Suspended

by Taryn Elliott

  He nodded toward the ladder that made up the end of the scaffolding. She climbed, reaching for Shane’s outstretched hand. God, he was even more breathtaking up close. What was it about a sweaty man doing manual labor?

  He tapped the brim of her hat. “What have you been up to? I missed you this morning.”

  “I was at the stables. Needed to clear my head.”

  He raised a brow.

  “Your things made it to the B and B. I’m going to have to tell my mom what’s going on.” She really didn’t want to do that until she was home.

  “You should have told her a while ago, Kendall.”

  The skin between her shoulders tightened. She hated when he called her by her name. Lately he only did it when he was perturbed. “I know. I just know how she’s going to react, and I don’t want to deal with it.”

  “How’s she going to react?”

  Possible tantrum, definitely with a million questions, and quite probably with tears. “It’s going to be a long phone call.”

  He fired up the torch and put his protective glasses on. “Is there anything I can do?” Already his attention was on the large wood plaque under Doyle’s iron brand. The WD was an exact replica of the one on the center of the gates on the front of his house as well as the logo used on everything at the farm.

  “I’ll take care of it,” she said.

  “Are you sure?”

  She leaned on the railing of the small cage they were in. With each pass of his torch, the grain in the wood bloomed to life. The engraved portion stayed in the stark-white pine. “It’s beautiful.”

  His lips kicked up at the corner as he continued his gentle sweeps.

  He cared. There was love in the work he did. The men inside the stables scurried around with intent. He didn’t micromanage them; he just made sure they knew that each job was important. Stern Shane was someone she would listen to as well.

  She had listened. And she’d definitely obeyed a few orders. Her nipples tightened at that thought. She turned back to Shane and waited until he turned off the torch.

  He pushed the glasses on top of his head. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  She flashed him her carefree smile and hoped to God it met her eyes. “How could I be anything but okay? I’m watching a hot guy play with fire. Can’t get much better than that.”

  He frowned. Before he could question her further, she went on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Am I going to see you tonight?”

  He looked over the chaos below, then swiped away the sweat on his forehead. “I’m not sure. If I want to keep to this five-day deal, then I have a lot more work to do.”

  She crossed her arms. “Then I think I’m going to go into town with Evelyn. A bunch of people are going.”

  “Good. I don’t want you sitting around up at the house.”

  “It’s getting a little old.”

  He mirrored her stance. “I’m doing the best I can, Kendall.”

  She touched his arm. “I know you are. I’m just restless. You know, anxious to get back.”

  “Right.”

  All that mattered was getting through the next few days. Not her ridiculous epiphany, not the sexy way he stood there all confused and unsure of how to handle her, and definitely not her stupid mood this afternoon.

  She gave him another smile and monkeyed her way under the bars to find the ladder. He gave her a quizzical look as she scrambled to the ground and headed for the main house.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Shane kneaded the tight muscles along his neck and shoulders. All he wanted was his bed and five hours down. Three days of fourteen-hour shifts were getting to him. He didn’t mind pitching in, especially with the bonus Doyle was offering to get this job done ahead of schedule.

  But the moment Kendall had left him that afternoon, he’d been preoccupied. He couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong, but he knew something was up. Maybe she was just worried about the end of the trip or explaining things to her mother, but his gut said it was more.

  He swung open the heavy front door to the retro kitsch bar. STARRLA’S in a garish pink-and-blue neon that reminded him of Cocktail, the movie, filled the wall as soon as he walked in. And with the neon came hair metal that matched it.

  Skid Row played at top volume, and a crush of women dominated the dance floor with a few straggler males on the outskirts trying to get into the action. He recognized a handful of the men from his crew.

  The sharp tang of mixing perfumes and colognes exacerbated his headache. Instead of turning around and heading to his truck, he pushed his way to the bar. At least he could get a beer while he checked in on Kendall.

