by D. L. Roan
“And you sell these?” she asked.
“Yes and no,” he answered. “I worked for the developer for a while, right after I left the Air Force, doing maintenance and such. I sort of fell into a contract with them to reach out to ranchers who own land they’re interested in, to grease the wheels of the sale, so to speak. It’s something I believe in, so, I took the job, closed the deal with my first client, and then started my own business doing it with other agri-tech companies.
“It’s complicated, but it’s sort of like cellphone towers. The ranchers still own the land, technically, but agree to lease the swaths the towers are on to the developers, who in turn, sell the power generated to the energy companies.”
Dani scoffed. “Yeah, that sounds complicated.”
“I’m basically the conduit between the little guy and the big corporations.”
“Do you also sell solar?”
Clay scrunched up his face. “Solar farms big enough to make a difference aren’t as enviro-friendly as everyone thinks. Not yet, anyway.”
Awed by his knowledge of so many industries, Dani stared out over the desert plains. “So, you get paid by the developers to get the lease, and sometimes you bring potential clients here to show them what they’re getting?”
Clay nodded behind her, the stubble on his chin tickling the top of her shoulder. “There are a few other wind farms set up for it, depending on what’s closest to the ranch.”
“I can see why you’d bring your girlfriends here,” she said, wondering how many other women had stood in that exact spot before her, heart pounding with the heady concoction of exhilaration and adrenaline as Clay stood behind them, his lips tracing a seductive pattern of kisses along their necks as he did with her now.
“I’ve never brought a girlfriend up here,” he said as he slid his hand beneath her shirt, stopping just shy of her breast, his thumb caressing circles against her bare skin as if seeking permission to go further.
Her breath hitched, warmth rolling through her veins as her heartbeat increased again. “But you said—”
“Not up here,” he cut her off and turned her head until their lips were nearly touching. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to share this with.”
His warm breath rushed over her lips as he raised his hand the final few millimeters and slipped beneath her bra, the feel of his palm caressing over her sensitive nipple sending a pang through her chest that traveled between her thighs.
Dani gasped, and Clay captured the sound with his mouth. He slid his tongue deep alongside hers in a languid, forceful siege to all her senses.
Fears forgotten, she arched into his touch, pressing into his hand until his grip tightened, his fingers kneading into her soft flesh with urgent need. She could feel the hard ridge of that need pressed against the small of her back and she canted her hips, extracting a masculine groan when she pushed back against him.
He tipped his head and deepened the kiss further, until her lips were stinging with the pleasurable pressure, slipping his other hand between her thighs. Her knees buckled at his strong grip, the pressure satisfying one craving, but creating another, more urgent desire that pulsed to life inside her.
A brisk warm breeze blew across the platform, caressing her skin like warm satin, tantalizing her heightened senses, and whisking away her fear as it swirled around them. She released the railing and turned in Clay’s arms, lost in his kiss as he hauled her up, wrapping her legs around his waist.
The clinking sounds of the hooks on their harnesses served as little distraction as he walked her backward, then hoisted her up. She flinched when he set her down. She broke their kiss to see he’d set her on a metal box the size of a tipped over refrigerator on the front side of the hatch.
“Don’t worry. It’s bolted to the floor and the wall behind you,” he said, wedging himself between her thighs, his fingers working fast and furiously at something on her vest as he kissed her again.
Panic laced her veins as he unfastened the leg straps of her harness.
“Wait. What are you—”
“I’ve got you,” he hummed, opening his mouth over her T-shirt covered breast.
Dani’s head fell back with a sigh as he tongued her nipple through the rough fabric, then nipped it with a teasing bite.
“Clay.” She squirmed beneath him as he unfastened her jeans and shoved his hand inside, her earlier sense of danger hovering somewhere in the back of her mind, but unreachable through the blaze of desire that roared between them.
Once he had her jeans and panties banded around her calves, Clay pressed his hand against her chest and urged her to lie back against the wall. Instead of removing her boots to free her legs, he ducked under her jeans and wedged himself back up between her thighs.
