by Tess Oliver
I shrugged. “Extremely appealing, eh?”
She laughed and stared up at the slightly tilted wood structure. It had walls on three sides and a roof overhead, but the front side was wide open. “What is this place?”
“It’s a viewing perch for birdwatchers. About twenty years ago some big bird club built it to watch for bald eagles. I haven’t been here for a long time.”
I stepped onto the platform and reached my arm down to give her a hand up.
“Somehow, I just don’t picture Jem Wolfe with his binoculars and bird identification guide book.”
“My visits here had a lot to do with nature, but I had less wholesome motives than bird watching.”
She hopped up on the deck with me. “Like what?”
I lifted a brow at her.
“Oh, yes, I see. Stupid question.” She spun around a few times with her face turned to the star covered sky before stopping. She swayed with dizziness for a second then flashed a smile that caused my head to spin along with hers. “So, what you’re saying is, your motives for bringing me up here are purely dirty.”
“Mostly. But I also thought you were the kind of girl who’d appreciate this place. You know, a girl who likes a breathtaking view with a little dirty thrown in.”
“You do seem to have me sort of figured out.” Her light blonde hair rippled in the breeze as she walked to the edge of the perch and gazed out at the view. Even swimming in my giant sweatshirt, she made my head spin with the idea of having her naked and in my arms.
“It’s beautiful up here, Jem. Thank you.” She turned around. I still hadn’t gotten used to how fucking beautiful she was. “And, thank you for today. If you hadn’t been working late . . .” Her voice trailed off and was lost in the vast canyon below.
I walked up next to her. We’d shrugged it off as fast as possible, so the true horror of what might have been couldn’t sink in. But the gravity of what had happened in the mill that afternoon still hung over us like a heavy shroud. And my talk with the old man hadn’t gotten me any closer to the truth.
Tashlyn lifted her face. “You’ve been there late all week, haven’t you? I see your bike in the lot as I walk up to the bus stop.”
“Yeah, I’ve been there.”
She took my hand. “Is it because of me?”
I looked out at the ravine. Tall trees dotted the granite slabs along the side of the valley, a deep cut in the mountain created by ancient glaciers. “I was just making sure you got on the bus all right.”
She turned and pressed her body against mine. “Funny. I had an entirely different image of what a guardian angel might look like.”
“Yeah? Too bad, cuz I’m thinking a fine pair of chrome-colored wings, and I’d make a pretty badass one.”
“I’d have to agree.”
I lowered my mouth to hers. My hands parted the panels of the sweatshirt. I slipped my hands beneath her shirt. Her skin was like cool silk beneath my callused palms. “God, I just need to touch you, Tash. Please let me touch you.”
Her lips parted, and my tongue dove deeper. My hand smoothed over her bra. She pressed her breast harder against it. I tugged the bra down, and her nipple hardened as my thumb circled it. She mewled softly against my mouth as I teased her. The sweet sound and the feel of her in my hands made my cock rock hard.
I lowered my hand to hers and turned her around so that her back was against me. I slid the sweatshirt off, hoping my body heat would be enough as I circled my arms in front of her and continued to caress her flat stomach and breasts. Her body rubbed against my cock, making my head spin with the idea of fucking her. Right then and there. She was frail and ready and in my arms, but I would hold back until she asked me, until she wanted me as badly as I wanted her.
Her head lolled back against my shoulder, exposing the smooth, long curve of her neck. I pressed my mouth against it as my hands traveled to the button on her jeans. She pulled in a short breath and stiffened for a fleeting second.
“Don’t deny me this, baby. I want to show you just how badly I’ve been needing to touch you.”
She relaxed at my words. I unzipped her pants, and before she could protest, I pushed them down, not completely just a few inches to let me freely touch her. I slid my hand down beneath her panties.
“Spread your thighs some, darlin’.” My pulse was fucking racing. My cock had been solid almost from the first time I’d met her, and I was ready to explode with wanting her. I’d never needed anything so badly.
