He outright laughed. “I’ve corrupted you? Babe, at least you can fake it. I feel like a fifteen-year-old boy. I’ve had a steady hard-on for weeks. Every time I think of you I get an erection and there’s not always something around to hide it.”
“You do not.”
“It’s the truth. I think you’ve corrupted me.”
She leaned back in her seat and thought on that for a minute. “What are you making for dinner?”
“Pasta with homemade gravy.”
“How long does that take?”
He laughed again. “How about we worry about dinner after we address our other appetites? I could give a shit what we eat if it’s a choice between sophisticated dining and spending an evening naked with you. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want to cook for you, but you already have me well past half mast.”
“So … postpone dinner?”
“Definitely.”
She needed him to drive faster.
Arm stretched to the wheel, he glanced at her. “I like that dress. That should save us some time. You wearing panties under there?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
“Why don’t you do us both a favor and slide them off.”
Toeing off her flip-flops, she unbuckled her seatbelt and lifted her hips to slide her hands under her skirt and hitch the underwear down her legs, shimmying them off her body. She tucked them in the center console and buckled her seatbelt again.
He smiled at her, taking his eyes briefly off the road. “Good. Were they wet?”
Her lips pursed around a smile. “Maybe.”
He sped up along the back road. “And how about you? How do you feel?”
“Like I’ll burst the second you lay a hand on me.”
He slowed the truck and adjusted his position in his seat. “Pull your skirt up.”
“We’re in the car.”
“There isn’t a house for another two miles and I’ll tell you if I see a car coming.”
Hesitating—Oh, for Pete’s sake, just do it!—she hitched up her skirt.
“Let me see.” His focus shifted between her and the road. “Show me how wet you are.”
She licked her lips. “Trenton…”
“You heard me.”
Face burning, she traced a finger down the seam of her sex and held out her damp fingers, glistening with arousal. “There. See?”
The truck swerved as leaned across the seat and his mouth closed over her fingers, sucking them clean. “I love the way you fucking taste.”
He sped down the dirt road, each passing yard driving her pulse’s tempo. The truck skidded to a stop in front of the barn and he was out of the cab a second later. The passenger door wrenched open and Trenton blocked her escape.
Formidable hunger rolled into one dark, sexy gaze. His mouth crashed to hers, his tongue plunging deep as his beard scraped against her jaw. He had her hips pulled to the edge of the seat and his fingers deep inside of her in two seconds flat.
His mouth burned a trail of fire down her throat to her cleavage. “Lie back.”
He dropped to his haunches and pulled her knees over his shoulders, wasting no time. He gripped her thighs, pushed his fingers deep, and sucked her clit hard. Her body coiled and sprang with enough force to topple the Richter scale. She shouted his name as she came hard against his tongue.
He wrung every last drop of pleasure from her, not letting her come down until he was satisfied and his grip finally eased. His fingers slipped from her pulsing sex and he placed one final kiss on her swollen clit. Even that was too much. He stood and flashed a cocky male grin.
She stared at him—sure he was some sort of carnal God. Never—never in her entire life—had she ever experienced something so all-encompassing. She wasn’t even sure she could return a favor of such magnitude, but she’d be willing to try.
He reached for her hand and pulled her upright. She slid out of the truck on wobbly legs, her skirt falling back into place. He caught her weight and kissed her soundly.
Unbelievable. One kiss and she wanted him all over again. She playfully teased him, her tongue licking at his mouth, biting his lower lip and releasing it with a quiet snap.
“Your turn, Mr. Cole.”
His eyes blazed with liquid blue heat. “Inside. Now.”
Reaching for her lost shoe she skipped over to the door. He hastily unlocked it and they rushed inside.
Light filtered in through the large windows as he tossed his keys on the table by the door. He pulled off his boots and unclasped his belt buckle, tugging it through the loops of his jeans with a slither and snap that echoed through the quiet home. She flinched at the recognizable sound but didn’t let it break her focus as the belt dropped to the floor.
He stalked her through the den like a predator eyeing its prey. Her heart raced as he stepped onto the plush carpet in the center of the room and removed his shirt, flinging it carelessly onto the chair. She stood in front of him, practically panting with anticipation as he undid the snap of his jeans and rolled down the zipper.
Yanking her close, he kissed her, teasing her, tempting her. She melted in his arms and ran her tongue over the dark stubble of his throat. His body reflexively rocked forward, his hips bucking into hers.
Licking a trail of soft wet kisses down his tight stomach, tracing each delicious indent and muscular bulge, she flirtatiously nipped his flesh. Finally, she dropped to her knees and spread the V of his pants wide, tugging the material down his hips.
His cock sprang free, looking even larger than she remembered. She swiped the moisture at the tip away with her tongue. He groaned and she fisted him at the root. He pressed his hips forward, following her motions. Giving a cheeky smile, she licked the underside of his shaft.
His rumble of pleasure filled the room. She could tell he held his control by a fine thread. Tracing her tongue around the tip, she decided they’d endured enough and took him into her mouth.