Trapped right where she wanted him, she dug her heels into his ass and grasped at his shirt, pulling him back to her as he worked to free his erection from the confines of his jeans and harness. Her unsure shyness long abandoned, she slipped a hand down to help him, her reward a harsh intake of breath as her fingers grazed the velvety soft tip of his cock.
Long and thick, he jutted into her hand as he shoved his jeans over his hips. She pressed her mouth to the side of his neck as she wrapped her fingers around him, drawing him up onto the balls of his feet when she stroked him with an unsure grip.
“Fuck, beautiful, that feels so good.” Clay threaded his hands into her hair at her temples and tipped her head back, taking her mouth in a series of desperate kisses, his hips thrusting forward with every stroke of his tongue against hers, until he jerked free of her hand, his breaths panting out wild and erratic against her lips. “I want to be inside you when I cum.”
“What are you waiting for?” she asked, using her legs to pull him back to her. She’d waited her whole life for this moment and was going to spontaneously combust if she had to wait any longer.
Chapter Twenty
Clay gazed down at the woman who’d blown into his life like a F-5 twister. Fine beads of sweat laced her upper lip and forehead, her brown eyes warm and full of need, her lips swollen from their kisses. He grinned, knowing he would remember this image of her for the rest of his life. A tempest of raw emotion swirled through him and he kissed her again, leaning her back as far as the wall behind her would allow.
Torn between the hypnotic intoxication of their kiss and his desire to taste her again, he broke away and trailed his lips along her jaw, her neck, stopping to tongue the wet spot in her shirt over her nipple before traveling lower. Her legs tightened around him as he licked along her slit, her addicting flavor bursting like a ripe Georgia peach over his taste buds.
He was desperate to feel her heat and friction envelop his cock, but he was determined to make this as pleasurable as possible for her before he caused her any pain. He swirled his tongue over her clit and she rewarded him with a groan. Her head tipped back. Her front teeth cut into her plump bottom lip.
The erotic sight spurred him to a quicker pace, unwilling to sacrifice her pleasure, but unsure he would last much longer if he took his time like he’d wanted to. Dreams of this moment had robbed him of countless nights of sleep, and finally the wait was almost over.
Her inner muscles constricted around two fingers as he slipped them inside, one at a time, eager to find the spot that made her come unglued so effortlessly. Curiosity, and admittedly a selfish sense of male gratification, urged him to seek out the barrier he would soon claim, finding the resistance he sought with ease. An unexpected sense of astonishment washed through him with the knowledge he would forever own that piece of her, but that feeling of awe was rapidly overtaken by greed.
He suddenly wanted more than to be the first. He wanted to be the only man to ever touch the most intimate parts of her. The only person on the planet to see that look of pure bliss on her face as she came apart in his hands, to claim not only her body, but own even the most hidden vestiges of her heart.
The first hint of her orgasm fluttered around h
is fingers, the feeling sending a rush of fresh blood racing south, knowing he’d soon feel that same heaven around his cock. His anticipation was palpable as he drew her climax to the surface, watching through hooded eyes as the pulsating rhythm quickened and her mouth opened on a silent cry. She clutched at his shoulders as wave after wave crashed over her and he drank her in.
He didn’t wait for her to come down from her high, pushing to his feet between her thighs and drawing a condom from his front pocket. Sheathed in mere seconds, he hoisted her from the utility box and sank to the platform floor, laying her out beneath him. The wind flirted with her long mahogany hair, the thick strands seeming to glow like a halo in the golden rays of the setting sun. The unearthly sight left him breathless as he hovered above her.
Ravenous desire drove him forward and he flexed his hips, shuttling his cock through her slick release, owning every one of her lingering spasms when he passed over her clit. Trembling with urgency, he reached down and positioned himself at her entrance. One gentle thrust and he squeezed his eyes closed, the tight delicious pressure stealing his breath as her heat enveloped him. It took every ounce of control he possessed not to sink balls-deep, stopping after one shallow thrust when he felt the slight resistance he’d confirmed moments earlier.
