Then he was kissing her again, his mouth feeding off hers, need and desire exploding within him. He shifted, tried to reach for the hem of her shirt, banged his knee against the steering wheel.
“Fuck.” He muttered the word and eased Beth away from him. “Back seat.”
Beth nodded, a small smile teasing her mouth, and climbed between the two seats to reach the back. Adam quickly followed her, banging his head against the dome light and his knee against the edge of a cup holder. Beth laughed, the sound low and breathless. Adam answered her smile with one of his own, knowing how ridiculous he must look trying to wedge himself between the two seats.
Then it didn’t matter because he was finally next to her, sprawled along the back seat, his arms around her as he claimed her mouth once more. Hot. Hungry. Urgent.
He skimmed his hands along her sides, his fingers curling around the hem of her sweater. Beth grabbed his hands and nudged them away, holding them to the side.
“No. Not yet.”
“But—”
“Not yet.” A teasing smile curled her lips, heat dancing in her eyes. Then she reached between them and undid the button of his jeans, slid the zipper down. Adam swallowed back a groan and lifted his hips, tried to help her ease the jeans down only to have her shake her head and tell him no.
Her hand curled around his hard length, her touch cool yet searing, burning. One long stroke, then another. He swallowed back a groan, trying to hide his disappointment when she released her hold on him.
“Scoot back so you’re against the door.”
Adam hesitated but only for a second. He untangled his feet from hers then slid toward the door, settling himself so one leg was stretched out along the seat and the other was hanging over the edge, his foot planted firmly on the floor. Not the most comfortable position but he was sure he’d survive.
Beth kneeled by his stretched-out leg, her head tilted to the side as she studied him. “Reach above you. Grab that handhold with both hands.”
Adam looked behind him, reached up and wrapped his hands around the leather-covered handle. “Like this?”
“Yes. Just like that. Don’t let go.”
Adam grinned. He had no idea what she had planned and he didn’t care. Whatever it was, he was certain he was going to enjoy it—but not as much as he enjoyed the confident command in Beth’s voice. She’d never taken the lead the other times they were together. This was something new, and not just between them. Adam sensed that being in charge was completely new for her.
And he was more than happy to oblige.
Her hungry gaze traveled along his body, sparking flames of heat everywhere she looked. His skin prickled beneath his clothes and a bead of sweat broke out along his forehead. Fuck, what was wrong with him? He shouldn’t be reacting like this. Except for the jeans shoved down past his hips, he was still fully dressed. She wasn’t even fucking touch him.
But he wanted her to. Fuck, he wanted her to touch him so bad he could taste it.
Her gaze drifted to his cock, the thick length standing straight and proud. Eager. Beth’s tongue darted out, swiped across her lower lip. She brought one hand to her throat, slid it down across her body, over the fullness of her breasts. Down lower, to the waistband of her jeans, lower still until she tilted her hips against her palm and sighed.
Adam’s cock jumped and a small moan escaped him. Beth’s hand dropped away, her gaze darting to his. He saw hesitation and uncertainty there and he cursed himself for making a sound.
“Don’t stop.”
She chewed on her lower lip, the uncertainty slowly fading from her eyes. Adam took another deep breath, let it out slow, held her gaze with his.
“You are so fucking hot, Beth. Let me watch. Show me how you play with that sweet fucking pussy.”
Her breath rushed from her in a sharp gasp. Had he gone too far? Had he embarrassed her? He opened his mouth to apologize, to say something reassuring, then snapped it closed when she undid her jeans and slid them past the flare of her rounded hips.
There was just enough light from the single street lamp in the corner of the lot for him to see the pale skin at the juncture of her thighs. Silky smooth and bare. He clenched his hands around the strap, needing to touch that warm flesh, to taste it, but knowing he couldn’t move.
