“Blood, death, gross,” Neil whispered in her ear. “They’re gonna put that on my tombstone.”
She bumped her knee against his. “Girl cycles is always an option instead.”
“Pass.” He had his arm across the back of the bench seat they shared, and he stroked his long fingers along the top of her shoulder and collarbone.
She swallowed, heat beginning to pool in her belly. One reason they’d both been eager to come along on Mimi’s trip to town was that they were out of condoms. They’d run out on Saturday, after a nooner while Ruth and Violet were swimming. Which meant everything since then had been pure erotic torment and a whole lot of frustration. She’d also found out exactly how talented Neil was with his hands and mouth. Even then, she wanted the real thing. Neil, inside her, thrusting until they were sweaty and groaning and hurtling toward orgasm. She shuddered, squeezing her thighs together as wicked heat began to build.
Setting her hand on his thigh, she dug her nails in. A warning to stop teasing her. She was going to explode if she didn’t get some relief soon. He shifted his leg, which didn’t help. They were both wearing shorts, and having the rough hair on his leg rasp over her skin just made her shiver, reminding her of more intimate moments when she’d experienced the same sensation.
His fingertips continued to move in slow circles over her neck, along the curve of her ear, down her nape. Waves of tingles skipped over her skin, and her breathing sped. God, she wanted him. And she wanted to kick him because he knew exactly what he was doing to her.
Her toes curled in her sneakers and she hissed, “You’ll get it for this later, Graves.”
“Looking forward to it, Patton,” he murmured and tugged on her earlobe. “Get me good, promise?”
After dipping her hand below the hem of his shorts, she yanked on a few of his leg hairs. He yelped loudly, but Laurel was all wide-eyed innocence when Mimi and Violet looked back.
“What’s wrong, Dad?”
“The seatbelt pinched me.” He tugged at the bottom of his shorts and shot Laurel a dirty look. She returned a guileless smile.
Violet’s glance was sympathetic. “Ouch.”
“We’re here,” Mimi sang out with her unflagging cheer. She pulled the van off the highway, and they bumped over a few potholes to reach the single gas pump. “You guys go ahead. I’ll fill up, then do some Enclave shopping. Meet back at the van in forty-five minutes.”
“This is a town?” Vi squinted dubiously.
Not that anyone could blame her for being unconvinced. There was the giant warehouse of a general store, and three clapboard buildings strung alongside the highway. That was it.
“There’s a post office across the street,” Mimi pointed out. “That officially makes it a town, I think.”
“Well, I want to see the glory of the general store. It’s got to be awesome. Look at it.” The sides of the building featured faded murals of fly fishermen, deer about to be bagged by hunters, old miners with pickaxes, a view of the mountains, a giant American flag, and a totally incongruous pair of flamingos. Someone had a sense of humor. Or a break from sanity. Either one could be interesting, if it was the right kind of crazy.
Neil crawled out in front of her, and it was difficult to resist pinching his ass, but she managed. After slinging her purse over her shoulder, she took his hand and let him help her out. Not that she needed the assistance, but she liked touching him. Well, she liked touching him knowing she was going to have the most enormous box of condoms in her possession soon. Or she’d clean out the store of all their little boxes. She didn’t care how, but a lot of rubbers were coming back to her cabin. And she intended to use all of them with Neil in very, very creative ways.
Violet dragged Neil off as soon as they entered the store, and Laurel grabbed a basket and made a beeline for the area labeled Pharmacy/Personal Health. The condom selection was surprisingly large, but then again…what else were people going to do except each other when it snowed in for the winter? She picked the most entertaining box she could, shoved it in the basket over her arm, and then raced to snag a few other items and beat everyone to the checkout.
After paying, she shoved all her purchases into the canvas bag she’d brought along. A quick trip out to the unlocked van and she’d hidden everything safely under the seat. Not that she was ashamed of sleeping with Neil, but she didn’t want to face knowing looks from Mimi, or worse, questions from his teen daughter. If anyone was having the awkward sex talk with Violet, it was Neil. If she wanted to talk boys, Laurel was game, but discussions about Laurel fucking Violet’s dad? Yeah, no. Not going there.
She ran smack into the man in question as she slipped back into the general store.
“Already done? You have over thirty minutes left.” He grinned. “What did you get?”
“You should finish your shopping and quit interrogating me.” Flipping her ponytail over her shoulder, she gave him a haughty look. “Where’s your daughter?”
“She’s busy. I asked her to help Mimi do the shopping for The Enclave. Back to our original topic.” Leaning closer, his voice dropped to the dark, sinful tone he used in bed. “What did you get, sweetheart?”
“A flavored variety pack.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “I like to keep things interesting. There’s strawberry, watermelon…even bubble gum. Think it’s encouraging me to blow something?”
A ruddy flush darkened his face, and dangerous need flashed wildly in his gaze. “I know which flavor I want you to start with.”
“I might make you beg first. I think you’d look good on your knees, Graves.”
“Fuck,” he sighed, closing his eyes. “You’re trying to kill me.”
“Maybe.” She tugged at a shoulder strap on the backpack he wore. “Is that a problem?”
