by Alla Kar
At the diner? I thought back to going to the diner with Jace and my older brother. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her jaw clenched. “Did you ask Samantha Herrington out yesterday?”
What—oh! I couldn’t help the smile that crept up my face. “Raven,” I said, grabbing the ladder and climbing my way upward.
“Don’t you dare come up here. Explain yourself now. Someone overheard you askin’ her to go the movies with you!” She had her arms outstretched in warning. “Do you know how terrible it was to overhear and sit there and say nothing?”
Yeah. I’d actually had to do it a lot myself. Grinning, I took a quick step forward, grabbed her, and brought her to my chest. She tried to protest, but it had done no good. “Raven, you know good and damn well that I love you. I’m not a cheater. Never have been, never will be. The only mouth I want is yours. The only person I want is you.”
She narrowed her eyes, but I could see the smile she was trying to hide. “Well, why did they say that then?”
“Because I asked her out for Jace. You know he’s chicken shit. They’re going to the movies Saturday.”
Her cheeks turned pink. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” I said. “So, I think someone owes me an apology. Or,” I whispered, trailing my fingers down her shorts to cup her through her panties. “Someone wants to let me make all of this better, for the both of us.”
Her cheeks turned darker, but her fingers tightened on the collar of my shirt. “I think I like the latter,” she said, her eyes glued to my mouth.
Nodding, I leaned in and captured her lips with mine. Her mouth immediately opened for me, letting me in deeper. There wasn’t one girl I’d kissed that made me feel like that. Nothing had ever tasted as sweet.
My fingers wove through her hair and I lowered her to the pillow and blankets beneath us. The sun was setting and an orange glow cast out over the eerily quiet woods. “You want me inside of you?” I whispered against her ear.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Please.”
With my mouth still on hers, I unzipped her shorts and managed to get them down along with her panties. I nipped her lips and made my way down her until I was hovering over her core. The anticipation crackled between us, and I felt her squirm as I watched her.
Just when I knew she was about to sit up, I pinned her thighs down and buried my face inside of her. The moan that broke from her lips was loud and raw. Her fingers gripped her hair, and she pushed against me with strength I didn’t know she had. Her taste was so addicting I could have done it every time I saw her. Sucking and nipping my way along her, she began to writhe against my face, her fingers tighter than before.
I slid my finger inside, and she broke against me. The torment of hiding our relationship vaporized because I knew seeing that face at the end of every day was worth it. I crawled up quickly to see her come; knowing I was the only one making her come made it even better.
“Raven,” I whispered, unzipping my jeans and pushing them down my legs. She still had her eyes closed, but her mouth was open and panting. “Josie,” I said closer to her face this time. Her green eyes popped opened and she smiled. “You want me?”
She slowly nodded.
We stared at each other before I slipped inside of her. I braced both hands against the wood and she arched into me. I’d been her first three months before, but it only got better each time.
“Boone,” she whimpered.
That sound always sent electricity through me. Knowing I’d be the only person to ever please her. Touch her. Hold her. Love her. It was all so perfect.
“I’m here,” I said, grasping her nape and devouring her mouth. I began to move in and out of her. “So tight,” I whispered. “So goddamn tight.”
Her moans quickened and deepened with each extra inch I sank into her. Her nails dug into my shoulders, and her legs held on to me for dear life. She couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to. There was no way for me to stop this madness.
Each thrust hit deeper. Each kiss drove me even more madly in love with a girl that was forbidden to me.
I didn’t care.
“Boone!” she cried out.
She tightened around me and my eyes shut before I exploded inside of her. I braced my arms beside her head and kissed her deeply, still buried inside. Knowing that we’d only have a few more hours together before we’d have to hide our relationship again, I held her closer.
The woods were the only true place to be alone. They were our refuge.
***
“Boone,” Jace said.
But my feet were moving me closer to her. Every step felt like an inch like I’d never get to her. “Boone!” Jace called out.
I didn’t stop. I needed to touch her—feel her. I was halfway to her when she saw me. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened, and she took a step backward. Kathy waved her hand in front of her eyes, but Josie didn’t notice. There was so much going on with her face that I couldn’t keep up. She was angry and surprised, but something was taking me in. Her eyes trailed me like she’d forgotten what I looked like and she wanted to memorize every inch of me.
When I was an arm’s length away, she turned and started to run. Oh, no. She was on the track team in school but judging by the boots she was wearing, I didn’t figure she’d be getting too far. “Josie!” Kathy yelled. “What did you do to her?” she turned and asked me.
Shaking my head, I started forward. She ran toward the road, but she turned and saw me, so she dodged into the woods. There were trails running all through these trees, but with minimum sunlight, I knew I’d lose her.
I could see her red shirt pretty well, and I pushed my body forward like I hadn’t in two years. Through the stinging in my legs, I managed to get close enough. My arms flew out around her and I trapped her against my body.
Her lavender scent hit me hard and it took everything I had not to sink to the ground with her. “Raven,” I whispered into the back of her ear.
She stiffened. “Let me go, Boone,” she said. Her voice rushed around me like a current threatening to drown me.
