Shelter

by Jay Crownover

  I made a frustrated noise when I couldn’t get the sopping wet fabric to cooperate. I got my hands on his dick but it took longer and more effort than it should have. Sutton chuckled at my impatience while hoisting me up higher on the wall. He let go of my face so he could reach down and tug the clothes that were keeping me from what I wanted out of the way. It was clear he wasn’t going to step away so that he could get out of his boots and pants, so he made do with shoving everything down to his thighs.

  I crossed my ankles at the small of his back, heels digging into the curve of his ass as my head rolled against the slick tile. I let out a moan when his mouth landed on the swell of my breast. I felt the wet slide of his tongue as he traced the uneven line of one of my scars. He dragged the tip of his nose along the valley between my breasts and nuzzled lightly between the full flesh. My nipples beaded up and pointed directly at him, begging wantonly for his attention. He was quick to devote plenty of time to each aching point, circling one with the rough pad of his thumb and sucking the opposite into the scalding heat of his mouth. The sharp edge of his teeth dragging across the sensitive peaks made my back bow and my hips grind against the hardness of his thickening cock between us.

  When I shifted to get closer, the movement lodged his cock against my heated center. The contact made his eyelids lower and caused his hips to thrust into the waiting warmth. I felt his hardness glide enticingly through the wetness that had collected between my legs. Moisture that had nothing to do with our location and everything to do with the man in front of me. I wanted him when I was worried he was on the verge of sending me away. Now that I knew he wanted me to stay, I more than wanted him. I required him. He said he couldn’t function without me in his life and I felt the same. When I was with him, I felt like I finally had a purpose. He forced me to focus on what I wanted, what I needed to finally feel like I had accomplished something. He made me work for it and I had a feeling he always would.

  I felt the wide tip of his cock nudge my clit and the zing of pleasure from that small amount of contact made my eyes roll back in my head. My fingers clutched at his wet hair and his name escaped on a strangled breath. He let out a grunt that had chills chasing a shiver of delight up my spine. His hips pressed forward and the ridged shaft easily found a rhythm sliding through my soaking-wet folds. Every time he pulled back, I felt the tease of his tip against my waiting entrance. When my body was denied access to that straining, full cock, it clenched in protest. I dug my heels deeper into his flexing ass and gave his hair a hard tug for good measure.

  Those emerald eyes were almost black with desire and his full lips quirked up in a grin when I demanded, “Stop playing around and fuck me.”

  One of his sandy eyebrows lifted and a full-fledged smile turned him from his typical, brooding hot-guy handsome into a heartbreakingly beautiful man. He wore his woes well, but nothing looked better on Sutton Warner than happy and healthy.

  “I like a woman who knows what she wants.” His lips touched mine and that torturous cock once again bumped purposefully into my clit. The hand he had playing with one of my nipples lifted and the tip of his index finger softly traced around the perimeter of my parted lips. “Tell me what you want, Em.”

  That was easy enough. “I want you.” Really, he was the only thing I’d ever wanted for myself. “I want everything that comes with you.” His unpredictable moods. His bad decisions and unwavering loyalty to those he loved. His tricky past and complicated future. His tight-knit family. His adorable little girl. His talented dick, which was slowly driving me out of my mind as it glided through my swollen folds and caressed through the valley of my ass cheeks.

  His eyes drifted closed, and when they opened back up I swore I could see his heart shining out at me. “I want you, too. Even when I didn’t want to want you, I did. When I thought I wasn’t ever going to want anyone ever again, I still wanted you and only you.” He shifted his hand so his palm was gripping the back of my thigh and used his hold to lift me and slide his heavy cock into my eager opening. My body fluttered excitedly around his and my mouth reflexively opened wider when he slid the finger he was using to trace my lips in between my teeth. His eyes gleamed at me and the flash of his teeth turned predatory when he growled at me, “Suck, Em.”