His entire body shook as he lowered himself to his elbows, settling carefully between her thighs, and held her gaze. “Are you sure,” he asked her one final time.
She cradled his face in her hands and gave him a jerky nod, pressing her smiling lips to his as she dug her heels into his lower back and pulled him inside her.
“Fuck.” His whispered curse was gritted out between clenched teeth as he breached the thin barrier. She tore her mouth away from his and sucked in a harsh breath, wincing at the obvious pain.
“I’m so sorry, beautiful.” Clay froze, the effort it took not to move more challenging than completing the entire eight weeks of basic training. Sweat dripped from his eyebrow into his eye and he blinked away the sting, determined to give her as much time as she needed.
“Okay?” he managed when she relaxed, her rigid muscles softening beneath him a little at a time until her breaths returned to a steady rhythm.
“Yeah.” She nodded, her cheeks turning at least four shades of pink before they settled on a deep crimson hue. “I thought that would be a little easier, but I’m okay now.”
Clay smiled and studied her expression, afraid her stubbornness would cause her unnecessary pain if he didn’t give her a bit more time. “Christ, you’re beautiful. You know that?” He kissed her, not waiting for her to answer the rhetorical question. She was beautiful, the most beautiful woman he’d ever known, and right now, she was all his.
She shifted beneath him and he tensed, nearly choking on the rush of air that filled his lungs when her tight channel clenched around his cock. He bit back a curse, then swallowed another. If he didn’t move soon, her first sexual experience wasn’t going to amount to much.
“Clay?”
He opened his eyes, unaware he’d even closed them.
“Move,” she insisted, pressing her heels into his lower back, pulling him deeper.
His last breath rushed from his lungs and he thrust inside her, her demand freeing him to embrace the rampant need blazing through his veins. Her deep satisfying moan fed the fire inside him like kerosene and he crushed his mouth to hers, losing himself in the dizzying friction and heat.
“Ahh—” Her head snapped back on his next deep thrust and she arched beneath him.
His rhythm faltered as alarm pierced through the lusty haze that had driven him to forget her inexperience, but she urged him forward again, canting her hips in search for more.
Propped on his elbows, his biceps flexed and burned as he pulled out and sank back in, one long and measured stroke after another. His eyelids heavy with sensual lust, he gazed down at her, cursing their harnesses and clothes, every thread a barrier between them. He was already dreaming of the next time, greedy for the moment when he could lose himself in her body, skin-to-skin.
The thought sent the first whisper of his orgasm ghosting through his balls and he pushed up on one arm, reaching down to grip her hip with the other, anchoring her to him as he chased his release.
“Say you’ll come back to see me when this week is over,” he pleaded, every word sounding as desperate as his need to hear her answer. Whatever was happening between them, this was only the beginning. It wouldn’t end when she returned home, or ever as far he was concerned.
Her upper teeth cut white lines into her bottom lip as his rhythm grew to jerky thrusts, and he let her go, reaching down between them instead to find her clit.
“Say it.”
Her brows drew together in an expression of pain that hurt so good as she released a series of harsh breaths.
“Say you’ll be back,” he demanded, applying more pressure to the sensitive nub.
“I’ll be back,” she gritted out and then gasped as a warm wave coated his cock. When he felt a faint flutter and heard her answering moan, it was game over.
Clay’s orgasm ripped through him, fast and furious, and he came with a shouted curse, driving himself inside her until his legs and arms burned with fatigue and he’d spent his last ounce of energy, barely able to keep from crushing her when he collapsed with a sated sigh.
Neither spoke as they caught their breath. Her heartbeat raced as fast as his when he pressed his lips to the pulsing vein on the side of her neck, too spent to raise his head just yet.
Seconds ticked into minutes as they lay on top of the world, the feel of Dani’s fingernails caressing absent circles on the back of his biceps lulling him into a semiconscious state, until he was jolted awake by her giggling laughter.
