On his side, Garrison slid a hand under her sweatshirt and stroked over the skin of her ribs.
“So soft,” he murmured.
He eased the sweatshirt over her head and away.
“Shit.”
Putting a hand on his shoulder, she pushed him away. “What?”
“Your arm.”
He traced the purple bruise. His eyes darkened as his brows drew together.
“Hank’s going to pay for putting his hand on you.”
The line of his jaw went rigid.
She slid her hand to his neck and kneaded the muscles there. “I don’t want to think about him,” she whispered.
A full two seconds later, his eyes focused square on hers. “Your wish is my command.”
His lips found hers again until he broke away to trail kisses down the center of her chest.
“You’re gorgeous,” he said, unclasping her bra and drawing it away.
Maybe she had been okay with the full frontal display earlier this evening, but this entire situation? Too immediate. Too intense. Too much to process.
“Lights.” She gasped against his relentless mouth.
Like a man waking from a deep sleep, he blinked. “What?”
She blinked against the lamp’s glow. “Turn off the lights, please.”
A frown formed between his brows, but thank God he didn’t ask questions. “Whatever you want.” Moonlight filtered through the curtains, giving the room a soft, gray glow.
His hands roved over every inch of her skin, kneading, sliding, cupping her.
He laved and gently nipped at each nipple, driving her pleasure to insane heights. And, clever man, while he occupied his mouth with one breast, his rough fingers worked their magic on the other.
Then, thank you Jesus, he switched sides.
Desperate to touch more of him, she unbuttoned his shirt, dodging his dipped head and ignoring the growls when he had to stop his magic. No question, he loved her breasts. She squirmed. Holy mother of God, they loved what he was doing to them.
By evading his hands, she created enough space to strip off his shirt. The expanse of muscled chest, sprinkled with rough hair, invited her to explore.
He groaned when she licked his hot skin. Bracing his arms on either side of her head, he hovered with his torso in easy range of her lips. So helpful. Her lips feasted on the taste of his heated skin. After a gentle bite over a hard muscle, she flicked her tongue over his flat nipple. His breath caught, and he lowered his hips, grinding his pelvis into hers until she couldn’t distinguish her body from his.
She licked his other nipple; he reared up and drove his fingers beneath her jeans. In record time, he unbuttoned and pulled the garment down and away, leaving her in only her underwear.
Ugh. Had she known tonight would be filled with hot sex with a hard-bodied rancher, she would’ve chosen her foundation wear more carefully and changed from granny-panty cotton to a festive black thong. Her cheeks warmed, and she slid her hands down to cover herself.
“No way. That’s for me to enjoy.” The possessive male growl curled her toes. “You’re so damn sexy.” He slowly eased her hands to the sides, then ran his hand up her thigh until he cupped her core.
His dark eyes glittered in the filtered moonlight. Every nerve in her body vibrated with longing to contact every inch of him, inside and out.
She couldn’t move, held in place by that one big, warm hand. His skin was separated from her sensitive flesh by a mere scrap of fabric.
“Oh God, Garrison.”
He bent down and blew warm air over the vee in her groin until she panted, on the edge, wanting more.
In the moonlight, she couldn’t miss his masculine grin.
When she reached for him, he again guided her hands back to her sides.
And proceeded to remove her last article of clothing.
The heat in her sex pulsed in the cool air.
Until his scorching mouth covered her.
She shot upright.
He lifted his head. “Not good?”
“Oh my God. The opposite.” She panted. “So good. Can’t think, can’t move.”
In the dark, she could just make out his confident smile. “Well, why don’t you just enjoy?” He palmed her butt and rotated her hips. Licking his mouth, he bent his head.
The swirl of his rough tongue on her sensitive skin left her unable to breathe.
When he darted his tongue up and down her folds, she sighed and let her knees drift to the sides. What he did with his mouth defied logic and gravity, but holy wow, he was great at it. With a flick on her clitoris, he pushed her right to the brink of orgasm, and he still had his jeans on, for heaven’s sake.
She would have flown off the bed when he darted his tongue into her core, if his hands didn’t anchor her in place. As he flicked and nipped, her back bowed and hips bucked against him.
“That’s it. You taste so good.” The rumble of his voice against her super-sensitive skin made the room spin.
He knelt over her, then ground his erection into her pelvis.
No way was she going to simply lie here and enjoy.
Dragging her nails down his back, she smiled when he gave a gut-wrenching shudder. She dipped her fingertips beneath the waistband of his jeans. Hard muscle rippled under her hands, and she swallowed.
“Your turn.”
“Damn. Anything you want, I will oblige.”
When he reclined on the bed, she undid the buckle and button. The ticks of the metal zipper, loud in the quiet room, set her nerve endings on fire. When she stroked his hard erection through the denim fabric, his back arched and a hiss of her name slid from his mouth. Good. Now for more fun. She pushed his jeans down, and he kicked them off, along with the briefs.
Circling his thick erection with her hand, she palmed him up and down its length until moisture coated the tip. He switched their positions, with her flat on the bed again. He lowered himself onto her and rubbed against her swollen lips, and she spread her legs wider, wanting so much more.
