by Quinn, Taryn
She jogged forward, coming to a stop by some hedgerow that served as a poor blockade for the lake. I was about to say just that when I glanced upward and my words got stuck in my throat.
Just here, the canopy of trees separated and the endless dark blue sky opened up, covered in a carpet of minute diamonds. It was as if someone had poked holes in the night to let slivers of light through. They danced and shivered on the gently rolling water.
She turned toward me, her lips parting, and I forgot everything but cupping her face and bringing her mouth to mine.
Warmth exploded through me. I scarcely felt the cold as she slipped her cool hands under my shirt, lightly scraping my belly.
“Beautiful,” I whispered, and I didn’t mean the sky and the lake.
I meant her. This.
Us.
When she drew back and started to drop to her knees, I gripped her elbows. I knew where she’d been going, and my much less altruistic cock didn’t like the change in direction. “No. Not here. I need to be inside you.”
Later, I’d wonder what logic dictated a blowjob was too intimate for a public place while fornication was just fine, but that was lust for you.
I took her hand and led her back to the car. This was a romantic spot, but it was lacking certain amenities. And as far away from LA as I was, the media-savvy part of me would never allow us to openly do something so risqué.
Inside a car though? That was private.
Kinda.
She tugged open the back door of my rental sedan and crawled inside. She shifted to face me and held out her arms in a welcome I couldn’t have resisted if I tried. Especially when she also spread her legs. Pity she wore trousers instead of a flirty little skirt.
“I’m not dressed for this,” she said as I slid inside. “I had no idea how my day would end.”
I shut the door behind me and ranged over her on the seat. The lack of room back here would be a problem. Good enough to break the tension, but not for long. “Some things are best kept a surprise.”
“Especially since you don’t have my phone number.” She wound her legs around me and her arms around my neck.
“I have another combination.” I reached between us to undo her trousers. “You’re going to have to take these off. I need to see all the ginger parts of you.”
“It’s dark.”
I dug out my phone and turned on the torch, making her laugh. She grabbed my cell and flicked it off again, tossing it aside before she smacked my ass. “Get a move on, Ferguson. We don’t have all night.”
No wonder I kept coming back to her. For her. She was unlike anyone I’d ever known.
“Yes, we do,” I said between kisses. “As if I’d rather do anything else.”
She made quick work of my trousers, as I did the same with hers. We didn’t pull them all the way off, just out of the way. Shoving her jacket off her shoulders, I latched my mouth onto her neck and slipped my hand between her legs, finding her wet and hot for me. The elastic of her panties kept snapping back when I pushed them aside to get at her, and she laughed every time I cursed and moved them out of my way. Her clit rose under my fingers, so stiff and proud, and she didn’t hold back her moans as our mouths met again and again.
“So. Not. Fair. You’re supposed to be inside me.”
“I am.” Deliberately, I pushed two fingers into her, deep and hard. She only tilted her hips upward and pushed back against me, asking for more. I licked her throat up to her lips, tugging her lower one between my teeth while I nudged her up to the edge again. “Feel that?”
“As if I can feel anything else.” She reached behind me and hauled up my shirt, scraping her nails down my spine. Christ. Then she gripped my ass, pulling me against her so that my fingers went even deeper. At her gasp, I started to pull away, but she dug in with her hands, keeping me in place. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
I’d never laughed during sex before. Not when I was so hard I couldn’t think. Yet there was still room for amusement inside me, tangling with the need.
I drew out my fingers and she hissed, quieting when I lifted them to my lips. I tasted them thoroughly, and she watched me the whole time. Rapt. Openly aroused.
There was nothing hidden with Ivy.
She leaned up to take my mouth again. I twisted her nipple between my wet fingers, absorbing her whimpers like oxygen. I yanked her tank and bra down to get at her skin, and the same thing happened as with her panties. The fabric snapped back, trying to keep me out.
