“I think I’ve earned by two years of tea,” Liam declared sometime after noon, walking over to her and handing her his shovel.
Anna straightened, wiping sweat from her forehead. “Definitely,” she agreed, realizing just how much work it was really taking. “Thanks, Liam,” at his shrug, she reached out to touch his arm. “No seriously, Liam. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have even known this was an option.”
Liam hung his head, ever self-deprecating he said, “You would have figured it out.”
“Not that quickly though and it could have rained and I would be screwed. So seriously thank you Liam.”
He looked up at her, his serious face showing a ghost of a smile. “Anytime,” he looked surprised and laughed. “No, strike that. Not anytime but you know… no problem.”
Anna watched Liam walk away and turned back toward the field. Hank was leaning on his shovel’s handle, wiping his face with a rag. He looked as tired as she felt. She walked over to him, reaching for his shovel. “Hank, why don’t you get going too? It’s mostly done here. Let us finish the rest. Thank you so much for coming.”
Hank looked relieved but smiled. “Oh no problem, no problem. I really should get back to check on the store. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to call me.”
Maude stood up for the first time since she got there as she saw Hank walking away. “The winds are changing,” she said as Anna approached.
Anna looked up at the blue sky. “Is it going to rain?”
Maude laughed, a deep throaty laugh. “No girl. Different kind of winds. And I would love to stay to see it, but I have a date.”
“Thanks for bringing the drinks, Maude. I promise to get the coolers back to you tomorrow.”
Maude waved a hand. “No rush girl. You have a good afternoon. Keep an eye on those boys, you hear?”
Anna looked back at the men. Devon had unbuttoned three of his buttons and was looking like he was losing steam. Sam, Eric, and Aiden were working just as steadily as ever but she knew they must be fading.
“I’m gonna run back to the house and throw us something together to eat,” she announced.
Everyone thanked her except Sam who called out, “Preferably not pasta with yogurt sauce,” he called out.
“Shut up you,” she yelled back, walking away.
Anna silently prayed that she actually did have something other than pasta and yogurt in the house.
–
Sam wasn’t sure what happened. Between the heat and the hard work and having to try to ignore Eric with his hands all over Anna, he was beyond irritable. And as soon as Anna was out of sight, he and Eric kept finding reasons to push each others buttons.
“Why don’t you just leave, O’reilly?” he asked, having reached his limit of patience.
“Why don’t you make me, Flynn?” Eric countered, stepping closer.
Seeing that sly, condescending smile on his face was the tipping point. He stepped forward, shoving his hands against Eric’s chest and taking a sick satisfaction in seeing him stumble back a step. “There,” he said. “now go.”
Eric stood there a second, contemplating what he was going to do before saying, “Oh, fuck it,” and charging Sam.
Eric landed two blows before they both went plummeting to the ground.
Devon cleared his throat, looking over toward Aiden. “Gonna do anything, Sheriff?”
Aiden watched Sam’s fist land in Eric’s side before Eric wrestled away. “In a minute. They have to get it out of their systems somehow.”
“It wont stop still she chooses one,” Devon said, cringing at them.
Aiden walked over toward the coolers, grabbing two beers and tucking them into his pockets. “Think she’s worth all of this?” he asked Devon.
Devon glanced toward where Anna had walked away. “I think she might be,” he mused. “If I were a couple years older…” Devon trailed off.
“Hell,” Aiden laughed. “if I were a couple years younger too. We’d all be in a brawl.” Aiden walked over to them where Eric was leaning over Sam. He reached out and dragged Eric by the arm a few feet backward. “Alright. That’s enough.” He shoved a hand against Sam’s chest as he got up to go after Eric again. “Enough,” he repeated, reaching into his pockets and handing them each a beer. “You’ve fought it out like boys. Now talk it out like men,” he demanded before stepping away.
Sam recovered first, his chest still heaving from the fight. “She deserves better,” he said vaguely.