Then cool air and the squeak of mattress springs. She cracked open one eye.
“Shit. Please be there,” he cursed as he ducked down on the floor. Clothing rustled. “Finally.” A crinkle of foil and he was back, pressing every inch of his body against hers and kissing her until she couldn’t tell where she ended and he began.
His voice, like rough fabric, tore over her. “Sara.” At his nudge on her knee, she let her legs drop to the sides. Exposed and in need of him badly.
He stroked her wet core until she writhed.
The tip of his erection teased her entrance, and she whimpered and raised her hips.
He chuckled. “Patience.”
“I don’t want to be patient. I want you.” She grabbed his head and pulled him down to her, sucking his lower lip, tasting her arousal on his mouth.
His breaths came out rough and wild as he entered her with one firm thrust.
He covered her gasp with his mouth and pushed into her harder and deeper, filling every inch of her body and stretching her farther than she had experienced before. After a moment of stillness, he slowly rotated his hips in a sensual rhythm.
A coil of pleasure spiraled up and up as she met his thrusts, until she couldn’t handle any more. But, holy moly, she wanted more.
Then he grabbed one of her legs and sped up the rhythm.
She soared in his arms as the pace quickened along with his rasping growls.
The tension in her pelvis ratcheted up several more notches as she hooked both of her heels around his hard butt, seating him deeper inside. His half groan, half purr was all the approval she needed.
Higher and harder, he drove her, and she flexed against him, matching the rhythm and opening herself up to him more than she thought possible.
They crested within seconds of each other, her cries smothered as he entered her mouth with his tongue while driving into her sex below. Her vision dimmed, and in his arms, she shattered into a million
tiny pieces.
Chapter 16
A whisper next to his ear woke him up.
“Garrison?”
Her voice, like sweet silk, slid over him, and he immediately hardened. Groaning, he pulled her deeper into the circle of his arms. As long as her soft body molded to his, maybe he wouldn’t have to confront the stark reality waiting for him outside the guest room door. Maybe he wouldn’t have to worry about everyone and everything. For the first time in far too long, he trusted his own feelings.
He would simply enjoy the beautiful woman in his arms.
“Garrison, wake up, please.”
“With your sexy butt pressed next to me, who can sleep?” He dropped a kiss onto her neck, and she shivered. Good.
In the moonlight filtering through the window, her olive skin took on a luminous glow. Trailing his fingers over her smooth arm, he had a flash of what life would be like with her in his arms, every night, with her cries of pleasure filling his bedroom. Coming home to her each evening.
To do what? Have wild sex and create a future together? With his entire life in chaos? Hell, he didn’t even know if they would have a home to live in next year, between buildings burning down, looming bankruptcy, and attempted takeovers of his land.
He had nothing to offer this woman. Or any woman. No financial security. No safety. Not even the promise of his undivided attention, if his duties on the ranch continued to expand.
Cold fear bit into his mind as he fought to hold on for dear life to his dream of a normal future. What the hell was he thinking?
He’d always be waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for Sara to betray him like Tiffani had done. Didn’t matter if it was fair to Sara or not. At least he was honest with himself. His stupid ability, which he could use to verify that people told the truth? In the end, it only resulted in him not trusting anyone. He was damned if he used it, and damned if he didn’t.
He would eventually get hurt. And that was a winning way to start a relationship. Complete lack of trust.
So. No dream for him. He needed to protect Zach and himself.
He rolled away from Sara and sat up.
“What do you need?” he said, trying to keep the snap of anger out of his voice.
She froze. Her wide eyes searched him.
Sweet Sara didn’t deserve his self-loathing and doubt. But she did deserve a guy with his shit together.
So, anyone but Garrison.
Clutching the quilt to her chest, she scooted up against the backboard.
“I need to leave.”
He sat straight up. Was that a tremor in her voice?
“You need to leave?” He cringed. Wrong thing to say.
She lifted her hand to trace his jaw, making him shudder.
Her sad voice raked his nerves raw. “Why? Were you thinking of going, too?” Even in the shadows, her smile didn’t make it to her eyes.
“No. Yes. Never mind.” He rubbed his neck, wishing it were her hands there, not his. “Why do you want to leave?” Damn it, he couldn’t stop himself from lashing out at her.
Sara Lopez was the last person who deserved to be the target of his anger. Hauling air into his lungs, he fought to calm down and wake the hell up before he said anything else stupid.
Time to tally up the score: He didn’t want long-term commitment or to risk being hurt, but he had the gall to get mad if his sleepover buddy didn’t want to stay until morning. Oh, and he wanted to use his sleepover buddy to check for strange behavior in his son, because Garrison couldn’t be objective. So he would use her and then get mad at her for getting too close to him.
He had become the definition of a hypocritical asshole.
“It’s four in the morning. I have to get ready for work.” She swallowed. “And it might not be ideal if your family saw me still here this morning. After ... you know.”
Shingle-peeling, brain-chemistry-altering monkey sex?
“You have regrets?” Too sharp of a tone, damn it. Like he was waiting for her to unman him, just like his ex had done.
