by Cruise, Anna
“You're gonna make me come,” he warned, his breath coming out in short gasps. I lifted my hand off of him and he smiled, his eyes half-lidded. “Not exactly what you want, is it?”
I didn't answer, just brought my lips to his and crushed his mouth with a kiss. I didn't want to get him off. I wanted him to take all of me, consume me, make me forget about everything, make me focus on one thing only. Him.
I pushed my shorts down with my free hand and wiggled out of them, kicking them off my ankles. Ty didn't wait for an invitation as he reached for my panties and yanked them down, gliding them over my thighs and calves before tossing them to the floor.
“My god, you are beautiful,” he said as he stared down at me, his eyes roving the length of my exposed body. I didn't look away, just locked my eyes with his, hoping he could read the desire in them.
His hand gripped my leg, his fingers inching closer as they touched the tender flesh along my thigh and I lifted my body, trying to find his fingers, guide them into me. He chuckled, a deep throaty sound and danced his fingertips along my sensitive skin, almost there, so close but still not touching me. I bucked into him and he chuckled again but this time, his fingers found me and he plunged them inside and I moaned, arching my hips and lifting into his touch.
“Yes,” I said, my eyes closed, my breath coming out in short gasps, marveling at the way his fingers felt as they moved inside of me. I reached for him again and, this time, encountered smooth, bare skin. I tightened my grip and pumped him, up and down, up and down, and he increased the tempo of his own fingers until we were both writhing and moaning.
I stopped and cupped my hand around his ass, bringing him to me. It was all the invitation he needed. He withdrew his hand and my whimper of frustration at having to wait for him to put on a condom was quickly replaced by a gasp of pleasure as he finally pushed his way into me, the wholeness of him filling me up, consuming me.
Our hips found an easy rhythm, moving together, urgently, almost violently. I ran my hands over his entire body, squeezing him, pulling him into me, desperate to have him. His mouth devoured my neck and ears, his breathing picking up pace, the bed squeaking each time he thrust into me.
I ran my hands up his back, my nails digging into his muscled shoulders. “Do it,” I whispered into his ear.
He grunted, reached above me and grabbed the headboard. I wrapped my legs around him as drove into me, over and over again, watching him as color rushed into his face. A wave of heat rose inside of me and I clung to him, driving my hips up into him.
He looked down at me, closed his eyes and groaned, rocking the bed as he shivered and vibrated inside me. I felt him come, felt the flood of warmth just as my own body responded, wave after wave of white-hot explosions rocketing through me. I clawed at his back, bucking wildly into him, begging him not to stop and he obeyed, driving into me over and over until my orgasm subsided. His hands slipped off the headboard and he collapsed on top of me, his heart beating so hard I could feel it thumping against my chest.
We laid there in silence for a few minutes, both of us breathing heavily, my body tingling beneath his. His skin was warm and coated with sweat and it felt like we were super-glued together in a multitude of places. And I liked it.
He shifted his weight and moved to the side of me, still keeping me close to him. “Holy shit,” he whispered in my ear.
“Yeah.” I tried to catch my breath. “Holy shit.”
“That was...” He shook his head. “Holy shit.”
“You said that already.”
“I'm not sure what else to say.”
I pressed up against him. “Me either.” I smiled, glad to know it had been as earth-shatteringly good for him as it had been for me.
He tucked an arm around me and pulled me to his chest, then kissed the top of my head, his lips moving slowly as they softly caressed my forehead. “Incredible. Maybe that was the word I was looking for.”
I laid my head on his bare chest. “Yeah, I think that word works.”
He sighed and I listened to his heart beat, the pace slowing almost to normal, a rhythmic, steady beat that felt oddly comforting. Everything about him felt comforting, I realized. Not just his physical touch, but his words...even his presence. He'd just shown me how he could set my body on fire. But the aftermath? Of laying next to him, having his arm wrapped around me, feeling the light trail of kisses he planted on my forehead and cheeks? I'd never felt so at ease after sex, so thoroughly wanted.
“I went and saw someone today,” he said as his lips grazed my cheek. “Someone who might be able to help.”
“Wow,” I said. “That's an awkward segue.”
His arm tightened around me. “I'm just trying to kill time until I'm ready for a second round,” he said.
I shifted so I could look at him. “A second round?”
“We need to make sure this wasn't a fluke.”
“Oh. Right. A fluke.” There was no way what I'd just experience was a fluke. None.
He stared at me for a moment, his eyes half-closed, heavy with both exhaustion and desire. “I need to know that every time I fuck you I'm gonna see stars.”
A small thrill tickled my stomach. “Hmm. I think I like that.” Every time. He'd said every time. And even though I knew our time together was limited—there wouldn't be a lot of times, only a few—it still made me weak-kneed to hear him say it.
He grinned and I propped myself up on one elbow. “Okay. Awkward segue,” I said. I needed to focus on reality. “Let's continue. You saw someone today who might be able to help. Who did you see and what might they be able to help with?”
He chuckled softly. “A great segue of your own.”
“I try.”
“Alright. They might be able to help with your sister.” The laugh faded. “And with Annie.”