When he opened his eyes, the sky was streaked with veins of orange and violet, only a sliver of the setting sun remaining above the rocky tips of the mountains. “What’s so funny?” he asked, raising his head to peer down at her, one eye cracked open in a sleepy squint and a grin that was permanently stitched across his lips.
She giggled again and stared absently at the same majestic view before she spoke. “Just never imagined losing my virginity on top of a windmill.”
“Turbine,” he corrected. His muscles spent, he pushed up and extricated himself from between her thighs, kissing his way along her body as he ducked beneath her jeans that had gathered around her ankles. He crashed beside her as she regretfully pulled them back up. “Pretty epic idea if I do say so myself,” he said, resigned to the fact they’d have to get dressed eventually.
“Until we plunge to our death when we try to stand up,” she scoffed and gave him a lazy slap, her arm falling limp across her belly.
He rolled to his side and propped his head up on the heel of his hand, bringing her fingertips to his lips as he gauged her expression. “You okay?” She seemed content, fully satisfied, but he’d been nervous as hell he’d hurt her, until she’d spurred him like a bucking bronc into a climax that had stolen what little control he’d had left.
Her lips curled into a lazy smile and she gave him a jerky nod, a bashful pink rising in her cheeks as she fingered his dimples. “I love these,” she said, her big brown eyes roaming his face.
“Well, that’s good, because the way I’m feelin’, you’re gonna be seein’ a lot of em’.”
She traced her finger from his dimple to his lips, moving it over the bottom one with a hypnotic caress. “Your accent gets stronger when you’re flirty,” she said, the observation spoken with a chuckle. “And when you’re angry.”
Now it was Clay’s turn to blush. “Just part of my Texas cowboy charm, I guess.”
Dani studied him, tapping the pad of her finger on his chin. “It works. Too well,” she conceded with a roll of her eyes. “A few weeks ago, I was ready to block your phone number.”
Clay lifted a cocky brow. “And now?”
“Now?” She was quiet for a long moment, staring out at the setting sun behind him before she loo
ked back at him, her teeth pressed into her bottom lip, her cheeks reddening again. “I’m sorry I said all those things about your…you know.”
Clay tipped his head in question. “All what things?”
Dani swatted his chest. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“Afraid you lost me, beautiful.” He flopped back down beside her, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stared up at the greying sky.
Dani propped up onto her elbow and hovered above him, trailing her fingernail down the center of his chest. He once again cursed their clothes and harnesses. “I shouldn’t have left that stupid voicemail,” she said, “but I guess it doesn’t really matter now. I was obviously wrong, about the size thing at least.”
Clay stilled her hand as her fingertips reached the waistband of his boxer briefs and sat up with an incredulous chuckle, remembering the message she’d left the day after he’d gotten home from Falcon Ridge. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
“You mean this message?” he asked, holding up his phone for her to see the voicemail notification still on the screen. “I never listened to it,” he admitted. “Maybe I should.” He dialed his voicemail and held his phone to his ear.
“No!” She sat up and reached for his phone but he was too quick and twisted away. “Please don’t,” she begged.
He held out a finger and tapped the speakerphone button with another.
“Clay, please. It was awful. I was angry that you tricked me, and…and I go off halfcocked sometimes. I didn’t mean it.”
When the automated voice answered, and gave him a list of options, he held the phone away from her grabbing reach. “Now that you know that everything really is bigger in Texas, what else were you wrong about?” he teased with a wink, genuinely curious.
He’d been on the receiving end of one of her colorfully inventive, hot-tempered rants when he’d cancelled the drone project, which was one of the reasons he hadn’t listened to the message, knowing it would be full of sharp-tongued insults she’d later regret. The other reason being, he knew they’d be exactly where they are now—not on top of a wind turbine, necessarily, but intimately…involved. Her stubbornness and quick temper had been irrelevant to his plan to charm his way into her good graces, and her body, and now he could say without a doubt his plan had worked infinitely better than he’d hoped.