by Jillian Neal
“I even read about how fireworks cause flashbacks,” she continued.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed. Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have said that. He managed a nod but he’d keyed in on that point more than any of the others.
“I’m really sorry about all of that. Want me to take you home?”
“No.” No, no, no. She would not let him take her home so he could crawl into some kind of internal hole with no light. Never. Searching for something, anything, for them to do an idea sprang to her mind.
“Let’s go in the gas station and get scratch-offs.”
“What?” At least he seemed to have let that last point on fireworks go.
“When I turned sixteen, Luke gave me this huge box of scratch off lottery tickets for my birthday. It was so much fun. It’s probably my favorite birthday gift ever. It’s like a reminder that there’s always a chance. We might win some money. We might not but that’s not the point. Come on.” She popped open the door of the truck praying he’d follow.
When his fingers laced through hers, she let the breath she’d been holding escape her lungs. If it had been her, she would’ve wanted him to pretend nothing had happened until she was ready to talk about it, so that’s precisely what she did.
Marching into the gas station she gave him a beaming grin. That wasn’t difficult. He always made her smile. “Okay, for scratch-offs we need Dr. Pepper, and Red Vines, and Air Heads, and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.” Picking up a basket by the door, she guided him to the snack section.
“You’re gonna be sick, sweetheart.”
“Nah, I’m kind of a junk food junkie. My stomach has learned that there are times I need Cheetos.”
“I was aware, but this is extreme even for you.”
“It’s the rule for scratch-offs. Don’t harsh my mood, Weber,” she teased.
The light made its return to his eyes. He was there with her, fully now. She thanked the universe for that.
“Never, baby.” Winking at her, he picked up four snack bags of her favorite Cheetos and placed them in the basket before locating bags of Red Vines. “You sure you’re okay with… everything?” leapt from his lips.
“I’m here with you. I’m much better than okay. Come on.”
They made their way to the register hand in hand. “We want ten Quick 7’s, ten Ruby Red Roundups, and ten Seven Elevens.”
Aaron pulled one of the fifties from his wallet and laid it on the counter. She started to protest but sealed her lips instead. He’d already proven what a weak asshole he was that night. The least he could do is pay for her lottery tickets.
She all but skipped back out to his truck. When he’d come to, he was pressing her into the ground like they were being shot at. How had he not freaked her the fuck out? Strongest, bravest woman on the planet. There was no doubt.
Ripping open the bag of Red Vines, she handed him one and took one for herself. She held hers up. “To getting rich off of scratch-offs.”
“I’d rather Red Vine toast you.” He touched the candy pieces together.
That infectious giggle of hers worked its way through his ears and settled squarely in his chest. “Scratch.” She handed him a ticket. Fishing in his pocket for the change from their purchase he handed her a quarter and did as he was told.
Keeping the tip of his tongue between his teeth kept him from apologizing constantly and begging her to forget that this night ever happened.
“Nothing,” she sighed, tossed her first ticket back in the plastic sack, and grabbed another one.
“Hey, look at that, this one’s worth five bucks.” He showed her his match. An odd sense of satisfaction chased away a little of his hopelessness.
“See, I told you it’s fun.”
“Give me another one.”
His next was a dud but the one after that was worth a buck.
“Look you’re rich,” Natalie laughed.
“Oh yeah, this six bucks is gonna get me places.”
“Keep going. You’re on a roll.” She pressed another ticket in his palm. He gripped it and her hand. Guiding her in, he stared into her eyes. Their breaths mingled. Electricity sizzled between them.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
The ticket was lost in the floorboard as he drew her in and layered his lips to hers. She tasted like cherry candy and her, confection and heat. That sweet little gasp she always made when he did this erased more of his shame. Her right hand worked down his chest. She stopped at the end of his rib cage, leapt over the scars on his abs, and palmed his cock.
His hum of approval vibrated against her lips but he wasn’t doing this again. He refused to take more than he gave. Never again. The next time he came with her it would be deep inside her pussy after he’d made her weak with orgasm after orgasm.
Their conversation standing at the cotton candy stand rushed back into this consciousness. Things had been going so many good places before his past had ruined everything. Why couldn’t he escape the damn thing for one night? Just one fucking night.
Her head fell back offering him an undeniable invitation. He spun his tongue and suckled with his greedy lips against her throat. She shivered and his cock pulsed out its hunger for her.
His hands traced the cups of her bra. Her breasts spilled over the top. Her nipples strained against the lace between them and the palms of his hands. His sweet, needy baby. “They hurt, sweetheart? Are they tender for me?”
“Oh God, yes.” Her breaths quickened.
Before he lifted her shirt, the sound of a truck horn reminded him where they were. She jerked back. A truck driver parked at the diesel pumps gave him two thumbs up. Aaron cringed.
“Okay, maybe we shouldn’t park here.” Natalie squeezed her eyes shut.
“I can’t get anything right tonight.”
“Stop it. We’re having a good time. Let’s finish the tickets, go get our money, and then we could go up to King’s Creek.”
King’s Creek had long been the make out spot of couples young and old in Pleasant Glen. “You ever been up there before?”
