He throws his arm around me, pulling me into his side as he walks us towards the door. “And even though my interaction with this man was short, I could tell that he’s crazy about you. Who knows where this will lead but you’ll never know unless you try.” He kisses me on the forehead, opening the front door. “Now go out there and get him.”
He practically shoves me out the door, the rain beating down and soaking me instantly. My heart is racing and my head is ringing with the words my father just spoke. Standing there on the cement slab that leads to the front path, I try and gather my thoughts. Hell, what if Austin’s already driven away? With that I take off down the drive, the sudden shift in movement running up through my body into my head, making me slightly dizzy, but I push on, turning at the end of the driveway and seeing that he’s still making his way to his Jeep parked down the street.
“Austin, wait!” I shout as I’m catching up, but the thunder has horrible timing and drowns my voice out, so I push myself a little harder. “Austin.” I gasp for air and grab his shoulder. He turns with a slight frown plastered on his soaked face and seeing me gasping for air only makes him scowl more.
“What do you want, Chelsi?” he says over the thunder. A flash of lightning lights up the sky and is followed by a crack of thunder that shakes me right down to the core, scaring me a bit. He knows how much I don’t like lightning and steps a bit closer to me, the rain still beating down on us. “You shouldn’t be out here. You should be running, either. And you’re going to get pneumonia since you’re all wet.”
“Austin, I need to tell you something.” I’m still gasping for breath from my short jog when I cut him off, waving off his worries. “I know this may not lead anywhere, and hell, maybe we’re not good for each other, but my heart needs you Austin. Something inside of me has been telling me from day one that I need you, but I’ve tried to ignore it. I’m sorry that I’ve let my past get in the way of making something with you, but I’m out here now-even though it raining cats and dogs- telling you that I’m yours if you’ll still have me.”
He’s not saying anything, the only noise being that of the rain, rolling thunder and my pounding heart. “You will still have me, won’t you, ol’ man?” A mischievous smile graces his lips and before I can react, he’s captured my mouth in a kiss. His hands move over my wet clothing to wrap me up tight and I rest my behind his neck, sinking into the feeling of his lips moving with mine. I pull him in as close as possible, the stubble on his face rubbing against my chin and neck as he breaks our kiss, moving his lips down my neck and lightly biting his way back up.
“You’re damn right,” he whispers against my skin and I feel the smile spreading out on his lips as his kiss slowly comes up to my chin. His breath is warm on my ear as we just stand here holding each other for a moment and I feel as if the rain isn’t touching me in this moment. It seems as if his touch is protecting me from the world and I try to pull him closer, but the only space between us is our clothes.
Before his lips meet mine again he says, “We should probably go back inside out of the rain.” He practically growls at me when I bite his bottom lip, kissing him deeply for what seems like hours and finally letting him go.
“Yeah. My parents are probably watching us.” He laughs, pulling me in again and taking my breath away with a sweep of his tongue along mine, releasing me only after I’m a panting puddle in need of his touch. Instead of walking back into my parents’ house, he scoops me up in his arms, carrying me in.
“Oh get over here, you two.” My mom exclaims, handing us both towels when Austin puts me down on my feet. “You could’ve been struck by lightning, you know?” She smiles at me as she helps me dry off my hair.
“Sorry to make you worry, but we were…um…talking.” Austin tries to cover it up but my mom laughs at him.
“Oh yeah, talking…right. Honey, if every man ‘talked’ to a woman that way there would never be any domestic violence, just a lot more babies.” My mom even uses air quotations, laughing her way all the way to the kitchen and returning with a few more towels, her purse and jacket. “Now, you’re father and I are going to Barb and Carl’s cabin with them until Sunday.”
“Mom, you don’t have to leave. We are just going to hang out and…”
“Dear, we had already planned on going.” My dad interjects, helping my mom with her jacket and handing her one of their umbrellas. He shoulders both of their weekend bags and Austin opens the door, stepping out and opening my mother’s umbrella. “We didn’t, however, plan on this rain. But we’ll be back Sunday like your mother said.” He gives me a kiss on the cheek, shakes hands with Austin and heads out into the rain to get the car started.
