by Laura Wylde
“I did not come here for a piece of ass.”
“Then take it off the table, if you’re not worried about it.”
He was quiet for a moment, and I thought he was going to tell me that he would, and I could just pay him for services. He didn't though. Connor just doubled down. He really was stubborn.
“I'm not taking that off the table. That is going to be the bonus for having to deal with your crazy ass. Now tell me why you spent half of that money or I walk?”
“I needed it for back bills that I owed. Okay? Are you happy now?”
Now I was the one getting mad. Who was he to ask all these questions of me? Whether he worked with me or for me, I wasn’t going to let it go.
“A few days stay in a treatment center is not going to cost half a million.”
I pushed back against him and this time he budged. It must have been harder, or he could see by the look on my face, that I was done messing with him about any of it. He was being rude and I was done.
“No it doesn’t cost that much, but it does when you have to pay for both parents to be in a nursing home. Especially when you haven't been able to pay for well over a year and the insurance company decides that they never had to pay to begin with. They decided that my parents weren't covered for the place that they were in and I had to pay it all back or they were going to be kicked out.”
“Is that why you fixed the painting?”
I couldn't believe that he was saying it. He was not just calling me a liar, but he was also calling me a forger and all kinds of other things that came with that. What did he think of me? Just because I had offered my virginity to get what I needed, didn't mean that I didn't have any scruples at all. I was so mad with the suggestion.
“I didn't forge the painting! It was a forgery that was done at about the time the painting was made. The guy was already famous, it makes sense that one of his apprentices or something like that had made some copies. There was nothing I could have done to know that. I got it dated, which is standard.”
Where did he get off?!
“You know what, I don't have to say anything to you. I don't have to prove anything to you.
“No, you don't anymore. I believe you. I just wanted to know, from your own mouth what was really going on. I believe you and I wish you would have told me sooner.”
I thought it was going to be the end of it. We had had our little tiff and now he was going to back off and give me a little bit of space, let go of me, let me get out of this water. Granted, I wasn't cold anymore, but it was quite annoying how he was blocking me, and I wanted to get out of there. Needed to even.
Now, he was moving backwards, and I kept retreating. He was quick to surround me and quite honestly, he was just a bit too much for me. I wasn't sure what to say around him, what to do, and now he was all over my space. He had that intention in his eyes, hard rod in his pants and he was coming right for me.
My mouth was suddenly dry, and I tried to lick my lips, but my tongue was so dry that it did nothing but stick to the surface. “What are you doing?”
“Don't I have something coming to me?”
“You told me that you wanted to wait until we were done.”
“Yeah, and then you went and jumped in the water. Now I can see those nice breasts, hard nipples. I warned you and you didn’t listen.”
“You told me that I would be cold, you didn't say that you were going to jump on me.”
L”ike I said, my kind would never jump on you, but I have no problem making you need me.”
I wasn't sure what that meant, but then like before, there was something behind me and I could retreat no longer. He was standing in front of me, looking at me the way he did and my whole body was shaking.
I’d like to ask for was a moment to pull myself together, but I wasn't even going to get that. He was coming in for kiss, but this time the kiss was very different. I think before, he was literally trying to prove a point, but not this time. This time it was for some other reason altogether.
The kiss was so full of passion and I knew that I couldn't help but get sucked up in the moment. I wanted him just as badly as he seemed to want me. My back actually scraped against the rock that was positioned behind me, but I didn't even care. None of it mattered at the moment. The only thing about it that mattered, was the way his body felt against mine.
Again, I was thinking, this is it. Finally, after thirty-plus years of waiting, I was finally going to know what it felt like to be with a man. I had been desired from a far, but never had I seen the look of lust that I got from Connor. He looked practically ravenous. What was the next thing that happened? I was ready for more.
I felt his lower body pressing into me. He was obviously getting into it and the desire that was so Connor, was pressing against my leg. How easy would it be, to end it right now?”
Connor’s hands were no longer on my waist, but up my ribs, and then a little bit further to the front, cupping my breast and kneading them with his hands.
It was such a strange sensation to have, so full and complex , paired with the kiss that literally made it hard to think straight. What a combination, especially knowing the whatever was happening between us, wasn’t supposed to happen. It was just this way of knowing. I don't think it really had anything to do with this being a job. It was more the way my body felt when he was near. There was no way that this could be wrong.
And then he was pulling away, apologizing again and I wanted to literally scream at him. Why in the world was he backing out of this? Did it not feel good to him too?
I made a whining sound, pretty embarrassing, but it was what happened. He was trailing out of the water and I was just standing there for a moment, most likely with a strange look on my face. Why did he keep stopping what was happening? Didn't he want me?
When I asked that question, he just waved me off like I was being ridiculous.
“Let's keep going. There's no way that we're going to get to the cave if we don't hurry up. You’re already wet, so we need to get out of the wind and dry your clothes as soon as we can.”