She shook her head. “Not with a guy.”
He’d be her first. He’d make her come for him, in the fogged up windows of his old truck, grinding in his lap with her tits bouncing in his face, calling out his name. A wave of greedy arrogance washed through him. Instead of calling himself an asshole he rode it for all he was worth. That night, after everything that had happened, he needed the jolt of confidence.
“Give me the tickets. I want to get you out of here.”
She licked her lips. “I want that, too.”
They worked through the tickets. Aaron’s last scratch was actually worth a hundred bucks. His mouth hung open in shock.
“See! You never know. There’s always a chance. Things get better,” she vowed earnestly.
“Nah. I think you’re just good luck.”
“I kind of think we’re good together.”
“I think so too, Nat. I’m really sorry about…”
Her index finger landed on his lips again. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Let’s go get your cash.”
“I’m spending it on you.”
“You better not.”
“I am. Hey, your birthday is coming up. What do you want?”
“To do something with you.”
The girl sure as hell knew how to stroke his ego and his cock. “Okay, what do you want to do with me?”
A decidedly naughty grin formed on her kiss-swollen lips.
“You think I’m gonna be able to wait that long? You’re giving me way too much credit, babe.”
“Never said anything about it being the first time.” She batted her eyelashes at him as he threw open the door to the gas station for her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Excitement bubbled in Natalie’s stomach. She willed Aaron’s truck to move faster. She wanted his arms around her again, his lips against her skin. Even better than that was the fact that he needed her touch as well.
Be
fore they’d been rudely interrupted, every kiss had held a promise that their pasts could fade away as long as they were together. They needed this.
She wiggled in her seat again. Her panties were so wet they were uncomfortable. She wished she knew for certain if he took them off that she wouldn’t end up where he’d been a few hours before.
“You okay, baby?” He squeezed her hand as open fields full of cornstalks flew past the windows.
“Not really.”
“What’s wrong? Need me to stop?”
“Don’t stop. Get there faster.”
His right eyebrow ticked upwards. He glanced at her. “You wet for me, baby?”
“Yes.” Her vow was a half-whispered plea.
Another one of those hungry groans filled the truck. He slowed down. She huffed out her frustration. “I’m gonna take good care of you, sweetheart. I swear to you. I’m gonna make everything feel better. Do you know who owns this land?”
Furrowing her brow she studied the surrounding cornfields. They were almost to the railroad tracks that ran behind the one road that made up Pleasant Glen. “This is Kilroy land.”
“Any of the Kilroy boys go wandering around in their fields at night?”
“Are you asking if they’d care if we park out here for a little while?”
He nodded.
“Tucker has been Luke’s best friend since they were in kindergarten. He wouldn’t care if I was out here no matter what I was doing.”
There was a slip of land between two fields. The corn was almost ready to be harvested. It was taller than the truck. Aaron expertly hid them away. She launched herself into his lap.
“Nat, baby, you are driving me wild.” He had her shirt unbuttoned in three seconds flat. A confidence she only felt when she was on top of a horse surged through her. Her brain and her body aligned for once in her life. The fear slipped further away. She couldn’t even access it.
Rising up on her knees she pressed her crotch to his and slid down against the fierce rigidity of his cock. Pleasure sizzled from her clit outward. Another surge of wet heat coated the lips of her pussy. “Oh God,” whimpered from her much too loudly.
“Feels good doesn’t it, baby?” He popped the snap of her jeans and lowered the zipper. “My God, you are soaking wet. So needy. It hurts doesn’t it? Can I touch you, Nat? Can I make it feel better?”
“Yes, now.” Pride and need welled in her soul. She wasn’t afraid.
His fingertips tenderly traced along the top of her panties. A shiver worked through her.
“Let me feel how wet you are for me.”
Her breath stalled in her lungs. She writhed against him. Longing clawed under her skin. The air around her took on her frantic pulse. He teased at the curls covering her mound. She rose up on her knees again. His tender touches zinging through her until she was dizzy with need. Finally, mercifully, his fingers circled her clit giving her sweet relief.
His cock throbbed against her. She needed more. The emptiness physically hurt. It burned. She needed to be filled.
“Aaron, please.”
He growled out his pleasure. “Tell me what you need.”
“Please, please.” She wasn’t certain what to ask for. “More.”
She rose up on her knees again. His fingertips traced lower, exploring her lips. They felt swollen against his touch. Pressing against her clit with the palm of his hand, he gently slicked two fingers at her opening. “So fucking wet. My God, honey. You are ready aren’t you?”
“Please.” She gripped his shirt and scratched at his chest seeking anything to cling to. He dipped one finger deep within her. Her body cinched around him as she bucked.
“Look at me,” he demanded. The commanding thrum of his voice pushed her closer to the edge.
Her eyes fluttered open. Primal urgency blazed in his gaze. It burned away her ability to think at all. “You want more, honey? Tell me. You’re so fucking tight. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her mind scrambled. Whatever he’d offered she wanted. “Yes,” flew from her lips. He opened her wider. Her body rejoiced. The pressure increased, coiling constantly behind her mound. He pressed deeper, taking more.
