“Oh, Jesus.” He didn’t think he was going to stop coming. It had been so long since a woman had touched him intimately, since he’d climaxed. His balls tightened painfully. His seed gushed in long, hard bursts. When it was over, Dianna sighed and curled up against him.
“There, now,” she said drowsily and fell asleep against him.
Taylor frowned.
He hadn’t meant for that to happen, not when he’d first set out to pleasure her. He’d wanted things to remain clinical. But what had just happened between them wasn’t clinical. It was hot. Dianna was hot. Hell, she’d practically roasted him alive with her tongue, teeth, and mouth. “Shit. I am not in love with her. I’m not!”
Taylor clenched his fingers into fists. He was very much afraid he was lying to himself. The question was—
What the hell did he do about it?
Chapter Nine
I’m not cheap, but I am on special this week.
~Author Unknown
North Western Australia
The Kimberly
February 8, Sunday
In the end, Taylor decided to do nothing about his feelings for Dianna. He lay there and stared into the darkness, in the shelter, his gut twisted in knots.
Shit. So what if the woman had somehow wiggled her way right into his heart? He sure as hell wasn’t going to admit to her he’d fallen for her like some lovesick calf.
He wasn’t about to change his mind about using her as revenge against Jace, either. He owed Jace. The bastard had seduced his sister. The least he could do was return the favor.
Damn, he wished morning would hurry up and arrive, but dawn was at least another hour away. It was still dark. It was still raining. He shifted and suddenly realized Dianna’s fingers were splayed around his cock.
Christ, the woman acted as if his dick was her own personal toy or exclusive property. His cock twitched with the memory of Dianna getting him off. Damn, it had felt good. Touching her intimately was incredible, too.
The long night had been filled with soft sighs, tender touches, wet kisses, tongues and teeth. Slow titillation at its supreme best. They were primed and ready. Sooner or later, the overload would short-circuit. The major meltdown would be more powerful than an explosion at a nuclear plant.
The night had been spent teasing the senses. They’d done everything to each other except consummate the final act. Their needs were temporarily satisfied, but they were nowhere near to being sated. Tension, desire, and need still surrounded them, and this wild, crazy connection that kept drawing them together wasn’t going away.
Although he’d put his own needs on the back burner the first time he touched her last night, he’d enjoyed giving her pleasure. Dianna had returned the favor by giving his cock plenty of sweet, wet love and lots of tongue.
He knew very well, before too many more hours crept by, he’d be exactly where he wanted to be—shaft deep inside her hot little pussy. Shit. He needed to get out of this hut and cool off before he gave in and shoved his cock inside her. Pissed at needing and wanting her so much flooded his soul.
He wanted her to beg him to fuck her. He wanted to look Jace in the eye and lay all the blame for her seduction on her.
Taylor shook her awake. “Let me up.”
“I’m not holding you down,” she grumbled.
“The hell you aren’t. You have one arm wrapped around my neck tight enough to choke me, and the other has claimed my dick.”
Her fingers tightened about his shaft as if she was reluctant to let go.
“Come on, Dianna, set it free. It isn’t going to run away. I promise it’s attached to me and always has been. Where I go, it goes. I need to take a walk. If I take a walk, it takes a walk with me. Let go.”
Slowly, she uncurled her fingers from around his aching shaft. Hell, he’d gotten used to the feel of her fingers around him. Now his cock felt as naked as a stripped banana.
He crawled over her to the side closest to the entry.
“Where are you going?”
“I told you, I need to take a walk.”
“In the rain?”
“Hell, yes, in the rain. Maybe it will cool…things down.”
“Oh, jeez, Taylor, I didn’t realize you had a little problem. It is a little problem…right?”
“You tell me…you’re the one who had it throat deep last night,” he snapped.
“What is your problem this morning?”
“I don’t have a problem, big or small, except for you, and you’re the wild hair on my ass!”
“For heaven’s sake, you act as if you’ve never slept beside a woman before.”