Beth pushed to her knees on the seat, one leg straddling his as she ran the tip of her finger up along the bare skin of her thigh. Slowly, teasing him, until her finger finally slid along her clit. She sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes closing and her head falling back. Her hips rocked against her hand, her chest rising and falling with each fast stroke of her finger.
“So fucking hot. I can see how wet you are from here. How slick that pussy is. Am I right? Tell me.”
“Y-yes. Wet. So fucking wet.”
Holy fuck. Wow. The unexpected word was almost as much of a turn-on as watching Beth play with herself. Adam swallowed, shifted just the tiniest bit. His cock strained, reaching, the sudden need for release almost painful in its intensity.
“Show me. Let me feel.”
Beth’s eyes fluttered open, her gaze resting on his. Adam held his breath, watching. Waiting. Wondering what she would do.
She slid her finger away from her clit, reached out and gently ran the wet tip along the length of his cock. Adam’s body jumped to life, a long moan escaping his clenched jaw. “Fuck yes. That feels so good.”
Beth muttered something, the words too soft for him to hear. And then she leaned forward and wrapped her hot mouth around his cock.
Adam’s breath rushed out in a sharp hiss. His head fell back, his hips thrusting up, forcing his cock deeper into her mouth. He fought to catch his breath, released one hand from the strap and reached for her.
Beth pulled away, a teasing smile on her mouth. “I said don’t let go. Put your hand back.”
“Fuck. You’re driving me crazy. You know that, right?” Adam raised his hand, curled it around the strap once more.
“Good.” Beth’s smile was teasing, sultry, hot. She kept her gaze on him as she dipped her hand between her legs, her finger stroking. Hard, fast, steady. Then she leaned forward, her mouth closing around him once more.
And fuck, she was driving him crazy. Sucking, licking, her mouth so fucking hot. Adam tightened his hold around the strap, worried he might rip it from the frame and snap it in two as he watched her going down on him.
As he watched her playing with herself.
He clenched his jaw, struggling for control. But fuck, this felt so good. Beth felt so good. Her mouth, her tongue, those sweet little sounds she was making. His hips rocked, thrusting up, over and over until he thought his entire body would instantly combust.
Beth’s throaty moans grew louder, a little sharper. The nails of her free hand dug into his thigh, squeezing. Her body stiffened, going still for a heart-stopping second before she uttered a muffled scream of release, the sound vibrating around his cock.
Need for release washed over him. Swift, intense, demanding. Adam stiffened, searched for control, tried to force words from his mouth. “Beth, sweetheart, no. I’m—you have to stop—I can’t—”
The ends of Beth’s hair brushed across the skin of his thighs as she shook her head. Her mouth slid down the length of his cock, her tongue swirling around the tip as she cupped his balls with her hand—the same hand she had been using to stroke her clit.
Orgasm swept over him with no warning. Strong, powerful, shattering. He expected Beth to pull away, groaned when she kept going.
Fuck. Holy fuck. Christ, her mouth was so fucking hot, hotter than the semen pulsing from his cock. Adam’s eyes closed, his head fell back, his lungs struggling to draw breath as pleasure washed over him.
How long did it last? Pain, pleasure, twisting together until they were inseparable, crashing against his body until he was limp and spent. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, his hands still gripping the handle above him, his lungs still heaving to draw breath.
The sound of a zipper closing, of fabric brushing against fabric, seeped through the haze clouding his mind. He forced his eyes open, blinked to bring everything into focus. Beth was leaning across the front seat, reaching for her bag. Adam smiled, released his death grip on the handle, then reached out and ran his hand along her ass. She squeaked in surprise, nearly falling backward as she held the bag in front of her.
Adam pushed himself to a full sitting position then reached for her. Beth stiffened for a brief second then tilted her head up, her mouth soft under his. She pulled away too soon, averting her gaze.
“That was so fucking hot. Do you know that?”
A fleeting smile crossed her face, slightly sad. Or maybe he was just reading into things. Why would she be sad? No, he was misreading her expression, probably confusing it for embarrassment or even shyness.
