by Tina Michele
The sound of the shower hissed to life and the room began to fill with a thick steam. The heat and condensation built up salty beads of sweat on their flesh. Haven pressed her body into Willa’s and ran her hands up slick arms and shoulders and gripping her neck to pull her down into a fevered kiss. When Willa picked Haven up into her arms and stepped into the hot spray of the shower, Haven felt a rush of excitement flood between her legs. Haven wanted her, but she wanted more than just her hand and fingers. She leaned in close to Willa’s ear. “Do you have a cock we can use?” she whispered.
The request caught Willa off guard, and she looked at Haven with surprise. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Willa hesitated for a split second before she jumped out of the shower dripping wet and vanished. She reappeared just as quickly grasping a pearly white dong in her hand. Haven’s body shuddered with anticipation of having Willa fuck her with the sinfully sexy dildo, but first she wanted to please her with a few well-placed licks. Haven took the cock from Willa and sat her down on the far end of the tub. She spread her legs open and slid down between them onto all fours using a washcloth to cushion her knees.
Haven kissed up the inside of Willa’s wet thighs as the searing water stung her back and dripped down the cheeks of her ass. She teased her tongue lightly over the lips between Willa’s legs with a few quick flicks of her clit. Willa hissed and bit her lip, and Haven felt herself throb with need. Looking up into her eyes, Haven took Willa fully into her mouth and her head fell back against the wall. Willa’s fingers threaded through Haven’s hair and twisted with a painful pleasure.
When Haven slid the cock into Willa, she cried out. She pulsed and thrust it inside her as she licked and sucked on her swollen lips.
Willa begged for release. “Please, Haven.”
Haven’s name on Willa’s lips was a sound she had only dreamt of hearing again. The breathless desperation and need in her voice drove Haven into a frenzy. She wanted her to come. She wanted to taste her pleasure in her mouth. Willa gripped the edge of the tub with white knuckles. She was close, and Haven could feel it.
“I’m coming, Haven. Shit,” Willa cried out as her body shook with wave upon wave of ecstasy. Haven stood, a sense of victory rushing through her. She was smug and pleased with herself as she watched Willa struggle to catch her breath. Haven rinsed her hair and body under the spray, allowing Willa as much time as she needed.
* * *
Willa’s entire body was useless. It took every ounce of energy she had left to hold her head up. She watched Haven close her eyes and stand back into the water. Rivulets flowed down over her body, following along every sinewy ridge and supple curve of its length. Beads dripped from her firm nipples, onto her belly, and down between her legs. Willa wanted to be the water, exploring in and out of every delicious dip of Haven’s flesh.
Unbridled desire was all Willa needed to find the strength she lost giving herself to Haven. She was running on primal need when she stood and took Haven into her arms. Willa pulled one leg up over her hip and thrust her thigh between Haven’s legs. She pinned her against the wall with the weight of her own body as she kissed Haven with ravenous desire. Haven began to run her hands down Willa’s arms, but she gripped them both with one hand and held them firmly above her head. Willa’s free hand gripped the cock, and she slowly slipped it in, out, and along Haven’s wet folds, teasing her with it.
Willa released Haven’s hands and hooked her arm under Haven’s raised leg, pushing her open and thrusting inside her. Haven screamed with pleasure and grasped onto Willa’s shoulders. Willa repositioned her arm, looping around the small of Haven’s back and supporting her as she dipped her to take a hard nipple into her mouth. When Willa twisted it gently between her teeth, Haven gasped. She bucked against each of Willa’s thrusts, each one growing faster and harder as Haven neared climax. Willa kissed her, the sweet taste of her lips mixed with her own scent was intoxicating.
“You’re so beautiful, Haven. Come for me. Just for me.”
As if she had just been waiting for permission, Haven cried out Willa’s name as she came. Her body tightened as Willa pushed the cock deep inside her with one last, slow thrust. Willa held her close as small shudders pulsed through her. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Willa had no idea how they had ended up in bed, as everything after Haven’s staggering orgasm was a bit of a blur. She rested her head on Haven’s bare chest and listened to the rhythmic beat of her heart, and slow, soothing breaths. Willa brushed her fingers lightly over the bare skin of Haven’s back. Its effects were both relaxing and arousing. She was surprised by the latter after their intense and exhausting shower. When she ran her hand down Haven’s belly and she didn’t protest her arousal surpassed relaxed. It wasn’t long before Willa had Haven straddling her hips ready for another round.
* * *
“So we never went into it, but if you can’t start a camp here or in Colorado, where would you go?” Willa asked as she went about making breakfast hours after they had planned.
Haven sat on the stool on the opposite side of the island and sipped her coffee. “Well, it would have to be someplace between the two, I suppose.”
“What is between the Florida sand and the Colorado stardust?” Willa waved her spatula dramatically.
“Oklahoma tumbleweeds?” Haven laughed.
“Well, yes. But I was thinking more along the lines of, I don’t know, the Tennessee Smokies.” Just then the reality that Haven lived in Colorado struck her. She hadn’t given it much thought up until that point. Even if she did decide to move again, it wouldn’t be back to Florida, and that’s where Willa was. “It is closer than Colorado. So I reckon that’s a plus.”
