Текст книги "Some Like It Wild"

Автор книги: M. Leighton

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

FOURTEEN: Jake

I’m more grateful than ever that Laney’s not the talkative type. Any other woman would’ve probably asked me a thousand questions about what happened back at the fire station. But not Laney. If anything, she’s just quieter.

We’ve only been back at the house for a few minutes, and now she’s making her excuses to get the hell out of Dodge.

“I think I’m going to move my stuff to another room and hit the sack. I’m pretty tired.”

I know what she’s doing, but I choose not to acknowledge it. She’s better off thinking the worst of me. That way, she’ll never get attached. Or have any expectations. Or, even worse, fall in love with me. She deserves better than that. I wouldn’t wish me on my worst enemy. I’m a black hole for love. It’s the way I was born.

“There’s no reason to do that. I’m not gonna take advantage of you in your sleep,” I assure her. “Unless you want me to.” I grin.

She frowns in confusion. I’m sure she doesn’t understand the swift shifts. And that’s fine. She doesn’t need to know all about the things that have made me who and what I am.

“If you’re sure . . .”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“All right then.”

Cautiously, as though she’s been singed if not actually burned by my earlier actions (actions, I’m sure, she sees as rejection), Laney makes her way up the stairs. And I let her go.

It’s almost three hours later before I follow. I stand in the doorway, looking at her where she’s spread out in the center of the bed. Her hair is like a platinum waterfall, spilling over the pillow. Her face is relaxed in sleep. Gone are the mistrust and the cool shell she sometimes hides behind. Gone is the hurt from earlier. It makes me uncomfortable how much I hate that I put it there. I remind myself it’s for the best.

For the best.

For the best.

I walk to the bed and gently touch her side. Her brow wrinkles and she mumbles something, but she scoots over and I slide in beside her. It isn’t long before she rolls back toward me and curls up with her head on my chest.

Damn, she feels good there.

My mind blinks back to the way she responded to me tonight, pressed up against a cold metal pole and not seeming to care. Sugar and spice.

For my own good, I try to put her out of my mind.

But it’s her face and her body that fill my dreams.

* * *

It’s hot and I’m sticky, and I could use a break. With Laney. I’m feeling a little restless and I think she sounds like the perfect distraction.

Heading into the house, I find her holed up in the dining room, as usual. This time she has a book and a bunch of pictures of different items in the house spread out in front of her.

“Wow,” I say as I take my customary place leaning against the jamb, watching her. “That looks boring as hell.”

“Does it?” she asks, looking up at me. She’s wearing glasses today. I’ve never seen her in them before, and I’m not normally fond of that look (or that type of woman, for that matter), but these are a turn-on. At least they are on Laney. She looks like a hot librarian or something. Uptight and all. And boy is she uptight today, especially since last night! It makes me that much more anxious to get her loosened up.

“It does. But lucky for you, I have the perfect antidote. Come with me.”

“I really need to get this done.”

“This is work, too. Just a variation. Something with a little more fun worked in.”

“And just how do you plan to make work fun?”

“Well, for starters, I’ll be with you. How can you go wrong?”

She grins and rolls her eyes, but it’s a playful expression.

We’re off to a good start.

“What does this ‘fun work’ that you speak of entail, exactly?”

“It’s a surprise. But I can tell you that it will involve some walking, so you’ll need to change.” I let my eyes drift over her prim form, sitting so straight and tall in her chair. “Not that I don’t love the thought of loosening every one of those buttons . . .” I say, looking pointedly at where her breasts are straining against little pearl closures down the front of her shirt.

Although still casual, she’s wearing some slacks and a little blouse, something far too dressy for this house. But, more importantly, it’s far too dressy for this excursion. I wasn’t lying, though. Seeing her in her standoffish clothes really does make me want to get her out of them even more. To leave her with nothing for cover, nothing to hide behind.

She eyes me wryly, but it doesn’t hide the pretty blush that stains her cheeks. Although I have no desire to pursue any kind of relationship with her, I don’t want to leave her in any doubt that I want her.