Her feet slid apart. She reached up and wrapped her hands around my arms for support. It was a gesture that made my chest tighten. I realized right then that I was never going to let anything happen to her. I was going to tear apart anyone who tried to hurt her. Anyone.
Her hands gripped me tighter as I pushed my fingers down between the hot folds of her pussy. As the slick cream covered my fingers, my cock strained against my fly. “God, Tash, you’re so hot and wet. Tell me you want this. I want to hear you say it.”
“Yes, please, Jem.” She spread her thighs a little wider.
I pushed my finger inside of her. Her cry shot out and evaporated into the huge canyon below. I pushed in a second finger. I wanted to fill her completely, until she was trembling in my arms. I pressed my hand tight against her clit as my finger probed deeper.
I lowered my mouth to her ear, and she moaned with pleasure.
“I knew you’d feel this good, baby. Your pussy is pure fucking heartbreak, just like the rest of you.”
She rolled her hips to take in more of my fingers and grind her clit against my hand. “Jem, please—” My name rolled off her pink lips so erotically, it was all I could do to keep from taking her completely.
“I’m here, baby.” My voice sounded short and raspy, as I worked to keep control. “Tash, I want you to come for me. Will you do that, darlin’?”
Her sigh floated up into the night air. She tightened her hold on my arms as she squeezed her thighs around my hand. As she rocked over my fingers, holding me tightly in her pussy, her perfect round ass rubbed against me. An involuntary groan rolled up from my chest. She was sweeter and hotter than I’d imagined, and I’d imagined a lot. Her pussy was reacting so hungrily to my touch, it made my cock ache.
“God, baby, you are sweet to touch.” I kissed her neck as she moved against me.
“Yes, please, Jem.” Her plea for more assured me she’d reached the edge. Her thighs squeezed shut, and hot cream covered my fingers as her pussy clenched tightly around my hand. Her fingers dug into my arms as her body trembled in my grasp.
She crumpled against me as I pulled my hand from between her legs. I swept her up into my arms and carried her to the built-in bench at the back of the shelter. I sat down, cradling her in my arms, holding her so tightly it was a wonder I didn’t crush her.
“Jem, I’m not quite sure I’m ready to—” She curled into my arms.
“Yeah, I figured after what happened today. As much as I want you, Tash, I want you to be ready.”
Tashlyn lifted her round blue eyes to me. I brushed her bangs from her face. “You were the last thing I expected, Jem.”
“You were a pretty big surprise for me too, Woodstock. This town is filled with stupid, smug people who prefer to hate than think and who thrive on rumors and lies, especially when it brings other people down. Then there you were, looking completely out of place, standing in the canyon, looking as if you’d just stepped out of one of those hippie-fueled make love not war protests. And those blue eyes—” I gazed down at the piece of heaven in my arms. “It feels like you look right past what everyone else sees when they look at me, that hard shell that makes people cross to the other side of the street to avoid me. You looked right past it and into my soul.”
She reached down to button her pants, took a deep breath and moved to s
it next to me on the bench. “Think it’s the way my Aunt Carly raised me. She always told me to look past a first impression in case it’s the wrong impression. I sort of did just step out of the sixties. My aunt lives in this commune called The Grog. Just a bunch of artists, organic farmers, people who like to sit around, get high and debate worldly stuff. It was actually a pretty cool place to grow up. It’s one of the reasons I don’t have a cell phone. Too much connection to the industrial world.”
“Sounds cool. But I do wish you had a phone, especially with what happened today. Although, we don’t use them much around here because all the fucking planets have to be lined up just right for there to be any reception.”
She laughed. “So I’ve heard. I guess there’s some disadvantage to living in this kind of setting.”
I dropped my arm around her. The ache in my cock was slowly subsiding. I knew I’d be thinking about her every minute, and I’d feel it in my cock as much as in my heart and head but I wasn’t willing to toss this away. She needed to want it just as badly. “Tash, I talked to my dad. I got nowhere, of course, but he’s—well, he’s on a lot of meds. He’s dying.”
