by Jamie Begley
Bliss shivered in anticipation. She knew what was behind that zipper and how good he was at using what God had gifted him with.
She edged reluctantly away from him, glancing upstairs. Carrying the glasses into the kitchen, she placed them in the sink. When she turned around, Drake was standing a few feet away from her. She could tell what he had in mind from the gleam in his eyes.
“It’s time I went home.”
“Why?”
“I feel weird with the boys here.”
“Bliss, you wouldn’t be the first woman to stay the night here with me.”
She swallowed back the lump of hurt the remark made her acknowledge.
“It would be the first time I did, and I wouldn’t feel right.” She ran her hand through her short hair, realizing she hadn’t gelled it into spikes before she had left her house.
“Jace and Cal are both over eighteen. The only reason they’re still in high school is because Cal got behind when his mother became sick, and Jace got behind because he didn’t want to graduate without Cal. They’re attached at the hip. I didn’t give Jace too much shit about it because I knew why he was acting up. They’ll have enough credits to graduate in December but won’t receive their diplomas until the end of the school year. They plan on entering the service next fall.”
The thought of not seeing the boys around had Bliss feeling as if she already missed them. What in the hell was wrong with her? Why was she getting so attached to these males in such a short time?
“Which one are they planning on going into?”
“The Navy. I think Cash’s stories helped make up their minds. Cash said he still has some contacts in the service, and he’ll make sure they watch out for him.”
Bliss could see the worry he couldn’t hide.
“You can’t change their minds?”
“I don’t want to. Neither one of them wants to go to college. This town is dying. There aren’t enough jobs in the area. The Last Riders are trying, but they can’t employ the whole county. There are two smaller cities on the outskirts that have already died. In another twenty years, if something doesn’t change, Treepoint won’t be worth living in.”
“It’s not that bad,” Bliss protested. Compared to some small towns she had ridden through on the back of a bike, Treepoint didn’t have that deserted feeling.
“Yes, it is. I’ve lived here my whole life. It makes me sick to see what’s happening here. Danny Owens is the mayor, and he’s a piece of shit. He’s letting the town fall apart. The fucking sidewalks are crumbling, and he’s made no effort to fix them. Businesses that have dissolved are boarded up and falling down.
“The city council is even worse. It’s filled with a bunch of people who are too old and stuck in their ways to change. I would bet the money in my checking account that most of them are filling their pockets with money from town projects that aren’t being done.
“We used to have a huge truck that cleaned and washed the streets twice a week, but it broke down last year. A new one was supposed to be purchased. The council conveniently never brings it up in the meetings anymore. Dalton West is the senior member on the council. When I brought it up to him, he just said there wasn’t enough money in the general fund.”
“Elections are next year. Run for mayor.” Even in the short time she had known Drake, she had learned he was strongly involved in the community. He was always attending some meeting about the school or government planning.
“I stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning an election in this town.”
“Why? Everyone seems to like you.” Bliss didn’t think it would be as difficult as he believed. People came up to him constantly to say hi or to seek his advice when they were out.
“Because I wouldn’t bend over to kiss ass in order to get votes.”
“Maybe the town is ready for someone new. You won’t know if you don’t try,” she urged.
“Even if I manage to win the mayoral election, nothing will change if I don’t have allies on the city council.”
“It will if you can convince others in town who are as concerned as you to run.”
“There are three seats up for re-election. It would take all three to be on my side to force an outside audit and to get projects funded.”
“You have a year to figure out who those people could be and convince them.”
“You’re a smart woman.”
Bliss blushed at his compliment, moving to stand in front of him. “I better go before I change my mind.” She rose up on her toes to try to reach his mouth yet couldn’t quite make it.
His hands circled her waist, lifting her higher and meeting her halfway.
“I want you to change your mind.”
She expected a passionate kiss; instead, she was overcome by a tenderness she had never dealt with before. There was something there she had never felt before either, but she wasn’t sure what it was. She tried to put a name to the elusive emotion affecting her.
She wiggled until he placed her back on her feet.
“Drake, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Do you like me?”
“Of course.”
Bliss shook her head at him, disappointed. She started past him but was stopped.
“What was that look for? I answered your question, but you don’t look like you believe me.”
“Because I don’t. No one likes me.” Why would he be any different than anyone else?
“That’s not true. The Last Riders care about you. Jace, Cal, and I all do. Ask any woman in town I’ve been with. They’ll all tell you that I haven’t told them one lie when I was seeing them.”
He wasn’t making it better. Each word spilling from his lips was reinforcing the conclusion she had come to on her own: he was blowing smoke up her ass.
The Last Riders had tolerated her because she was always game for anything they wanted. Did she believe any of them liked her when they weren’t humping her? Hell no. If she were to ask any member of the club what her favorite color was, not one male or female would be able to answer the question.
“The Last Riders don’t care about me. They threw me out of the club. Jace, Cal, and you haven’t known me long enough to know if you like me or not.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes!” Bliss snapped. “I’m no different than any other woman you’ve fucked in town.”