“Yes, a huge problem.” He took her arm and began propelling her across the store.
She went without protest. “Where exactly are we going?”
“Here.” He led her under a staircase in the back and thrust her through a doorway. He followed her in, flipped a light switch, and shut and locked the door behind them.
Blinking in the sudden change of light, she took in her surroundings. “You need to pee?”
“Nope.” He tugged her over to the sink. “Put your hands on the counter.”
Her lips parted. “You’re seriously thinking we should—”
“Twenty-seven minutes left.” He shrugged out of his pack and hung it from a hook on the wall. His gaze met hers in the mirror, an impish challenge shining there. “Yes or no, Patton?”
Damn, she’d never been able to walk away from a dare. It had landed her in hot water more than once as a child, but how much trouble could she really get into now? Embarrassment was the worst possibility. Totally worth the risk.
She set her purse on the counter and flipped open the button on her cotton shorts. Then she froze. “My condoms are already in the van.”
“Luckily, I got some too.” He rifled through his bag and came up with a long strip of perforated foil packets. He pulled one free. “Not flavored, but they should get the job done.”
“Hurry.” Because they didn’t have much time and she’d missed this since they’d run out of protection. She wanted him inside her. The sense of the forbidden was titillating, exciting, and her sex clenched, going slick in seconds.
Yep, she was definitely going to do this. Even though it was utterly insane.
Sanity was overrated.
This was one of the stupidest things he’d done in a very long time, and yet he had no desire to stop.
He tossed the condom on the counter, then fitted himself against Laurel’s back. The sweet curve of her ass nestled against his rising erection, and the feeling was about ten shades of perfect. He swept one hand up her side, sliding over to bracket her jaw, and tilted her head toward him. He needed to taste her, and he melded his mout
h with hers, slipping his tongue between her lips. Her fingers closed around his wrist, but he wrapped his other arm around her waist, holding her tight. He nipped and sucked at her lips, feasting on her mouth while he felt her excitement increase. She whimpered softly, her body beginning to writhe against his. The feel of her backside rubbing over his dick made him groan.
His heart rate increased, blood rushing like a hot river through his veins. Desperate need was a living thing inside him, and he had to touch her, claim her. After dipping his fingers under the hem of her T-shirt, he let his hand glide up the soft, soft skin of her stomach and could only groan when he found she wasn’t wearing a bra. He cupped her breast and the tight crest stabbed into his palm. He fondled her, rotating his grip to stimulate her nipple.
He released her chin and moved that hand down to her shorts. The top was already unfastened, so it was simple enough to nudge the zipper down and ease his fingers into her panties. Then he pressed through the soft thatch of hair to her wet folds.
When he pinched her clit, she ripped her mouth from his. “Fuck me. Right now. No more teasing, or I might have to kill you.”
“We can’t have that.” He plucked the condom up from the counter, and wrestled his clothes out of the way to roll it on. The way she stared at his dick didn’t help him steady his hands at all.
Once he was covered, he grabbed her hips and spun her to face the sink again. Then he hooked his fingers into the back of her shorts and yanked them and her panties down around her thighs.
“Now,” she demanded, bending a little to brace her hands on the counter.
“Yes.” He grasped his shaft and positioned himself, then pressed forward one slow inch at a time. The hot, slick clasp of her sex around his cock was so fucking amazing, he thought he might die. “Ah, Jesus, Laurel. That feels…”
“So damn good.” Her gaze met his in the mirror, those dark eyes still holding all the mysteries in the world. She grinned, sweet and sexy and all kinds of naughty.
He winked back. God, he liked her so much. She was a rare breath of fresh air in his sometimes stifled, overloaded life. But that thought was far too deep for a moment like this.
He withdrew as slowly as he’d entered her, only to plunge back in. His body urged him to go faster, harder and he gave in to his needs. Their skin slapped together, a harsh crack of sound in the tiled room. His lungs worked like bellows, trying to suck in enough air as he plunged into her. An arrested expression crossed her face, and her eyes slid closed, as if she were savoring every moment of the experience. The smothered little noises that broke from her throat told him how close she was getting. He was teetering on the edge himself, but he needed her right there with him.
“Laurel,” he whispered, and she opened her eyes, their gazes clashing in the mirror. “I want to see you come.”
“You won’t have to wait long.” She bit her lip to suppress a moan and her face flushed a deep red. Her gaze sharpened and then lost focus, a shiver took her, and he felt the hot clench and release of her pussy around his cock. The sheer ecstasy that swept over her expression was one of the loveliest things he’d ever seen, and one of the most erotic.
He drove into her again and again, wanting to drag her climax out, wanting to keep that look on her face. But pleasuring her meant pleasuring himself, and his control was crumbling fast. One, two, three more thrusts and he broke, coming hard, and fighting to hold back a groan.
Christ, this was amazing. His head dropped forward to rest between her shoulder blades and he had to struggle to get his breathing under control. Several minutes passed before his heart stopped racing and his limbs stopped shaking. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had nearly brought him to his knees, the orgasm had been so intense. He knew he wanted more of this, of her. Maybe more than he should, but that bridge had been burned and there was no going back. If he was honest, he’d admit he didn’t want to go back…sex with Laurel was one of the most heart-racing, thrilling things he’d ever done.