Badly.

“Come on. Chop, chop!” I prompt.

Laney lays her glasses aside and gets up. When she’s even with me in the doorway, I lean down and whisper, “If you need help with those buttons, holler.”

I wink when she looks up at me.

“I think I can manage,” comes her sassy reply, but I can tell by the way her eyes dart away that I’m making her nervous. And, for my purposes, that’s a very good thing.

“Suit yourself. Just hurry. We need to be back by dark.”

With that, she moves off a little more quickly.

Less than five minutes later, I’m standing at the bottom of the steps when she hits the top one. She’s twisting her hair up and securing it with a clip. The action makes the thin material of her yellow tank top stretch across her chest. I can see the outline of her nipples perfectly. My mouth waters with thoughts of having one of them against my tongue again.

I look away from her chest to take in legs that look a mile long in her khaki shorts, feet covered in cute little hiking boots. I’d much rather throw her over my shoulder and carry her to my bed, but that’s not an option.

Yet.

“You brought a little bit of everything when you left your dad’s, huh?”

Laney stops mid-descent and looks down at herself. “What do you mean?”

“Hiking boots?”

“I always bring them when I come home. I hadn’t unpacked yet, so I just grabbed my bags and took off. Pretty much everything I own is on your bedroom floor.”

“That’s exactly where I picture your clothes every time I look at you.”

“You could do this all day long, couldn’t you?”

“Do what?” I ask, assuming my most innocuous expression.

“Tease me.”

I wait to answer until she’s on the next to last step, nearly tall enough to look me in the eye. “Baby, I haven’t even begun to tease you.”

“Well, maybe it’s best if you don’t.”

As I suspected, she’s still stinging from last night.

“No, I can guarantee you that it’s best for both of us if I do.”

“How would you know what’s best for me?”

It’s not a sarcastic question, but more a genuine one. I wonder if she asks herself that same thing often.

I step up on the last step, my chest close enough to brush hers. “You need to let your hair down a little. And I can help you with that. Neither of us wants anything serious. It’s perfect. You’re perfect. And I’m perfect for you.”

“You’re perfect for me right now maybe, but normally . . .”

“I know, I know. Normally you’re a good girl. And I’m the kind that corrupts them. Normally, you’d stay far away from me. And I’d probably stay away from you. But this isn’t normal. I’m willing to go with it. And I think you are, too, if you’ll get the hell out of your own head.” I reach out to take a thin wisp of hair that’s lying by her ear. I wind it around my finger. “Leave ‘normally’ behind, Laney. Leave all this shit with your dad and your friend and your shithole-of-an-ex behind. Give me a try. I promise I’ll make you glad you did.”

I see her swallow. Hard. “What if I can’t do it? What if I’m not this girl?”

I stroke her trembling bottom lip with my thumb. “We already talked about this. Trust me. You’re this girl.”

To show her what I mean, to show her how good we are together and how much her body knows that her mind denies, I bend my head and press my lips to hers. I take it slow and easy at first, brushing her mouth with mine, tracing the outline of her lips with the tip of my tongue. When she parts them for me—not because I ask her to or because I’m pushing her, but only because she wants to taste me as much as I want to taste her—I slide my tongue between them and lick it like I licked her last night. Like I’m tasting the world’s finest ice cream. Like I’m savoring every last bit of it. Of her. And I am. Something about her is sweet. The sweetest I’ve ever tasted. And it’s got me hard and ready for her, even now.

As much as I want to take her back upstairs, I pull away instead. That’ll come soon enough . . .

And then so will she.

“Believe me now?”

She looks down at my chin and pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. It’s a shy gesture, but she nods in agreement.

“Good. Let’s go.” I take her hand in mine and lead her from the house and across the yard toward the orchard gate. “You wanted to see the property, right? Well, there’s a lot to see, but today I think a good place to start would be the east grove. It butts up against the river, which will be a cool and refreshing place to visit on a day like today.”

She stops dead. “I’m not wearing a suit. And I’m not going skinny dipping.”