“Honey if you have any real bad headaches have Austin take you to the ER, okay?” My mom hugs me, kissing me as I tell her I will. “Now Austin, her meds are in her room. There is plenty of food in the fridge, help yourself and I think some of my nephew’s old things might fit you, they are in the spare room at the end of the hall there.” She kisses him on the cheek and takes the umbrella from his grasp, turning to wink at me again. “You two be good this weekend. I’ll call tomorrow.”
“Okay mom, love you.” I wave to them and Austin puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. He waves too and they quickly get into my dad’s SUV, honking as they back out of the driveway and head north.
Closing the door to the warm summer air, the AC of the house makes goosebumps fill my skin. I shiver in Austin’s grasp and he holds me tighter, kissing my forehead gently.
“How about some dry clothes and then some food?” He smiles down at me and it seems to light up the room.
“Sounds good, ol’ man.” I turn to head upstairs as he swats me on the butt, making me squeal. He sticks his tongue out at me when I ascend the stairs and just the feeling of having him back under the same roof of me is lifting away the black clouds from my heart. If only it could work that way for the weather too.
A little while later I’m up in my room trying to gain the courage to walk back downstairs. After changing I mindlessly went to come my hair like normal, pulling the scarf from my head I got sight of my staples and lost all confidence in myself again. Running my fingers over the shaved hair, I notice Austin’s reflection in the mirror, standing in the doorway behind me.
“You don’t have to cover it up for me, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He comes up behind me, wrapping one around my waist and the other around my chest, pulling me into his front and holding me. I can’t help but close my eyes in comfort of his warmth and one of his hands is running through my hair, coming across and his fingers gently running along the shaved spot of hair.
“I thought you were dead,” he whispers into my eye and I hear the hurt in his voice. His head dips to the curve of my neck and shoulder and he kisses me, his lips not leaving me. “I would’ve killed Jude if you had died. Damn druggie. If he hadn’t been passed out he probably would’ve heard you fall.”
“And I’d still have these staples, so it doesn’t really make a difference.” I try to calm his racing heart, the beat of it thundering against my back from his chest as he holds me tighter. “It’s just, I know that if I hadn’t reacted like a total teenager and stormed off on you at the restaurant, my night wouldn’t have ended in the back of an ambulance. So really, I’m the only one to blame.” He grumbles against my skin in protest and I pat his cheek when he lifts his face up to look at me. “No matter now. What’s done is done, let’s just move on with what we have. Okay?”
“Sounds great to me,” he smiles, leaning in and taking my lips in a very possessive kiss. His hand grasps my cheek with a touch that’s both commanding yet gentle, urging me to turn into his embrace and I do. His arms immediately surround me, lifting me up off my feet and sitting me on the top of my dresser. He keeps the space between us minimal and I wrap my legs around his waist, really not wanting to let this feeling go.
He finally breaks our kiss as both of our chests are heaving, our hearts ra
cing, seeming to take cues from one another as we’re embraced. “Now I know we both want this. Heck, I’ve wanted this for the longest time, but I also know it’s about time for your meds and that you need to eat with them.”
“How the heck?” I lean back, giving him a questioning look while looking around my room to see if maybe the bottles were left out and he could see the brightly labeled stickers that pharmacists put to remind those taking meds what they need to do or stay away from. But the bottles aren’t anywhere in sight and Austin’s deep, hearty chuckle brings my attention back to him.
“You’re mom has a schedule of your meds and what time you’ve taken them on the fridge. She’s very efficient.” He smiles, lifting me up with my arms and legs still wrapped tight around him. I laugh, telling him that it doesn’t surprise me and that my grandfather was a military man as well, raising my mom and my nine other aunts and uncles to be respectful and organized. “Sounds like my kind of guy,” he smiles and I give him a short and sweet kiss, leaning my head on his shoulder as he descends the stairs and plops me on the couch.