  I did as I was told and sucked on the fingers he put in my mouth as his hips started a driving rhythm into mine. My inner walls quivered around his hard flesh; the sound of wet skin sliding and smacking drowned out everything else. When Sutton added another finger to the one I was already circling my tongue around, I closed my eyes and lost myself in the sensation of being taken and owned by him. The hand that was holding me up was digging into the fleshy part of my thigh, hard enough I knew I was going to have his fingerprints underneath my ass for a few days. His thumb was rubbing against the pointed curve of my chin as I darted my tongue between the fingers he had in my mouth. I was doing my best to mimic the way I loved on his cock when I went down on him; I figured I was doing a pretty good job if the way he kept muttering my name under his breath was any indication.

  His dick was drilling into me, deep and insistent. He was hitting a place that made my toes curl and had my thighs clenching around his waist. I could feel pleasure curling around each nerve and spiraling down my spine. He was making my entire body tingle and turning me inside out with desire. I couldn’t remember what anything felt like before Sutton Warner claimed his place inside of me. I was pretty sure my heart never hurt or felt anything at all before he did his best to break it.

  Suddenly, his hand was gone and his lips were on mine, he spoke before he kissed me breathless. “Open your eyes.” I peeled my heavy lids up and locked eyes with him. He was watching for my reaction, gauging if I was as caught up in him as he was in me. “Put your hand between your legs, Em.”

  The order was raspy and rough against my mouth, the same way his beard was against my cheeks. I sucked in a breath and untangled one of my hands from his hair so I could do what he asked. He growled at me when I stopped to tug on my nipple; the rosy tip jutting through my fingers sent a jolt of pleasure through me that had my body tightening reflexively around his. He swore when my muscles clamped down on his hammering cock, so I did it again and again until his kiss turned vicious and punishing.

  When I touched the place where my clit was practically vibrating, it made my entire body spasm. I swore that even my hair reacted with a shock of satisfaction. He grinned at my reaction and leaned forward so my breasts were flattened against his chest. I loved the way our slick skin slid together and relished in the soft drag of my nipples against his hard pecs. It all felt so good and I told him so. It wasn’t like I could hide my reaction. I could feel how wet I was around his throbbing, thrusting cock. I could smell our combined arousal and see the way our skin heated and pebbled up in response to one another.

  “I want all of you, Emrys.” His words were thick and heavy with a promise. “Want my dick between your tits while you lick the tip.” His lips touched the corner of my mouth as I gasped and watched him with wide eyes. The hand with the fingers I was sucking briefly touched my hip and my fingers faltered where I was lightly stroking across my clit. I felt him squeeze one side of my ass and stiffened involuntarily as his fingers delved into that place I’d been hesitant to let him explore. “I want you bent over, ass in the air, as I take you right here.” I felt the press of his wet fingers and my body balked at the invasion. My eyebrows shot up to my hairline as I watched him watch me. He was still grinning at me, like he knew I was going to give in to him now that I knew he wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m gonna wrap all that hair of yours around my fist and fuck you until neither one of us can see straight, and then, I’m going to do it again and again. We’re both gonna be so raw and sore that we won’t want to move.”

  I wasn’t sure how he made that sound like more fun than I’d ever had before, but he did. I stopped fighting against the press of his touch and the way he filled my body. I was struggling to breathe because there was
so much to feel between the way he was moving inside of me, the pleasure expanding outward from my fingers circling my clit, and the new, intense feeling of him working his fingers inside me from behind. I felt like I was stretched as thin as I could go, body taut as it had ever been. I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer as he fucked me within an inch of my life with both his fingers and his pulsing cock. I completely lost my hold on reality when he put his mouth back over mine and started kissing me with lots of teeth and tongue. I couldn’t keep up the swirling caress I had going on between my legs and only managed to rock helplessly against his pounding body. When he started moving his tongue against mine to match the way his fingers were moving in and out of my ass, I felt like I was shoved off the edge of a cliff and right into the center of my orgasm.