Drake burst into laughter.
“Are you laughing at me?” Hurt, she tried to leave again.
“Bliss, I was the one trying to take time to get to know you better. You’re the one who was determined to keep everything on a physical level. Let me remind you that I have made it perfectly clear to you that I want to have a relationship with you, which is what I thought you were agreeing with when you called. Now you’re getting angry at me because I told you I care about you?”
Bliss had to admit she might have overreacted and was deathly afraid to admit why.
“I need to leave.”
Drake easily lifted her so he could look into her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” That time, his question was a demand.
“I think I like you, too.” She was frightened to reveal her feelings out loud, both to herself and Drake. Men liked the chase, losing interest once they had achieved their goal.
She liked that he asked her first what she wanted to eat when they went out. She liked that he didn’t look at other women when they went out, rode a bike, and damn, she really liked the way he treated her as if she had the cleanest reputation in town. Most of all, she really liked the way he kissed her.
She kept expecting him to become bored and make an excuse to leave. She dreaded the thought that each time she saw him would be the last. It was like standing on a railroad track, waiting for a train to hit you.
His expression gentled. “And that’s bad?”
“Time will tell.”
She wasn’t a schoolgirl who believed in sweet endings. She was a grown woman wh
o had watched others win the men in her life.
Could she handle letting another man she cared about move on to another woman when he tired of her? As always, she was going to take the ride and hope for the best. She was going to take the risk that Drake was being straight with her. What did she have to lose at this point?
The tiny little seed of hope that wanted to believe that someone could love her.
Chapter 10
Here. Now.
Bliss smiled at the text message on her phone then asked Ginny, “Can we finish this later?”
Ginny opened another tub of ornaments they had carried down from Willa’s attic. Willa had come by and picked up several boxes of Christmas decorations earlier, telling them they were welcome to use the rest.
“Sure,” she said. “I need to get back to work anyway. We can decorate the tree tonight, if you’re not busy with Drake.”
“He’s having dinner with a friend of Cash’s tonight. The boys are going along, too. Drake wants them to know what they’re getting into before they sign on the dotted lines.” She had made the suggestion to Drake. Having listened to too many horror stories of the men in the club, she felt the boys needed to know how their lives would change. The boys who left Treepoint would not be the same two coming back.
It had shocked her when Drake had taken her advice and called Cash, asking him if he knew someone who would give the boys the real facts of joining the service. Cash had set the meeting up with a friend who was willing to drive in from Ohio, where he was on leave.
“Are they getting nervous?
“No, but Drake is. I think his supportive parenting view is slipping. I don’t blame him. I just wish they would at least do a semester of college before they decide.” She had grown attached to the two boys in the short time she and Drake had spent together.
During Thanksgiving, she had thought she would miss being with The Last Riders. She had, but it had been in a melancholy way, not the heartbreaking way she had been dealing with since she had left.
Bliss went to the closet, taking out her jacket.
“Take mine. That one isn’t warm enough.”
Bliss put hers back on the hanger, taking Ginny’s spare winter coat.
“Why don’t you buy yourself a thicker coat? That one’s too big for you.”
“Why should I spend the money when I can borrow yours?” Bliss quipped.
Ginny never complained about her making the spare coat her own since she had purchased a newer one for herself when she had gone shopping for Willa’s thank-you gift.
The awkwardness of the first few months they had lived together was gone. Since then, they talked more easily and had begun watching her favorite show, Vikings, together. Each of them picked their TV boyfriends. Surprisingly, it was Ginny who kept their conversations from reaching a personal level.
“That’s true. I can’t argue with common sense. See you later.”
“Bye.” Bliss rushed out, not wanting to keep Drake waiting. At least the roads were cleared. The city council’s penny-pinching hadn’t extended to snow removal yet.
Drake’s car was the only one outside his office building when she parked.
As she walked on the sidewalk toward his office, she noticed what Drake had been concerned about. The town was beginning to look neglected. The sheriff’s office and Lucky’s church were the only two buildings that had fronts appearing cleaned and cared for. Even the diner looked like it could use a fresh coat of paint.
Bliss didn’t knock before entering Drake’s office where she simply stood, trying to catch her breath. Whenever she looked at him, it made breathing difficult. She had always been drawn to strong men, and Drake’s size and confidence aroused her on an elemental level that grew each time she was with him.
“What took you so long?” Drake was sitting behind his desk, wearing a dark suit with a dark gray shirt.
Bliss frowned, glancing at the clock on his desk.
“I was joking.” The irritation on his face and in his voice disappeared. In its place was an expression that came damn close to the one her favorite TV boyfriend had perfected.
“Oh.”
“Come here.” Drake leaned back in his leather chair.
She unbuttoned the heavy coat as she walked around the corner of his desk. When she stepped within reach, he leaned forward, using the front sides of the coat to tug her down onto his lap.
