by Susan Arden
Languidly, he pushed his hips against Sommer, seeking to make their bodies fit. The way her softness melded to him felt fucking fantastic. All he had to do was lift her skirt, lower her panties, and he could rub his fingers between her legs. Unleash and explore this roiling tension in his bones. Finally assuage his razor sharp urge to do what his body demanded. His thoughts twisted as to where he could take her, get her naked. Him naked. But that would start with him taking Sommer back with him to… Oh hell! He didn’t even have a place of his own to take her, truth be told.
Sommer wriggled her hips, rubbing over him, and he felt himself begin to break. He had to get inside her…or pull away. Get control of himself before it was too late.
“Please, Rory. Let’s go to your truck,” she whispered. “Let me go down on you. Then you can do the same for me. Not all the way, but something to get us off. I need this.” She rubbed her hand down the front of his jeans with a moan that raised the hairs on his arms. He watched her fingers trace his zipper—his dick stiffened and his abs clenched, catapulting his hunger to fuck Sommer.
She popped the button on his jeans and when her fingertips grazed the top of his cock, he jerked. Hard.
“Baby,” he groaned when her fingers found him again.
“One taste. Let me. In your truck and I’ll spread my legs for you. Nothing too crazy. Okay?”
She didn’t realize if he tasted her pussy, he’d be unable to stop himself. Officially, tonight—right here—this was the end of the line in his self-control. So close to breaking. He had to step back or he’d risk doing her right here. In the shadows against the side of a bar. That would go down in McLemore history.
“Don’t do this. To us,” he said in a low rumbling voice that felt caught in his chest. “I’m not going to fuck you in the back of my truck or some vacant field. We haven’t waited all this time to just do it…like that.”
Like all his brothers and friends had done. He wasn’t going to bring up that fact or the bigger issue that his brothers had blazed a trail with women that were as nameless as they were faceless to those skirt-chasing hound dogs. But if word got out that a McLemore had touched Sommer in some cheap move—she’d be marked. He wasn’t about to do that to her.
“It wouldn’t be like that…well not the experience. That’s just geography. This is about you and me and taking what we’ve got to the next level.” She lowered his zipper and wrapped her fingers around him. An electrical current of pleasure flash burned a path deep into his bones. He pumped his cock within her fingers. God. So. Good.
“Oh Rory. You’re wet. Slippery.” She lifted her fingers coated with his pre cum, then sucked each one clean. “You taste salty, sexy….so yummy.”
If he let her recapture his cock in her hand, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from coming. He shuddered and inhaled, grappling to get hold of his ravenous need to release. Sommer reached for him and he intercepted her hands. “No,” he growled, grabbing her two hands in one of his.
Her eyes widened as he tucked himself back into his jeans and zipped up. “I’m not going to get a hand job in an alley. I want to fuck you. Make no mistake. Bad. Hard. And when I do, I want to take my time. Eat your pussy and watch you suck my cock. And then I’m going to fuck you. When that happens, everyone around here will know it from the grins on our faces and the rings on our fingers.”
“Oh,” she whispered. “More waiting.”
“That depends on you. Marry me,” he said. “Sommer, we can have a blowout wedding or go to Vegas. Whatever you want. Those are details and I’ll deliver. What matters is us being together.”
“I can’t do that without seeing if we’re compatible. You’re being hardheaded. If you love me, it shouldn’t matter if we’re married or not. How do you know I’m the one for you? We might not click in bed, and then what? Me sitting at home, while you’re here…or at some other bar. I’m not down for that.”
He still didn’t have his own place and lived at home with his parents. Twenty-two frigging years old. By this time, all of his brothers had been given a parcel of land on Evermore and were on their way to building a house. Okay, in part that wasn’t entirely true. Most opted for a trailer, to get to know the land, and then after a couple of years, they’d contacted an architect to begin drawing up plans to build a house.
Hell, even his twin sister was getting married and her fiancé had his own ranch near Dallas. So officially, he was the only one still living at home.
