by Jennie Marts
She turned to Zane. “Did you say something about christening this cab with a first-rate make-out session?”
He chuckled. “I don’t think there’s enough time on the wash cycle to get to first-rate, but we can give it a trial run.” He pulled her onto his lap and slanted a kiss along her lips.
She pressed against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck as she melted into the kiss. He smelled like Armor All mixed with a hint of his aftershave—not a bad scent. His hand twisted into her hair as he cupped her head with his palm.
Her breath caught as his other hand slid under her shirt and into the cup of her bra. His tongue explored her mouth as his thumb grazed her tightened nipple, the sensations sending surges of heat to her happy place, and she squirmed in his lap.
She couldn’t get enough of him—enough of his taste, his smell, the feel of his hands as they explored her body. Her fingers gripped the fabric of his T-shirt, wrinkling it in her grasp as she pressed closer to him.
A car horn honked. Bryn pulled away to realize the car wash had finished and the car behind them was anxious to get in next. The mother in the front seat wore an annoyed expression and the two middle school girls in the back seat had their arms wrapped around their shoulders as they mimed kissy faces and giggled.
“Oh shoot.” She giggled herself as she scrambled from Zane’s lap back into the seat and put the truck in gear. “We got busted.”
“It was worth it,” Zane said, his lips spreading into a grin.
With the truck cleaned and the exterior washed, Bryn pulled out onto the highway and headed for home. She caught a glance of herself in the mirror and gasped at the chunk of hair sticking up and out the side of her head. But Zane was right. It was worth it, she thought as she smoothed her hair, and her face split into a naughty grin.
* * *
Two hours and all the snacks later, they finally made it back to Creedence. The trip had been fun. They hadn’t talked the whole time, but they hadn’t needed to. They were okay sometimes listening to the radio or looking out the window, just being together.
As they approached the far side of her property, Bryn had an idea. She pulled off the road and up to a gate leading into one of their pastures. “Can you grab the gate?”
Zane didn’t seem to mind the detour. “We need to check on your cows?”
“No. I just want to show you something.”
He shrugged and got out to open the gate, then waited for her to drive through and closed it behind them. He climbed back into the pickup, and she drove through the pasture and into a stand of trees. “We’ve got a stream that runs through our property, and there’s a little lake up here. I haven’t been up here in a while, but it’s pretty neat. A hot spring feeds into it, so the water’s not hot, but in some places it’s surprisingly warm,” she told him as she pulled through a break in the trees.
She loved hearing his quick intake of breath as he took in the scene of the small quiet lake nestled against the side of the mountain. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is,” he agreed, getting out of the truck and walking to the water’s edge. She followed and stood next to him as they gazed over the water. “You say the water is warm?”
“Yeah, I love to come up here and swim in the summer.”
He peered up at the moon. “It does seem like a fine night for a swim. Too bad I didn’t bring my suit.”
She shrugged. “Me either. Guess we’ll just have to improvise.” She tried to hold back her grin as she grabbed the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head. Zane was already kicking off his boots and shimmying out of his jeans.
They stripped down to nothing, and she waded into the water. Bryn had always loved swimming in the lake. Loved the way the sun warmed it from the top down, so she could feel various temperatures of water along different parts of her body, like the assorted colored layers of Jell-O in a mold. Now that she was in the lake with Zane, the water felt different, silkier, like a caress against her skin.
She dipped under the water, the only way to get used to it quickly, then came back up with a shiver as she smoothed her wet hair back. With a whoop, Zane came crashing in after her, diving in and popping up several yards away.
He swam back to her, his muscled arms slicing easily through the water, then slid one of those arms around her waist and drew her to him. “You were right. This place is beautiful, and the water is amazing.”
“You’re amazing.”
“Yeah, you thought my diving skills were that great, huh?”
She nudged his shoulder, acutely aware of the proximity of her naked body next to his. “I meant what you did for me tonight—finding Pete and helping me get my stuff back.”
He shrugged. “It was mostly Logan.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Brush off the great thing you did and act like it was nothing.”
“It was nothing. Not the part about you getting your stuff back. That was great. But the role I played in you getting it back was nothing.”
“Not to me.”
Zane was looking over her shoulder, avoiding her eyes. He pointed behind her. “What’s up with the side of that hill? It looks like there’s a rope ladder leading out of the water then some steps are dug into the dirt leading up to the top of the hill.”
She turned to see what he was looking at. “There are. We built all that there years ago. Made it easier to climb up to that ledge—we used to jump off it when we were kids.”
“Let’s do it,” Zane said, already untangling himself from her and swimming toward the rope.
“No way. I said we did it when we were kids. That rope is probably rotted through.”
“Seems sturdy,” Zane said, pulling on the ladder. “How deep is the water here?”
“Plenty deep.”
“Any trees or anything under it we might hit if we jump in?”
“No. We swam all over it, plus I’ve seen this lake when it was half-empty during a drought year, and there’s nothing in it except some fish and probably a few turtles.”
“Then let’s do it. Let’s jump off.”
