by Amelia Jade
“You do remember what happened the last time you looked at me like that, don’t you?”
Yes. Yes she did. In fact it had been on her mind ever since he took her hand earlier.
Chapter Thirteen
Torran
He took pity on her.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to do?” he asked, looking at her stomach pointedly.
Lilly took a moment to compose herself before replying. “You mean am I keeping it or not?”
He shrugged. “I had assumed you were keeping it. Whatever you choose I will support you. I want you to know that.”
“You don’t need to do that,” she said quickly. Then her expression softened. “But thank you. I appreciate it.”
“I’m sure this is difficult enough as it is,” he said, speaking in low tones so that Lyle wouldn’t hear. “The last thing you need is me going off like an idiot. Again.”
She couldn’t hide the smile, though he saw her try. “It’s okay. You can laugh at me. It’s easy, so I’ve been told.”
This time she did laugh.
“It is confusing,” she said after a moment. “I’ve never had a child before, so I don’t know what to expect. Doing so without a supportive partner is, frankly, terrifying.”
I will support you. He longed to say it. To tell her that she would never struggle for money or safety with him around. That he would raise the child as if it were his own. Words formed in his head, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. Now was the time to let her speak.
“Do you really want to hear all this?” she asked. “I know you said you want a family, but this is my child we’re talking about.”
He smiled. “Lilly, I want you to know that I like you. I want to spend time with you. And your child. As much time as you’ll allow me to.”
She looked away, but he wasn’t finished. Weird how suddenly it was his turn to speak. He’d been wrong on that, but he wasn’t wrong with what he was saying.
“I know it’s crazy, but I also know you can feel it too. We have a b—a connection. It’s certainly not how I would have preferred we find this out, but I’m glad we did. I don’t regret anything but the way I treated you when I found out you were pregnant. I wish I could go back and undo that, because it’s just not what it seemed.”
She was studying him now. “I get the feeling that a lot about you is not what it seems.”
“You may be correct on that.”
“Then how can I accept that I have a connection with someone who I don’t even know?”
Torran smiled, meeting her gaze full on, not shying away. “I have never lied to you. There are things that I haven’t said, yes. Things that you don’t yet know. I promise you, in time you will. The situation is kind of messy, and I promise none of them are bad things. I’m not secretly a criminal or something. They’re just…well, they don’t affect the truth when I say I like you. A lot.”
She chewed on her bottom lip for a bit. “When will you tell me?”
“The cheesy answer is to say when you’re ready. Unfortunately, I don’t know when that will be, but I hope it’s soon. I need to know you better first, to understand you, before I reveal it.”
“This doesn’t sound good. You could be a serial killer.”
He laughed. “You’ve seen me at my highs and my lows. You knew that wasn’t true even as you said it. I could see it in your eyes.”
Truthfully he’d been studying her pouty lips and wishing he could kiss them, but Torran had long since memorized her bright, round eyes and their chestnut circles. It was easy to see she was just being skeptical, which was understandable.
“Okay, maybe not, but still.”
“You have my word that while it’s absolutely not what you expect, I am not a fundamentally different person. What you know of me is me, and my feelings toward you are real. I have not pretended to be a different person.”
That was as far as he was willing to stretch things.
“I need to get to know you better before you’ll spill the beans you say.” She was taking a different track now.
“Yes.”
“Well, what do you have in mind then? It’s not like there’s much to do out here.”
“No kidding. You have no idea how hard it was to come up with this. Which, truthfully, I did by accident. So I’m kind of all tapped out on date ideas for the moment.”
“Oh, so this was a date?”
He smiled awkwardly. “Yes? A combination date and apology for my earlier actions.”
Lilly smiled. “Not bad.”
“Does that mean I’m forgiven?”
“We’ll see.” This time it was she who winked at him.
Torran nearly toppled from his horse.
Chapter Fourteen
Lilly
“As dates go, that was pretty awesome,” she said, easing her stiff body out of the truck.
“Sorry it had to end,” Torran joked, coming around to her side, seeming no worse for wear. “Can I walk you to your door?”
Lilly glanced at him, then at the door to the ranch. The same door he had to use to get to the same place she was staying. “What happens if I say no?”
“I walk to the door next to you anyway.”
“And if I say yes?”
“I carry you inside.”
“Yes. Yes. Hell yes. I accept!”
Torran moved immediately, lifting her into his arms with that same casual strength he had in everything he did. He paused to close the door with one knee and then marched across the ground. “See, it’s useful to keep me around.”
“Get me inside without slamming my head off something and then brag,” she joked.
Torran casually swung her to the side and through the doorway without issue, the entire move fluid and undeniably arrogant. Oh, and sexy as hell too.
“Better?”
“Much.” The word came out throatier and more emotionally charged than intended.
“Now, where to?”
“Anywhere that I can get a massage. We have an in-house masseuse, right? You’re rich. Please? I’ll cook dinner or something. Please, I’m desperate.”
Torran laughed. “I’m not sure this farm came with someone. But if you trust me I would be glad to be of as much assistance as I can.”