“We do click. Especially in bed. I can tell and so can you,” he replied.
“Really. Cause I think my parents thought the same thing. Getting married in white was so important to my mom. But divorce is more popular than staying married. Somehow and somewhere people lose their love. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen to us.”
“Sommer, your parents had issues to combat. We don’t have those same things to worry us and drive us apart.”
“How can you say that? We don’t have anything stable. Right now, we aren’t standing on our own two feet. We should be doing crazy things. Eventually we’ll be stable and steady, ready to put down roots, and we won’t be sorry that we missed out on something. Don’t you want to be young and carefree? With me?”
No wonder Sommer didn’t take his idea of getting married seriously. What were they supposed to do? Say their vows and then he’d carry her over the threshold and up to his room, down the hall from his sleeping parents.
“It’s not just about being carefree. Are you willing to risk getting’ pregnant? You’re not on birth control and condoms break more often than you might realize. Then what? Sommer, marry me and we’ll still be young and carefree, together.”
“I want to, but not until I’m sure.” She wiggled her arms and he glanced down at their entwined hands—specifically her third finger, and envisioned the engagement ring he wanted to see placed there. He stepped back from her, giving them both room to breathe.
“Are you coming back inside? We should call one of the bouncers to make sure Lonny is all right.” Sommer moved and now stood in front of him, lightly pulling on his hand.
“All right?” he asked, his voice rising incredulously, and he jerked off the building, coming up to her. He dropped her hand and shook his head. “That shithead just attacked you and he deserves to go to jail.”
“He’s drunk and hurtin’. I think when he’s sober he’ll feel awful. I haven’t seen him like this before.”
Rory took a step closer and she arched her neck to maintain eye contact with him. He bet she didn’t have a clue about that loser down on the ground. “And how well do you know him?”
“Same as you do.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “Why?”
He clamped his jaws together. Sommer was so frigging sheltered, even though she had this desire to be wild and free. He wasn’t going to be the one to burst her bubble. Another reason why the idea of her visiting a big city made him weary. “Just because we come from a small town doesn’t mean we’re family with everyone around here. We got cops same as those big cities you dream about running away to and for a reason.”
“That’s not true…not the cops. The idea of running away. I’m not trying to escape my life here. I just want to be in a place that has a few more opportunities. Sometimes.”
He caught her elbow rather than enter into this debate—again. “Let’s go back.”
“Please, let’s go check on Lonny.”
“Fine. But only because you’re asking.” Rory steered her around the back of the Diamond. The building was small, surrounded on two sides by open fields, where tomorrow there would be a band playing, grills offering up all variations of barbeque, and people kicking back.
Lonny was propped up with his back against the wall and he moaned, glancing at them. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“You’re going to be,” Rory said, tightening his fingers along her arm. “You ever look at Sommer again, and I’ll make sure you drink your dinner through a straw for a month. Or two!”
“Let’
s go get someone,” she remarked.
“That’s not exactly what I was thinking. More like giving Lonny something to really remember.”
Sommer squeezed his arm and slowed down, forcing him to halt. “Promise me, you’re not going to do something you’ll regret. And I do mean tomorrow or the next day,” she said.
He looked back at Lonny. “Sommer, that jackass is fine. Just drunk and maybe had some sense knocked into him.” Rory regarded the man he’d trounced and still felt edgy from the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Not the first time he’d gotten into a fight. He doubted it would be the last. The words that that shithead had slurred still rang in his ears. McLemores who think you can do as you please. Use up and disregard any women who comes your way.
His desire to punch the side of the building flared again. Tonight, he sure as shit wouldn’t mind disappearing into a large city with Sommer, where no one knew his name from Joe Schmo. Or where his family’s history didn’t equate to fighting and chasing women. He lived up to his brothers’ badassery for the brawling part—didn’t seem like he had a choice. Not when it came to something this serious. It was the blazing a trail through the town bedrooms that he’d made the choice to forego. He had no intention of becoming another McLemore with a skirt-chasing reputation. Not when it came to Sommer.
