Suspended

by Taryn Elliott

She tucked her chin lower into the blankets, and her calf stroked along his leg. He tried to focus on the butter-light sun peeking around the cliffs as it burned off the fog, but her hand brushed his belly and zeroed in on the ridge of his cock under his zipper. He ground his molars together. “C’mon, Sunshine. Time to wake up.”

  Kendall moaned into his neck. “It can’t be morning.”

  He rubbed his ear against his shoulder to stop the buzz of warmth and the soft teasing of her voice from distracting him. “Oh, but it is. And we’ve got to get on the road. Nevada won’t get driven across by magic.”

  She propped herself up on her elbow. The wide neck of his shirt slid across her collarbone and uncovered half her shoulder. She was heavy-lidded and soft from sleep, and he wanted nothing more than to settle in and spend a lazy day with her. He must have stared just a touch too long because her smile transformed into a sexy smirk. She pushed a wild hank of curls out of her eyes. When it all fell forward again, she groaned. “Still want me to keep my hair down?”

  They weren’t tight curls. Just wild waves that seemed to have a mind of their own. “Do you do anything I ask anyway?”

  She drilled her finger into his chest. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  He caught her hand and drew it up to his mouth. He nipped the webbing between her thumb and forefinger before letting her go to sit up. If he didn’t get up now, he wouldn’t. “We’ve got a long drive ahead.”

  She lifted the sleeve of his T-shirt and scraped her teeth over his shoulder. “Vegas?”

  He focused on the mountains and the birdsong. On anything but how bad he wanted to lie back and lose himself in her again. “Too far south.” He looked down at her. “This leg of our tour across America is going to be boring.”

  She reached for her jeans. “We’ll find something.”

  He swallowed back a groan when she rolled up onto her knees. She’d changed into a pair of sleep shorts with miniature Tweety Birds all over them that she’d picked up before the trip. They were ridiculous and hugged her hips like a second skin. Warner Brothers cartoons should not induce a boner.

  He hiked his jeans on and stuffed his feet into his boots before jumping over the side of the truck bed. Remove the temptation, and just maybe they’d get out of there without him doing something stupid. He dragged out two bottles of water, her knapsack, and his toiletry kit from the truck.

  “Heads up.”

  She looked up and caught her bag. “Thanks.” Unruffled, she tucked the water bottle in her bag. “I’m going to go do the nature thing. I’ll be right back.”

  He did the same and started packing up the truck. A few minutes later she came back with jeans and a dark red shirt on, her hair tucked through a black hat. She looked like she was sixteen, for fuck’s sake.

  “Do I get my shirt back?”

  She shook her head and opened the passenger door. “I told you it was mine.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yep.” She put her bag in and stood on the running board. “Well, come on. The desert awaits us.” She slapped the top of the cab and grinned before disappearing into the truck.

  He shook his head and stowed the rest of their gear. If he didn’t know firsthand just how female she was, he’d have thought she was any of his buddies. No muss, no fuss, and as easygoing as a summer afternoon. Both of their lives were about to change, and she acted like she was on vacation. Then again, wasn’t he treating this like a vacation? He should be on a straight path to New York with as few detours as possible.

  “Idiot,” he muttered and jumped to the ground. He got in the truck and started it. “Got everything?”

  She sipped her bottle of water, her phone in her hand. “Yep. Just checked in with my mom.”

  “Have you told her yet?”

  “I…” She sighed, and a frown creased between her brows. “I’ll have to since your supplies are going to the house.”

  He backed down the pitted road. “Don’t you think she deserves to know?”

  “I’m going to tell her, but I wanted to do it face-to-face. It’s not exactly an over-the-phone kind of conversation.”

  “Didn’t you do that with your friend?”

  She turned in the seat. “Bells is different. It doesn’t affect her life. She just has to be there for me.”

  He frowned. Wasn’t that a parent’s job? How many times had he gone to his father to help him figure out problems over the years? From what he could tell, Kendall acted more like a mother than a daughter. She was a grown woman and independent as hell, but something felt off there.