“You have no sense of humor.”
“I didn’t think it was funny,” she told him, lowering her lashes so he couldn’t see the hurt in her eyes. She used to love to play the same game with Shade and had been thrilled when he would punish her for taking too long. Many times, she would be the instigator so she would get the attention she wanted from him. From Drake, though, she kept waiting for the train to hit. Some days, she swore she could almost hear it coming, as if fate was bearing down on her to pay her back for being such a bad person.
“Sweet Bliss, what am I going to do with you?”
“Do you need me to make some suggestions?” she teased, shrugging off her feelings as unimportant as her lips went to the corner of his mouth, her fingers playing with his belt buckle.
Drake brought his hand to her hair, holding her in place as his mouth captured hers and took the kiss she was being stingy with. His tongue wrapped around hers before sucking it into his mouth.
She fucking loved the way he tasted, like a dark, rich brandy and something else that had her lifting her head in surprise.
“Have your cousins been in for a visit?”
“Greer needed a favor, and he always brings his best when he’s bargaining.”
Bliss went to her knees between his thighs. “Did you save me any?”
“I might have one or two in my desk, but I wouldn’t be part Porter if I didn’t make you bargain for it.”
Bliss unbuckled his belt. “I think I might have something you would be willing to bargain for.” Reverently, she pulled his already-thick cock out of his pants.
Leaning over, she licked the broad tip, and Drake sucked in a deep breath as his ass came slightly off the chair.
Bliss rolled her tongue around the tip, wondering how in the hell she was ever going to fit him in her mouth.
She scooted closer on her knees as she stroked his cock with a soft touch while her mouth circled the head. His hand went to the back of her neck as she sucked him into the warmth of her mouth.
“Why do you wear so much hair spray?” He stroked her neck, making goose bumps rise on her flesh.
Bliss lifted her head so she could answer him. “I like knowing it will stay in place.”
“It’s definitely not going anywhere. You should let your hair grow out some. You would look hot as fuck with longer hair.”
She flicked her tongue against the slit of his dick. “You don’t think I’m hot now?”
A groan was her only answer.
Bliss used her tongue to give her hand enough moisture to slide slickly up and down his huge cock. Rubbing her breasts against his leg, she used every bit of the skills she had acquired from living with The Last Riders to wreck the control Drake never lost.
He kept his hand on her neck, making her hornier the more she sucked on him. She tried to take more yet couldn’t.
“Stop trying to take more than you can. The head is the most sensitive part, anyway.”
Bliss wanted to groan in frustration. Not many women would have tried to take more than the head, but she was determined to outdo any woman before her.
Relaxing her throat and breathing through her nose, she scooted even closer so she could change her angle. A surge of pride went through her when she felt him slide deeper in her mouth, reaching her throat.
“Son of a bitch!”
She wanted to grin when she felt him make himself still so he wouldn’t hurt her.
Gliding her hand down, she found his balls and squeezed them both. At the same time, she forced herself to swallow, tightening her throat around his thick cock. A second
later, his balls tightened as she felt the first taste of his climax.
When he was finished, she raised her head, giving the slit a last flick.
The dumbfounded expression on his face had her giggling.
“I take it you liked it?”
Drake opened his desk drawer, taking out a baggie with three joints. “I’m not even going to make you share.”
* * *
Bliss pushed the star with the revolving Santa sleigh down carefully on the top of the tree. It was so old and delicate she was afraid it was going to break.
Climbing down the ladder, she picked up the cord at the bottom of the tree. All the lights blinked then went out before coming back on in a twinkling rhythm.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Ginny placed the last ornament before stepping back to view the tree they had been working on for several hours. “It’s the prettiest I’ve ever had.”
“Me, too,” Bliss agreed. “Want some hot chocolate?”
“That sounds really good right now. I’ll make it.” Ginny used the toe of her tennis shoe to scoot an empty box out of the way.
“I will. You made the last cup. It’s my turn.”
“Okay, I’ll clean up in here, then.” Ginny began throwing the discarded bits and pieces of decorations they hadn’t used into the empty box.
Bliss went into the kitchen, humming “Jingle Bells.” There were three weeks until Christmas, but the snow outside and decorating the tree had put her in a festive mood.
The hot chocolate was almost done when she heard the doorbell. She assumed it was someone for Ginny since no one except Drake ever came by for her, and he, Jace, and Cal were having dinner with the Navy guy.
She fixed an extra mug in case Ginny wanted to offer one to her guest. Then, carrying them carefully into the other room, she kept her eyes cast down so she wouldn’t spill any of the hot liquid.
She froze when she glanced up after coming through the kitchen doorway.
“There she is now. How have you been, Bliss?”
Bliss’s fingers trembled. She didn’t feel the hot liquid scalding her fingers or care that it dripped to the carpet they had just cleaned for the holidays. Her attention was focused on the man sprawled comfortably on the couch, making himself at home.