“I don’t think I will,” I said. Bracing her shoulders, I turned her to face me. The noises around us disappeared. All I could hear were her sharp breaths and the little noise that slipped from her throat. Her long lashes, cast downward on her flushed cheeks, outlined those pretty green eyes so well. She had small pink lips that had me praying to God she was real. “You’re so beautiful.”
Her bottom lip trembled, but she bit it to keep from crying. I didn’t want to see her cry. I wanted her to be happy. So many emotions crossed her face, and I realized she was getting angrier and angrier. Before she could speak, I leaned down and pressed my mouth against hers.
It wasn’t how I had planned to do this. Shouldn’t I be groveling or something? But I needed to kiss her before she bolted. What if I never got another chance to do it?
Her mouth softened, and her fingers interlaced with my hair. She kissed me back, but it was aggressive. She gave me all of those pent up emotions she’d been hiding. Her fingers tightened while her tongue plunged into my mouth. It was all wrong, but so addicting that I couldn’t stop.
Grasping her face, I held her to me like I’d never see her again, but then her palms slid up my chest and she shoved me away. “Bastard!” she screamed, pointing a finger in my face. “You fuckin’ bastard.”
This time when she turned and ran, I didn’t chase her. I knew I wouldn’t catch her because this time she didn’t want to be caught.
Chapter Six
Josie
I should have listened to the nagging voice in my head that told me not to go to the tailgate. But I listened to my mother instead and ended up walking home.
Thankfully, we were only a few miles from my house. Knowing the back roads had finally come in handy. It only took me fifteen minutes to get home. My feet were hurting in my boots and my legs were scraped from falling, but I was finally on the homestretch.
W
hen the house came into view, there were no lights on, which told me my mother was already passed out for the night. It was only nine since I was only at the party five minutes before I was ambushed by Boone.
He’d kissed me and it was everything I’d hoped it would be. I hadn’t wanted to run away from him, but I feared he would see right through me. Or that everyone would realize I was in love with him when I wasn’t supposed to be. The reality of it was that I wasn’t as brave as I thought I’d be. I’d been weak.
The wind brushed against me, and it pushed me toward the woods at the back of my house, where I’d spent a majority of a year with him. But I wouldn’t go. Not now. I couldn’t handle any more drama for one night.
My cell phone buzzed again in my back pocket. Exasperated, I answered.
“Josie! Where did you go? What in the hell was that all about, girlie?” Kathy yelled over the phone. I could hear that she was still at the bonfire.
I sighed. I didn’t want Kathy to know because she’d tell. Trusting someone in this small of a town is the worst thing anyone can do because they will tell someone.
“It’s a long story,” I replied.
She was quiet for a moment, and I knew she wanted to ask but didn’t. “Okay, well, do you need a ride? Where are you?”
“I walked home.”
“All the way home? Josie, I could have given you a ride back!”
I grabbed the spare key from underneath the potted plant and unlocked the front door. Silence welcomed me. “It’s okay. I’m already inside. Talk to you later.” I hung up before she could answer.
I locked the door, tiptoed upstairs, and shut my door. Tears filled my eyes when I turned the lock and were streaming down my face by the time I made it to the bathroom. The girl looking back at me in the mirror wasn’t me. I missed the happy Josie that was in love. In love with him and in love with the thought of our future together. But that girl didn’t exist anymore. She’d died a year ago when her heart was shattered.
I had to protect what was left of my heart. Falling into his eyes would be a mistake. For the sake of my soul, I needed to stay away from him. I couldn’t let myself drown in the comfort of his presence only to be broken all over again.
***
The smell of bacon cooking woke me. My stomach grumbled the entire way to the kitchen.
When I rounded the corner, I stopped in my tracks. An older lady was whistling and setting things on our table. She was wearing an apron that said Kiss the Cook and a dress that a 1950s maid would wear.
“Oh,” she said. “Good morning, Ms. Sawyer. Your momma told me you were here.”
I waved in her direction, suddenly embarrassed that I was wearing cheerleading shorts and a midriff Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shirt. “Hi—” I wished I had a name.
She giggled behind her hand and fluffed her graying hair. “My name is Rosie, but you can call me Bug. Everyone does.”
Bug? It sounded a little familiar, but I wasn’t sure how. I nodded and awkwardly wrapped my arm around my stomach. “Nice to meet you.”
“Go ahead and sit down. I made you breakfast. We can have a little girl-talk before I start preparing for lunch.”
What? “Are you my mom’s cook?”
She glanced up at me and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ve been working here for about a year or so. Right after you went off to college.”
Mom hired a cook? The thought made me angry. She was never the housekeeper, but she had always cooked for us. It wasn’t the best I’d ever tasted, but it was her job. She was a housewife and cooking was the only thing she did. Now what? She does nothing? I ground my teeth but took a seat at the table.
“Where is my mother?’ I asked, taking a sip of orange juice.
“Oh, she ran off this morning. Said she had some errands to run.”
I glanced up at the clock. Where did she need to go before nine thirty in the morning? “You okay, Ms. Sawyer?”
“Call me Josie,” I said. “And yes, I’m fine. Just hungry.”
She clapped her hands together. “Well, I can help you with that.”