He leans over me, kissing me deeply until I’m pulling at his shirt collar to join me on the couch and he laughs in response. “Girl, you are going to tear me up inside, you know that?” I just smile into his lips one more time before he pulls me up to my feet. “Now come on and let’s get some food in ya.”
“Sounds good to me.” I am quite hungry and I lead Austin back into the kitchen, telling him that we can have whatever he wants and he goes shopping in the fridge. He pulls out a plate of cheddar and bacon burgers that my mom seems to always have on hand since they are my dad’s favorite, the typical vegetable toppings, and a fruit salad. He’s still looking around in the fridge as I’m chopping the lettuce and slicing the tomatoes and I turn to see that he’s bent over, intently looking in the pull out freezer drawer. “What are you searching for?”
“Ice cubes?” He replies, not looking at me. Okay so he wants a cold drink, understandable on a hot and muggy day like today.
“They come out from the dispenser on the door.” He looks up, closing the opposite door and smiling at me, giving me a thumbs up. I’m paying attention to the onion I’m trying not to slice too thick and Austin’s hand rubs down my spine, making a hot tingle feel my entire body. His arm wraps around my waist again, pulling me into his front and his mouth finds the curve of my neck. First it’s his lips playing along my skin, then it’s an ice cube, shocking me but I don’t jerk out of his arms. The cold makes a fresh shiver run through me and I sink into his embrace even more, my legs feeling as if they might give out on me.
He sucks the ice cube back in, trialing tiny bites along the same path as the ice cube and I’m totally done in right now. I let my head fall back onto his shoulder and a sigh of contentment escapes.
“I knew you’d like that,” he says with his lips still grazing my neck, leaving me with one final kiss. I hear him chuckle a bit when I wobble, trying to regain my composure enough to stand after that.
“Just go cook the burgers now before I have my way with you.” I threaten him in a playful manner but the look that crosses his face makes a slow burn ignite deep down within. It’s a look of desire and passion, hidden underneath his composed exterior.
“Just wait, girl. Just wait.” He smiles, leaving me alone in the kitchen to squirm in the state of desire he’s left me in. Oh my, I haven’t felt like this ever. There is a fire down within, urging me to let it run rampant and go jump on that man in the backyard, not caring whether the neighbors can see or not. I open the fridge and stand there fanning myself, trying to cool down so that I don’t hyperventilate.
“Get ahold of yourself, Chels,” I tell myself, feeling like an idiot acting like this. “He’s just a man. Why are you acting like a prude?”
Truth is he’s not just a man, he’s Austin French. His physical appearance being something out of a Harlequin romance novel, and not the ones with Fabio on the front. He’s definitely not one for long hair. But I could totally see him standing on top of cliff, his white collared shirt torn open from some skirmish with another man, exposing his well-toned chest and abs, hovering over a swooning damsel. And that swooning damsel is me right now, even though I’d never admit it out loud. I let out a long sigh but catch myself when I hear him entering the house again and I quickly close the fridge and act like I’m busy chopping green peppers; unaffected by his approach.
He walks past me, his scent wafting up around me in the wake and he asks me where the ketchup and mustard are. I don’t answer right away, I’m lost in a vision of being that damsel. Oh, Lord help me.
After a bit, we’ve finished our meal and I’ve taken my meds. It’s strangely comforting how we can go from filling this house with rampant desire to having a typical conversation about our friends and day to day happenings. I’m rinsing the dishes and handing them to Austin to put in the dishwasher as he’s telling me about how Bobby, Chad, Reno and him had gone mudding and he had to pull Reno’s truck out of some deep ruts more than three times.
“Well not everyone can be good at everything like you, Austin.” I tease him and before I can even giggle about my comment, his hands are on either side of the sink, trapping me in. I turn around, facing him, and notice that dark look on his face again. It takes my breath away and my heart starts to race.