“No way.”
“Why not? You said the water hasn’t changed.”
“It’s not the water that’s changed. It’s me. I’ve grown up, and I don’t do much jumping off the side of ledges anymore.”
“Then maybe it’s high time you did.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the water to the ladder. “You want to go first? Then I can admire the view.”
She nudged his arm again. “No thanks. You go ahead.” Then she’d get to admire the view. And what a view. In the moonlight, the scars on Zane’s back were barely visible. Instead, his body looked like it was sculpted from alabaster. His muscles rippled and flexed as he climbed the ladder, then turned to help her. Once out of the water, she followed him up the steps, tiny pebbles digging into her bare feet and dirt sticking to her skin. A shiver ran through her as the cool mountain air blew over her wet skin.
“You ready?” he asked, taking her hand and leading her to the edge of the grassy ledge. “Let’s jump together.”
“No, I’m not ready.” She took a deep breath, searching his eyes for encouragement. He smiled and nodded. “But I’ll do it anyway. Just give me a second to find my gumption.”
“You’ve always had your gumption. Don’t think about it, just do it. One. Two…”
“Three!” She whooped, and they jumped in together.
Splashing and sputtering, she came up laughing and swam toward him.
“That was awesome,” he hollered. He pulled her close and kissed her mouth, the lake water cool and wet between their lips. Their bodies were slick and warm as they pressed together, their legs tangling as they treaded water in unison.
“I can’t believe I did that,” she said, a thrill of ex
hilaration coursing through her.
“Why not? You said you used to do it all the time as kids.”
“I know, but we were kids. We weren’t as afraid of falling.”
He brushed her hair back from her forehead, his gaze intense and deep as he stared into her eyes. “The fallin’ is easy, darlin’. It’s the jumpin’ that takes the strength of will.”
She swallowed, emotion suddenly thickening her throat, as if her body knew that he wasn’t just talking about the ledge. She was already falling, and falling hard, for Zane Taylor, but was she really ready to jump headlong into this thing with him?
He dipped his head and kissed the side of her neck, the scruff of his whiskered chin scraping the delicate skin. She tipped her head back and sighed as she fell.
Chapter 16
Bryn huddled in the water as Zane ran up to the truck to grab the new blanket. They’d spent the last hour floating in the water, swimming, splashing, and kissing. It was the best swim of her life. She wasn’t ready for it to end, but their fingers were getting prune-y, and it was time to get out. It hadn’t seemed awkward when she was in the water with him, but now the idea of walking naked up to the truck while shivering in the cool night air made her feel embarrassed and shy.
Zane didn’t seem bothered. She noticed a new confidence in him when he was around her. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been confident before—he had always carried himself with this straight-postured badass don’t-mess-with-me/I-don’t-need-anyone vibe. But he also wore his hat low and often held his head so the scar on his face was turned away from whoever he was talking to.
But he’d been different since that first night when she’d made him show her the scars on his back and she hadn’t recoiled. He certainly walked with confidence as he strode back to her, the blanket held out in his arms, like he didn’t even notice the rough ground underfoot. She tried not to wince as the rocks and pebbles dug into her feet as she waded out of the water and into the folds of the throw.
The fleece felt luxurious against her skin. She hadn’t imagined using the blanket as a towel when Zane gave it to her, but it was perfect for the job. “You’d better get in here with me,” she told him, opening one side of the blanket.
He slipped in next to her, the heat of his body warming her chilled one. Leaning in, he kissed her again, then kept kissing her as he walked her backward to the bed of the truck. He dropped the tailgate and lifted her to sit on the edge. Pulling out of the blanket, he turned back to get their stuff.
She swung her legs on the tailgate, her skin drying, a sly grin on her face as she enjoyed the view of his naked form walking back to the water’s edge, where they had shed their clothing. He grabbed their things and tossed his boots and her shoes into the bed, but set their clothes on the tailgate next to her, then stepped back into the space between her legs.
“You ready to get dressed and head home?”
She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his neck. “Not particularly.”
He chuckled, and she could feel the rumble in his throat. “Good. Because it seems like a perfect night to see the stars.” He took the pile of clothes, folded them into a wrinkled square and set them behind her. He patted the makeshift pillow, then gently laid her back in the bed of the truck.
She looked up into the milky blackness. “It’s a little cloudy. I’m not sure we’ll see a ton of stars.”
He peeled back the folds of the blanket and pressed a tender kiss on her bare stomach next to her belly button, then another one an inch lower. His tongue slid along her belly, his lips skimming over her skin, and she couldn’t think straight as warmth coursed through her body. “Those aren’t the stars I was talking about,” he said, pressing another kiss even lower.
Oh.
He lowered to his knees and gently eased open her legs on the tailgate. Leaning in, he laid a trail of hot kisses along her inner thigh.
Oh. Oh. Ohhhhh.
He shifted again, then his mouth and his hands were on her, touching, caressing, stroking, licking. His lips lingered over her legs, her thighs, stopping to languish a slew of slow kisses in the soft spot inside her knee. His whiskers scraped her thighs, and she feared she would pass out from the anticipation of his mouth on her most sensitive spot.