I ate bacon, eggs, and pancakes until I could hardly walk. Down here, if someone is feeding you, you eat what they give you. So, I forced it all down, hoping my stomach didn’t stretch in the process.
After being shooed away for trying to help wash the dishes, I walked out onto the porch and sat in the swing. The backyard was huge with an in-ground pool, but beyond the fancy deck was the woods. I wasn’t ready to go back there yet. I was too scared of what I would find.
Instead, I focused on the pool and watched as the wind blew ripples across the surface. And before I knew it, I was falling into the best memory I’d had in that pool.
***
“Come with me,” he whispered. It wasn’t a request but a command. He knew I would follow him wherever he led. It was like a magnetic force that pulled me to him. His lips nipped my jaw and then the side of my mouth. “Come swimming with me,” he said.
My body was on fire, his hips rolling into mine. Although there was clothing between us, I felt the hard rigid outline of him through my panties. God, he would be the death of me.
“My parents might wake up,” I finally got out. The heat of his touch was drowning all logical sense. What was happening? I didn’t know or care. Boone trailed his palm up my thigh to my hip, where he pulled me closer still.
“Please. I want to see you wet.”
I screwed my eyes shut. When he said things like that, I couldn’t stop myself from melting. “I’m already wet,” I whispered back through a smile.
His grin widened and he shook his head. “In my shirt,” he whispered, his eyes lowering to my chest. “Please?” he asked, poking his bottom lip out.
Faking an eye roll, I pushed against his chest so I could get up. I put my finger to my mouth for him to be quiet and changed into the white T-shirt he’d worn over.
“Take your panties off,” he said.
I lifted a brow at him, watching as those too-blue eyes raked me over. He was six foot two inches of pure southern perfection. “Bossy tonight, ain’t ya?”
“I want to get to you easier.”
“Well then,” I said, slipping my underwear off and tossing them to the floor. “Better?”
His lips parted, his eyes glued to my thighs. His shirt hung closer to my knees, but he knew there was nothing underneath it. It seemed to drive him crazy. “Much better.”
Boone and I climbed down the trellis toward the backyard. Moonbeams lit the pool and gave us a path to follow. The wind was warm from the August heat and the light breeze tickled my skin. Or maybe that was because I knew I was going to have my way with Boone in my parents’ swimming pool.
We stopped at the edge and looked down into the seven-foot drop of the deep end. “Ready?” I asked.
Boone gave me a long sideways glance before peeling off his jeans to his dark boxer briefs. He offered me his hands. I took them. “Turn around,” he whispered. “Stand in front of me.”
I furrowed my brow but did as I was told. Holding my hands above my head, he lowered me quietly into the water until I sank underneath the darkness. The pool was cool and felt like sliding into a silent haven. I felt his hands slide up the outside of my thighs, his fingertips grazing my skin.
I couldn’t see him, but I felt his every move, every ripple he made in the water around me. Pushing up from the bottom, I broke the surface and quietly gasped for air. I doggie paddled over to the side, where Boone’s mouth slid against my ear.
“I don’t want this to end.” His voice broke the silence.
I waited for him to say something else. When he didn’t, I asked, “You don’t want us to end?”
“No, I don’t think I can take it, Raven,” he whispered. “I’ve never felt like this before.” His arms wrapped around me and he lifted me to his waist. His eyes shimmered in the moonlit pool, and his jaw twitched.
“Why do you call me Raven?” I asked quietly.
His fingers dug
into my ass. “When we were ten I saw you in the woods. I watched you from a distance for a long time. There was this—raven … ”
I remembered. I nodded. “I thought it was dead,” I said.
He slipped one arm beneath my butt to hold me up and cupped my jaw with his other hand. “You started cryin’. And when it started walking again you were so happy. I almost went to you but I … ” he drifted off.
“Why didn’t you?”
“I couldn’t.”
I clung tighter to his shoulders, and they flexed beneath my palms. “I … ” He tilted his ear toward the house.
Two seconds later a light flickered on downstairs. “Shit,” I mumbled.
Boone smashed his lips to mine, demanding entrance, and there wasn’t one part of me that didn’t want to give it to him. When he broke away we were both gasping for breath. “Go inside before we get caught. I’ll see you tomorrow, Raven.”
***
“Are you okay, Josie?” Bug said from the doorway.
I blinked away the memories and sat up in the swing. “I’m fine. Just day dreaming.”
She gave me a kind smile. “I’m headin’ to the grocery store and wondered if you wanted to go with me? I have a big list and it sure would be nice for some help. I’ll have you back in an hour so you can go visit ya daddy later today.”
Anything was better than sitting here reliving everything that’d happened on this horrid property. “I’d love to. Let me get dressed.”
After a quick shower, I pulled on a T-shirt and some cutoffs. It was hotter than hell and the heat index only made it worse. I didn’t bother with makeup because I’d sweat it off in ten minutes. Bug sat in her car waiting for me when I jumped in.
She drove a small Bug that I’d seen before but I couldn’t place it. That’s where the nickname comes from. It was yellow with huge flowers on it. She totally put off a grandmotherly vibe, but her car did not justify it.