It was like none of it had happened, and I honestly didn't know how to respond. I remember thinking to myself, is he being serious? If he was, then I needed to pull way back. I was obviously out here twisted in the wind by myself.
A couple of times, Connor asked me if I needed to stop for a break and both times I refused. I was completely exhausted, but now I was running on pretty much sexual frustration. How could he do this to me, for a second time? He got inside my head, got my body to respond in the most ridiculous ways and then he was gone again. Out of my life. No longer touching me and quite Connorly it was worse than the exhaustion I felt from the hike that seemed to last forever. Why was it so bad this time around?
About an hour in, I noticed that he was going even faster than before. I was already pretty much dying, and I didn't understand why he was going faster. It looked like we still had a little bit sunshine left. We would probably get there before dark at the current rate, so why practically kill ourselves?
“Hey, can we please slow down?”
“No, we can’t. We got to get moving faster.”
“Why not? I know that you want to get there before dark, but it’s not going to happen that quickly. We still have what, like an hour, hour and a half?”
“No, I would say that we have about twenty minutes before it goes pitch-black.”
I looked up at the sky and then looked over at him. What the hell was he talking about? It was not that dark out, sun was still up. I couldn’t see where he was getting his information. Twenty minutes?
He must have seen the look on my face, because he explained that there was a storm coming. It was coming in fast and we were going to get stuck in it if we didn’t hurry up. Once again, sunshine and birds singing.
“A storm?”
“Didn't you hear the thunder?”
I shook my head in disagreement. I had not heard anything. I didn't even see a cloud in th
e sky or any other indication that it was going to start storming. Why did he think that there was going to be a downpour in twenty minutes?
“How can you know all of this?”
Connor just smiled. “Like I said, I'm a shifter and our senses are far better than yours.”
“Well if it's just a little rain, what's the big deal?”
“It’s not going to be just a little rain. There's mud slides to worry about for one, especially in this area. Then there's the fact that the cave might completely wash out. It might be covered up and we won't be able to get into it. There is a lot of scenarios that do not go well for us. Every single one of them, indicates that the best cause of action, would be to do our best to get there before all of that happens.”
It all sounded reasonable. He was talking to me a little bit like I was a child and that kind of bothered me, but at the end of the day, I could understand. I did start to walk a little faster, but I still couldn't keep up with the pace that he was demanding for me. I was just too tired, and had been such a long day.
He looked back at me and told me that I was going to have to do better and move faster.
“What if this is all I got in me? As you like to say, humans are inferior.”
He stopped and looked at me, squinting his eyes like he was waiting for some kind of answer that was going to be written underneath my skin and he just had to look at it long enough to see it. You really are tired, aren't you?
I agreed. It didn't help that he was completely playing with my emotions and going from hot to cold every time I turned around. I apparently did not have that off faucet. It was just nothing but hot now, and I was quite certain that the only thing that was going to make me feel better, was for him to take what was offered to him. I’d never realized that would be the hardest part.
Why was it he was looking at?
“I am going to have to carry you Anna. I know that it goes against all of your sensibilities, but that is the only way we're going to get to the cave before the storm hits. I would really like to be inside when all this rain comes down.”
Again, I couldn't help but look up at the sky. I still didn't even see a cloud, not one of them. There was no darkness in the sky and there is no change in the breeze that sometimes indicated that water was on the way. None of the telltale signs of rain were present yet, and I had to question if he even knew what he was talking about. What if he was getting all worked up for nothing? I know that I wasn't the shifter with superior senses, but I didn't see what he saw, not even in the least bit.
I tried to not get help from him, but about the second time he had to stop so that I could catch up, he just grabbed me up into his arms and started to carry me. I protested, but it didn't last very long.
Every part of my body was singing with all of the jostling and being that close to him. I didn't want to feel this way. I didn't want to have these crazy thoughts and emotions running through me, but there was not much I could do, if there was, I didn't see it.
My heart was pounding and my breath quickened. No longer was I worried about bounty hunters. Now, I was worried about this man, my protector, while also my tormentor as well.
9
Connor
“Is that the cave that we’re looking for?”
“No, it is a cave though. There are tons of them up here, most of them are connected in a big network. We will get into it a little bit later, but we have to keep going up. These are not part of the network. I think they're just smaller caves that are all over this area. For someone that has done work up here, you don't seem to know the area very much.”
She looked at him with a dirty look and then motioned to the now black sky. Now she could see what he saw, but it was looking like she was too late.
“In my defense, it was not this dark. I could actually see, and we are a long way from up at the top where the artifacts are buried. I have left myself clues when we get closer, but right now, I honestly don't have any idea where we are.”
