Credence

by Penelope Douglas

  The tears stream down my face as I sit there, my orgasm rolling away and my body screaming with need.

  I can’t do this.

  I won’t survive the fucking winter.

  Jake

  This fucking girl.

  Her defiance and how she challenges me at every turn, her silent treatment over the past week like a screw twisting deeper and deeper into my skull while her beautiful, unhappy eyes at other times pull at me like hooks in my heart.

  This isn’t my fault. She was lucky I was there. Is that how she wanted to be made love to for the first time? Two at once?

  They don’t love her.

  Sure, they’re attracted to her, probably more than any woman, but Noah isn’t serious about anything and Kaleb doesn’t let anyone in. I was so happy when she came back after the funeral, but I was worried a winter with her would be too much of a temptation.

  For me.

  How the hell did I not consider the shit they would pull, too?

  And it makes everything worse when she doesn’t have the least bit of shame. She strolled downstairs the morning after, refusing to look at me or give me anything more than one-word responses, but otherwise, not displaying the slightest bit of embarrassment. Smiling at Noah when he poured her fucking juice and served her some eggs and looking gorgeous in her braids and baseball cap, her tight jeans and Kaleb’s belt fastened tightly around her hips.

  God, she’s nice to look at.

  The only reminder of me from the night before that she exhibited at the table was the wince on her face when she sat her ass that I’d spanked raw the night before down on the goddamn chair.

  My dick swells, just thinking about how much I wanted her then—half-naked in my lap and the sweet smell of her sweat as she took her punishment.

  I groan, shifting as I lean against the tree, the steam from my breath hidden inside my coat. A white tail flicks beyond the dune, and I slowly raise my hand, waving to Tiernan and the boys to focus their attention in that direction. The boys have been still-hunting for years, and definitely would’ve bagged this buck by now, but it’s time to break Tiernan’s cherry.

  She takes a careful, quiet step, hiding her breath like I taught her and gently raising her rifle. Normally, we’d be in one of the stands we’ve constructed over the years, but cold weather hunting could sentence us to days in a tree before we see anything. She has to learn to find her prey.

  Noah speaks in her ear, walking her through it. Aim, breathe, settle on your target, breathe… And once your body is in sync with the animal, fire.

  But she doesn’t. She lowers her rifle again and stands up straight.

  I flex my jaw.

  I head over, careful to step silently through the cold snow. I reach her and grab her chin, forcing her to look at me.

  But she pulls it away. “I can’t, okay?”

  “If you don’t, it’s jarred pickles for the winter.”

  “Leave her alone,” Noah murmurs. “I’ll do it.”

  But before he can turn to raise his gun, I interject. “She’ll do it.” I jerk my chin for him to go stand by Kaleb, who’s crouched down up against a tree. “She can pull her weight.”

  “Screw you,” she bites out.

  Noah hesitantly backs away toward his brother, keeping his scowl on me as I squat down.

  “Get your ass down here.” I pull her down with me.

  I lower my belly to the snow, the chill seeping through my camo, and I throw her a warning look.

  A little snarl curls her lips, but she lies down next to me, training her eyes on the buck through the foliage.

  Her white hat covers the tips of her ears, but the lobes are red, as is the tip of her nose. She wears two low pigtails, and I can see her eyes glistening with tears.

  Jesus Christ.

  “You wanna know what that meat you buy nicely packaged in the grocery store went through before it came there?” I growl at her. “These animals have a hell of a lot better life than the meat you buy, girl, so wise up and feed your goddamn family.”

  Her chin trembles as she stares at the animal, her jaw flexing. “I hate you.”

  “Not as much as you’ll love food in your belly.”

  She brings up the weapon, propping her elbows under her and looking through the line of sight.

  She squeezes the trigger, small sobs escaping her.

  She’s going to lose it. She’ll miss, because she can’t see through her tears, and the deer will bolt.

  ‘Tiernan,” I say. “Look at me.”

  The cloudless blue sky and the smell of ice surrounds us, but even now, looking at her innocent face and perfect lips, I feel a light sweat cool my pores.