“Damn, you really are going to be difficult. But who said anything about skinny-dipping?”

I tug her hand, and she reluctantly resumes her walk at my side. I tell her what I know about the orchard—number of acres, average yield each year, labor and upkeep, the average season length. She takes it all in.

She listens and looks around as we walk, never saying a word or asking a question. Then we fall silent. It’s when she speaks after a few minutes that I realize why she’s been so quiet. She hasn’t been thinking about the orchard or work at all.

“What did you mean when you told my father that you were unlovable?”

I sigh.

Aw hell! Don’t start this, Laney, I think in exasperation.

“Nothing. I was just making a point.”

She looks up from the piece of grass she’d been twirling in the fingers of her other hand and watching intently. Now she’s watching me intently.

“No, you weren’t only making a point. That was sincere. And I want to know why you think that.”

I think long and hard before I respond. “I don’t do this, Laney.”

“Do what?” she asks, puzzled.

“Do the whole spill-your-guts thing. We aren’t dating. I don’t date really. What I’m offering you is pretty much all I’m capable of.”

“But why? That has to be a choice. You’re smart and charming, you’re driven and competent. You’re funny on occasion.”

I laugh at her qualification. “On occasion, huh? You’re so generous.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I don’t feel the need to know people very well. And I don’t think they’d want to know me very well, either. So I just avoid that kind of thing.”

“But why? What makes you think you’re so unworthy?”

“A lifetime of living with me, that’s what.”

“Maybe so, but there’s something else, Jake. I’m not stupid. And if you simply don’t want to talk about it, fine. Just know that I don’t know if I’m capable of having this kind of . . . thing with someone I know nothing about.”

It’s my turn to stop. “But you do know me. You’re getting to know me every day. You just said I’m brilliant and witty and charming and drop-dead gorgeous. Not to mention sexy as all hell. What more do you need to know about me? Maybe I’m just not that deep. Maybe there’s only a puddle where you think there’s an ocean.”

She narrows her eyes on me. I can’t imagine what she’s thinking. This part of a woman’s mind is a mystery to me. And I have no problem letting it stay that way. Having feelings about something every two seconds and then obsessing about them for days—that shit’s for the birds.

Finally, she shrugs. “Maybe . . .”

But she’s not fooling me. Not only does she not believe that for a second, but she’s nowhere near letting it go. I can tell by the way she still watches me, like she’s trying to see what’s going on behind my eyes.

“Come on,” I say veering off the path to the left. “I’ve got something to show you.”

She makes no comment, asks no questions. But she follows. That’s how I know she’s still in this. There’s something inside her that wants to pursue this. I just have to give her good reasons not to change her mind.

I hear the roar of it long before it’s within sight. The air smells a little bit different here. Fresher. Cleaner. This is one of my favorite places. Always has been. And it’s the only waterfall in the county.

We step through the trees. The cascade of white water gushing over the rocks and hitting the pool below creates a spray that makes rainbows in the sun. I glance down at Laney. Her eyes are wide and her lips are slightly parted.

Yeah, this was definitely the right place to bring her.

Although it wasn’t my original plan, I can see it was the right choice, all things considered. I don’t normally bring people here and risk spoiling it for me, but in this case . . .

I don’t even know what “this case” really is. It’s not just to get Laney in my bed. I could do that other ways. Maybe it’s to put her mind at ease about me. Maybe it’s to share something of mine, some part of me with her when she so obviously needs it. Anything beyond that, I’d rather not consider. I just want to sleep with her. That’s it. End of story. And that’s the way it has to stay.

It has to.

I could never risk loving someone, much less someone like Laney. She’s actually a nice person. She deserves much better.

“Wow! It’s . . . it’s just . . . wow! Breathtaking.”

“Funny,” I say softly, reaching out to touch her smooth cheek, “that’s just what I was thinking.”

When she looks at me, I know she knows I’m not referring to the waterfall.

“Come on. Let me show you the other view.”

I take off upriver, along the bank. I know there’s a path that cuts through the trees that leads to the top of the fall. There are a couple of tricky spots, especially where it gets rocky and the moss is thick. I turn and offer my hand to Laney, pulling her along safely behind me.