I turned towards her to say something and I was completely distracted by the still-hard nipples that were protruding out of the thin fabric of the wet shirt. I couldn't think properly, everything in me focusing on the woman that was soon going to be mine. Even though it was moments away from pouring down rain, and it was completely pitch black outside, the wind whipping around us, all I wanted to do was pull her to the ground and fuck her as hard as I could. I almost didn't even care if we had to do it in the mud.
Nevertheless, we needed to keep going. Moving ahead was the only thing that was going to help my brain work again, and to convince me that I shouldn’t do what I wanted to do.
“I really appreciate it.”
I was about to say something to that, like I didn't have a choice or if she would just go, I wouldn't have to push her, but then I heard a shot fire and the tree about ten feet behind me and to the left, exploded. It hadn’t really exploded, but I felt a couple of splinters come towards me. When I heard a second and third shot fired, my mind went to the bounty hunters that were supposed to be after her. I had joked with Jack that I was going to get my ass shot because of her, I just didn't really think that it would happen.
It had been awhile since I set Anna down and again, I had to push her to the ground. She didn't even really start to react or anything, till about the fourth shot had went out and I was so thankful that they weren't very good at aiming. I don't know how they hadn't killed her.
This time, there wasn't as much romance involved as there had been when I was on top of her during the helicopter passing by. This time there was live rounds and since it was pretty dark, I didn't even know where it was coming from. It could have been so many things, so many people. I thought I knew who it was though. It was the bounty hunters, working for Barrows. Jack had warned me about him. He had said that I should probably walk away, and for maybe a split second I thought about it, maybe regretted taking the job. But then I looked down at Anna, and I knew that this was exactly where I was supposed to be. I was supposed to be here helping her, even if it was going to put my own life in jeopardy. For some reason once again, I just knew that it would be worth it. It really didn't make any sense, but it's just the way it was.
The shots stopped coming and the shooter or shooters, were waiting for us to pop out, so that they could get a good shot out on us. I wasn't going to let that happen though. I knew it was coming, so I prepared myself.
“Are you going to get off of me?”
“Yeah, I am going to get off of you in a minute, but you have to promise me that you won't get up. No matter what.”
“I really need to get up Connor. Something is cutting into my side and it feels wet like it's bleeding. It really hurts with all of your weight on me.”
She said it so calmly, that I didn't expect the bright red that was now present on her shirt. The contrast was unmistakable against the pure white. It had naturally been what was driving me crazy before. When it was wet and showed me her nipples. I would have much rather preferred that, than what I was seeing now.
“You're hurt!”
Why did my voice sound like that? It wasn't that bad. I asked her if she had been shot and I took almost all of my weight off of her. She said that she didn't think she had been shot, just that something had cut into her when I had once again, threw her to the ground. I felt like a failure as a protector.
Not only had I allowed the bounty hunters to get close enough to shoot at us without even sensing them, but I had hurt her as well. The first was simply because I had been so engrossed in her and her damn white shirt. So now her shirt was covered in red and it was all my fault.
Anyway, I didn't have time to feel the guilt that was fighting to come out. I would have plenty of time for that later. At the moment, I needed to focus on getting her out of danger. I needed to get us both out of this situation, before it went from bad to worse.
Thankfully, Anna didn’t act like it hurt too much and even though it had started to rain and everything was starting to
get slippery, we both agreed that the best course of action was for us to keep scrambling up the mountain. There was a larger cave not too far from us, and I was hopeful that we would be able to get to it, without being shot at or at least being hit. The rain was going to help us stay hidden as much as possible. It was the best course of action, really it was the only thing that we could do. It gave us the best chance of survival. To be honest it wasn't a very good chance in my opinion, but there was nothing else that could be done about it.
I asked her if she was ready and she agreed. We made a mad dash and there was a couple of shots that went off, but I don't think they could see us very well, because the shots were quite wild and were both to the left and the right of us. They were just wild shooting, most likely seeing a blur. That's what I wanted to think anyways, because when we got to the mouth of the cave, we both ran inside.
Anna was standing there, mouth open, asking me what happened.
“What happened? We just get attacked again. It's them damn bounty hunters. They probably got dropped off up here somewhere and have been waiting for us to get closer. You had to know this was going to happen.”
“How was I supposed to know? I told you everything that I know.”
I wanted to be mad at somebody besides myself. If I was mad at her, then I could somehow blame her, then it wouldn't have been my stupidity and my horniness, that messed everything all up. I could have got us both killed because I couldn't stop looking at her tits. I thought I had more control than that and to be honest, I was quite disgusted at myself to find out that I didn't.
“I know, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Maybe it was storm coming in, the wind shifting, but I didn't even know they were there. I am sorry that I didn’t know. I am supposed to know these things.”
“How could you possibly know that? You're just...”
She's paused and I laughed sort of ruefully. “What, I'm only human? That’s just it. I'm not, I'm better than that and I can't believe that they got the jump on us.”