But I couldn’t swear now. I’d lost the power to do anything but shove her underwear aside as she freed me from my boxers. She tugged on me with long, forceful strokes, her fevered gaze locked on mine in the darkness.
And when I couldn’t stand another second, she just parted her thighs and moaned while I ripped the material guarding her sweet pussy.
Inside her. I was mindless with the need for it.
For her.
I slid into the heart of her and groaned. It had been a lifetime since I’d felt that particular heaven. I couldn’t go that long without it again. Fucking could not.
“Jesus, Ivy. Ivy.” It was the only thing I could manage to say as I pulled out and drove into her again. The angle was weird, my neck was cramped, and I’d probably be in traction tomorrow.
Didn’t matter. I had to bury myself deep. Over and over until she was as mindless as I was, one leg locked around me and her foot thumping on the door behind us.
At least I thought it was her foot thumping.
Until a light bounced over the backseat and I realized two things at once.
One: I was not wearing a goddamn rubber.
Two: Ivy’s foot did not have a light attached to it.
“This is the police. Cease and desist immediately.”
Eleven
Being interrupted by the police should’ve been the biggest, coldest bucket of water ever.
Only problem? My dick needed a hearing aid.
It kept right on thrusting without conscious direction from me, as I stared at Ivy and wondered if my illustrious career would come to an end in a makeout spot in East Bumfuck, NY.
Or maybe I’d get even more famous. It wasn’t as if she was married. Or I was. Or some other equally taboo scenario.
Minus the fact my bare ass was pointed at the window, I was sure there were far worse scenarios to be caught in.
Except I still hadn’t gotten off. And Ivy’s pussy apparently had better hearing than my cock.
“Rory, stop. Hello, stop. I’m not looking to get arrested.”
“But I’m not done.” Who was this petulant asshole talking? It certainly wasn’t me.
Especially since the door behind me was not locked, as demonstrated by the fact the cop opened it and tapped my…back with his nightstick. Not gently either.
“Did you hear me? This area is not zoned for public nudity.”
I almost asked which areas were zoned for such, but wisely, I shut the hell up.
“Let’s go. Pants on and IDs.”
I shifted and glared at the cop. I didn’t move fully off of Ivy, however, as I was not going to expose her naked bits to his prying eyes. Until she punched me in the gut to give her enough room to pull up her trousers.
All righty then.
I dealt with my own clothing and rued the day I’d ever agreed to this plan. Even a nosy Sage was better than being frisked by the police.
Ivy dressed quickly and dug out her wallet from her pocket. She withdrew her license and leaned over me to thrust it out the door to the cop.
The side of her breast brushed my chest and I nearly groaned.
Never had an orgasm seemed so unattainable.
“Ivy Beck? Is that you?” The cop bounced his flashlight over us again and she ducked her head, her gorgeous hair coming down to shield her face. I wasn’t sure when it had come out of its ponytail, but it was swinging free and wild now.
Similar to me, except there was no free. I was trapped in my pants like a sn
ake in a vise.
“Yes, sir.”
“You work at the Rusty Spoon with Gina?”
Her again. Was this man connected with Miss “Name your price”?
It was nearly impossible to know who could be trusted. Everyone was out for a story and a payday.
“Yes, sir.”
The cop returned her ID. “And August is your brother.”
“Yes, Sheriff Brooks.”
The sheriff. Of course. God forbid we get a beat cop. Did places like this even have those?
“Look, can we get on with this? Clearly, you know she’s a local and I’m fairly certain there must be real crimes for you to attend to. Isn’t Woodstock happening near here again this year? What happened to free love?”
Ivy jammed her elbow into my shoulder.
“Where exactly are you from, hippie?” The cop tapped his baton on the top of the vehicle. “This is a rental car.”
It was a miracle I didn’t say duh. “LA.”
“LA, huh? What brings you to the woods in Crescent Cove, NY?
“I had work.”
“Oh, really. Sure you didn’t get lost on your way to Woodstock? Should I search this car?”