  He’d lost track of the days since they’d started this trip. Every day felt like the same with a new backdrop. The Friday crowd was dense with people looking for a good time with a few troublemakers with short tempers sprinkled in. When he got elbowed in the chest a third time, he decided he was going to be one of the short tempers.

  Christ, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in a bar on a Friday night. He wasn’t sure how he was going to find her in this place. It wasn’t a large place, but it was packed with people.

  The sharp stomp of boots made him turn around. Blondie’s sultry and yet strangely crazy voice carried on a wave of girls who decided it was time for a sing-along. A whip of blonde hair drew his attention.

  A howl of bawdy laughter sharpened his focus. A group of men surrounded a table along the edge of the dance floor. Two blondes and a brunette were on the table singing their hearts out.

  With arms stretched to the rafters, one of the blondes spun around. A filmy white shirt with far too few buttons snapped hugged Kendall’s lean body. A bright pink bra peeked through the material, and a denim skirt skimmed low on her smooth belly and high on her muscled thighs.

  Arousal, jealousy, and anger crashed through him in equal parts. She laughed and flung her hair back as the music switched to another stomp-along song that advertised all she wanted to do was dance. She bumped hips with the brunette he finally recognized as Evelyn.

  At least she was with people she knew. He downed a large swallow of beer and reined in the anger. Until he saw Lon and his two lackeys egging her on. When Lon reached for Kendall and she waggled a finger at him with a teasing smile, Shane saw red.

  He snapped the bottle down on the bar and cut through the dancers without breaking his stride. The minute Kendall saw him, her smile faded, but her hips didn’t stop moving. God fucking dammit, they undulated slowly. She dragged her fingertips between her breasts, and another button popped, leaving the pink cup on display.

  For everyone.

  Lon slid his hand along her stomach, and Shane lunged forward. Kendall twisted out of the shithead’s hold and switched places with the other blonde who was much happier to receive his attention.

  Lon tried to push the girl away and go for Kendall again, but she hopped off the table and cut her way through the crowd toward Shane. Knee-length boots with an unbelievable heel made her hips twitch as she walked, and his cock hardened.

  “You came.”

  He lowered his head to her ear; then his lips buzzed the shell. “Good thing you can handle yourself, Sunshine. I was just about to rip Lon’s arm off and stuff it up his ass.”

  She giggled. He jerked back. He was expecting a slap or at least a growl, but no—as usual, this woman defied all logic. Her eyes were shiny with at least a few beers, and her lips were slick with some filmy lipstick that made him think of all the things he could do to her mouth.

  She backed onto the dance floor. He stiffened, but she gripped his hands and drew him into the amoeba-like pulse of people.

  He didn’t dance. He stood still as she slithered her way around him. An old Bon Jovi song came on, leaving her bouncing and singing along to the words. His lips twitched as she tried to get him to move against her. He liked the undulation of her hips against his thigh and her aggressive touch, but she sure as shit wasn’t getting him
to dance. No matter how cute she was. He grasped a handful of her wild curls and hauled her in closer.

  Doing one better, she jumped into his arms. He braced himself as her knees dug into his hips, and her arms slid around his neck. He’d started off tired and angry, and now his palms were filled with the sweet curve of her ass and the corn-silk softness of her hair teasing the backs of his hands.

  She tunneled her fingernails up the back of his neck, clutching him tighter in that way that made his knees turn liquid. Christ, she was so fucking beautiful. Life and laughter lived in her warm chocolate eyes. She mouthed the words to the song. If we stand side by side, there’s a chance we’ll get by, and I know that you’ll live in my heart till the day that I die.

  And when her lips found his, he wanted to believe it. He wished to God he was her man for more than just a few weeks. The whoop from the girl beside him brought reality crashing in on him. He let Kendall slide down his torso and set her gently on the floor. With his hands anchored in her hair, he took one last taste before finally letting her go.