Eric opened his beer but didn’t drink. “Better than what?”
“You,” Sam said. “Me.”
Eric took a sip. “I know,” he said, looking down at the ground. “But I still want her.”
Sam snorted. “For what? To use and throw aside like every other girl in town?”
Eric looked over at him, a strange depth in his eyes he had never seen before. “No. It’s different. I don’t know. It’s different.”
Then it occurred to him that maybe, just maybe Eric genuinely had feelings for Anna. “Yeah. She’s different,” Sam agreed, a part of him going out to Eric. They were both in the same boat.
Eric sighed. “She likes me you know,” he said in a way that wasn’t bragging in tone. “We have a lot in common. She comes out of her shell around me.”
Sam nodded. He heard about how easily they talked while together in town. “She likes me too,” he countered. “I guess she just needs some time to figure out which one of us she likes more.”
“She’s going to need to see both of us to do that,” Eric mused.
Sam shook his head. “How about we agree to not get in each others way? Just let her lead the way and I dunno… let the best man win?”
Eric nodded, extending his beer to Sam to clink. “To the best man.”
Anna came walking up a few minutes later, a tray between her hands. She hadn’t found a whole lot of things appropriate to eat outdoors on a hot day. She found pita pockets that she stuffed with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and balsamic dressing. She put together a big salad and a tray of various fruits.
As she walked up, Aiden was walking up as well, two huge buckets in each hand. “Hey, Sheriff,” she called, eyebrows furrowed.
“Aiden,” he corrected. “Hope you don’t mind, I went to fetch some water. We needed to do some cleaning up,” he said, an odd smile on his face.
“No of course not.”
She placed the tray on the cooler and turned to face the remaining men. And stopped cold. Both Eric and Sam were filthy as if they had been rolling around in the dirt. There was dried blood under Eric’s nose and a dark bruise spread across Sam’s cheek. “What’s going on?” she asked, looking between the two of them.
Eric spoke first. “Nothing, just need to do some cleaning up,” he said, pulling his tank top over his head and plunging his arms into one of the water buckets.
Sam sent her a weak, guilty little smile before taking his shirt off too and starting to scrub off the grime. “No worries. So if we eat that,” he cocked his head toward the food. “are we going to survive?”
“Hey, I’m not that bad of a cook!”
Devon grunted behind her, taking a bite out of one of the pita sandwiches. “These are actually pretty decent.”
“Yes,” Anna said turning to Devon. “See? I told you! Thanks Devon.”
Anna watched as Eric and Sam started over toward them, shirtless and dripping. It took everything she had to keep her mouth from falling open. Couldn’t one of them be slightly less appealing than the other?
As Eric got closer, she noticed a split through his lip. He reached for a sandwich and as he passed her, kissed her quickly on the cheek. “Thanks, baby.” He took a bite and she noticed a slight wince as he ate. Devon must have been being nice.
Sam reached out and tugged a piece of her hair. “It was a fair attempt,” he teased, taking another bite. “You’re lucky we’re famished.”
“Hush you,” she called as he walked past them to go talk
to Aiden.
“Anna,” Eric said and she almost jumped. It was wrong for his voice to sound so sexual in broad daylight in front of other people. “What do you say to coming over and watching a god-awful action movie and eating pizza?”
Anna could practically feel her mouth water. God, she missed pizza. “Stars Landing doesn’t have pizza,” she objected.
“No, but I know someone who makes pizza. Very New York pizza, thin crust with tons of cheese and grease.”
“Don’t tease me,” Anna said, reaching for a peach.
“Only when you want me to,” he said, winking. “Say sixish?”
“Sounds good,” she agreed, genuinely looking forward to the prospect.
Fifteen
Every muscle in her body objected to getting out of bed. They had been out in the field until well after five when she declared they did enough and she wasn’t going to subject them to eating another meal she made.
Sam had hung back, surveying the land carefully after everyone else left.