It was the last thing I was expecting to hear. “Oh. How so?”
“You told me about the bruise,” he said, the exhaustion starting to lift from his eyes. “On your sister's back.”
“Yeah,” I said cautiously.
“I wanted to know...more.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Like what?”
He shifted in the bed. “What exactly did the bruise look like? Did it look like a hand? A rock? A blunt instrument? Did Jorgenson ever tell you guys anything specific about it?”
“He said it looked like a hand. That it could have been a hand. But he never showed us anything. For all I know, he could have been lying about that just to see if I would confess to something.” I thought for a minute. “And, like I said, it wasn't common knowledge. The bruise. I mean, he told me and my parents when he came out to the house that one time. We never spoke of it again. You know?”
He nodded. “Right. As far as we know, the sheriff could have just been blowing smoke up your ass about that bruise. We know there have to be files about your sister. And something like that would be in the files.”
I didn't think the sheriff had it in him to lie about something. He was as by-the-book as they came. “Okay. So who exactly did you talk to?”
An uncomfortable expression flitted across his face. “Girl I know that works over at the county offices.” I didn't say anything and he squirmed against me. “Don't freak out on me, alright?”
“That kind of thing almost always guarantees a freak out.”
He sighed. “She's my ex-girlfriend.”
I rolled away from him onto my back. “You're sucking at the pillow talk.”
“It's not like that, Lily.”
I didn't say anything. The phrase “ex-girlfriend” was one of those phrases that had the power to suck the life out of any room. Especially when you were naked.
“We broke up over a year ago,” Ty said. “There's nothing to it. We're still friends.”
“Okay.”
“Seriously?” His tone was light but I could hear the undercurrent. “You're going to be like that?”
I frowned at him. “I don't even know what that means.”
/>
All I'd said was 'okay.' I'd kept my voice neutral as I'd uttered the word, free of any emotion. Or at least I'd tried to.
He curled his arm beneath me and brought me back to him. “Look at me.”
I didn't want to but I lifted my eyes to his.
“She's an ex-girlfriend for a reason,” he said, his voice firm. “I'm in bed with you. Not her. Alright?”
It wasn't, but I didn't want to fight. I didn't want to say, Well, you're a guy. Most guys will fuck anything that's warm and willing. Not because I didn't want to piss him off but because a big part of me didn't believe that sentiment was true about him. If it had been, he would have found a way to be with my very willing sister.
“Fine,” I said. “So, what does your ex-girlfriend do at the county offices that might help me in some way?”
“She's a clerk,” he said. “But she has access to the files. Or, can get access. So we can take a look.”
“Couldn't we just request the file?”
Ty shook his head. “Pretty sure Jorgenson would have to sign off on that. Call me crazy but I don't think that's such a good idea.”
He had a point there. Whatever Jorgenson was doing, I didn't feel like he was actually trying to figure out what happened. I was pretty sure all he wanted to do was prove to people he was right, which meant pinning everything he could think of on me.
“So did she get it?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. She needed some time. But she said she thought she could have it tomorrow.”
“And why exactly is she doing this for you?” I asked.
He paused. “Because we're friends.”
That sounded like a pretty damn flimsy reason to me. An ex-girlfriend helping her ex-boyfriend help out a new female friend? Just because they were friends? That didn't sound like any girl I knew.
I pushed myself up and rolled on top of him. “Hmm. That sounds like total bullshit to me.”
“What does?”
“Her. Helping you out. For no reason.”
“Lily, I...”
I leaned down and kissed him hard. I let my legs fall to his sides so I was straddling him. I pushed my hips down against him and felt him stir beneath me.
I moved my mouth to his ear. “All this ex-girlfriend talk has me...angry.”
His eyes were shut tight and I could feel him pulsating between my legs, rising and stiffening by the second. “Angry?”
I moved my hips slowly against him. “Totally pissed off,” I murmured.
He mumbled something I couldn't understand.
I put my hands on his bare chest and lifted my head so I could see the nightstand. I reached for the pack of condoms sitting on top and grabbed a new one, tearing open the paper. I unrolled it, then slid it over him, his eyes following my every move, his breathing short and shallow as I worked it over him. I shifted my hips over him until he was inside of me. I took a deep breath as he pushed fully into me.
“So this second round might be a little...rough.” I nipped his ear, my teeth sinking into the soft flesh.
He lifted his hips up into me and I gasped, every inch of space inside of me filled. “Fine with me,” he growled.
I stretched myself up, pressing my hands down on his smooth chest. “You like it rough?”
His eyes opened to narrow slits and a small grin crossed his mouth. “I'll like whatever you want to do, sweetheart.”
And he did.
TWENTY EIGHT
I rolled over in the bed, tangled in sheets and forced my eyes open.
I was alone.
And back in my room.
I stretched beneath the sheets, the muscles in my thighs and back sore from being in bed with Ty. I hadn't been that sore in a long time and it felt...good. I vaguely remembered that after the second round, a round that was sweatier, more physical and at least on my part, angrier, I passed out next to him, my chest heaving. I remembered him gathering me into his arms at some point and carrying me out and laying me down in my bed, kissing me and telling me he'd see me in the morning. It was the kind of thing I'd normally dream about, except it was one hundred percent real.