Starting toward the entrance, he curled his fingers over the delicate bones in Sommer’s wrists and tugged gently. At the entrance, he yanked open the door and noticed that Lonny had come staggering around the building. Rory wasn’t interested in seeing to that sack of shit, not about to waste another moment of concern over the likes of Lonny.
But inside, the sound of people cheering and yelling sent a twisting snap to his gut. He stopped right inside the doorway and pulled on Sommer. “Listen, I understand that you want certain experiences, but I just can’t disappear from here. Not when I’m learning the ropes and trying to do just what you said: find my place. I won’t up and leave for another point on the map by throwing a dart and seeing where it lands. But I don’t want to lose you either.”
“Then we have to find a way to meet both of our needs,” Sommer said. “I’m not a little girl anymore.”
He breathed out a sigh. “Baby, I got that memo a long time ago. Neither of us are children, and it’s getting harder and harder to say no.”
“There’s no point. I don’t understand why you’re trying to be noble. Most of the people around here believe that we’re doing it.”
“Not everyone does.”
“Don’t you want me?”
“I think that’s obvious. But I’m not like the other guys in this town. I didn’t chase women when we’ve broken up before.” He gazed into her face and wish he had the way with words some of his brothers did. He’d gotten the stoic gene from his father. Silver-tongued devil was not part of his MO.
She nodded. “Are you saying if we had… you know. That you’d be doing things with other women?”
“I don’t know. How can I answer something that didn’t happen? I only know that I didn’t ‘cause I don’t want to be another McLemore sowing his oats. None of my brothers ended up with their first loves. Maybe they weren’t supposed to and that’s worked out in their favor. But baby, when it comes to me and my first love, I don’t want you to be the girl that got away.”
CHAPTER 3
SOMMER CLOSED her mouth that had fallen open from the shock of Rory’s confession. “That won’t happen, if each of us is willing to give. A little.”
“There ain’t no little where we’re concerned.” Rory brushed his mouth over her jaw, stopping at her ear. “You can’t imagine just how much I want you. That’s the problem. I doubt if I got you naked, I could stop with just a taste.”
Straightening his torso, he arched a brow, and the pressure of his fingers on her arm sent jolts igniting the slow burn spiraling through her body. His touch reminded her of being tight up against him on the side of the building. Touching his hard-on and finally tasting him. The memory was a scorcher—so much she felt her nipples turn to points. Her pulse ramped up again, and there went her knees…she wholeheartedly loved this buzz to her senses. “You got me going. Bad, Rory. To the point of breaking.” Breaking. Bad!
It was true. They’d had a slow burn going on for the last couple of years. But now, after turning up the heat to the point of becoming so hot and bothered that her panties were soaked, something had to give. Soon. Getting that close to naked with Rory, she’d crossed a line. Obliterated almost all of her self-control and torched her need for more than kissing or touching each other through their clothes. A wildfire now burned out of control in the pit of her belly, launching flares that raced through her veins, scalding her senses. With his warm hands on her skin, she swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling herself practically melting under his startling sapphire gaze that devoured her good sense. All of it.
He cupped the back of her head and pressed his lips to hers, sucking her tongue into his mouth. Unlike all the other times, Rory didn’t pull back, but deepened the kiss with the slide of his tongue against hers, arousing and teasing. Going deeper, like he was fucking her mouth for a second, and she sealed her lips around his, sucking on his tongue. The power of that kiss blew the doors right off any last snippet of self-control she might have possessed. She dug her fingers into his biceps and he flexed his arms, the muscle going rock-hard under her fingers.
Oh hell…they were both close, and that assurance was all she needed. Didn’t matter if they were standing in the entrance to the Double Diamond or on the side of a building or on a slope of land under the sunshine. Whatever it took to get him to put aside this foolishness of holding back was fair game in order to get the result she craved: both of them naked and making love.
“Sommer, we’ll figure something out. I promise.” He squeezed her shoulder.