“So do you think we got it all?” she asked, rubbing the back of her neck.
“I think we did. We made sure we dug deep in case anything fell through when we were digging. Later this week I’ll take you to go pick up some quality soil to put in here. Maybe start you a compost pile to use next spring.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she objected. He had done way too much for her already.
Sam looked up at her from his kneeling position, his hair falling over one of his eyes and smiling that sweet smile. “I want to,” he said, standing up and walking closer to her.
Anna leaned her back against the truck bed. Sam stepped forward, his toes touching hers and his hand coming up to rest on the waistband of her jeans. “Stop,” she objected, swatting at his hand. “I’m all sweaty and gross.”
“I like you sweaty and gross,” he said, his other hand moving up to the back of her neck. He pulled her face toward hers, his teeth sinking into the flesh of her lower lip before his tongue slipped inside her mouth.
A moan escaped her lips, her hand going out and grabbing the waistband of his jeans, pulling him closer. Sam groaned, grabbing her by her hips and hauling her onto the truck bed. He moved in between her open legs, holding her tight to his body. She could feel the hard outline of his cock against her lower belly and she felt herself wrap her legs around his hips, rubbing herself against him.
Sam made a growling sound in his throat, grabbing her hips again and picking her up. He sat down on the bed himself, Anna on top of him. One of her hands went to his shoulder, the other went to his hair, grabbing. She brought her lips down on his, hungry and searching. Her hips shifted, moving until she felt the line of his cock flush against her hot desire. She rocked her hips against him, friction stoking her desire.
She moaned against his lips, both aroused and frustrated. Two layers of jeans between their bodies was driving her almost to the edge but not quite able to get her what she needed most. She sighed, sliding off of his lap, landing her butt on the truck bed. Her face was against his bare chest, breathing in his sweat and soap smell that made her feel all the more frustrated.
Sam kissed the side of her face, tapping her legs. “Here,” he said, quietly. “turn around.”
Anna moved, sitting between his legs but facing out to the field. Sam made a grunting sound, pushing her closed legs back open again. “Lean on me,” he said and felt her weight press against his chest.
His hand went to her pants, pulling at the button and moving the zipper down. She almost went to push him away when his hand quickly moved into her pants, resting on the outside of her panties. He leaned closer to her ear, nipping at her lobe and saying in a deep breath. “You’re already wet for me,” he said, his hand still against her. “Tell me what you want,” he demanded.
Anna felt her stomach twist in a knot. He knew what she wanted. Why did he need her to say it? But he remained unmoving and she knew he wasn’t going to do anything if she didn’t tell him. She bit down on her lip, closing her eyes tight in embarrassment. “I want you to touch me,” she whispered, barely audible.
Sam inhaled deeply, kissing her neck. “Good girl,” he said.
Anna felt her breath rush out of her as his fingers pushed down on her panties, sliding between her folds and finding her clit, working it in fast circles. Anna’s palm slammed down on Sam’s thigh at the contact, a moan escaping her as she leaned against his broad chest. “Oh my god,” she whispered, her hips moving against his hand as his fingers traced slowly up and down, stopping to tap on her clit before going down again. Her fingers dug into his arm, nipping into his flesh as she pushed her pelvis harder against his hand.
She felt it build quickly and rush toward climax at an almost frightening speed. Her hand grabbed harder, cutting into his skin as his fingers found her clit one last time, pressing hard circles until she felt her insides clench once tightly then spasming uncontrollably, her moan coming out loud and choked.
“Oh my god. Oh,” she whimpered, her legs shaking. Sam’s hand stilled its moving, pressing his whole palm against her body as her orgasm ripped through her. His free hand went across her belly, holding her tight against him.
Anna sucked in a unsteady breath, her chest feeling tight. Her body felt fluid, detached, almost foreign. Sam’s hand slipped out of her pants, his arm going up across her chest and hugging her against him.
