathing me in her core.
This was messy and intense and out of my control. It certainly wasn’t what I had planned. But then, Evie had a hold on me so tight I wasn’t letting go.
When she settled down fully, burying me all the way inside, she gave her hips a little rock, nearly drawing my release from me with nothing more than that. Tightening my grip on her hips, I held her still. “Slow down.”
Opening my eyes, I brushed her tangled hair away from her face, and her forehead fell to mine. For several breaths, we held still. Fused together, our hearts pounded. A sense of intimacy fell over me, a closeness I’d never experienced with anyone before. I swallowed, sliding one arm around her waist to pull her closer.
She shifted slightly, murmuring against my lips, “I can’t help it.”
The moments that followed felt like the most intense in my life. There on the side of the highway, we made love in the darkness in my truck. Every rock of my hips into her sent pleasure streaking through me, my balls tightening and electricity humming at the base of my spine.
I felt her release coming, the ripples of her channel increasing in intensity and those little sounds in her throat pushing me closer to my own release. She came hard, her entire body shuddering roughly as her pussy clamped down around my cock. Her head fell to my shoulder as my own release came abruptly, my mouth hot on her neck as I moaned her name.
We stayed fused for several long moments with nothing but the sound of our breathing filling the space. Headlights flashed across us, and she lifted her head quickly.
Before she moved away, I cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes for a long moment. My heart was about to beat its way out of my chest.
I didn’t know what to say, so I simply leaned forward to press a kiss on her lips. When another pair of headlights flashed through the parking area, she smiled softly. “I suppose we should keep driving.”
We drove home through the darkness. All the while, one word beat like a drum in my brain. Mine. Mine. Mine.
13
Evie
“Come to bed with me.”
Nothing but a little slice of moonlight falling through the trees illuminated Dawson’s face. His face, so beautiful anyway, was all strong angles in the shadows.
I opened my mouth to reply, and he squeezed my hand. “Just to sleep,” he clarified.
With my body still humming with tiny aftershocks from our heated encounter in his truck, I found I didn’t want to leave him. My emotions were a muddle, but the idea of sleeping wrapped up in Dawson’s strong embrace was too good and far too tempting for me to resist.
As soon as I even began to nod, he smiled. Turning and keeping my hand tightly held in his, he led me along the path, following the lights strung through the trees to his cabin.
That was how I found myself falling asleep enveloped in his arms once again. I didn’t know what to do with any of my feelings, yet all my worries fell to the wayside when he pulled me against him and curled around me. I fell asleep almost instantly.
Close to a week later, I leaned against Dani’s desk, looking down at the schedule she had in front of us. She tapped her finger on an upcoming weekend a few weeks ahead. “With Grace out of town, do you mind doing two shifts on this Saturday?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Of course, I don’t mind.”
She jotted my name down on the calendar before sticking the pencil through the bun barely contained on top of her head. Several of her wild brown curls were springing out.
“So what’s up with you and Dawson?”
My mouth actually fell open.
Dani laughed. “You don’t think any of us have noticed? I promise, I don’t keep an eye on who sleeps where, but I’m up early.”
I sank down into the chair across from her desk and cast her a glare. “So you don’t pay attention to who sleeps where, but you have some sort of opinion about where I sleep?”
Dani cocked her head to the side, a grin teasing the corners of her mouth. “I leave to come into the restaurant at five thirty most mornings. I might’ve noticed twice now that Dawson was leaving your place. The other morning, I saw you leaving Dawson
’s place. And I’m nosy.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that. Dani was nosy, but she also cared, and she didn’t tend to spread gossip. She always went straight to the source. In this case, I supposed that was me.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I said, reaching for a rubber band in front of me on her desk. I needed something to fiddle with, so I stretched it between my fingers, snapping it lightly.
“I need a little more information than that to give you any advice,” Dani replied.
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. So he kissed me. It was kind of out of the blue a couple of weeks ago. You know, at the fundraiser when I ended up with wine spilled all over my dress after that woman bumped into me?” At Dani’s nod, I continued. “Dawson gave me a ride home and kissed me. Then we ran into each other one night up at that flat rock.” She looked puzzled. “There’s no path to it, and you have to cut through the trees behind his cabin.”
“Oh, right. Got it. I hardly ever go there.”
“Anyway, he kissed me again.” I stopped there, not wanting to elaborate on how much more had happened. Because there was more.
Dani was quiet, her gaze shifting from a teasing look to considering. After a moment, she said, “It’s always been obvious to me that you two really liked each other.”
“It has?” I stopped fiddling with the rubber band and stared at her.
Her brows hitched up. “Seriously. I mean, sure, Dawson teases everyone, but you have a special place. With you, he’s always been like a little boy picking on the girl he likes in first grade.”
I laughed and sighed. “But I don’t know what the hell we’re doing. He says he wants to take it one step at a time. I confronted him and asked him point blank if he was going to screw around, and he assured me he wasn’t.”
“Dawson’s more of a flirt than a player. He’s good at creating an impression, but—” She paused and shrugged.
Vote Then Read: Volume III Page 136