His lips latched around her right nipple under the lace of her bra. She whimpered as he sucked. The ministrations of his mouth made her raw. She understood. The pain registered instantly as pleasure.
Some sound she didn’t understand shattered through his masculine moans.
“What…?” she tried to determine what was ringing.
“Right here, baby. Keep your eyes on me. Let me give you what you need.”
Another grind. She walked a cliff of arousal. Afraid to fall. Afraid not to. She shook. The pressure mounted until she was certain she could feel it all the way up to her eyeballs. “That’s it. Let it feel so good for me.”
The ringing increased in volume. It was ceaseless. She stopped moving. “What if…?”
“Come on, Nat. Ignore it,” he demanded.
She couldn’t. The texts alerts on his phone came between every ring. “What if someone needs you?”
“You’re the only one I give a damn about, baby.” Frustration ground in his voice.
“Check that.” She stopped altogether, shuddering as he eased his fingers away.
“Whoever the fuck this is I’m going to kill them.” He jerked his phone off of the console. “What?” he seethed.
But a moment later the frustration melted from his face. Concern replaced it. His jaw tensed with every “Uh-huh,” he spoke. “I’ll be right there.”
“Who was that?”
Still unable to process much beyond the fact that he’d had Natalie ten seconds away from an orgasm, Aaron cranked the truck. The musk of her arousal clung to his fingers. God, when he got Griff and T out of whatever fucking trouble they were in, he was going to kill them.
“Aaron?” she was frantic with worry now.
Trying to come up with something to tell her that wasn’t a complete lie, he drew a deep breath only serving to bring more of her flavors to his nostrils. “Uh, it was T. Remember they had a thing they were doing tonight?”
“Oh my God. They’re hurt aren’t they? They got caught or something. I had a bad feeling as soon as T said that.”
“They’re not caught, but T is hurting. Things didn’t go quite the way they’d planned though. I need to go pick them up.”
“I’m going with you.”
Given the fact that T was currently hiding in Moorer’s woods behind the library in Pleasant Glen and couldn’t find Griff there was no way that was happening. “No, you’re not. I’m taking you home.” The long way since Sheriff Wilheim is apparently camped out in the library parking lot with his lights on. He couldn’t let her see that.
“What if you get hurt? I can’t… You have to take me with you.”
“Baby, I can’t take you with me. I’m sorry.”
“But I won’t know if you’re okay.”
Once again the remnants of his heart swelled in his chest. For a second, they almost felt whole. Sweet angel. No one had ever worried over him like this except maybe his foster parents. “I’ll be fine, sweetheart. I’ll call you when I find them and get them out.”
“You don’t even know where they are?” Her voice rose several octaves.
“I’ll find them.”
“You better call me and come to my house when you’re done so I know you’re okay. I want to see you so you don’t just say you’re okay if you aren’t.”
“I promise, and Nat, I’m sorry this night sucked.”
“It didn’t. I loved most of it, just not this part. Are you sure you’re okay to go help them? Maybe Voodoo or Echo should go. Won’t that remind you of…?”
“I’ll be fine.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Why are you going this way?”
Damn, he’d hoped she wouldn’t notice. “Just did it out of habit I guess.” The number of times he’d lied to her in the last five minutes made him sick
.
T had said they had the name of the man who’d hurt her. That kept Aaron from losing it. He’d get them out of whatever trouble they were in and then demand they tell him everything they’d found. After that, he’d go to her house and if she’d let him, he’d make her come all night long. On his fingers, on his tongue, on his cock, however she’d allow him to make this up to her.
He circled Rural Route 11 and sped toward Camden Ranch, making it to the North gates, instead of the main entrance, in record time.
“Aaron, promise me you’ll be okay.”
“I swear, Nat. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Go on to sleep.”
“No. Not until I see you.” Her stubborn cowgirl pride was out in full-force. “I could help you, you know? I’ve been out to Cottonwood Springs loads of times. I know my way around.”
“Nat, come on. You know I can’t take you with me.” Aaron recalled T-Byrd telling her they were working in Cottonwood that night. Between his own lies and his teams this was going to get tricky.
“Why?”
“I don’t know what I might find when I get there.”
“All the more reason I should go.”
“No.”
She turned away from him glaring out the passenger side window. Shit. As furious as he was with T, he was angrier with himself. He’d set this whole thing up. He reminded himself that he had to know who’d hurt her. He had to end them.
“Just let me off here. I’ll walk,” she demanded. They were passing her parents’ house and almost a mile from her own.
“No. I have to know you’re home safe.”
“Exactly. You get to know I’m safe but I don’t know if you are.”
Fuck it. “Nat, I was a Green Beret. I’ve done stuff far more dangerous than this will be half asleep. I will be fine. I’ll come here as soon as I get them back to wherever T’s truck is.”
“You better.” She flung herself out of the truck when they came into sight of her house. Aaron slammed on the brakes before her feet hit the ground. She gave him one more vicious glare when she turned.
“Hey, Nat.” He went with it. He had to. Nothing about it made sense but she had to know. In that moment he desperately needed to offer her the single truth he prayed would make all of the lies he’d told that evening worth it.