When we reach the top, I carefully walk the exposed rocks over to the center of the river. I stop to look down. I revel in the rush of adrenaline from the height and from seeing the water crashing into the pool below.

I hear Laney gasp beside me. “Oh Lord! That’s a long way down. It doesn’t look that far from the bottom.”

“Nah, it’s not too high.”

She throws me a sidelong glance. “Too high for what?”

I give her my most persuasive grin. “To jump.”

“Have you lost your mind? There’s no way in the world I’m jumping off this thing.”

“Oh, come on. I’ll be down there to catch you.”

“Catch me? Don’t you mean to drag my dead, lifeless body from the water after I drown?”

“Of course that’s not what I mean. If it were dangerous, I’d never suggest you jump. I just think this would be good for you.”

“How, exactly, would risking my life be good for me?”

“You need to let go a little, Laney. I know you want to. You need to take some risks. Be spontaneous. Stop thinking so much. Do some things you wouldn’t normally do. Trust me, when you surface down there, your adrenaline will be all jacked up, and there’s no feeling like it in the world.”

“That’s not the kind of thing I was hoping to achieve.”

“You want to forget. To escape. This will consume you. And sometimes we all need to dive into something else and be lost. Even if it’s just for a little while. It’s worth it, Laney. I promise.”

She leans over and looks down again, nervously worrying her bottom lip. “I don’t know, Jake. That’s a long way down.”

“You’ll be in the water, all safe and sound, in a matter of seconds.”

“My clothes will be ruined,” she says, trying to find reasons not to do it.

“Take them off.”

“I told you I’m not skinny-dipping.”

“This isn’t skinny-dipping. This is more like cliff diving. In the buff. And it’s safer if you aren’t wearing clothes that you could get tangled up in. And certainly not shoes that could weigh you down.”

“So you want me to jump off this thing, naked, and then climb back up here to get my clothes? I think not.”

“Fine,” I say, sighing. “I’ll climb back up here afterward and get them for you. You can watch my bare ass from down there. Maybe you’ll even want to reward me for my heroics.” I waggle my eyebrows at her, trying to lighten the mood, to make her feel less afraid. I don’t want her fear completely gone, though. That’s part of the experience. It’ll heighten what she feels. And that rush . . .

Damn! That rush and the way everything else vanishes is worth almost anything.

She doesn’t say no right away, which tells me that she’ll agree to it. Eventually.

I grab the hem of my T-shirt, pull it over my head, and throw it toward the base of a tree on the bank. I step to a rock nearer the edge of the fall as I take off first one shoe and sock, then the other, tossing it all over to where my shirt landed. When I’m standing at the edge, with the hiss of gushing water at my back, facing Laney, I meet her eyes and grin.

Her gaze is glued to mine, as if she’s trying her best to look at my face rather than what I’m doing with my hands. I open the snap of my shorts. Then I unzip them. I’m not wearing any underwear, so there’s nothing to obstruct her view of me when I step out of my shorts and throw them to the bank.

“See you down there,” I say quietly, smiling when her eyes flicker low and then back up to my face. I see her cheeks burn bright red and I laugh just before I turn around and jump straight over the waterfall.

And everything else disappears.

Except for the feeling that I’m flying.

And free.

And alive.

And that nothing else matters.

FIFTEEN: Laney

Oh sweet Jesus! He did it!

My heart is like a runaway train. His whoop of delight is still echoing in my head as I step onto the rock closest to the edge and look over, holding my breath until I see Jake’s head break the surface away from the white spray.

Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, I can’t do this!

Blood is rushing behind my ears even louder than the water. My pulse is racing and I feel short of breath.

I look left and right. The mossy bank looks a thousand miles away. Then I look down at Jake’s handsome, laughing face, and so does he.

“Your turn,” he calls up to me as he shakes his head one more time, making his hair stand up in spikes.

“No way,” I reply, feeling a little panicky that I’m up here by myself.

“Come on, Laney. You can do this. Trust me.”