Pushing himself upright, he asked, “Are you okay?”
“Very.” She tugged the band from her hair. Somehow it had slipped partially free of its restraints. “I liked the way you looked when you lost it.”
“Likewise.” His dropped a kiss on her shoulder. “We should clean up.”
He stepped away to do just that while Laurel tried to refasten her ponytail. The results were…reasonably good, though she still appeared a bit mussed and flushed. A glance in the mirror showed he also looked far too mellow for a man who’d just been shopping. He finger-combed his hair, tucked in his shirt and zipped his shorts, and that would have to do.
She picked up her purse. “Ready?”
He slung his backpack over his shoulder, and moved to peek out the door. “Coast is clear. Let’s make a run for it.”
Amusement lilted in her voice. “Should we stagger our exits so people don’t know we were in here together? We can synchronize our watches.”
“Let’s not get too complicated.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him.
They made it out of the store without some irate shopkeeper chasing them, so he figured they’d made a clean getaway. Nice. It was always fun to indulge in prurient behavior with zero consequences.
Violet stuck her head out of the window when they approached the van. “Dad, I found another cool rock behind the store. It’s got, like, red stripes in it.” But then her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Hey, where did you guys go? You were gone for a while.”
Laurel checked her watch. “We’re right on time, Vi. Don’t let your need to be early freak you out.”
It wasn’t an answer to her question, but Mimi rushed up just then and interrupted. “All right, campers. The stock boy loaded everything in the van for me, and Gloria wants some of these supplies pronto. Let’s get back on the road. Did you guys get everything you needed?”
“Definitely.” Neil gave her a mild smile, and Laurel elbowed him subtly as she climbed into the van before him.
Mimi turned on the radio and got Vi and Laurel to sing bad country music with her. Off-key. Neil tried not to wince, but the noise was good cover. He leaned over to Laurel and commented quietly, “It’s going to be hard to hide what we’re up to. At best, it’ll soon be an open secret.”
“I was thinking the same thing earlier.” She let her head fall back against the seat, then rolled it to face him. “Are you concerned about Violet knowing?”
“She’s known when I was with other women before. I don’t hide things from her. You’d be the first who had a relationship with her, so that would be new.” He tapped his fingertips on his thigh. “I don’t have a problem with her knowing we’re…dating…if you don’t.”
“Are we calling this dating?” Her wide eyes gave nothing away, so he had no way of guessing what she thought.
“Not that I get to take you out to dinner or bring you flowers while we’re here, but I’d say yes. We’re dating.” He swallowed hard, suddenly nervous and sure he was going to get dumped by someone who wasn’t yet his girlfriend. “That’s my opinion. You might have a different take on things.”
She ran her fingers down his forearm, the caress lighter than a whisper. “I’m okay with the dating label. For the summer. I can’t commit to anything beyond that.”
“And you’re all right with people knowing we’re using the dating label?” he prompted. “Just for the summer.”
While he hadn’t expected to deal with a relationship during this program, now that he was confronted with the possibility, he wanted the details nailed down. Not his usual MO, but nothing about his reaction to Laurel had been usual so far.
“Yes, people can know. Including Violet.” Her gaze went dead serious. “But you need to actually talk to her about it, find out if she’s really okay with it.”
It had never occurred to him not to talk to Vi. This wasn’t something he wanted
his kid hearing about through the grapevine. As he’d said, it would be an open secret if they didn’t go public. Vi deserved to hear about it from him. “And if she’s not okay with this?”
Laurel shrugged. “We keep this to the very occasional booty call, and try very hard not to get caught, so we don’t become fodder for the gossip mill. Which would mean no more of what we just did. It’d be too big a risk.”
“Fair enough. I’ll speak to her.” His respect for her notched up a little more, liking that she understood his daughter’s feelings would have to take precedence over a short-term relationship that hadn’t even fully formed yet. Luckily, he was about ninety-eight percent certain Vi would be ecstatic to have Laurel around even more often.
“Hey, you stopped singing!” Mimi glanced in the rearview mirror.
Laurel waved back. “I didn’t like that song.”
She rejoined the choir of caterwauling, and he tried not to whimper all the way back to the lodge.
Thank God she was a better painter than singer.
Chapter Six
They were starting to become experts in the quickie.
It had been two weeks, and any time Vi was busy with something else, Laurel found herself in Neil’s arms. His daughter had definitely been okay with them dating, but Laurel wasn’t quite ready to stay the night with Vi there. So, they specialized in afternoon delights. And it was delightful. It was hot and amazing and got better every time. How was that even possible? Shouldn’t the passion be fizzling? It usually did. Annoying little habits usually became more noticeable, fights over nothing tended to crop up, and they no longer ended in make-up sex.
But none of that happened with Neil.
The only thing that scared her was his workaholic tendencies. It reminded her far too much of her father, and anything that smacked of Robert Patton made her more than a little leery. She’d always made damn sure she never, never dated a man like Dad.
Rockies Retreat: Destination: Desire, Book 5 Page 8