  He pulled out onto the main road. The park was full of cars and families. Trees lined the road, and blue skies burned off the pearly gray of the morning. The sun glowed behind the mountains, and it felt more like early October instead of the middle of November. She sat forward. “Oh, wow. It’s gorgeous.”

  The drive was familiar. It had been a good fifteen years since he’d been here, but memories overlapped. His mother’s wide smiles and shining dark eyes. Camping and hiking had filled their summers until his mother got too sick to travel.

  Kendall opened the window and unclicked her seat belt before leaning out. He reached over and grabbed one of the belt loops from her jeans. “What the hell are you doing?”

  She had her phone in her hands. “When am I going to see a view like this again? I need a picture.”

  “I’m driving, Kendall.”

  Instead of getting back inside, she grabbed on to the handle by the door and sat on the window frame. “You’re driving slow enough.”

  “Jesus.” He slowed to a crawl. “Get back in the truck.”

  She wriggled back inside and sat down. “Spoilsport.”

  “Put your damn seat belt on.”

  She slid across the bench seat and held her phone up. “Smile.”

  He jammed his molars together.

  “There we go. Perfect picture. I wouldn’t want you to smile. It would make the picture look fake. Such a growly bear.” She waggled her eyebrows and got back on her side of the truck. “I can’t believe how amazing this park is. No wonder there’s so many families here.”

  Once upon a time he thought he’d bring his own family here. He gripped the steering wheel until his heart rate finally returned to normal. He focused on following the winding road out of the park. “Does Bradley look like this?”

  “Not all that different. The mountains aren’t quite as impressive, of course, but we’re close to the Adirondacks. So it’s really just a matter of perspective.”

  “How big is the Heron?”

  She turned in her seat, a stance he was getting used to. She seemed to need to face him when she talked. “You know just how big it is. I read the will, same as you did.”

  Spatially, he had a good idea. He’d been in the business long enough, but a feel for the converted house was different from what was in pictures and the not-so-impressive brochure he’d found online. It showed the square footage and the room rates, but it didn’t give him jack shit about what the Heron was all about.

  He glanced at her. “What’s your favorite part?”

  She smiled, and her eyes sparkled. “The dock. There’s a path that leads out to where we keep a few kayaks and things, but at the end of the dock, there’s a platform that I love to sit on. It’s got a lot of space for Adirondack chairs and loungers.”

  “Sounds nice.”

  “I want to restain it and seal it this spring. I’m hoping to make it a little oasis for families to hang out by the lake.”

  “And there’s a good amount of people that come to stay?”

  Her gaze slid out to the rows of evergreens that lined the road and dotted their way up the cliffs that layered in front of Yosemite Mountain. “We get plenty of business.” The pleasure faded from her voice.

  “That’s a good thing, right? Turning a profit is the point of running a business.”

  “Of course.” Her voice was cool. “Wouldn’t want to get in the way of that profit margin.”r />
  “We’re partners now, Kendall. Eventually we’re going to have to figure out if we want to stay partners or sell the Heron.”

  “Oh, I know. Can’t forget about the master plan.” She reached around into the backseat and drew her charger out of the pocket behind her seat. She plugged in her phone and folded her feet under herself. The light clicks of her typing were pretty clear.

  Subject closed.

  He focused on the signs for the highway. The endgame was a very real aspect of their relationship. He forgot that last night. It was far too easy to do when Kendall was in his space. Reminding her had been a dick move, but it was as much for her as it was for him.

  The next two hours were a lesson in silence. The radio was useless in the middle of the desert. “If you’re not going to talk to me, could you at least reach in the back and get my CDs?”

  She looked up. “Hmm?”

  “What are you doing on that phone?”

  “Reading.”

  “On that little thing?”

  She shrugged. “The first hour of flat desert was all I needed to see.”

  Since the dotted lines were blurring for him, he had to agree. “If you don’t want us to go off-roading, then put some tunes on.”