“Trust you? You’re obviously insane. Why should I trust you?”

It seems an inordinately long amount of time passes before he replies. And, even then, I have to strain to hear his low voice.

“Because trusting everyone else has gotten you nowhere. Take a chance for once in your life. Take a chance on me.”

Common sense and self-preservation are locking horns with the lure of Jake and all that he represents as he stares up at me from the churning pool below.

I feel frantic. On edge. Literally and figuratively. But, again, something rises up and takes a dominant position. I don’t take the time to examine it. Or reason with it. Like I’ve wanted to do, I just surrender to it. To freedom. To escape.

To Jake.

Closing my eyes, I bend and pull off my boots and socks. I hear Jake’s holler of delight. “That’s my girl!”

I can’t help but smile.

He really is the devil.

I chuck them as hard as I can toward the shore. They land not far from Jake’s clothes. Swallowing every bit of shy, responsible, fairly chaste Laney, I pull my tank top over my head and throw it at the tree. Then my shorts.

When I’m standing at the top of a huge waterfall, wearing nothing but my underwear, staring down at a guy who takes my breath away, I shred the last little bit of reservation that I have.

Along with my bra and panties.

And then, without another second’s thought or hesitation, I leap.

The chains of who I’ve always been, of who my family is and what’s expected of me, break away as I fly through the air. Dropping, dropping, dropping, everything fades away but for the sound of the water, the feel of the wind, the thrill of the moment, and the man at the bottom.

He’s waiting for me there. All sorts of new and unexplored things are waiting for me there. This is an existential leap, as much as a physical one. There’s no turning back now. I might as well embrace it.

The cool water swallows me up, slowing my descent and stealing the air from my lungs. The muffled sound of churning water swooshes by my ears as the undertow pulls at my legs.

I swim for the surface and don’t stop until I feel the sun on my face.

And I open my eyes to see Jake. He swam to get me, just in case I didn’t come up. Just like he promised.

He’s smiling. And I am, too. All over. Every cell. I can feel it.

I’ve never felt lighter. Happier. More optimistic. And I don’t even know what I’m optimistic about.

He’s laughing when his arms reach around me and drag my body to his. All I can think of is how I want this moment—here, with Jake, feeling like this—to last forever. And there’s only one thing that could make it better, that could cement it in my head and in my heart.

Digging my hands into his hair, I pull Jake’s mouth to mine. His lips are cool and soft, and they taste of the water and the fresh air.

Brazenly, I slip my tongue into his mouth, asking him for things I don’t have the courage to say, offering him things I don’t have the strength to hold on to.

Then he’s kissing me back, his hands roving my back, tugging at my hair. His smooth chest is teasing my nipples, his firm thighs are tangling with mine.

And then I’m weightless again. I don’t even open my eyes to see where Jake is taking me. All I know is that my body is still pressed to his and the world cares only for what’s happening between us right this minute. Nothing else matters.

The grass is soft and cool against my back. Jake’s body is hot and hard as it covers mine. I groan into his mouth and arch against him, a silent plea for more. Just . . . more.

Spreading my legs, I reach around and dig my fingers into Jake’s smooth, hard butt and I pull him toward me, craving him in places that ache with want of him. With a growl, he drags his lips away from mine and kisses a fiery trail down my throat to my breast.

When his mouth closes around my cool nipple, I gasp. The sensation is stronger, deeper. Heightened. The sky swirls behind my eyes. The river rushes behind my ears.

Jake licks and sucks his way from my nipples to my navel, and the earth collapses into a pinpoint of pleasure when I feel him move farther down to settle between my thighs. The first touch of his tongue to my throbbing flesh brings my hips up off the ground. Relentless, he lays his arm across my stomach to hold me still as he mouth plunders my every slick crevice and hidden desire.

Over and over, his tongue sweeps across my most sensitive part, bringing me higher and higher, further and further away from reality. Until, like the waterfall, my climax crashes down over me.

His lips sucking at me, his fingers penetrating me, Jake perpetuates my orgasm until I can barely breathe. My head is spinning with it. My body is drenched with it. The world is alive with it.