“You don’t know that I’m good at everything, girl.” His tone is low, his stare moving from my eyes to my lips, down to raking over my body and his attention makes a wild blush run all over. I squirm under his gaze and as he stands, his hands running up my arms to cup my face, I can’t control the slight shiver his touch creates. “But something about the way you react perfectly to my touch, and even just the tone of my voice, tells me that you’d love to find out.” He leans in, kissing me lightly, then moving to trail kisses along my cheek and jawbone. Now the slight shiver is a full on tremor and a whimper of desire that I’ve never heard myself utter before escapes. “Would you like to find out, girl?”
“Yes,” I gasp without a second of hesitation and the look that crosses his face is almost carnal. He wraps me in his arms, lifting me up as I snake my legs around his waist, and we ascend the stairs the same way we descended them a little while ago.
He’s pulling at my shirt and tossing it aside as we crest the staircase. He presses my back against the wall just outside my bedroom, his lips burning a hot path down my neck and chest. I laugh at him when he fumbles with the one he’s borrowed, it getting caught around his head but he finally pulls it off, smiling wickedly and his lips continue their torture of my body.
He finally brings his kiss to my mouth as he gently lays me down on my bed, hovering over me as my hands scan his chest and arms, finding their way to his buckle and unhooking it. His tongue sweeps along mine and he bites my lip playfully when I urge his shorts down with my bare feet. He leaves me, standing straight to shimmy his shorts down and kick them away. His stare however never wavers for a moment, locked onto mine as he stands before now naked.
I sit up pulling my bra and capris down, standing with him, running my fingers over his chest slowly and feeling the muscles twitch in reaction. I’ve dreamt of this moment so many times but never thought it would happen in my childhood bedroom. I step closer to him, running my hands down his abs and surrounding his manhood and stroking, a pleasurable groan ripping through him and his eyes roll shut.
“Are you just going to stand here or are you going to make love to me?” I whisper into his shoulder as I kiss it, quickly trailing kisses up to his mouth and meeting a hungry, demanding kiss. I let him lay me down, only pausing his onslaught of kisses to pull a condom from my bedside purse. His attention never stops, his kisses reaching all the way down to my curling toes.
“You are too gorgeous, girl.” He says against my stomach after teasing me at my core and making me pant for more. “It’s hard to restrain myself.”
“Then don’t.” I breathe out, entirely on the edge of climaxing already. It’s been a l
ong time since I’ve had this kind of sexual attention and I squirm underneath him. His fingers run down the middle of my body, stopping only to flick gently at my clit and making me shiver, trying to hold on. The mischievous smile that plays out on his face makes me hate him for a moment, reveling in my torture. I wrap my legs around him, attempting to pull him to me and grip my fingers into his butt cheeks. His blue eyes lose their mischievous glint and fill with that desire I saw earlier.
His lips crash to mine when he enters me and I can’t hold on anymore, I let go of what control I had on my body and give in to my climax as he moves in and out. His lips never leave mine for one second, his thrusts slowing as my climax wanes, but I’m not done with him yet and my fingers grip into his butt cheeks again, not wanting him to slow.
Austin’s kiss breaks to trail down to my chest and I can tell his close. He’s lavishing my chest in attention and the heat starts to build in my core again. He bites at one of my nipples and I can’t take anymore. I bring his face back to mine and take his lips, squeezing his waist with my legs.
“Please,” I whisper in the haze that fills me at the moment I’m teetering on the edge of my second climax and he growls into my ear. His arms come around me and hold me to him as we both finish, his thrusts slowing little by little until I squeeze him again, holding him tight to me.
His mouth finds mine again as he rolls us so that I’m lying on top of him. His kisses are sweet and tender, and I playfully pull at his bottom lip. “Don’t temp me, girl.” He groans.
“Oh, there is plenty more time for that.” I tell him, curling up in his arms and resting my head on his chest.
Who really knows how much time they have on this earth, hell I could’ve died two weeks ago when my head struck that toilet, but I didn’t. But I think Austin and I have the same idea about it now. We are going to live each day to the fullest, never looking back and wondering ‘What if”.
And I’m perfectly content with that.
Somebody's Chelsi: Book 5 The Wakefield Romance Series Page 8