His hands were warm on her cool skin and spirals of lust swirled through her body as she luxuriated in the bliss of Zane’s attention. The heat and desire surging through her combined with his tender kisses had her body feeling as if it were melting into the warm metal of the truck. His sure touch had pleasure coursing through her, and her knees would have buckled if she hadn’t already been lying down.
Her nerves sizzled as heat coiled in her belly and spread through her limbs, relaxing, then tensing, then easing again as the sensations climbed and built. Zane’s touch was soft then firm, tender then strong, as he skillfully unraveled her.
A tiny shift here, a bit of pressure there, then solid strokes that made the muscles in her legs shake and the ache between her legs almost unbearable. His fingers tightened on her thighs as a tide of heat rose and crashed through her.
Her hands tensed, clutching the blanket, and her world exploded as she gazed into the night sky and did, indeed, see stars. A whole crazy sky full of incredible, mind-blowing stars.
* * *
Zane spent most of the next day thinking about those stars as he tried to focus on the work at hand. But his mind kept drifting to the time spent with Bryn tangled together in the back of the truck, and then the time spent in her bed when they got back to her house, and then the time spent that morning when they’d woken up wrapped in each other’s arms and a mess of warm dogs curled around their legs.
It was all so domesticated, waking up together, feeding the animals, fooling around in the kitchen while they made breakfast. He didn’t used to do sleepovers, didn’t do breakfast. But everything seemed different with Bryn.
Maybe it was the way she’d faced his scars head-on the first night that made them seem less significant, or maybe it was the way when she looked at him, she seemed to really see him—her gaze didn’t stray to the jagged tear across his cheek. And her eyes lit when he walked into the room as her lips curved into a smile that he hadn’t ever seen her give anyone else. It always felt like it was just for him. He wanted to be better, to be more, to live up to the ideal of what she thought she saw in him.
She’d invited him for dinner again. This time they sat down at the table and talked as they made their way through the perfectly prepared chicken-fried steaks and mashed potatoes and gravy and buttery biscuits she’d baked.
Zane leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach when he’d finished. “Darlin’, that was one amazing meal. You keep feeding me like this, I’m never going home.” He hadn’t meant it exactly like that, or at least he hadn’t meant to say it like that. Although it was true: he preferred being at the old farmhouse a hundred times more than spending time at the house he shared with his dad. He didn’t ever call it his home. Home was not a word that had a place in his vocabulary. It was just “the house,” as in “I’m heading back to the house.”
Bryn smiled coyly as she lowered her chin and looked up at him from under her lashes. “Do you want me to keep feeding you like this?”
The question came off as playful and flirty, but he knew there was meaning and intent behind it. His hand was lying next to hers on the table, and he grazed the side of her pinkie with his. A soft touch, but deliberate in its execution. “Yeah, I do.” His voice came out lower and huskier than he’d intended. “But if I keep taking second helpings covered in your gravy, I’m going to be as fat as that new pig out there.”
She chuckled, the enormity of the moment swept aside by his casual joke. “Speaking of that pig, she broke out of her pen today.”
“Nice. Did she run off to another farm so now they have to feed her?”
She playfully nudged his arm.
“No, she didn’t run away. In fact, she made her way up to the house. When I got home from my shift at the diner, she was lying in a patch of sun on the front porch with a couple of the barn cats curled next to her. She got up when she saw me and came running like she was a dog that was glad I was home.”
“She probably was. You can’t feed her if you’re not here.”
“Stop it. I thought it was sweet. I let her into the house for a bit, and she followed me around as I cleaned up, then fell asleep next to the sofa with her head on one of the throw pillows.”
“You let that pig into the house?”
“Of course. Annie said she was used to being a house pig. After a bit, I took her back to her pen, and she settled in like she’d had a nice visit and was plumb wore out. I’m considering leaving her gate unlatched so she can come and go as she pleases.”
He shook his head. “Give it a shot. You’ve already got a goat that roams this farm like it owns the place. Why not have a pig running around too? The worst that could happen is that it tries to run back home to Kansas. And I’m not sure that would be a bad thing. But I wouldn’t recommend doing that with the horses or cows.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you have a smart mouth?”
“Many times.” He raised an eyebrow. “Anyone ever tell you that you have a gorgeous mouth?” He liked the way she ducked her head and her cheeks brightened with a touch of pink when he complimented her. “I’d like to spend a little time with that mouth, but I want to get your sign put up before it gets dark.”
“This is really happening, isn’t it?” Her voice held a dreamy quality and she let out a sigh.
His throat clicked as he swallowed. Yeah, this thing was really happening. It was barreling down on them like a train with no brakes. He’d never spent so much time just hanging out with a woman, living a life with her. Which seemed stupid because it had only been a few days, but maybe it seemed longer since he’d been thinking about it for so long. And apparently so had she—he couldn’t remember ever having a woman talk about him with that dreamy look on her face.