  Heavy-lidded dark eyes met his. She did an about-face and reached behind her for his hand. He twined his fingers with hers and let her lead him through the crowd. She waved at Evelyn and the other girl who were still on the table holding court.

  Once they got outside, she continued to drag him along. The night air was crisp, and the moon hung nearly full and bright as a spotlight. “Is it wrong that I missed the truck?”

  “Is that right?”

  “I did.” She turned to hook her fingers into his other hand so they were completely tethered. “I would like to get into your truck right now and climb on your lap and fog up the windows until we can’t think.”

  Not thinking sounded like a damn good idea. All he’d been doing today was thinking. It was exhausting. And here she was—simple beauty with her siren’s smile. She’d allow him to shut off and bury himself inside her without promises. He could lose himself in her until sunrise. But he wanted to give her promises, and that scared the hell out of him.

  He’d been close to so few people in his life, all of them now gone save for Kain. He didn’t want to use Kendall as a scapegoat for the loneliness that had been following him around since his father’s death—and before that, if he was honest with himself.

  He hit the locks on his key fob and couldn’t stop the grin when she clambered into the truck and turned to him with a come-hither finger. Her hair curled into the barely-there blouse; her nipples jutted through the filmy bra and paper-thin texture of her shirt. He climbed inside and reached up to flick the dome light off. He settled in the middle of the bench seat, then dragged her across the seat to sit on his lap.

  She shivered in his arms.

  “Do you want me to put the heat on?”

  She shook her head and reached under his shirt, pushing it up his chest and over his head. “I’ve been thinking about this chest since I saw you this afternoon.” Her palms slid over his shoulder and across his chest. She dragged her nails through the light swirls of hair around his nipples until he hissed. She lowered her mouth to one nipple and circled the tip with her tongue. Her breath fanned across his skin, raising all the fine hairs on his arms. “Where’s the rosary?”

  He groaned, trying to wrap his mind around answering such a simple question. Except she repeated the same motion over his other nipple, followed by a tiny bite, and the answer floated away.

  She moved over to the middle of his chest and nosed along the ridge of muscle. “I like feeling the beads on my skin when you’re over me.”

  “Fuck, Sunshine. I put it away when I’m working.”

  He could feel her smile into his skin as she moved up to his clavicle to flick the little dip there before she sucked and kissed her way up his neck. “You cleaned up.”

  He tipped his head back to let her have more access. “The beard was getting too thick.”

  She swirled her tongue around his Adam’s apple before nuzzling her cheek against his jaw. “I like the scruff. It’s soft and a little prickly. When I see myself in the mirror after we make—after we have sex, I can see the whisker burn around my mouth, along my neck, and sometimes on the undersides of my breasts. I like that.”

  Her hiccup over the words gave him the first strings of focus. He grasped for a few more, dragging himself off the sensual cliff she put him on. The dangerous glitter in her eyes hardened his dick.

  Times like this he wanted to give her everything. She made him feel clumsy and rough, and yet she seemed to like that best. They had so few days left, and he wanted to offer everything he had.

  He reached between them and brought her fingers up to his mouth. He scraped his teeth over her wrists, releasing one hand. “Undo my buckle.”

  She grinned. “That’s exactly what I had in mind.”

  He nuzzled along the fragile skin of her wrist and felt her pulse flutter. She pulled the end of his belt out of the loops of his jeans and tugged to release the pin. The chink of his buckle was the only sound besides her soft breathing. He hissed as her cool fingers slid into his jeans to undo the top snap.

  “Unzip me.”

  She dragged the tab down over the bulge of his dick and sac in their strangled position. “If you let me have my other hand, it would go faster.”

  “I don’t want it to go faster. I want it to go so slow you’re screaming by the time I finish with you.”

  Her huge eyes glittered in the moonlight as he flicked his tongue over the center of her palm. He trailed his thumb along the underside of her forearm to the bunched sleeve of her shirt and across to the tiny buttons. He dragged the backs of his knuckles over her breast.