Her head whipped around. “Last night was amazing, Garrison. But a mistake for our, uh, future. I know you were stressed out from all that’s happened with Hank and the ranch.” Without meeting his eyes, she said, “I am glad if ... what we did ... relieved your stress.”
“What the—?” He bit back the curse. “A mistake? Relieved my stress?” Okay. He knew they shouldn’t have slept together for his own personal messed-up reasons, but if she thought it was wrong, too, then they were doubly screwed up.
“Look, Garrison, it shouldn’t have happened, okay?”
“Why? I thought we had something good going on here.”
Wait. Now he argued in favor of the relationship? He really needed to make up his mind, for both their sakes.
“You’re a nice guy, Garrison.”
“You’re going to try the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ bullshit again?”
She flinched. “Well yeah, actually, I am. That explanation makes the most sense, doesn’t it?”
“No.”
“Can we talk about something else, please? Like how you’ll take me back home so I can get ready for work?”
“Fine.”
He flipped on the overhead light. Screw her issues with the lights being off. Since this would be the last time he ever saw her naked, he wanted a good view.
Which also made him a different kind of asshole. So he clamped his jaw shut like it had wires running through it and turned his back to her while he shoved his legs into his jeans.
The light rustle of her clothes sliding against her skin nearly made him crawl out of his own. But he gave her what privacy he could.
Damn it. She regretted what they did last night. He didn’t blame her one bit, but the rejection stung.
Hurt again by a woman. At least Zach hadn’t become invested in Sara being part of their lives.
Garrison would not feel sorry for the woman whose shoulders slumped as she sat on the side of the bed. And he would not watch how she slipped her silky smooth arms into the bra and reached back to clasp it.
Damn. All he wanted to do was unhook that garment and run his fingers over her body until she screamed for him.
Clearly, he’d lost his mind.
Standing at the door, he crossed his arms. “Ready?”
“Almost.” Her voice was strained.
He didn’t care. Wouldn’t care.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
He sensed her following close behind him down the hall; his shoulders twitched, but he wouldn’t look back. She hadn’t touched him, but he felt her disappointed presence, nevertheless, as they exited the house.
In the calm stillness of very early morning, the cold air clung to him with the undertones of damp smoke and impending snow. The scent of failure.
Out of the darkness, a shadow with an irregular gait signaled Kerr’s approach.
If his brother thought anything odd about Garrison and Sara’s early morning travels, he kept his opinion to himself. Thank God Kerr didn’t have the ability to read emotion like Shelby did, or his brother’s head would explode.
Garrison closed the truck door behind Sara and turned to his brother. “Where’s Eric?”
“Resting on the futon in my room for a while. We’ll switch off in an hour or so.”
Right. Because the guest bedroom was occupied. Great. “Fair enough. You guys see anything?”
“No, it’s been quiet. And I don’t like it. Feels wrong, you know?”
His brother’s psychic ability had nothing to do with sensing danger. Those instincts had been earned and honed in the crucible of war, and Garrison took his younger brother’s senses to heart. Nothing they could do right now, other than watch and wait.
Kerr tilted his head toward the truck, his expression lost in the last waning bit of moonlight behind him. “So?”
“So nothing. Sara’s going home to get ready for school.”
“That’s all, Casanova
?”
“All that’s any of your business.”
Kerr opened his mouth, but Garrison stopped him with a chop of his hand in the air.
“Not now. Keep an eye out. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Roger, will do.” Kerr’s even white teeth shone in the darkness.
The bumpy ride down the dirt road and into town took place in complete silence. Garrison had to check to make sure Sara was still awake.
As they pulled up to her house, she opened the door before the truck stopped.
“Thanks.”
She shut the door on any response and hurried into the house.
Damn. Well, at least he didn’t have to endure messy discussion and hashing out their issues. No awkward good-byes. The relationship had ended before it started.
He wouldn’t dwell on it. He had too many problems to work on right now.
Emptiness hollowed out his chest like a rat chewing a nice, cozy nest.
He threw the truck into gear and hauled ass back to his burnt property.
• • •
It might be Friday, but there was no Thank God included.
Sara dragged herself into the classroom, right on time but not bright-eyed. The thought of facing twenty energetic second-graders held no interest today and, in fact, filled her with dread.
How could she inspire her students if she couldn’t pull her mind out of the mess from last night? After the roller-coaster ride between floating on a fluffy cloud of ecstasy and then being dropped off at her house like the UPS man couldn’t make his delivery fast enough, she didn’t have much left in the tank today.
The buzz of kids filtering into the classroom riled her irritated nerves.
“Hi, Ms. Lopez!” Zach trotted into the room and hung his coat on the hook before taking his seat.
Orange-haired Zach was a miniature of his father.
Garrison. Damn.
What did the man expect? She couldn’t stay the entire night. And he only wanted her as a way to relax.
She shouldn’t have been in bed with a good guy like Garrison in the first place. They had no future. He had a loving family, a great son, the family business, and a solid reputation in town.
What did she bring to the table? The need to leave this town and create a fresh, new life, untarnished by debt or her own past history.
Legacy of Lies Page 13