My clothes were on the floor next to the bed and I guessed that he'd brought those in when he brought me in, too. I grabbed them and pulled on my panties and bra and then fished out a clean pair of shorts and a tank top from my bag, putting the dirty clothes in one of the zipper pockets. I ran a brush through my hair and pulled it back with a tie and sat on the edge of the bed for a minute.
The flash of jealousy I'd felt when Ty had mentioned his ex-girlfriend faded and was probably nothing more than immediate insecurity. I didn't know what Ty and I had and I wasn't sure how it was going to play out when I left for Madison in a couple days. But those things would figure themselves out. It was the looking at the file I wasn't so sure about.
I stood and pulled the sheets up on the bed and straightened the pillows. I didn't know what Ty thought we could do with the file if we were able to look at it. And I didn't know how it mattered. Did I want Jorgenson to leave me alone? Absolutely. But I wasn't sure how anything we might find in the file would change that. And if he found out we'd gotten ahold of it, it might just make him more determined to hang as much as he could on me. I didn't want to give him a single reason to keep me around longer than I had to be there and I had a feeling that if he found out we'd looked at the file, he'd find some way to lock me down and make me look like even more of a criminal than he already had.
I walked out into the hallway just in time to see Jenna tiptoeing up the stairs. Her hair was wild and out of place and her clothes were wrinkled. She grinned at me, her cheeks rosy, as she came up the last stair.
“Hey, sis,” she whispered. “Anyone up yet?”
“Just us. Fun night with Sven?”
Her eyes widened. “And morning.” A dreamy smile crossed her face. “He's like an Energizer bunny.”
“Lucky you.”
She nodded, missing my sarcasm. “Seriously. I haven't been with a guy like that in...ever.”
For a moment, I thought about telling her my night was just as good. But then I caught myself. Even though I didn't want her thinking I'd just sat around all night, I didn't want to share any of the details of exactly how I'd spent my evening. And I knew she'd ask. She'd pester for details, demand answers. I didn't want to share Ty. Not with her, not with anyone.
“What'd you do?” she asked, running a hand through her hair.
“Just hung out.”
“With Ty?”
“Yep.”
“And you just hung out?” She made a face. “Well, I hope you let him at least get to second base.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”
“I'm serious. He'll get bored if you're just giving him a little over the shirt action.”
“I don't need your seduction tips,” I said.
She shrugged. “Whatever.”
On cue, Ty's door opened. He'd already showered and his hair was wet, all of the stubble from the night before shaved clean from his face. He wore a green T-shirt and cargo shorts and all I could think about was what he looked like underneath his clothes. What he felt like, what his skin tasted like. An involuntary shiver raced down my spine.
He lifted his chin and smiled at me. “Hey.”
I smiled back. “Hey.”
He looked at Jenna. “Good time with Sven?”
“It was fine,” she said, giving him her best poker face.
He nodded, then returned his gaze to me. “That thing we were talking about? I heard back already. We can go check it out this morning if you want.”
“Check what out?” Jenna asked, looking from him to me.
I ignored her. “Okay.”
“We can grab breakfast in town.”
I nodded. “Cool.”
“Check what out?” Jenna demanded again.
I stepped past her toward the stairs.
“Second base,” I said, grinning at her.
We left her the
re, a confused expression settling over her face.
TWENTY NINE
“She must've called you early,” I said.
We were in Ty's truck, headed toward town, and he'd immediately reached for my hand after we'd gotten settled in the cab. Our fingers were intertwined and my body was closer to him than the door.
“Texted, actually,” he said. “She went in early to look for it before anyone else got there.”
“Hmm. Big of her.”
He shook his head. “Stop.”
“I'm kidding,” I told him. “And what is our assistant's name?”
“Caroline.”
I thought for a moment. “She called you the other day. You got pissed.”
He stared straight ahead, his eyes scanning the road in front of us. “Yeah, probably.”
“And how long did you date Caroline?”
He shifted in the seat. “Little over a year. We were friends for a long time. We both grew up here.”
Something needled at me, something I wasn't used to feeling. Something that felt like jealousy. I tried to push it away. “And tell me again why exactly she's willing to help us out.”
He shrugged. “Because we're friends, I guess.”
“Does she have a boyfriend now?”
“Not that I know of.”
I smirked. “So maybe this is her way of trying to get back in your good graces.”
“It's not like that, Lily.”
“Tell me what it's like then,” I said. “Tell me why she called the other day.”
His mouth twisted and he sighed. “It's just...complicated.”
“It always is.” I sounded wise, like I knew what I was talking about, like I'd been through dozens of break-ups. But the truth was, I'd only ever dated a handful of guys and had only slept with a few. I'd never had a relationship that had lasted longer than a few months and I'd always been the one who'd done the breaking up.
“Not like that, Lily,” he said. “I broke up with her. I made it clear we were done. She hasn't totally given up. And our families are close—were close, anyway—and so it's just...weird. But she knows we're done.”