  She unclipped her belt and reached over the seat. “Where is it?”

  He swallowed a groan. Her denim-clad ass was far too tempting. What kind of freaking aphrodisiac did she have in her perfume? Fucking apples. “Should be right on the floor.”

  “You do realize I’m five-two, right?”

  “Can’t reach?”

  “Hold my leg.”

  “Christ,” he muttered. “We’ll just pull over at the next rest stop.”

  “Really? You’ve got forty-five miles in you with static?”

  No. He did not. “I thought you were reading.”

  “I was paying attention. I like to know where I am.”

  He slid his hand between her legs and gripped her behind her knee. “Okay.”

  Her hip hugged up against his shoulder. “Almost got it. Just…there.” She flipped up and tossed her head back. Her hat fell off, and all that hair exploded. His hand was lodged between her thighs.

  Fuck.

  He tried to pull his hand away, but she didn’t budge. In fact, she tightened her muscles.

  “How about we make a little pact?” She slid his CD case across his chest, her fingers splayed over the leather.

  Wary, he met her gaze. “What kind of pact?”

  She ran her cheek along his jaw and into his neck. “The Heron is waiting for us. That’s a fact of our situation. But let’s just enjoy these next few days. We’re just two people on a road trip.” She grasped the edge of his shirt and pulled it up, letting her nails run over his belly. “I like how you make me feel. How you make my body feel. Can we worry about that?”

  His cock swelled behind his zipper. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  “Nope. This is kind of new for me. I’ve never had a fling. Bradley isn’t exactly the type of place that you have no-holds-barred, no-strings, no-second-guessing sex in. Most of the men have known me since grade school.” She traced the skin between his belly and chest and found his rosary. “Been there, done that. At least with the ones who interested me.”

  He groaned. Her fresh innocence warred with her words. Of course, so did the wild excitement in her eyes when he tied her hands behind her back. What would she do if he used an actual tie and not her sweatshirt? Would she let him?

  With one hand on the wheel and the other in her hair, he tried to concentrate on the road. “Is that what you want from me?”

  She ducked her head and circled his nipple with her tongue. “We’re both unattached.” She nipped the hard tip. “You seem to want me as much as I want you.”

  Not possible. If he had his way, she’d be naked, and he’d be inside her as often as humanly possible.

  “So I was thinking we could just have fun and worry about New York when we get there.” She moved down to his belly, her tongue swirling around his navel. She thumbed open the button of his jeans. “Now keep your eyes on the road.”

  “Kendall.”

  She tucked two fingers from each hand into his zipper and peeled it back. He swore as she cupped her tongue around the head of his cock. Her hair slid along his belly, and her warm, moist mouth sealed around the tip of him. And then she sucked.

  He drew in a deep breath and bunched his fingers into her hair.

  THE LIGHT STING of his grip faded as quickly as it came. She wrapped her fingers around the base of him and lay across the bench. The rumble of the powerful engine, the intimacy, and the thrill of giving this man a blowjob in the middle of a stretch of desert kicked her heart into a gallop. She reached farther into his jeans and cupped his balls as she painted the underside of his shaft with her tongue. Salty and soft, his skin was addictive. The twitch of muscle and vein under her tongue, the moist air of her breath, and finally she took him as deep as possible.

  She looked up, her hair tangled in her view. The granite line of his jaw, the way his Adam’s apple worked, and the erratic tic of his pulse at his throat—all of it made her nipples bead and her pussy throb. He was so stoic, so incredibly closed off until she had her hands on him. The minute they met skin to skin, he was hers. She hummed around his cock.

  Mine.

  His fingers tightened in her hair again, and she felt rather than heard the deep growl from his chest. She freed him from her mouth. The steering wheel dug into her shoulder, and the zipper pinched the side of her hand, but she wouldn’t stop until his cum filled her mouth. She wanted him at her mercy as she was at his mercy most of the time.