She looked over at me. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m not saying that to get him any sympathy. He doesn’t deserve it. I don’t either. He’s dying, and that’s the way it is. I can’t say that I feel either way about it. There’s never been anything right about my dad, but I think this town sort of helped shape him. In fact, a better word would be twist. There was an accident when he was young and a girl died. My dad never talks about it, but I know the town blamed him. He decided to live up to the reputation.”
“But why would he have taken the newspaper?”
I shook my head. “Can’t explain that, but I can promise you he wasn’t the person to tie you onto that log cradle. He can barely hold his beer can anymore. A lot of shit happened when I was a kid, stuff that I tried hard to push out of my head. It was easier to just deny than to accept that my dad was an asshole. Dane’s older than me, and he was alone at home with dad when I was in doing time. He knows more, but as you might have noticed, he’s sort of in his own world most of the time. When he’s in the right mood, I’ll sit down and talk to him. In the meantime, I’ve got an old car in the garage. I’ll get it started, so I can drive you to work. No more sitting alone at that damn bus stop before the sun comes up.” I turned her face to me and kissed her. “My car will be much warmer . . . and we could do stuff.”
“Stuff is good.” She leaned against me. “Jem, what happened today really scared me.”
“Scared the hell out of me too, Woodstock.”
Chapter 15
Tashlyn
There was no sense in having Jem drop me off a few blocks away from Everly’s house. Now, after he’d walked me out of the store, it was pretty much known by the whole town, or at least all of the shoppers in Gregor’s Market, that the new girl had gotten herself tangled up with the infamous Jem Wolfe. And as tangled as it all seemed to be, I was happy to be caught.
Jem’s bike rumbled in the driveway as he watched me get safely inside. It was past eleven, and I was hoping that Everly had already gone to bed. I was still in a delightful daze after my evening with Jem, and I wasn’t quite ready to get in a debate with Everly.
The house was quiet, but the kitchen light was still on. Everly walked out wearing her flannel pajamas. I couldn’t read the expression on her face.
The words I’d been practicing in my head on the ride home flowed without me summoning them. “Everly, I know what you’re going to say, and believe me, you’re the last person I want to disappoint. But—”
“Actually, Tash, I don’t think you know what I was planning to say.” I stood there dumbfounded as she wrapped her arms around me. She stepped back and laughed at my stunned expression. She took my hand, and we walked to the couch. “I’ll admit, when you first walked out of the store with Jem, I was disappointed, no—hurt—because it seemed that my opinion just didn’t matter.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she held her hand up to stop me. “No wait, let me finish. When you stood out on the sidewalk with him and he took hold of your face and kissed you, all I could think was that I wanted someone to kiss me like that.” Her eyes glassed with tears as she spoke. “And the way you were looking at him, I knew that it was more than just a crush on a hot guy. You see in Jem something that others don’t see. It’s the same with me when I look at Finn.” She chuckled. “And Finn’s not even all that hot, but he’s what I want.” She smiled. “And because of you, I decided to go see him. He’s recovering at home, and I brought him one of my famous chicken salad sandwiches.”
“What did I do to prompt that?”
“You gave me confidence to look past this.” She lifted her withered arm. “I figured if I’ve got a friend like Tashlyn Younglove, then I must be pretty damn cool, definitely cool enough to win over Finn Harris. Of course, the fact that I can make a mean chicken salad among other kitchen delights doesn’t hurt. He’s kind of a man who appreciates good food. But it’s not just knowing you, Tash. You’ve said so many things to help build my self-esteem. Something I was sure I’d lost for good.”
I hugged her. “I’m the one that’s lucky, Everly.” I sat back and raised a questioning brow at her. “So, how did the visit go?”