“I haven’t slept beside a woman who can’t keep her hands off my dick all night.”
“I wasn’t touching it all night, just once in awhile. I can’t help what I do in my sleep.”
“You weren’t asleep. Don’t pretend you were.”
“Don’t pretend you haven’t slept with a woman before.”
“I’m usually screwing the woman who shares my bed.” Taylor tore her arm from around his neck and scooted out of the makeshift shelter. “If you aren’t up to following through with all that rubbing, squirming, purring, and handling of my cock and ask me to fuck you, then you need to find somewhere else to sleep.”
Dianna’s mouth snapped shut. “Where else do you think I can sleep except beside you?” She couldn’t help it if she was a wiggler or her fingers naturally sought his cock. She was a touchy-feely sort of woman. Worse, she knew she was like a snake, she needed heat, and Taylor’s body was like a combination steam and sauna, nice and hot and ooh…she didn’t know. She only knew he drew her like a magnet. Keeping her hands or body away from his was impossible.
“I don’t care where you sleep, as long as it isn’t beside me,” he snapped.
She sighed and listened to Taylor stirring around and mumbling. Even after what they’d shared in the night, the most awesome foreplay, then oral sex, he really didn’t much like her. She knew damn well he’d enjoyed the blowjob, but she supposed in the long run, she’d been a means to an end for him and nothing more. How pitiful.
Blinking back tears, she sat up. Ahh. The rain was letting up. Thank God! Abruptly, it switched from a monsoon downpour to a slow, steady drizzle. Maybe now they could at least escape the hut for awhile.
She peeped through the opening and shaking her head, watched Taylor disappear into the darkness. A smile played on her lips. He might not like her, but he was attracted to her as much as she was to him. He must be, or his dick wouldn’t rise like a cobra every time she was near him.
And wow, he’d kept his arm around her waist, kept her close to his body. His fingers cupped her breasts all night, not to mention his shaft jammed between her legs. He might not realize it, but every single time she’d tried to move and put a little distance between them, his arm tightened, and he held her in place against his body.
For some reason, he refused to admit he wanted her. Given enough time, she’d win his heart.
She lay back down, curled into a ball, and closed her eyes. She might as well try to get a little more sleep before they faced the problems of daylight.
“Ouch!”
Dianna’s eyes popped open. Quickly, she poked her head through the opening. “Where are you? What is it? Why did you yell?”
“I’m over here. Son of a bitch! Something stung me.”
“What? What bit you? Oh God, you didn’t get snake bit, did you?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think it was a snake. Didn’t I see a small flashlight in your bag?”
“Yeah.” Dianna fished out the flashlight and crawled out of the hut. Rising to her feet, she flipped on the switch and shined the light on the rocks where he’d been sitting.
“There it is,” she said as the small circle of light captured the creepy-crawly. “A scorpion.” She raised the light to Taylor’s face. “Where’d it get you?”
“My hand. I sat down on that rock and braced myself with my hand. It got
me.”
“Well, the good news is, it probably isn’t poisonous.”
“I don’t care. It hurts like hell.”
“Yeah, they hurt. I got stung by one once when I was visiting my aunt and uncle at Damnboola.”
Taylor wiped a hand over his face. “Where’d it get you?”
“Oh, I did the wrong thing that night. I crawled into bed without checking it first. The minute I stretched out, it popped me twice on the thigh. I didn’t know what had happened. I jumped out of bed and screamed. Silver, my cousin, turned on the lamp and started jumping around and screaming, too.”
Taylor rubbed the back of his neck and blinked. “Why did she scream? Did it sting her as well?”
Dianna laughed. “No, but she knew something got me, and she was afraid it’d get her, too. She hopped around the room shrieking like a banshee. Uncle Rufus ran in with an old elephant gun he owned. Scared the heck outta me when he slammed open the door and stood there glaring at us like a wild man.”
“What happened then?” He drew a short, ragged breath and released it.
She wondered if he was okay. He looked a little pale.