Beth untangled the strap of her bag and raised it over her shoulder. Then she leaned forward, placed one hand against his cheek, and touched her lips to his. Soft, sweet. Over too fast.
“I need to go now.”
Adam wanted to argue with her, to convince her to go back to his place. But she shook her head and silenced him with another quick kiss.
“I wanted to thank you. For everything.”
Adam frowned. “Thank me? I don’t understand.”
There was no missing the sadness in her smile this time. “You don’t need to.” She pressed her mouth to his one last time then slid toward the door. Her hand closed around the handle and she pushed it open. Adam sat there, stunned, watching as she lowered herself to the ground, shut the door behind her, and made her way to the driver side of her own car.
Something like panic swelled inside him, dulling his reaction time. She was leaving? Just like that? And Adam knew, without a doubt, that she had just said goodbye.
Not goodnight.
Goodbye.
He struggled with his jeans, yanking them into place and quickly zipping them. Then he was scrambling across the seat, diving for the door and nearly falling out in his haste to open it.
But as fast as he was, he wasn’t fast enough. Beth was already pulling out. He saw her glance to the right, watched in disbelief as she gave him a little wave and another sad smile.
And then she was gone, the car pulling out onto the main road and heading toward the interstate.
Adam stood there for several long minutes, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
Trying to understand the sense of loss swirling in his gut.
Chapter Sixteen
Beth followed Courtney into the break room, her steps quiet. She could have stomped into the room and Courtney probably wouldn’t have heard. She was too preoccupied, lost deep in her own thoughts. Beth knew the feeling—she’d been the same way, ever since last week.
Ever since that last night with Adam.
She just hoped she was hiding it better than Courtney.
Her friend reached into a locker, dug through her purse and pulled out a bottle of aspirin, uncapping it with a shaking hand.
“You’re going to give yourself an ulcer if you keep taking those. They’re not good for your stomach, you know that.”
She looked over her shoulder and gave Beth a small smile, then shook out three of the plain white pills. “What makes you think I don’t already have an ulcer?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me, as tense and jumpy as you’ve been. Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on.”
Beth snorted, the sound entirely too delicate to carry as much sarcasm as it did. She pushed away from the doorframe and stepped behind Courtney, placing her hands on her shoulders, digging her fingers into the knotted muscles. “Damn, girl. You’re tighter than my last boyfriend’s ass.”
Courtney’s eyes drifted closed and her head dropped forward. “Which boyfriend was that?”
“The firefighter.” Had any of the sadness crept into her voice? She hoped not. If Courtney picked up on it, she’d asked questions—questions Beth didn’t want to answer. Couldn’t answer. Better to pretend it meant nothing.
Which was the truth.
“Adam?” Courtney raised her head, only to have Beth push it back down. “I thought you liked him.”
Liked him? Beth did. Too much. That was the problem.
“I did. But he lives too far away. That, and he started looking for more than a booty call. I wasn’t interested.” She should be struck down by lightning for telling that lie. It so wasn’t true. Not for Adam, anyway. It was what she had started looking for—hoping for—that scared her. But she couldn’t let Courtney know that. She heaved a dramatic sigh. “But damn, I will miss that ass. And everything else he had to offer.”
Courtney laughed, the sound surprised, a little foreign. Good. Courtney deserved to laugh. She’d been so quiet and withdrawn lately, so worried about…something. Beth yanked the ends of her hair and tugged her over to the small table. “Sit down if you want me to keep rubbing. You’re too tall for me to do this with you standing up.”
“I am not tall.”
“Okay, I’m short. I said it. Are you happy?”
Courtney laughed again and settled into the hard chair, leaning forward so Beth could continue working the knots from her back. “I really thought you and Adam were going to be a thing. Don’t you ever want to settle down?”