A pink blush covered her cheeks. “Let’s just say I’ll be bringing him another sandwich tomorrow. Plus oatmeal cookies. Talking to Finn helped me forgive Jem for stealing you away too. Finn said if it hadn’t been for Jem, he would have drowned for sure. He’d been knocked out cold by the swinging log. My uncle, well that’s a different story. He was even telling me I should rethink having you as a roommate if you’re going to hang out with the town trash.”
I winced at the harsh words her uncle had used. “I’m sorry if I caused a problem, but your uncle is wrong. I know he’s known Jem for a long time, but I just know he’s wrong about him.”
“Don’t worry about Uncle Landon. I told him I’m a big girl who doesn’t need looking after anymore. He means well.” She gasped. “I almost forgot.” She hopped up from the couch and walked over to the small table in the entryway. She picked up an envelope. “Your aunt wrote you a letter.” She shook her head. “My mom’s away for months and I’m lucky if I get a phone call on Sunday night. You’ve been gone less than two weeks and your aunt has already written two letters.” She handed me the slightly tattered envelope.
It had been taped shut on the back. I laughed. “It looks like she sent it to Blackthorn Ridge by route through India. Apparently, she sealed it shut and then remembered something else she just had to tell me. She’d never waste a second envelope—”
“Let me guess,” Everly interrupted, “because of the trees?”
“Yep.” I rubbed my hand along the bottom. There was something solid inside. “Ooh, she sent me something. I hope it’s one her macramé headbands. I lost mine somewhere on the bus trip. If you don’t mind, Ever, I think I’ll go to my room and read it.”
“Not at all.”
I stood up, but she reached for my hand.
“Tash”—her tone had changed—“just be careful not to get heartbroken. No matter what you say about Jem, he’s never lacked attention from girls. It’s only the daring ones, mind you, because most of the girls in town are terrified of what would happen if their parents found them with Jem. Just keep a lock on your heart.”
“I will, Ever. Thanks.” I walked to the bedroom and shut the door. It had been my first moment alone since Jem had dropped me off. I closed my eyes and thought about his hands between my legs and how easily I’d submitted to his touch. And even more shocking, how easily he’d made me climax. My head was fuzzy with thoughts of Jem Wolfe, and it seemed that Everly’s last words of caution, to lock up my heart, had come too late.
I sat on the edge of the bed and kicked o
ff my shoes. I smiled at the return address where Carly had written “Greetings from The Grog” above the address. I ripped the tape off the envelope and pulled out the paper. A handful of shredded purple paper, Aunt Carly’s usual stationery, came out with it, cascading to the floor like a lavender snow flurry. I hadn’t opened the letter yet, but I could see the heavy-handed, scribbled words through the paper. They weren’t from Aunt Carly. My heart rose into my throat, and I could barely swallow as I willed myself to open the letter. My hands shook as I stared in disbelief at the hastily scrawled threat. “Leave town or you will die.”
Just like earlier in the sawmill, it felt like I was sitting in the middle of a b-rated horror movie, only instead of shoveling popcorn and waiting for the next opportunity to snap shut my eyes, I was the silly girl on-screen being warned by the audience not to go into the dark room. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why my arrival in town had become such a threat to someone. None of it made sense. Just like it didn’t make sense that Alcott Wolfe could have been involved in my dad’s truck losing control on a treacherous curve of the highway.
Between the extremes of the day, nearly dying an awful death, the giddiness I was feeling over Jem, and now the death threat from someone who obviously knew where I was living, I was sure I wouldn’t sleep much tonight. I was just glad to know that I wouldn’t be walking to the bus stop in the anemic light of dawn. Since this threat had come to the house, I needed to tell Everly. She’d soon be regretting her generosity in taking me in.
I changed reluctantly. The lingering scent of pine that always seemed to follow Jem was still on my clothing. For a brief moment, I allowed myself to push the ugly note from my head and think about being safe in Jem’s strong arms. So far, he’d proven to be anything but dark and sinister. Other than the potential of a terrible heartbreak, I felt safe with him. I was sure I could trust him. I just hoped my complete and utter infatuation with him wasn’t blinding me from the truth.