His hand cupped the back of her hair as he sank deep and lifted on his toes. “Jesus fucking Christ…”
She moved up and down, working her tongue and lips over his sensitive flesh, his hips working in tandem with her mouth. Fingers brushed the hair away from her face while his other hand held tight to the back of her head.
Chloe wanted to give him something mildly close to what he’d given her. She shut her eyes and relaxed her throat and took him as deep as physically possible.
He let out a roar of pleasure and pumped himself in and out of her mouth. She surrendered all control to him, loving the way he growled her name in between moans of satisfaction, always seeming on the cusp of losing control, but never getting too rough or greedy.
Gripping her hair tightly, his cock throbbed over her tongue. “Fuck, Chloe, I’m gonna come.”
He tried to extricate himself from her grip, but she was having none of that. Holding onto him the same as he’d held onto her in the car, she dragged out his pleasure. He grunted and threw himself into the moment.
The first spurt of his release splashed the back of her throat and she swallowed. With another growl, his spine stiffened and his ass tightened under her grip. She milked every last drop from him, soothing him with gentle kisses and soft caresses as his legs trembled.
When she shyly looked up, he stared at her with an astonished expression. She didn’t know what to make of the look in his eyes until he dropped to his knees and kissed her with nothing less than pure affection.
When they broke the kiss he whispered, “You’re the most amazing woman I have ever met in my entire life. I’m never letting you go.”
Chapter Eighteen
They didn’t sit down to actually eat dinner until well after ten. Following their explosive homecoming, they rested on the floor for a while, simply holding each other. Eventually, their comforting caresses escalated into heavy petting. Without making it to the couch they made love on the carpet in front of the fireplace.
As the sun set, Chloe began to shiver. Trent threw some wood in t
he fire, got the blaze going, and pulled a blanket over them as they lay watching the flames and talking for hours.
When both their stomachs started growling he got up to put a pot of water on to boil. Grateful he made the sauce the day before, he set it on the stove to warm and returned to the floor with a few extra pillows and a bottle of wine.
They shared a glass of wine and almost made it to round three until he heard the water boiling and figured he’d better drop the pasta in. One more time on the floor and he’d be sending Chloe home with permanent rug burn.
As he mixed the salad and stirred the sauce he watched her meander around his home, wrapped in a blanket, cradling a glass of wine to her chest, touching his things, adding something that had always been missing to his home. He loved her. There was no doubt about it.
He loved the way she blushed, he loved the way she smelled, he loved that he could convince her to be daring, yet she always remained just a little bit cautious—sometimes even fragile. He loved the way she was with her children, the way she escaped a horrible situation and started over again when most people would’ve just settled for the hand they’d been dealt. He loved how she talked about her patients with such affection, yet kept the details of their private life private.
There wasn’t a single thing he disliked about her. He wanted to tell her all of this but wasn’t sure how or if it was too soon. Probably.
Never interested in sustaining a long-term relationship with a girl, it seemed odd he suddenly wanted long-term with Chloe. Rainbows and unicorns. His biggest fear was that she would find out his connection to Marcus and turn her back on him forever. The longer he waited the more his secret felt like a betrayal.
He couldn’t let that happen, so he decided to tell her the truth tomorrow at breakfast when they were both sober and wearing clothes. If they went out to eat, she’d have to listen to him, and by the time he explained how he’d done the right thing and told her ex to get fucked, she’d understand he was still a good guy.
After dinner, she helped him do the dishes and wrap the leftovers. Not seeing the point in replacing their clothes, he offered her his robe. He liked seeing her in his things, his robe, his home, his kitchen, his bed. He treasured these moments alone with her. Here, he saw a side he didn’t see when she was Chloe the mother, or Chloe the neighbor, or Chloe the doctor or friend. Here she was just Chloe, beautiful and his.
They showered and she fell asleep in his arms. Sleep wasn’t so easy for him that night. He desperately wanted to confess his feelings. He didn’t need to hear the words back. He just wanted her to know how he loved her. But until he confessed all, he couldn’t put that on her shoulders.
There wasn’t much in his neck of the woods as far as fine dining went, so the following morning he took her to a small diner on the outskirts of town. The drive wasn’t long, only ten minutes, but he was anxious and dreading the moment he’d make his confession.
On the way there she called Adam and Tommy to check on the boys.
“Everything good?” he asked as he parked the truck and she slipped her phone back into her purse.
“Yup. The boys are just getting up now.”
“Good.” Damn, he was nervous.
She pulled her purse off of the center seat and blushed when she spotted her panties from the day before. “Oh, my God, what if someone walked by and saw these?” She laughed. “I’ll tuck them in here for now.”
His smile died as she reached for the glove compartment. “Chloe, wait—”
“Jesus Christ!” She pressed her body firmly into her seat and stared into the glove compartment in horror. “Is that real? Why do you have a gun?”
He quickly shut the compartment. “I have to carry one for work.”
“To install security systems? Trenton, that’s not a small gun. You took Mattie to the store in this truck. Did you have a gun in here then? With my son?”
Clearly, she wasn’t a member of the NRA. “Chloe, calm down.”
“No, I’m not going to calm down. There’s a fucking gun in your glove compartment!”