“You do whatever makes you happy. You’ll find nothing but some clothes and some rubbers.” They were still in the boot since I’d phoned in my reservation at the bed and breakfast and hadn’t even officially checked in yet. “Unless sex isn’t allowed in your fair little town.”
“Rory, shut the hell up.” Ivy lifted her brows at me before turning her beseeching expression on the unworthy cop. “He’s just…disoriented. Don’t mind him. Please.”
“Disoriented? Have you been drinking? Either of you?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. No drinking. Fucking? Yes. Which we weren’t allowed to finish.”
The cop shone his light directly into my eyes and nearly rendered me blind. “Let’s see that ID. Now.”
“Fine by me. Then you’ll realize who the hell I am.”
I didn’t know why I said it. I wasn’t the sort to throw around attitude like some entitled rockstar. Perhaps I’d hung out with too many of them just recently. Either that or perpetual denial was doing bad things for my personality.
I handed over my license and didn’t reply when he said to stay put while he ran it. Then he glanced at Ivy and said something in an undertone about her older brother being disappointed in such antics.
Since I was still “disoriented”, I figured that was why she crossed her arms and stared straight ahead while the sheriff went back to his vehicle to see if I was a felon on the lam.
My mouth probably hadn’t helped matters.
“I’m sorry, love.” I reached across the seat to cup her fisted hand. She didn’t react. “I don’t know what got into me. I’ve never been in trouble with the law before.”
“Or if you have, they knew who you were and let you off?”
I frowned. “Pardon?”
“I heard what you said. Don’t you know who I am?” She turned toward me on the seat. “Traveling back and forth from LA as if it was nothing. Checking into a fancy bed and breakfast and barely even using it. All your work here. That’s not normal.”
“Says who?”
“Me. I should’ve just Googled you, but I didn’t want to betray your trust.”
I didn’t respond.
“I have a daily shift in a diner, Rory. Most of the other people in town keep regular local, daily hours. They don’t jet across the country for a few hours of work multiple times in a month.”
The other shoe was dropping at a most inconvenient time. Courtesy of my flapping jaws.
I locked my hands behind my neck. “I didn’t get to invite you to Happy Acres tomorrow, but I was going to. I want you to meet some of my people.” It sounded as awkward as I felt.
“Some of your people? Like your family?” Shock lined her voice. “Are they visiting the country?”
“No. My mates.” Kellan wasn’t exactly that, but it seemed as if we were on the path to becoming friends.
Maybe. Hell if I knew. Quite frankly, I wasn’t used to having so many personal connections crowding in on me.
It was this town.
Or having sex more often than once a millennia.
Or having sex more often than once a millennia in this town.
Or it was just Ivy.
Some combination of those factors had caused my current situation. Along with my own thickheadedness. It was one thing to think I could keep the fame business at bay when Ivy was just a hot hookup.
The problem was she’d never been that to me, not from the first moment. Even after I’d left, some part of me had been counting the minutes until I could come right back to her.
As if time would sit suspended until I picked up the hourglass again. And I’d probably believed I could do the same thing after this trip. Just leave this gorgeous, smart, funny woman on a shelf like a doll I could take down when it was time to play. Otherwise, my life didn’t have to change.
But taking her to meet my friends was different. Inviting her into my world was different.
“Look, I don’t know what I’m doing. Or what we’re doing. For God’s sake, I didn’t even use a rubber just then. I didn’t even think of it. I don’t do these things.”
Her finger jabbed me in the chest. Right then, I welcomed the pain. “Do you think I do?”
“No, I don’t.” I held her hand to my heart. It was beating far too fast. “I think we’re both acting out of character, and it’s probably not only because we enjoy seeing each other naked.”
“Jeez, don’t flatter me so.” She tried to tug her hand back, but I couldn’t let her go.
That was becoming a recurring problem for me.
“I’m messing all of this up. I’m sorry. All I know is I didn’t want to leave you on the shelf.”
Just then, the door opened again. I had only an instant to see the puzzlement and hurt warring on Ivy’s lovely features. Because of me.