A few moments passed like that. She liked being held. It wasn’t something she could have ever known before. There was something undeniably comforting about having a man’s strong arms around you like you’re important, like you’re worth holding on to. She settled against his chest, enjoying the closeness for a moment.
Then, breaking through the haze, she noticed his hard cock still pressing against her back. She shook her head, a small almost unnoticeable motion.
“What’s wrong?” Sam asked.
“This isn’t fair,” she admitted.
“What isn’t fair?”
“You know,” she said, feeling squirmy at having to say it. “You’ve… touched me a couple times now and I haven’t…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sam cut her off quickly, kissing her hair.
“No,” Anna said, pulling herself out of his arms and turning around to face him, her legs resting on his thighs, her feet behind his back. “I want to,” she said and realized that she meant it. Partly it was curiosity. She had never touched anyone before. But mostly it was a desire to give him at least a hint of what he gave her.
Sam gave her a weak little smile. “Anytime you want to touch me, go right ahead,” he said.
Anna’s eyes fell from his, her fingers finding his collarbones and moving lower, touching the raised firmness of his chest muscles, the small hardened points of his nipples. As her fingertips touched his stomach, the muscles underneath twitched once and Sam’s breath came out more quickly. Her fingers fumbled with his pants buttons before finally getting it out of the hole and pulling the zipper down.
It was then her uncertainty had her pausing. She didn’t even really know what to do. “You can stop,” Sam’s voice said, husky and aroused. Even when he was about to get what he obviously wanted he was willing to have her stop if she was uncomfortable. Always the good guy.
And that was what pushed her past her own discomfort. “No, I want to,” she insisted, forcing her hands to slip inside. She felt the impossible hardness of him straining against he fabric of his boxer briefs. Her finger brushed the tip and Sam’s breath hissed out of his mouth. Emboldened, Anna closed her hand around his shaft, gently moving up and down, amazed at how hard a dick got when aroused.
She looked up, Sam’s eyes were on hers, half open and hazy. She watched him as her hand released him, moving up to the waistband of his underwear and slipping under. Her fingers touched him then, his skin impossibly soft and hot. A groan escaped him as she ran her thumb across the head, finding wetness there. Her hand went around him again, amazed when her fingers barely touched.
He was so big. How could something that size possibly fit inside a woman?
Sam’s hand moved between them then, coming gently down on hers and squeezing. “Harder,” he said quietly and she was glad for the instruction. She gripped his cock roughly, stroking slowly up and down. Sam’s hand released hers, moving upward. It slid up and under her shirt, reaching for her bra straps and pulling them off her shoulders. Once the fabric loosened, his hand slipped inside the cup, finding her breast and squeezing it.
Anna felt her inner core tighten with budding desire again. Her hand became more urgent on his hardness, moving up and down in a twisting motion, her thumb moving over the tip each time she slid upward. She could feel his breath next to her ear, hot and fast. He groaned, his hand squeezing her breast tightly. She knew he was close, her hand grabbing him harder. Her thumb brushed the head one last time and his whole body tensed against hers, his hand crushing her breast painfully as he gasped once and on his exhale groaned, “Anna.” She felt him cum, her hand stroking the wetness as his body jerked against her again and again.
Her hand slid away when his body stilled against hers. She leaned forward, resting her head against his chest, hearing his heartbeat thud against her ear. Sam’s arms went around her, pulling her close as his breathing returned to normal.
They sat there silently for a few moments until breaking through the quiet, Sam’s phone rang shrill from inside his pocket. Anna jumped away quickly, getting down off the truck bed and turning away from him to zip and button her jeans.
“Hello,” Sam said into his phone. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll be over in ten. Yeah.”
Anna sucked in a deep breath. “Everything alright?” she asked, turning to face him with what she hoped was a composed face.
“Yeah,” Sam said. “Just an issue with one of the refrigerators. I gotta go take a look at it.”
What The Heart Wants Page 13