“I’m holding you to that. I got needs and so do you. It’s time—” She halted speaking as Rory stiffened against her. Someone had slapped his back and his hands went from her arms, to her hips, then lowered completely as he lifted away.
“Rory, hey man,” Mike came around to the side of them. “Devils just scored. Where have you been?”
“Busy,” Rory snapped. “Well that’s good. For me.”
“You sure about your bet? Not too late to change,” Mike scoffed and held up Rory’s note.
Sommer watched Rory and Mike dicker. It was common to see Mike try to lure Rory to take another bet, a different version—change the spread generally. Shoot, didn’t Mike realize, that act only made Rory dig his heels in deeper? Rarely did Rory waver. Not her gorgeous cowboy. Hardheaded to the core, and didn’t she know it.
“Sommer!” Jen walked up to her. “Sorry Rory, I need her. Girls’ meeting.”
Rory and Mike nodded, but it was the heat in her boyfriend’s stare that touched her, and for a second, she lingered, standing near him even though he’d returned to his near seamless self-control. “Go on, sugar,” he said into her upturned face.
That was a first. Rory didn’t particularly like Jen. He’d made that plain when he voiced his opinion of her friends the last time they’d gone to Dallas for a concert. Jen had the propensity to act fearlessly unruly, but they’d been friends forever, and she had a heart of gold. Same went for Ivy. They remained in Annona, but worked in Clarkesville, an outlet for going stir-crazy. Same as Sommer. It wasn’t that she had an acute craving for a wild time while away. Going to Dallas or Austin was a few hours by highway, and the music served as a good diversion. It fed her desire to see something more than the vista back home in a two-bedroom house in a rundown neighborhood that most folks she grew up with had moved away from. But not Momma; and Sommer in turn had to stay to help.
Sommer joined her friends in weekend getaways to escape from the dreariness that held her captive some days. She didn’t earn enough to help pay the bills at her mom’s and move out…away. The few times she’d left, it had been after an argument with Rory, and she’d gone off to escape t
he confusion of her emotions while doing something worthwhile. Teaching in Guatemala, building wells and setting up solar voltaic cell ovens for families in Uganda. She’d gotten her passport right after high school, and saved every cent she earned. Not for fun times, but to keep the electricity or water from being cut off at home. Rory didn’t know that part. He only knew that things were strained and her mom had issues. Irrational fears and depression distorted Raeanna’s way of thinking and prevented Sommer and her mom from enjoying each other most days.
“Umm,” Sommer began. “Mighty hot on the dance floor.”
Jen squeezed her arm. “Seriously, you don’t know. Remember Rory’s sister-in-law’s brother, Haden?”
Sommer nodded and grimaced at the recollection of Gillian’s brother. A rocker and the object of Jen’s consuming fan fixation for months and months. “We all remember Haden and your extreme crush.”
Jen laughed, her emerald eyes sparkling. “I might have missed out on that rocker, but these dudes are meeting up with Haden in L.A. They’re touring together.”
“And what is this? Some warped way of hooking up with Haden by degrees?”
“Nothing of the sort. I’m over that hunk. Or moved on, I guess is a better way to frame it.”
“Are you going to L.A.?” Sommer suddenly asked, drawing a mental line between the dots Jen laid bare.
“You’re wound up tonight. No! Let me get this out, before I can’t.” Jen squeezed her arm. “The blonde with Ivy is Vince, and his buddy, the dark-haired hottie is Drew. They’re interested in you.”
Sommer’s brow tightened as she recalled the way Drew had stared at her. “What the heck are you talking about? I’m not into anything kinky.”
Jen threw back her head and laughed. “I know that you’re into Rory. Holy shit, that’ll be the day when you step away from that hot mess. Nothing like that. I’m talking tattoo business. You interested?”
“They want tattoos?”
“They both really dig the dragon art.” Jen pointed to her neck. “They want something edgy like what you did for me. You got any time tomorrow? They’re leaving in a couple of days. Just think, your ink art would be headed for the West Coast.”