  “Pull my belt free, Sunshine.”

  She looked up at him as she grasped the end of the buckle and slowly pulled. She held it in front of him, her teeth gnawing on her lower lip.

  “I know what you want.” He took his belt and transferred it to his other hand, then removed her hand from his zipper and drew it behind her back. Her eyes went wide, and her nipples tightened under the moon-spun fabric. He’d never thought to make a woman immobile during sex until Kendall. He always liked the way a woman wiggled and squirmed under him or on top of him, but Kendall made him want to bind her so he could have his fill.

  He wanted the time to taste, to feel her tremble under his touch. The bar was only a few hundred yards away, and people littered the front steps to smoke, but he and Kendall were in the shadows at the back of the parking lot. His truck was too big to fit in the regular spots, so he’d had to make his own.

  He’d never been so glad for his monstrous, gas-guzzling truck.

  He brought her other arm behind her. By touch, he cinched his belt around her wrists. “Lace your fingers.” She did so, and he wrapped the tail through the buckle, tucking the pin away so she wouldn’t bruise.

  As always her eyes got huge, and her chest rose with each ragged breath. He rolled the little excuse of a skirt up until it pooled at her waist. He leaned her back against the dash. Two tiny buttons held the blouse together, leaving her breasts cupped in the bright pink.

  She watched him intently as he snapped the top button open with his teeth. She jerked under him, arching closer. He tongued open the second and smiled at the front clasp of her bra. “I do love your choice in bras tonight.”

  With a shallow breath she laughed. “The look on your face earlier said otherwise.”

  “When it’s for me, I like it. When someone like Lon is drooling over you…” His mood darkened. “I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

  “I don’t care how he looks at me. I only care about how you look at me.” She licked her lips. “Right now you look like you’re ready to eat me alive, and that’s what I want. I don’t want to think about anyone else.”

  He released the catch of her bra, and her small breasts were freed because of the arch in her back. With an unsteady hand, he smoothed down her neck, tipping her head back so he could see the elegant lines as he felt them. He could feel he
r swallow under his fingertips as he slid between her breasts and down until he could grasp her hips in both hands.

  He circled the undersides of her breasts with his chin and watched her nipples bead in the dim light. Her skin looked like porcelain under the heavy moon. Smooth and perfect with raspberry-tipped breasts pouting up for him. He covered one and sucked hard.

  She bucked off his lap. He pushed her underwear aside and slid two fingers inside her. Silky wet, she coated his hand as he pulsed within the swollen tissues of her pussy. His cock strained against his underwear.

  “Fuck, Kendall.”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  He tried to slow down. His jaw ached from grinding his molars together to fight back the growls. She left him stripped bare. He might as well be the one bound. He wanted to climb inside and soak in that intrinsic slice of sunshine that lived within her skin.

  He didn’t have a condom with him, so he’d have to be content with watching her fall apart around his hand. Restless hips undulated against him in sinuous circles. She was splayed across his dash, her forehead kissing the window as she writhed above him.

  Fitting a third finger inside her pussy, he hissed and hammered into her. She clenched around him, and God, he wanted it to be his cock.

  She ground down on his hand. “Harder. I need more.”

  “I didn’t plan this.” His voice came out more of a growl. “I don’t have anything.”

  She rose on her knees. “I don’t care.”

  He pressed his cheek against her chest, then pulled her upright. With his hand trapped inside her, she shifted back and forth. He brought his other hand up to cup the back of her neck until their gazes collided. “I care.”

  “I’m protected. Girl stuff,” she said on a pant. “I’ve been on an IUD since I was twenty.”

  “You can’t—”

  “I’ll chance it.” Her dark eyes were wide with intent. “I trust you.”

  He shook his head. The one thing he’d wanted was to feel her wrapped around him without any barriers. And here, he could have that. He flicked his thumb under her clit. “I want to. God, I want to. But I don’t want to take any chances with you.”