  “Baby, look at me,” I tell her again softly.

  She turns her head, her gray pools meeting mine.

  I wipe a tear from her cheek. “If something happens to me—or the boys—I need to know you can survive up here.” I speak softly, swiping my thumb under her eye to catch another tear before it falls. “What we have in the pantry will only last so long. I need to teach you this, okay?”

  She trembles but nods, looking so sweet and vulnerable. God, my heart aches.

  I lean in, placing a kiss on her temple. “The thought of you unprotected kills me. Please do this.”

  She swallows and takes a deep breath, calming her tears and breathing before lining up her sight again.

  “Okay,” she whispers.

  I watch her, not the buck, and I’m mesmerized. So innocent and pure. Untouched and just coming alive for the first time. Something so big is just contained under her surface, and I want to feel it all come apart in my arms. Tiernan is a pulse in the house.

  She’s the pulse.

  Maybe I was jealous that night I found Noah on top of her and Kaleb looking at her like a starved animal. Or maybe I was afraid of what this would do to her. We all wanted her before the snow, and now she’s a constant reminder that she is all we have to look at the whole winter. I worry that the line I walk on, whether or not we really need to go without something pretty all winter, is starting to blur. If it’s hard now, how hard will it be to resist her as the cold, dark, and lonely months wear on?

  But really, I think what it ultimately comes down to is that I want her.

  And I shouldn’t.

  A shot pierces the air, and I blink, coming back to reality. She silently sobs as her head falls and her eyes close, and I grab my binoculars, searching the terrain for the deer.

  “She got it!” Noah shouts.

  Her breathing shakes as she quietly cries, and I know she’s done for the day. She won’t want to see it.

  “Go get it,” I tell them. “Take it home. We’ll follow.”

  The boys walk past, the snow crunching under their boots, and my body burns with the cold seeping through to my skin.

  “I didn’t want to disappoint you,” she says, head bowed and staring at the ground.

  “You didn’t.”

  She jerks her head toward me, her fierce eyes piercing me. “I did it, because I didn’t want to disappoint you,” she explains. “Why do I care about pleasing you? I don’t want to please you.”

  She looks away again, pulling off her hat and looking disgusted with herself.

  Loose strands of her hair fall in her eyes, and I want to push them away.

  My voice sounds strangled as I whisper. “Everything you do pleases me.”

  I could blame her all I want. Her beauty, her scent, her laughter and fight, her eyes when she smiles and how she makes us a little happier, the way even a garbage bag would look good on her as she walks around my house, but honestly, it’s just what I said. Every day I’m losing the will to resist and hating myself for it.

  And hating her more for being something I can’t have.

  “It’ll be easier next time,” I tell her.

  “There won’t be a next time.”

  “Not unless you want to eat.”

  She launches up and swings her fist, slamming me in the j
aw as she growls. Pain shoots through my face, and the next thing I know, she’s pounding on me as she cries.

  I turn my face away, trying to protect myself as I grab her wrists. Taking them both in my fists, I flip her over and come down on top of her, still feeling her body through the layers of clothes we wear.

  She wiggles her hands free, struggling underneath me, and blood starts rushing to my groin as she squirms and moves.

  “I hate you,” she gasps, hitting me. “I hate you. You’re a fucking joke.”

  I snarl, trying to catch her flailing fists. You little bitch.

  “My parents sent me to you because they hated me.” She tries to push me off her. “They wanted me to suffer, and you were the worst they could do to me.”

  “Maybe…” I bite out, cutting her off. “Maybe they felt bad about what they took from me, so they gave me you.” I grip the back of her scalp and pull her up to my mouth. “A payment on their debt. That’s what you are, Tiernan. A fucking payment.”

  Her body shakes as she looks up into my eyes, that same desperate passion I saw in the kitchen that night I first kissed her.

  She whispers against my mouth, tears still thick in her voice, “A payment you’ll never collect, because you’re too old and bitter to spend it right.”

  My eyes flare.