“I have looked at property costs in North Carolina, believe it or not. I ran the Nantahala River with Scrat last year. There’s definitely a lot of potential for a great camp there.” Haven swirled the coffee in her mug.
Willa was reluctant to offer advice that would ultimately take Haven away, but the truth was she would be leaving soon, anyway. The thought tore at her. “Well, Corey’s family owns a real estate agency in Asheville. I’m sure she’d be more than happy to put some feelers out for you.”
“Hmm, interesting.”
Willa set down the plate of fried ham, eggs, and hash browns she made for breakfast, and Haven eyed it quizzically. “What?”
“Are these the eggs?”
“Uh. What?”
“Are they…the yard eggs?”
Willa laughed. “They are fresh eggs from the coop, not the yard. They’re normal, regular, edible eggs.”
“Okay.” Haven poked at the yolk as if it were going to hatch into a baby chick.
“You realize that’s not how eggs work, right?” She laughed again.
“I don’t know. I’ve never had a—”
“Yard egg,” Willa finished. “Just eat it.” Willa dug into her own plate without hesitation, and Haven seemed less skeptical about her own.
Haven took a forkful of egg and potato. Just as she was about to put it into her mouth her phone rang. “Hello? Hey, Gianna. Yeah. No, we…we were busy. Okay. Okay, bye.”
“What’s up?”
“Gianna’s noon o’clock news. We need to turn on the TV.” Haven finished the bite she had started. “Mmm. Yard eggs are delicious.”
* * *
Haven and Willa stared at the screen of brightly colored graphs and maps of the state. Just as Kyle had said, the morning update shifted the storm named Jennifer toward the east and increased its strength to a Category 3 storm. At its current speed, they anticipated landfall within two to three days. The worst news of it all was its expected upgrade to a devastating Category 4 or 5 hurricane.
Satellite images did little to ease Haven’s anxiety, as its sheer size was set to eclipse the entire state. The prediction cone had the eye aiming for the city of Cape Coral with the swath of danger extending out a hundred miles on either side. Haven’s anxiety was increasin
g as quickly as the storm.
“What are you going to do?” Haven asked, looking over at Willa. “What am I going to do? I don’t even know if my mom has shutters.” Her heart was beginning to race.
“We’ll put up boards and shutters. I’ll run some ratchet straps over the coop and the sheds. It’ll be fine, sweetie.” Willa scooted up next to Haven on the couch and squeezed her knee. “I’ll come over and help y’all get ready.”
Haven couldn’t believe she would even offer at the risk of her own livelihood. “No. No way. You have too much to do here. I mean, how are the two of you going to manage on your own? And I’m just going to leave?” She couldn’t leave, but she had to leave.
“Babe, relax,” Willa said, cupping Haven face in her hands. “Breathe.” Willa kissed her softly.
Haven took a deep breath. “But—”
“We have a couple friends that I’m sure will come give us a hand. Besides boarding up the houses and the coop, there isn’t anything we can do. All we can do is hope the barns and sheds hold up. We’ll do what we can.”
“What about the animals?” The thought of Willa losing any of her flock or the rest of her livestock was heartbreaking.
“We will put the large animals out to pasture. Their instincts will keep them safer than a barn would. The back thirty acres has a lot of tree coverage. The goats and chickens we’ll put in Kyle’s garage, with the extra feed and supplies.”
“Out in the storm?” Haven couldn’t imagine just opening the gates and letting them fend for themselves in the wind and rain.
“I’m scared, too. But it’s part of the job. We do everything we can to prepare, but there’s always risk. You know this. You think you know how it’s all gonna go, and then whoosh, a rogue wave tosses you into the river. It’s about the prep and the recovery.”
Haven adored Willa for trying to use river analogies to ease her fears.
She needed to go. The longer she delayed going home, the longer she kept Willa from taking care of the farm. She couldn’t believe that their beautiful reunion was being destroyed by a raging hurricane headed their way. “I should go.”
“It’ll be okay.” Willa kissed her long and hard.
Haven wouldn’t let Willa walk her up to her car. She didn’t want her to see how much it hurt her to leave, and she especially didn’t need to see the ugly crying Haven did all the way there. Something didn’t feel right about leaving. She was so afraid that once she did everything was going to change. She waved good-bye to Kyle, who stood in the doorway of the barn and waved back.
Once Haven was on the road, she called Gianna to let her know she was on the way. She was relieved to know that her mother did have shutters for her house. It was one less thing she was going to have to worry about during the storm. When she hung up with her sister, she immediately dialed Wendy’s number.
“Hello?” Wendy said.
Haven didn’t waste time with a hello. “Girl, you’re never going to believe this.”
Chapter Nineteen
“I told you, Will. I told you the storm was coming and we should’ve started this shit days ago.” The storm was at least two days out from landfall, but the wind had already reached them.
“We couldn’t have known it was coming this way, Kyle,” Willa said as she tossed a strap over the shed.
“Are you fucking kidding me? I told you, but you were too busy daydreaming and playing house with Haven.” He hooked the ratchet strap to the anchor and tightened it down.