  I screamed his name, hands pulling at any part of him I could touch. I felt his control snap when my body went molten around his. He moved his hold on me so that my knees were hooked over the insides of his arms, opening me up and pinning me against the wall as he powered into me until he found his own finish. His hips jerked against mine, his kiss turned into an uneven pant and his eyes went unfocused and hazy. It was hot.

  The water was not.

  Somewhere in the middle of our activities, the hot water had run out and we were now standing under a frigid downpour. I shivered against Sutton, but he still had his jeans on and the fabric was even colder than the wall behind me. He made a noise low in his throat and reached to crank off the water. He shoved his hands through his hair and rubbed them over the damp scruff on his face. His big hands slicked over the sides of my head as he pushed my hair back from my face. I thought I was going to melt into a puddle at his feet when his lips ghosted over my forehead in a kiss that I swore I was going to feel forever.

  “You mean the world to me, Em.”

  I blinked against the water that was still dripping down my face and finally smiled back at him. “I know. You ruined your boots for me.”

  He chuckled at that and pulled away, making both of us groan at the loss of contact. His belt buckle was freezing against my skin when he hitched his pants back over his narrow hips. His eyes lowered, locking on the spot where my legs were shakily holding me up. I followed his gaze down and felt my breath catch when I saw that once again, he was watching the evidence of our frantic coupling slowly roll down the inside of my thighs. There was no ignoring the fact that we’d gone at each other without thinking things through. It was a good thing he wanted me to stick around, because at the rate we were going, we were going to be tied to one another by something, or rather someone, neither of us were prepared for.

  Like he did the last time, he sighed and reached out and rubbed his fingers through the mess, painting my thighs with our mindless mistake. “I told Cyrus I couldn’t think straight around you, that you were dangerous. He told me it was good to be distracted because that meant I wasn’t thinking about myself. Not doing a very good job of taking care of you, Em, and we haven’t even started yet.”

  He opened the shower enclosure and grabbed two fluffy towels that were hanging on the rack. He handed one to me and used another to swipe at his head and shoulders. I wrapped the fabric around myself and tucked the corner between my breasts. I was wringing out my hair when I told him, “You took care of me just fine. That’s how we ended up here.” The man made me lose my mind. I forgot all about the things that needed fixing when he had his hands on me.

  He gave me a look I couldn’t read but his tone was deadly serious when he told me, “I will do my best not to let you down. I know you might not believe me because there hasn’t been a lot of proof lately, but I swear you can count on me. I want everything that comes with you, too.”

  I nodded and followed him out of the shower after he bent and picked up his shirt. “As long as we deal with whatever comes our way together, I think we’ll be fine.” That was what I’d always wanted, someone to lean on, someone to push me and challenge me so that I wasn’t always the one in control.

  He caught the ends of my wet hair in his hands and tugged me to him for a kiss. “Speaking of what comes our way, we were supposed to be downstairs for a family meeting forever ago. I want to fill everyone in on what’s going on all at once and knock out what happened after Rodie took me. We need to take some precautions, and now that I know I won’t be able to let you go, we need to talk about why I think you’re in some serious danger.”

  He kept talking but I barely heard any of it. I was too focused on the fact he had included me when he talked about having a family meeting. He was making room for me, including me and protecting me instead of sending me away. He was wrong about there not being any proof that I could count on him. He had just handed it to me on a silver platter.

  She Has to be Somewhere

  Sutton

  When Emrys and I finally made our way downstairs, I expected everyone to be gathered around the long dining room table. It had been a while since the Warners sat down for a family meeting and now there were more of us, even if they didn’t have the same last name. Our family was expanding despite the tragedies and disasters that had befallen us. These women were tough enough to withstand this harsh landscape and the rough way we lived. They had earned their places next to us, and it was becoming more and more apparent it was going to take more than a bad attitude and some bloodshed to chase them off. I was surprised to find the dining room empty and a flurry of activity taking place at the front of the house.