  And my dick is rock hard.

  I crush her mouth with mine, eating her breath and sucking her lips so hard she whimpers.

  But she kisses me back. Fuck, yeah, she does.

  I rip open her coat, stick my hand under her sweater and then under her shirt, filling my hand with her plump tit.

  She moans, turning her head left and then right, biting and kissing my mouth in a frenzy as she rips open my hunting pants and sticks her hand down my jeans, grabbing my cock.

  “Ah,” I groan, thrusting against her palm. “Tiernan.”

  She pumps me, dipping her tongue into my mouth to taste and feed, and the world is spinning behind my eyelids. I want her in my bed. I want her now.

  I press my forehead to hers, hugging her to me. She’s exquisite.

  And ours. Fuck her father.

  Our bodies start moving as I thrust into her hand and she rolls her hips to meet me, both of us panting and kissing until I’m ready to rip off her goddamn clothes, but it’s fucking freezing, and I can’t do this here. I don’t want to stop long enough to get her home, either.

  “Fuck, man, watch your step,” Noah shouts, and I suck in a frigid breath.

  She continues to trail kisses down my neck, but then she stops, both of us listening to the snow crunching with their steps.

  Shit.

  I let go of her breast and pull her shirt and sweater down before taking her hand off my dick. “Get in the fucking truck,” I bite out in a whisper.

  I stand up, seeing Noah walking behind Kaleb who has the buck slung over his shoulders, and I immediately turn, fastening up my snow pants.

  Fuck.

  She should be one of theirs. Why did I stop them the other night? If I had let them go, this wouldn’t be happening.

  Tiernan rises, and I take her gun and pick up my own, walking back to the trucks and feeling her follow me.

  “We’ll follow,” I tell the boys as they unload the deer into the bed of the black Chevy. “Get started on that deer.”

  “Yup,” Noah cheers, cracking open a beer as he strips off his outerwear.

  I start the other truck, turning on the heater as Tiernan opens the back door across from me and pulls off her coat and hunting pants, tossing them into the bed.

  I slam my door and round the truck, slipping off my coat and tossing it into the back with one hand and wrapping my other arm around her.

  I squeeze her, breathing in her hair as I hide us on the other side of the cab, out of the boys’ view.

  She turns around, sliding her hands under my shirt and up my stomach as I try to pull off her sweater.

  “Yo, Tiernan!” Noah shouts.

  I cock an eyebrow through the open door, at the frosted window. He can’t see us as I pull her sweater over her head, our bodies rubbing together as she unbuttons her flannel.

  “Ride with us,” he calls. “We have beeeeeer.”

  She pants, staring at my mouth, and I grab her hips, crushing her body to mine.

  “They can take me home,” she whispers over my lips. “If you want.”

  I groan, my fucking cock stretching painfully inside my pants.

  Taking her in my arms, I hug her to me again, kissing her deep. “No,” I mouth over her lips. “Stay with me.”

  She looks up at me, desperate, and nods.

  Working her jeans, I open them up and slide my hand down, stroking her pussy as she whimpers, gripping my shirt.

  I smile a little.

  “Get going!” I shout back to the boys. “I’ll bring her home!”

  My eyelids flutter at the soft, bare skin and the hot, little cunt sending heat coursing through my hand, up my arm, and through my body.

  God, she feels incredible. I trace my lips over her forehead, kissing her as I rub her. “Killing the deer isn’t the only part of putting food on the table!” Noah barks. “She

  needs to learn this!”

  I growl as she moans.

  “She’s pulling her weight today!” I yell. “Go!”

  I hear her soft laugh as she trails kisses up my neck. I close my eyes, hearing the other truck take off.

  Fuck yes.

  I grab the back of her neck and bring her in, covering her mouth with mine as her little pigtails hang on by a prayer. I move over her mouth as she hungrily nibbles mine, and I peer over, never taking my lips off hers as I watch the taillights of the other truck disappear over the darkening hill.

  The sun has already set. It’s going to be dark soon, but I don’t care.