“Who, me? Nah. I’m allergic to commitment, you know that.” Only because she could never find the right guy. Beth pushed against one stubborn knot, causing Courtney to hiss and hunch her shoulders. “Sorry. What about you? Don’t you ever want to take a break from your self-imposed celibacy?”
“Beth! You did not just say that!”
“Sure I did. I mean, seriously. When’s the last time you went out on a date?”
“I’m a single mom, it’s not that easy.”
“Sure it is. A guy asks you out, you say yes. Simple as that.”
“No, I can’t. I have Noah. You know that. And you also know that no guy would be interested in seeing a twenty-one-year-old single mother of a child with Noah’s issues.”
“I think you just use that as an excuse because you don’t want to go out.”
Courtney ignored the comment, just like Beth knew she would. They’d had this conversation before—too many times. Beth would try to fix her up with someone, try to talk her into going out. Courtney always said no. That wasn’t her life right now. It had never been her life.
“So you never did tell me how you and the hot firefighter met.”
“Trying to change the subject, hm? Fine, I won’t bring up your serious lack of a social life again. For now. And I’m seriously not telling you how we met.”
“Why not?”
“Because it might offend your virginal sensibilities, that’s why.” Offend? Courtney would have a heart attack. Literally. Then she’d lecture Beth on the dangers of meeting strangers, especially for the sake of having sex.
And she’d be right. Even Adam had warned her, telling her it was dangerous. That’s why she hadn’t gone back to the chatroom, not once.
At least, that’s what she told herself. She wasn’t ready to admit that she didn’t want to go back. She wasn’t interested in meeting anyone else. Wasn’t interested in hooking up with anyone else.
And she didn’t want to risk seeing Adam in there. She wasn’t ready for that, wasn’t ready to admit that seeing him there, knowing he was hooking up with someone else, would hurt.
Stupid. So stupid. They didn’t have a relationship—they never did, no matter what Beth may have told Courtney. She was never going to see Adam again. She couldn’t, it was a risk she couldn’t afford to take, not when she realized it was starting to be about more than sex.
For her, at least.
Courtney hunched her shoulders together and glanced back at Beth. “I am hardly virginal. I have a kid, remember?”
Beth laughed, the short sound holding a world of sarcasm and disbelief. “Okay. So you had s
ex. Once. Over three years ago. I’m so impressed.”
Courtney opened her mouth, no doubt to disagree, then snapped her mouth closed again. Beth almost felt sorry for her. She knew Noah was Courtney’s whole life. Knew that being a single mother wasn’t easy, that Courtney struggled to find what she thought was the right balance. But her friend deserved happiness, deserved to find that someone special.
One of them had to. It should be Courtney. She deserved it. She deserved so much more. But Beth could sense her discomfort, knew she wasn’t ready. Maybe she never would be. And Courtney would never admit it, but Beth was certain it had something to do with Noah’s father—whoever he was. Beth knew better than to ask about him again so she forced a laugh, decided that Courtney needed a little teasing.
“No come back, hm?”
“I know better.”
Beth made a little humming noise under her breath and kept working on the tense muscles under her hand. Courtney leaned forward even more, releasing her breath and letting herself relax. The music piped into the salon’s speakers was muted back here, nothing more than a backdrop for the other sounds surrounding them. The chatter of conversation between stylist and client was nothing more than a relaxing buzz, lulling her deeper into a foggy gray world. The phone rang from somewhere out on the floor; the bell signaling the arrival or departure of another client was nothing more than a barely-heard tinkle.
In a few minutes, she’d have to get back up. Go to work with her next client, shampooing and cutting. But for now, for these few precious minutes, she could help her friend relax and do her best to put Adam from her mind. It was easier, at least a little bit, to focus on helping Courtney deal with her problems.
Whatever they were.
“Your purple is fading.”
“Hm?”
“I said your purple is fading.” Beth reached up and grabbed the ends of Courtney’s hair, separated out a thick strand. “You should change it.”
Second Alarm (Firehouse Fourteen Book 5) Page 12