“I screamed louder and ran round and round my bed. Silver joined me in the race. We made several circles round the bed. Uncle Rufus yelled, What the hell is the matter with you girls?”
Taylor shook his hand and winced. “Damn, it feels like my fingers are going numb. Keep talking. Tell me the rest.”
“I paused in my race to escape the varmint pointed at Silver’s bed, and said, ‘There’s a bloody critter in the bed with big teeth and claws.’ Uncle Rufus was so gallant. He blasted Silver’s bed with the elephant gun.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope. Aunt Marion came running down the hall screaming, ‘What in the world? Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you’ve killed the bed, Rufus.’”
Taylor laughed. “What did he say?”
“Nothing. I was busy telling Aunt Marion how Uncle Rufus had shot the wrong bed, because it was my bed the beastie was in.”
“Oh, my God, what did she do?”
“She marched over to my bed and yanked back the covers. There was nothing there. But my leg felt as if a coal of fire had been set on it. Aunt Marion moved the pillow and there it was, parked there with its tail reared over its back, just waiting to pop me again. It still gives me goose bumps to think about it hiding under my pillow.”
“Oh, Jesus, I’m gonna be sick.”
Dianna traced the light over his face again. Now he looked both pale and sweaty. “We’d better get you inside the shelter before you pass out.”
“I’m not going to pass out from a little scorpion sting.”
He took one step and promptly collapsed at her feet.
* * * *
Dianna gasped and leaned over Taylor’s prone body. A watery sun crawled across the sky. Streaks of orange, purple, and faded blue forced their way through the mountain of clouds churning across the sky.
There would be more rain, and soon.
She dragged the flashlight over Taylor from head to toe, but she couldn’t see anything wrong. He hadn’t pulled on his boxers when he’d left the shelter. Her gaze settled on the soft package lying between his thighs. What she’d held in her hands at times last night was reaffirmed in the dawn’s early light. Even soft, there was plenty there.
She tore her gaze away from the tempting sight and picked up his hand, eyeing the red dot where the scorpion had popped him. There was a little swelling and redness, but nothing major.
“Taylor?”
He groaned a response.
“I need to get you inside the shelter before the rain starts again. Can you help me?”
“I’ll…try.” Dianna frowned. He opened his eyes and gazed around. “What…happened?” Confusion clouded his blue eyes. “Where am I?”
Her heart fisted with fear. What was wrong with him? “You’re here, Taylor, with me.”
“Oh,” he said, plainly not understanding at all.
Did scorpion’s stings cause confusion? Dianna bit her lip and wrestled him to his feet, but he was heavy. She stumbled toward the hut, nearly buckling under the strain of his weight. “Don’t stop. If you stop, I’ll drop you. Keep walking. Yes. That’s it. One more step. Another.”
Once inside the shelter, he collapsed at her feet. “Can’t…breathe,” he moaned. Taylor struggled to sit up but fell back. “Throat…closing—” He sucked in a deep, rough breath. “Bee stings…allergic.”
“It wasn’t a bee that stung you.” Fear raced through Dianna. Oh, God. What should she do? What could she do? Airway! She needed to keep his airway clear. For God’s sake, how did she do that if his throat swelled shut?
She grabbed a shirt and draped it across his groin.
A faint grin ghosted his lips. “You…hiding it? Not…much point…seen it all.”
“I didn’t look.”
He grinned. “Held it…too.”
“I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Like…hell.”
“Shut up. You need to concentrate on breathing.”
He grasped the front of the shirt she’d tugged over her breasts and pulled her down to him. “Take…it…off.”
“What? Take what off?”
“Shirt. Love…your…tits.”
Dianna’s eyes burned. “You do?”
“Yeah. Lovely. Take…off.”
She tore her shirt over her head and flung it aside. Hell, if he wanted her stark naked, she’d strip. “Better?”
He stroked an unsteady hand over her right breast. “Better.”
“You need to concentrate on breathing.”