  The truck rounds a bend and then…it’s gone.

  I whip off my flannel, and she pulls off my T-shirt as I dive for her neck and pull down her pants.

  I just get them over the hump of her ass, pulling her long underwear with them, and look down as I stroke her bare pussy.

  “No panties?” I breathe out.

  Her shirt falls down both arms, and she leans back into my hold, tipping her head back as my mouth grazes down her neck, down to her firm, beautiful breasts, and down her tummy to the V between her thighs. I lick and nibble, tugging on her skin, the warmth and taste sending my head spinning.

  She holds my head as I kiss her pussy and try to get her fucking tight jeans down her thighs.

  “I’m cold,” she gasps.

  I come back up, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her. “I can’t pause long enough to get you inside the damn truck,” I chuckle.

  She sucks my lips, eating me up, but pushes away after a moment and hops up into the truck and onto the seat. She leans back on her hands and looks me at me, giving me a coy, little grin as she holds out her foot.

  I smile and pull off her boot. Then I take the other one and toss them both into the bed. But as she backs up farther into the truck, I grab her ankles and pull her back down, her shirt hanging off one shoulder and the sight of her tight, hard nipples making my mouth go dry. I grab her jeans and yank them down her legs, tossing them into the front seat and she throws her shirt up there, too.

  I climb in.

  Slamming the door, I lean over her as she backs up to the other side, giving me room. I let my eyes fall down her body, the only clothing she has left is thigh-high white socks with a couple blue and white stripes at the top. She leans back on her hands but bends her knees up, crossing her legs at the ankles as her eyes fall, feeling shy.

  One pigtail drapes over her chest, and I take it, running it through my fingers.

  Please, someone stop me. Please.

  I take the back of her knee and pull her leg aside, spreading her thighs open for me. Her pussy, pink and tight and beautiful, sits there for the taking, but…

  Fuck.

  I drop my head, losing my
breath.

  “I’m holding onto my sanity by a thread here, Tiernan,” I grit out. “Stop me. Please, just stop me.”

  She arches up, leaving taunting little kisses on my neck, across my jaw, and up my chin to my mouth.

  I meet her eyes, seeing tears in hers.

  “You know why my parents sent me to you?” she asks, her voice barely a whisper. “Because you’re nothing for anyone to fear.”

  I tense as she continues her little kisses.

  “You would never take my inheritance before I was old enough to claim it,” she says, sick amusement in her voice as her fingers glide down my stomach. “It would never occur to you to force me to live here or,” she kisses my lips as she looks up into my eyes, “or have the balls to stand up to me—a de Haas.”

  I bare my teeth, my heart pumping wildly. Excuse me?

  “So don’t worry,” she breathes out. “I’m not afraid of you. You won’t take anything you want. You’re safe. Weak. My father said so.” And then she gives me a condescending smile. “I was never worried.”

  She comes in for another peck, and I jerk my lips away, glaring at her.

  He said that, did he?

  I shoot back, grab Hannes de Haas’s little girl, and yank her ass down, hearing her whimper as she slides down the seat.

  I dive down, sinking my mouth into her pink pussy and pressing her thighs wide for me.

  “Ah,” she cries out. “I was joking. I’m sorry.”

  I wrap my arm under one of her thighs and hold her to me as she arches her back and squirms.

  “You’re what?” I challenge, swirling my tongue in steady, hard circles over her little nub.

  “S-sorry,” she stammers. “I’m sorry, Jake. Oh, God.”

  That’s fucking right. I want that piece of shit to hear his little girl scream my name wherever the hell he is. I want him to know how much she loves her Uncle Jake.

  I suck her and lick, nibbling and kissing around her pussy and inner thighs and teasing her little hole with the tip of my tongue. She moans when I do that, and I do it again, savoring her taste and tightness. My cock bulges and seeps, and I continue eating her while I undo my hunting pants and jeans. Jesus. Just thinking about how tight she is…

  She digs her nails into her thighs, and I suck on her clit, chewing it gently as her stomach rises and falls, faster and faster.