His offer was made with humor, but they both knew what it implied. Where it would more than likely lead if she agreed. They were talking about more than just a massage—though Lilly intended on making sure she got that!
Although she pretended to think about it, her mind had been made up the moment she made the first comment about a masseuse. Where else would the conversation have gone but to this point?
It felt good to be able to joke with him. To flirt. She’d sorely missed the banter between them. It’s not like she’d wanted to be upset with him. It had simply come about that way, and there was nothing she could do about it. Now, if she agreed to it, they would cross the barrier for the second time since she’d met him.
This wouldn’t be like the first time, though, she was well aware. That had been based on sheer need. Lust, even. Lilly had been both satisfying herself, and if she was being honest, being petty toward Damien by sleeping with someone else so soon after leaving him. Now though, if she chose to go forward, it would be all about her and Torran. Together. A new pairing, a new unity.
“Okay,” she agreed. “But if you suck, you’re making dinner.”
Torran laughed and headed toward her bedroom, the largest and nicest of the many rooms in the massive ranch house. “I’ll do my best to impress then.”
“You’d better. After all, it’s your fault that I’m so sore.”
“Keep whining and I’m going to accidentally bang your head or drop you on the bed,” he muttered.
“Pardon me?”
He blinked and pretended like he was surprised she heard him. “What?”
Lilly smiled. “That’s what I thought.”
Torran made some more grumbling sounds, but they had
no effect, since she could see them coming from the smile he held in place as they went upstairs. There he gently deposited her onto her bed.
“Okay, where hurts the most?” he asked.
“My legs. My butt.”
He nodded and prodded her until she flipped over onto her stomach. Then he went to work.
“Ohhhhhh.” Lilly’s eyes rolled back into her head, lids closing as she moaned softly.
His fingers played over her like a maestro, finding all the sore spots and the pressure points. First softly, then with increasing effort, he worked all the aches and pains from her lower legs and her thighs before moving on to her ass.
The instant his palms slid across her jean-covered derriere fire erupted within her, slamming into her crotch like a bullet. The massaging still felt great, but it began to take on a distinctly different feel. Her happy moans stopped, replaced by deep breaths as she struggled to maintain control.
When he spoke at long last his voice was strong, but tense as well. “This would work better with skin-on-skin contact,” he suggested. “It would warm the muscles better.”
“Skin-on-skin,” she breathed. “Right. Okay.”
Reaching under herself, she undid her jeans and then started to tug them down.
“Allow me,” Torran said, grabbing the waistband and slipping them down to her knees. The material bunched there and he hissed in frustration, forced to tug from the heel until they slid free completely.
Boy am I glad I wore some cute underwear today.
The thought was blasted away by a surge of heat, like a solar flare erupting from the sun as his hands touched her bare skin. Torran started lower, working up her legs once more. She wasn’t sure, but it felt like his fingers were sliding farther up her inner thighs this time. Whether he was or not, her body responded like he was.
By the time he reached her ass again she was soaking wet and on the verge of begging for him to just touch her, to get the tense teasing over with so that they could finally pleasure one another.
Torran wasn’t in the mood to wait either. She gasped as his pinky slipped between her legs and across her damp underwear, giving him proof that she wanted him. Lilly felt her legs part under their own will, giving him better access to her core. Torran took advantage, using two fingers this time.
She moaned into the comforter, fingers gripping onto it tightly in bunches. Everywhere he touched her was on fire. Was this what it felt like to be in heat, she wondered? Desperate to have him, and uncaring of anything else in the world?
“Torran, please,” she begged as he took forever to remove her underwear. “I can’t take this teasing anymore.”
Just like that she was naked from the waist down. It happened so fast Lilly didn’t know if he’d removed her underwear or ripped them from her body, and she didn’t care. Torran grabbed one leg and then the other, pulling her up onto all fours.
Her face had just come free of the comforter when he buried his face in her and used his tongue to drive her absolutely wild. She’d never been used like this before. It felt so naughty. So dirty. And she fucking loved it. Her hips bucked and thrust out at him, but Torran was up to the challenge. His strength held her still as he went wild with his tongue.
In no time she was dripping down her legs, shaking like a rag doll in his grip as a thunderous orgasm racked her body, stripping her of any remaining strength she may have had left. Limbs went limp and she would have toppled onto her side if Torran hadn’t held her upright.
“Torran,” she moaned, unable to stop him as he brought her back to life and made her come a second time less than a minute later, all with his tongue. And maybe a finger or two. She couldn’t tell anymore; the pleasure was just too overwhelming.
At some point he flipped her over and was miraculously naked. The part of her that was upset about being unable to strip him was tossed aside by the guilty pleasure of watching his muscles ripple and bend as he climbed on top of her. His cock throbbed in her hand as she guided it between her legs, eager to take him inside her. She was ready. More than ready. He’d seen to that.
This time there was no pain as he entered her. A mild ache as she stretched to fit his deliciously big cock, but no more. Lilly was so aroused by that point she could have taken him with ease no matter how big. His finger flicked over her ultra-sensitive nub as he sat upright on his knees, rocking into her.