“What the hell, man?” She understood that he was on edge about the storm, but there was clearly something else bothering him.
“What?” He stood up and set his hands on his hips, breathing in heaves.
“What was that shit about Haven? She has nothing to do with this.”
“Willa, what are you doing? She doesn’t even live here. Hell, she doesn’t even live in this state or on this side of the damn country. Everything we have worked for is right here, and you’re gonna let it go to shit in some storm because of her?” He threw the next strap and set off to secure it.
“What are you talking about, Kyle?” Willa grabbed for his arm, missing it the first time. Her second reach caught his elbow before he could get past her. “Stop for a second!”
“Listen, don’t think I don’t know that you still care for her, but she isn’t coming back here. So what else could that mean?”
Willa couldn’t remember the last time her brother had been so upset. “Kyle, I’m not going anywhere.” Sure, she’d had the occasional thought of how to make things work with Haven. But she was forced to admit that unless she gave up her farm, there was no way they could be together. As much as she had tried to avoid it all weekend, it seemed that she was going to have to accept it. “I can’t. We’ve put too much into this place.”
“I’m sorry, Will.”
“For what?”
“That things aren’t gonna work out the way you want.”
“Hey, I made a decision years ago that lost me every chance there could’ve been for us. This is just another result of that decision.”
Willa had been fooling herself into thinking that somehow everything would work out, mostly by ignoring the reality of the situation. She’d just allowed her heart to lead her wherever it took her without giving any thought to what the meaning was behind it. But the truth was, she and Haven couldn’t be together. Too much had changed, and the space between them was just too great. Willa knew it, but she just didn’t want to believe it. “I’m the one who should be sorry.” And she truly was. “Toss me another tie down.”
Kyle picked out one from the back of the Gator and tossed it to her. “Will!” he yelled as the end unraveled and the metal hook caught her in the face.
She literally hadn’t seen it coming. The hook was covered with plastic, but the way it had whipped around hit her like a brick. “Shit!” she hollered, covering her eye with her hand.
Kyle ran to her. “Lemme see, Will.” He tried to pull her hand away.
“I didn’t see it. Son of a bitch.” Willa could feel the warm trickle of blood start through her fingers.
“Fuck. You’re bleeding, dammit. Let me see.”
Her fight or flight instinct fought against him as he continued to try and pull her hand away. “It could be your eye.”
“Why would that fucking matter, Kyle? I’m blind.”
“What?”
She could tell it wasn’t her eye, but just below it, right on the bone. “I’m blind in this eye. From the radiation. It’s been gradually getting worse, but now it’s just dark.” She took her hand down, and Kyle’s face flushed pale.
“Um, okay. Sit. Sit down here.” He cleared the seat on the Gator and helped her into it. “Why didn’t you…never mind.” He paced nervously looking for something, and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. “Here, put this on it.”
Willa took the cloth and pressed it to her face as Kyle jumped into the driver’s seat and sped off toward the house even though it was less than a hundred feet away. “I could’ve walked, ya know.”
“Dammit, Will, this is no time for jokes. Come on.” He rushed her into the house and into the bathroom.
“The kit’s under the sink in the kitchen.”
When he left to fetch it, Willa removed the cloth and inspected the damage in the mirror. Blood covered the side of her face and her hands as well as her neck and shirt. Willa thought of Haven and how they’d probably still be outside trying to get her off the ground after passing out. She wet a clean washcloth and wiped away most of the blood. Once that was done, she could see the large gash that ran just under her eye along her cheekbone. “Shit,” she said, realizing that she was going to need stitches. She grabbed a clean cloth and met her brother in the hall.
“What? Is it bad? I mean, face wounds bleed a lot anyway, don’t they?”
“I need stitches. You stay here. I’ll go up the road to the walk-in clinic and be back in a few.”
“No. I’m driving.”
“No. I’m quite capable of doing this on my own. I don’t need your help, Kyle.” The pain was growing worse and Willa was getting agitated. The injury felt like a culmination of everything that was going on. “If we hadn’t been rushing at the last minute because I was distracted by Haven, I wouldn’t have been smashed in the face. And I got smashed in the face because I’ve been blinded by the cancer that caused all of this bullshit in the first place.” She was on the edge of a breakdown for the first time in her memory, and the more she struggled the more she slipped.
“Okay, Will. One thing at a time, and right now that thing is your face.” He hooked his arm in hers and walked her to the truck.
Kyle didn’t leave her side the entire time they were at the clinic. He sat with her in the waiting room and followed her back for her exam. He even sat and talked to her about nonsense while they stitched up the wound.
When they were back in the truck and headed home Willa apologized. “I’m sorry, Kyle.”
“You’re sorry? For what? You didn’t hit me with a ratchet strap.”
“No, I didn’t. And we’ll deal with that later. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the whole eye thing.”
“Yeah. That one caught me off guard a bit. I can understand that you didn’t want people to treat you different or whatever. But I’m your brother, Will.”
“I didn’t want you to think I needed help or that I couldn’t do shit on my own.”
“What I won’t understand is why you think that needing help or having support is such a bad thing.”
“I’m working on it.”
* * *