  His hips shifted under her. His body was an instruction manual where his mouth never would be. She let him go and drew his sac into her mouth and looked up. The tendons in his neck were in stark relief. She hummed again, and his Adam’s apple bobbled. Fascinated with his body, she slid her palm up his belly and splayed her fingers, higher and higher until the cross tickled her hand and then finally her wrist.

  She bobbed her head, taking a little more of him with each pass. Her name was a guttural rumble that was ripped from his chest. She dug her nails into the hair-roughened skin that stretched over his chest as the first splash of his cum hit the back of her throat. His fingers twisted into her hair, and the pain was a final signal.

  She pumped him until he was empty, and his taste was hers.

  Until the moment faded and his body relaxed. She watched each piece of him unfurl—shoulders eased, his neck relaxed, his tendons faded. All except his ironclad jaw.

  She tucked him back into his jeans, let him adjust himself for comfort, and laid her cheek against his belly. His skin was hot to the touch as she nuzzled along the silky hair over his ridge of abs. She pushed his shirt up until she could taste the warm skin at the middle of his chest. The beads of his rosary so familiar and comforting. She pulled his shirt down and rose onto her knees to trace her lips over his neck and behind his ear.

  “The best part of a road trip.” She nipped his ear and backed herself up and into her seat. His eyes blazed fire in the evergreen coolness. So rough around the edges, so determined not to show an ounce of just how pretty he was, but nothing could disguise his amazing hazel eyes.

  Instead of letting her sit down, he dragged her back and latched his mouth over hers. Surprised, she gripped the dash. “Shane!” She laughed into his mouth.

  He pulled her hair until her neck was displayed for him. He glanced at the road and drew the tip of his tongue along her neck and to her ear, the same way she’d done to his. Her pussy clenched. Being manhandled shouldn’t turn her on like it did. Damn that man.

  His fingers slid out of her hair and down her back. “That’s not going to be enough.”

  No. Enough didn’t seem to be a word they could associate with each other.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw the sign for a rest stop. “Just how fast were you going?” How long had she gon
e down on him?

  He nipped her ear. “I have no idea.”

  She smiled and eased back to her side of the couch. “I think we could use a break.”

  He nodded. His fingertips dug into his thigh. She wasn’t sure just what there was between them beyond the sexual napalm but decided not to care at the moment. She needed to clean up and get a fresh pair of panties on. The man was hell on her wardrobe.

  The last few miles were quiet. She squirmed in her seat. She was way too worked up for giving a damn blowjob. It was more for him than for her. Then why was she ready to crawl out of her skin?

  “Sunshine.”

  Her name was a growl. The first time he’d called her that, it had made her heart melt; now it was going to short-circuit her brain. She was fairly sure he didn’t realize he’d used his nickname for her again. Sanity said she should put out the little flare of hope, but she couldn’t.

  “Yes, Oscar?” She couldn’t stop the grin when his cheeks flushed.

  “You need to stop that.”

  “Stop what?” She shifted again.

  “We don’t have time for more than a drink and bathroom run.”

  She crossed her legs, using the seam of her jeans to ease the ache. “That’s fine.” Did her voice come out more a moan that time? The buckle held her hips into the seat, but if she tightened her inner muscles and pulsed just a little…

  He coasted into the rest stop. She glanced at the dash. It wasn’t even noon yet. The eateries, gas station, and little kiosks outside were teeming with people. He parked away from the rest of the cars, leaned over, and unbuckled her, then hauled her across the seat by her waistband.

  He buried his mouth into her neck and against her ear. “Are you sitting there getting yourself off?”

  She trembled. She’d never been so close without touching herself. “Maybe.”

  He pulled her up against him, his arm curling around her hip from behind. His long fingers slid into her stretched-out jeans. “Just rest against me. All we’re doing is cuddling in the truck.”

  “You don’t seem like a cuddler.”

  “Really? I believe it was me you wrapped yourself around last night.”

  She couldn’t deny that. She’d never slept more deeply in her life. She chose to think of it as the fresh air and not his strong arms.