Lilly stared at his stomach as it flexed tightly, that visual combined with the pleasure of being filled and having her clit played with enough to make her orgasm yet again. It was weaker, but still wonderful all the same.
“You’re unbelievable,” she gasped as he bent over her and kissed her, the faint taste of herself still on his tongue. The sheer naughtiness of that, something she’d never experienced before, put her lust into overdrive.
He was using her. Torran was doing whatever he wanted to her body, and Lilly was going wild for it. She was loving it. Her nipples ached to be played with, and she grasped them in her hands as Torran looked down at her. His emerald-green eyes began to glow with an internal light as she touched herself, his face breaking open in an aroused growl of raw, primal masculinity.
Just seeing the way he watched her made Lilly come again. She rocked violently as the pleasure from toying with her nipples somehow heightened the entire experience for her. Stars exploded in the corners of her vision and for a brief moment she saw black, her brain too overwhelmed by what was going on.
Torran was roaring, calling her name as he thrust into her over and over again, lost in some sort of animal frenzy as their hips collided. Lilly’s body shook and she even arched up off the bed, utterly dominated by his male strength and will. Her screams pierced the air as she felt him begin to come.
“Do it,” she hissed. “Fuck me until you explode inside me. I want to feel it.”
It was so slutty. So dirty.
Those thoughts immediately made her tighten around his cock as her last and final orgasm blasted her brain into oblivion. Lilly couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, and as Torran finally unleashed himself deep inside her, she couldn’t even breathe. Her lungs wouldn’t work, depriving her body of air as she bounced and flailed on the bed. Torran mounted on top of her, calling her name over and over again as he too lost control.
Eventually he collapsed on top of her, and they lay in each other’s arms, gasping for breath. Their skin pressed together, warm and sticky from the vigorousness of their lovemaking. Other fluids were in play as well, but frankly she didn’t give a shit. That had been the single best fuck she’d ever had. Ever.
Her mind was still recovering ten minutes later when Torran peeled himself from her limp body to grab a towel.
“What the hell just happened?” she got out, her throat sore and mouth dry from all the moaning she’d been doing. And screaming. Part of her vaguely recalled screaming out his name as he filled her with his thick cock over and over again.
Her eyes were immediately drawn between his legs. Yum. He was getting hard again.
“I’m not sure, but if you’re up for it,” he said, coming to join her on the bed, “we can try it again. But slower this time, and see if we remember.”
“Slower sounds good,” she whispered as he pushed between her legs. “And I want to look in your eyes this time. They did the most peculiar and sexy thing I’ve ever seen. They almost were glowing. I remember it. So cool,” she said.
Then her attention was gone again as he slipped back inside her.
Chapter Fifteen
Torran
“Ugh,” he groaned as his phone started buzzing from the nightstand to his right.
Lilly sighed softly, curled up in his left arm, but she didn’t move. This was going to be tricky. He reached his arm out for the phone.
It fell a foot short.
“Who designed this fucking room?” he growled at the massive space between nightstand and bed. Stupid shifters that had been here before. He was going to reorganize. Meanwhile the phone continued to buzz.<
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Leaning gently to his right, he kept Lilly pinned to his side as it rose into the air, bringing her with it. He moved slowly, trying not to disturb her. She was sound asleep and his care in the end was unnecessary. He grabbed the phone and settled back into place. She simply readjusted and promptly was back asleep. Torran wished he could fall asleep that easily.
“Hello?” he spoke in soft tones, not a whisper. Whispering was harsh and more likely to carry.
“Everything okay?” Palin asked from the other end.
“Yeah, fine.” He didn’t feel like elaborating why he was speaking quietly. “What’s up?”
Palin’s nonverbal response made it clear he knew something was up, but he didn’t push it. “Dinner. My place.”
“Aww, a dinner party. How cute. Did Sandy put you up to it? Are you going to serve lots of vegetables?”
The growl that came through the phone threatened to wake Lilly with the bouncing of his chest as he tried not to laugh. He’d been waiting to use some sort of line like that. It had taken him much longer than he’d expected.
“Tonight. Six thirty. Don’t be late.”
Torran glanced at the clock. It was already five. “Okay. We can handle that.”
There was nothing but a click from the other side. He chuckled quietly to himself, knowing Palin would be irritated over the comment for the next little bit. Sucker.
“Hey sleepyhead.” He kissed Lilly on the head.
“No. I don’t wanna.”
“You don’t want to what?”
“Whatever it is that you’re waking me for. I’m tired. You have to wait until later for more. Maybe tomorrow even. You’re kind of big.”
He smiled at the backhanded compliment. “Not why I was disturbing you.”
“Why then? If it’s to sweet-talk me, you’ll find waking me from a nap is not the way to go about it.”
“What about if I woke you so you didn’t miss food?”
Lilly’s eyes blinked open and she shifted so she could look up at him. “Did you say food?”
“Yes. There’s a catch though, and not one of my doing.”
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I don’t like the sounds of this.”