“Need to…concentrate on…fucking you. Soon.” He tugged her down to him, captured her mouth, a faint rub of his lips against hers, then set her free. “Can’t…right…now.”
“Can’t?”
“Concentrate…fuck…you.”
“For God’s sake, Taylor, have you suddenly developed a one-track mind?”
The ghostly smile flashed across his lips. “Not…sudden.”
“You could die! I don’t know what to do for you.”
“Allergic…wasp stings, too.”
“Shit! Anything else?”
“Hornets…like you.”
She laughed a watery sound that lodged in her throat. “Don’t you dare die on me, Taylor Spencer.”
He shivered and closed his eyes. “Won’t,” he rasped. “Promise.”
Daylight brought heat, mosquitoes, flies, and terror to Dianna’s soul. An hour after being stung, Taylor’s hand was so swollen it looked ready to split in half.
Dianna packed wet cloths around his hand and throat, but it didn’t seem to help. His breaths were faint and raspy. She wondered if his throat was as swollen as his hand. She dipped two T-shirts in the ice chest of rainwater and washed his face and chest. She alternated the wet shirts, sponging his body over and over. Nothing helped. His skin remained hot and dry, his breaths raspy and labored.
She trickled water past his dry lips and down the back of his throat. She spent time agonizing over what ifs.
What if his throat swelled closed? What if he choked to death? What if he stopped breathing? What if his tongue blocked his airway? What did she do if any of those things happened?
She eyed his swollen hand. Blisters had popped up near the sting site, ruptured and were now weeping. She tore a shirt into bandages and wrapped it around his hand. At least his chest wasn’t as red as it had been, and the ruptured blisters there from the burn had started to scab and no new blisters had formed.
Dianna peeled one of the oranges and squeezed juice down his throat. He moaned and twisted on the bedding. His temperature raged, his body hot and dry. She’d never known anyone who was allergic to stings or had a bad reaction to a scorpion’s sting. Then she saw his tongue! Dear God, it was so swollen it filled his mouth and was beginning to push out of it. His lungs heaved.
Quickly, she turned him on his side, praying that would s
omehow ease his breathing, maybe keep his tongue from blocking his airway. “Oh, Taylor, I’m so sorry,” she whispered and brushed his damp hair back from his face.
He moaned and pushed her hand away. “Thirsty,” he said around his thick tongue.
She gasped and grabbed a bottle of water. “You’re awake!” She lifted his head. “Do you think you can swallow some water?”
Most of it trickled back out, but he managed to get a little down. He closed his eyes and dragged in a deep breath. “Cold. I’m freezing.”
“Freezing? But it’s—”
His sudden shaking cut off her words. She piled clothes on top of him, but still he shook and thrashed restlessly. “Don’t do this to me, you stubborn man.”
“What? Don’t…do…what?” His teeth clicked together. “I’m…hot.” He shifted restlessly, kicking at the clothes she’d piled on top of him.
Dianna leaned over him, felt his face. “God, you’re burning up!” Tears filled her eyes. “Damn you, Taylor Spencer, you’re scaring me! Don’t think to escape me by dying. I’ll come after you! I swear I will. I love you, you hateful man!”
“No…you…don’t…just want…my cock…”
Dianna laughed. “I do. I do want it, but I love you.”
“Knew…you…loved….” His words trailed away. He closed his eyes and shivered. “Cold.”
She wiped the tears away and piled clothes on top of him again. The day passed slowly, with Taylor thrashing restlessly and groaning. On and on through the endless day she struggled to keep him hydrated, made certain he could breathe and was breathing. The rain stopped for about an hour, then returned with a vengeance. Dark settled in and closed around them like a shroud.
Her heart sank as Taylor’s chest rose and fell with labored breaths. She shivered and wondered if they’d survive their second night in the rainforest.
Chapter Ten
Sometimes the act of courage is a small one.
~Lauren Raffo
Too Close To The Fire/Too Hot To Handle (Montana Men 3) Page 9