“Are you on the pill?” he asks, his voice nothing more than a muffled groan.

I nod in answer, unable to find words in the midst of what he’s doing to my body.

“Do you trust me? I promise you I’m clean.”

Again, I nod. And, truthfully, I do. Or I wouldn’t have jumped off a waterfall and into his arms.

His fingers disappear as Jake shifts his weight. I want to cry at the loss, but then, reality splinters again when he enters me.

He’s so big, stretches me so tight, I cry out. Not in pain, but in the most exquisite pleasure I’ve ever known.

When he starts to move within me, I feel the tension return, stronger than ever and threatening to overwhelm me completely.

“Oh fuuu—” he moans into my ear as he withdraws and plunges into me again. “Oh my God, I never thought it would feel like this,” he says, his voice sounding nearly pained in his passion. “You’re so tight. And so wet.” More excited than I’ve ever been, I’m panting, almost delirious with what is happening between us.

“Jake, don’t stop.”

“I won’t, baby. I’m gonna make you come all over me again and again. I wanna feel you squeeze me. I want you to feel it running down your ass. And then I’m gonna lick you until you come again.” His words are an aphrodisiac, his body the sweetest torture device. Fiercely, he pumps into me, as if he knows I’m close. So, so close . . . “And then, I’m gonna put my cock back in and you’ll come with me. I’ll fill you up, baby. I’ll fill you up with me.”

With one hard, deep thrust, just as his mouth covers mine, it happens again. Wave after wave of it, sweeping me further away from all the things that never really mattered. Right now, this matters. Only this matters.

True to his word, Jake withdraws from me and moves down my body, using his lips and his tongue and his fingers to send me tumbling from one orgasm to the next. My legs feel limp when he spreads them even wider, placing his hand behind one knee and pushing it against my chest. I’m convinced I don’t have anything left to give him.

But he persists. And I let him. I’m putty in his hands.

When Jake enters me this time, I feel it all the way in my stomach, like his body is merging with mine. I can feel every long, thick inch as he pulls out. And I can feel every long, thick inch as he plunges back into me. The friction is delicious, the pleasure undeniable.

Much to my surprise, as Jake manipulates my body, the tension builds once again. I’m convinced it will lead nowhere. Until I feel Jake’s hot, pulsing release. With a growl, he grinds his body into mine, triggering spasms deep inside me.

True to his word, he’s making me come with him. I can feel my muscles clutch at him, pulling him farther into me, milking him until I feel his shoulders shudder beneath my hands.

“That’s right, baby. Take it all. Uhhh,” he groans through gritted teeth as he strains against me. And then he collapses on top of me, spent.

We lie, joined together, for what seems like an eternity. My body feels numb, but it also feels like there’s a hum of tingling nerve activity right below the surface of my skin.

When Jake finally raises his head to look down at me, I feel him twitch inside me. He’s still hard.

“How is that possible?” I ask before he can speak.

His brow wrinkles. “How is what possible?”

I’m not even sure I know what I was asking. How can he make me feel this way, how can he make my body do what it just did, how can he still be hard after all that—I don’t know how to be more specific.

“This?”

He smiles, his eyes twinkling down into mine, and he kisses the tip of my nose. My heart melts, bringing with it a prickle of unease that I push to the side for later examination. “Hell if I know, but I can tell you I’m dedicated to finding out and doing my best to duplicate it.”

He runs his lips along my jawline as he flexes his hips. I feel the pang of something waking in the lowest part of my belly.

“You can’t be serious,” I whisper, using all my strength just to keep my eyes open.

“Oh, but I am,” he says, pulling out and thrusting back into me. A wave of awareness steals my breath. Again. “But you need to rest a little first.”

As sweetly as anything I could ever imagine a good man being capable of, Jake withdraws from me and rolls to the side, bringing me into the curve of his body.

“Jake, I—”

“Shhh,” he interrupts, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “Relax. Enjoy the sun. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

He doesn’t have to tell me twice.