  Brynn was on the phone, her face pinched and concerned as she caught my eye. Cyrus was at the door talking to a pretty blonde woman. I hadn’t seen Tennyson McKenna since I was flat on my back in the hospital, but she was as impressive as always. She was tall, even taller than Emrys, and she had curves for days. Her job as a forest ranger kept her in great shape, so even though she was close to Cy’s age, she looked a decade younger. Her pale hair was pulled through the back of a camouflaged baseball cap and her green eyes were narrowed on my older brother as he jerkily tried to move around her, saying something about going to look for Lane.

  It was only then I realized that my younger brother and daughter had yet to return to the safety of the ranch house. I’d lost track of time when I was with Emrys, but I could tell by the concerned look on Cyrus’s face, and the agitated way he was moving, that enough time had passed that they should be back by now.

  Without a word to anyone, I turned around and went back up the stairs so I could pull on my boots. The wet ones were the closest at hand so they would have to do. I cringed when the cold, damp leather surrounded my foot, but there wasn’t any time to bemoan my discomfort. I was trying not to panic at the thought of my brother and my daughter not being present and accounted for. Old habits die hard and it took everything I had not to rip myself apart for being distracted with Em while my kid was out there without me to watch over her. I knew Lane would die before he let anything happen to my little girl, and that was part of the reason fear started to gnaw at me. If something happened to Daye, it was because Lane was out of commission. The thought made my blood run cold and a shiver of dread shook my spine so hard I was surprised I didn’t collapse.

  As I jogged back down the steps, I was waylaid by Leo. She put a hand on my elbow and watched me as she chewed on her lip so hard she could have drawn blood. “Brynn’s been calling Lane’s phone for a half an hour. They were supposed to be back before lunch. It could mean he rode out of the service area since reception is spotty here anyway. Maybe his battery died and he lost track of time.”

  “Did you try the GPS tracker app?” We all had our phones programmed to be tracked. Sometimes it was the easiest way to locate one another on a property as big as the ranch.

  Leo nodded and nervously ran her hands across the front of her jeans. “Cy tried to pull it up but it’s not showing Lane’s phone. That’s why he called Ten. He figured if anyone could track down your brother, it would be her.”

  I ran my hands through my shaggy hair and bit back the sharp retort that wa
s burning on the tip of my tongue. She was trying to help, trying to ease my fears and keep me from going off the deep end. I’d been drowning for so long and now that my head was finally above water, they refused to let me sink. “Or he’s not answering because something is preventing him from picking up the phone. Where did he take her?”

  “I think they were just going to ride down to the river and back. Daye was worn out. The last few days have been brutal.”

  Leo let go of my arm and fell into step next to me as I rushed through the house to the front door. Parked out front were two four-wheelers. We used them to check the fences and haul trailers when we had to feed the cattle. They were faster and took less work to prepare than a horse. It didn’t bode well that Ten was on the back of Cy’s quad. She was great at finding people who were lost in the wilderness and she was a better tracker than either of us. If Cy wanted her along for the ride, he was thinking the same thing I was: there was a reason Lane wasn’t answering his phone and it wasn’t anything good.

  We skipped helmets and protective gear, revving the engines and sharing an intense look. More than one of our own was unaccounted for and that meant there was no breathing easy until all the Warners were back where they belonged. I felt a light touch on my shoulder as Emrys suddenly appeared at my side. The quad bounced slightly when she used her hold on my shoulder to swing one long leg over the machine and settle herself behind me. She was warm where she pressed into my back and her touch was comforting as her arms wrapped around my middle. I wanted to tell her to wait at the house. It wasn’t going to be a safe and leisurely ride. I didn’t want to worry about her safety on top of all the uncertainty that was churning inside of me.

  I couldn’t tell her to go.