Because I’d kept things from her and forgotten a rubber and fought with the police like a common…rockstar.
The next few minutes went by in a blur.
Surprisingly, Sheriff Brooks let us go with a warning. A stern one, but we’d definitely gotten off easy. He also tacked on that he’d have his eye on me, which was more than a little disconcerting. At least he left before I could talk myself into a summons—or worse.
Ivy said nothing.
“I’m sorry.” I brushed my knuckles over her cheek. “My ma would skin me alive if she knew I’d allowed you to be caught in a compromising position. No matter what, she didn’t raise me that way.”
Ivy’s chin came up. “You didn’t allow shit. I brought you here, remember?”
Somehow I still thought puffing out my chest and pulling the man card was a good idea. “Yes, but I’m the male and—”
“Rory Ferguson, if you tell me that you’re responsible for my actions, you might as well call the sheriff to come back here because there is about to be a homicide in the woods.”
From the glint in her eyes, she wasn’t kidding.
I held up my hands. “Let’s go back to the bed and breakfast, yeah? Everything will become clearer tomorrow, I promise.” There was an edge to my voice I couldn’t hide.
It mattered to me. All of this did.
Especially Ivy. Hurting her didn’t sit well with me, and not because my mum would be horrified at my behavior. Not only that anyway. I wasn’t particularly close to my parents, but their opinion of me counted for a lot.
Hell, maybe that was why we weren’t that close. I’d always felt I was lacking by not picking a more usual job and sticking close to home like my siblings. Rather than risking seeing disapproval in their eyes, I stayed away.
Far simpler to focus on what I could control and not worry about expectations I couldn’t meet.
Ivy looked out the still steamy window before blowing out a breath. “I’ll drive.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m the woman and I said so. Now let’s go.”
I stayed behind an extra couple of seconds after she climbed out and rounded the hood. I wasn’t smiling, but it was almost impossible not to.
She was one hell of a woman, my Ivy.
Even if she wasn’t mine for real—if she couldn’t be—I could pretend. She couldn’t hear my thoughts.
And thank God for that.
We pulled up near the duplex where she lived with her brother a short while later. She parked along the side and reached over to close my lips when I started to speak. “We’ll go in the other door and go up the back stairs. He’ll never know we’re here.”
I was tempted to argue, but I didn’t want her to tell me to go back to where I’d come from.
We headed inside the back way and she was right. We weren’t caught. Of course the place was as quiet as a temple, so I had my doubts August was even there, never mind his Disney princess.
Ivy didn’t take me to her bedroom.
I hadn’t earned the right to be there tonight. She deserved so much more than what I’d been giving her. Even if most of my sins were of omission—and as a result of severe blue balls—the fact remained.
I was a toad.
As evidence, I watched her fine ass bounce as she moved from room to room. She didn’t even bother tiptoeing. I was certain all her fucks were gone.
I didn’t expect her to cross the kitchen to the freezer. She took down a pint of ice cream and opened a drawer with the stealth of a horde of teenagers.
Handily, her brother didn’t emerge from a hidden crevice and demand to know whom her lover was. I’d had enough awkward conversations for one evening, thank you.
She stuck a spoon in the ice cream and thrust the carton at me. “Try it,” she demanded.
If she’d told me to crawl across a fiery pit of snakes, I would’ve done her bidding.
I scooped up the ice cream and tasted it, nearly groaning as the perfect mix of chocolate and mint hit my taste buds. “Christ, are you kidding me?” I didn’t wait for an answer before diving for more.
“While you had me on a shelf, I was perfecting that.” She gripped the counter behind her as I forced myself to lower the spoon into the most incredible ice cream I’d ever tasted. “I didn’t even know if you’d come back. I figured you didn’t intend to, since you didn’t even want my phone number. But I did it anyway. It was a way to channel all of this.” She gestured vaguely between us. “I spent hours getting it just right. How many hours did you spend on me, Rory?”