He never heard her curse before. This wasn’t good. “Listen to me, doll. I have a gun because my job requires it. I’m licensed to carry it and I know how to use it. It isn’t loaded. I keep the bullets under my seat.”
“I don’t understand why you need a weapon like that.”
He took a deep breath. “Remember how I rescued that minor a few months ago?”
“What minor? Like a coal miner?”
“No, a minor, as in underaged girl.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about? What girl?”
“Remember, Georgia told you all about it that night at Adam’s…” His words faded away. “Right. You were drunk.”
“I don’t remember any of this.”
“I know. Okay.” He took another deep breath. “There was an underage girl who ran away. Her parents wanted to find her. The cops were looking into it, but her folks wanted to use every resource. Pete got a call, asked me if I was interested, it was good money, so I said yes. I found her, returned her to her parents, and then the cops followed up with any legal issues.”
“I thought you did security and taught self-defense on the side?”
This was going to bite him in the ass if she jumped to conclusions before he had a chance to sit down with her and rationally address their first meeting. “I do, but sometimes I also do stuff like … find people.”
His chest tightened as he held his breath. Was this going to be it? Was she going to realize how he came to be in Maryland that day many years ago? He couldn’t screw this up.
“Chloe, listen to me. I’m in security. We all are, me, Pete, and Jeremy.”
“Jeremy works with computers,” she snapped.
“Right. He works with computers, breaking and rewriting codes at every level from the small business to larger government agencies. But he also knows how to tap into private lines and track devices.”
“You lied to me.”
Fuck. He hadn’t even gotten to the dishonest part yet. “I didn’t lie about my job. I told you I’m in security and I am.”
“People … hire you? Just to find kids or is it anybody? And do you work for the police or Pete?”
“I work for myself, but anyone can hire me for the right price. Can we go inside and talk? I swear I’ll give you nothing but honesty and you can ask me anything. Let’s just go in and get some coffee first.” He needed other people around to ensure she would give him the chance to explain everything before freaking out and possibly making a scene.
She frowned, her gaze locked on the glove compartment as her head shook in some sort of denial. Why was it so difficult for him to accept he kept the weapon for work? “Chloe, it’s just a handgun—”
“Exactly. It’s not for hunting and it’s not in a safe. It’s here in your car while we’re on a date.” Her eyes glazed with tears. “I want to go home.”
“Chloe—”
“Take me home, Trenton. Now.”
He stared at her for a moment, knowing this was the time to come completely clean with her or forever hold his peace. “Chloe, I’m not a bad guy. I help people when they have nowhere else—”
“I want to go home,” she shouted, tears spiking her lashes. “You don’t understand how guns scare me.”
“It’s unloaded—”
“Don’t patronize me! You have no idea what I’ve been through. Have you ever had a gun held to your head, Trenton? Put in your mouth? Have you?”
His voice lowered, his stomach twisting at the thought of where this was going. “No.”
“Well, I have.” She wiped her eyes and clutched her purse like a shield to her chest. “I want to go home.”
His heart broke at the sight of her tears, the frantic way terror showed in her eyes as if she was seeing something he’d never be able to see for himself. “Chloe, we can talk about it—”
“Please just do as I asked.” She sniffled and drew in a jagged breath,
her upset getting the better of her and turning her words choppy. “I don’t need to rehash my past to know where I stand on weapons. I need to get out of this truck and right now I want to go home.”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” His heart raced. He’d never seen a woman go from laughing to inconsolable in such a short span of time, but the last thing he wanted to do was make her more upset. “I’ll take you home.”
He reluctantly turned on the truck and backed out of the parking lot. She sniffled and wouldn’t look at him, her gaze completely focused out the window. He needed to fix this.
“Chloe,” he said softly, pulling onto the highway. “I only have the gun for protection. I’ve never had an accident or even a close call. I’ve been practicing at shooting ranges since I was eighteen. That’s over twenty years’ experience with handling weapons. I swear—”
“Please stop,” she begged, as she wiped her eyes. “I understand why people have them. It’s their right. But I don’t like them in my life. I spent years living in a house with guns and it… The more you say the more upset I’m getting. I shouldn’t have to explain why they scare me.”
He could imagine why, knowing what he did about her ex. “I’ll take it out of the truck. From now on I’ll make sure it’s nowhere near you or your boys.”
She hastily wiped away another tear. “I can’t…” Her words broke as she fought a sob. “I’m sorry. I want to accept this and be okay with it, but I can’t, not after what he put me through. You aren’t some stranger to me, Trenton. You’re in my life. You’re personal. You’re around my children. I can’t be with someone who keeps guns. They just … terrify me.”
Jesus. What had that fucking scum bag done to her? “Chloe, I swear on my life I’d never misuse a lethal weapon. Don’t do this. I didn’t know.”
She used her shirt to blot her eyes. “Why do you need it in your truck?”
“Because my job’s dangerous and sometimes it’s necessary. Sometimes a gun’s the difference between saving an innocent person and watching them die. I like be prepared. Guns can save lives, too.”
Something Borrowed (New Castle Book 3) Page 18
