by Jane Jamison
Daisy lifted her eyebrows in question and he shook his head then mouthed the words “She’s fine.”
That was more than he could say for Troy and Wade once he got back to the house. “So the only reason you’re calling is to see if we’ve made it to the store?”
I’m fuckin’ going to kill him.
“Well, yeah. Troy wants you to get some beef jerky.”
And then I’m going to pull Troy’s teeth out.
He closed his eyes to settle his anger, then opened them to find Daisy trying to bite back a laugh. “Sure. My pleasure. Is there anything else I can get for you? Maybe some pizza? I can have them make it for you special-like with just the right amount of pepperoni to cheese ratio. How’s that?”
It was a moment before Wade answered. “I’m guessing this wasn’t a good time to call.”
“You got that right.”
“Gotcha. Okay. Well, see you when you get back.”
Paul ended the call, then flung it back on the console. “Now, where were we?”
Yet when he reached for her, she tilted her head to the side. A couple of teenage boys were gawking and pointing at them from the entrance to the alley. “I think we’d better get on our way to the store after all.”
The world had to be conspiring against him. That was the only explanation.
He heaved a sigh. “Yeah. Guess so.”
* * * *
“It that everything, Daisy?”
Her body was still tingling from their quick lip-lock in the Rover. If Wade hadn’t called and if she hadn’t seen the teens, she had no doubt that she would’ve crawled on top of Paul and fucked his brains out.
She’d have been half-crazy to do so, but she wouldn’t have regretted it. Not one damn minute of it.
Unless, of course, Wade or Troy would’ve minded. Funny thing was that she didn’t think they would.
“Daisy? Are we done yet?”
Daisy fought her way back from Make Out Land, then checked the grocery list one last time. “Almost. We still need some toilet paper.”
“We’re going to have to ask someone if they carry a certain brand. I didn’t see it on that aisle.”
She couldn’t resist asking. “Um, you need a specific brand? The usual ones won’t do?”
One of those rare smiles lit up his face. The twinkle in his eye was sexy as hell, too, but then again, everything about Paul was sexy as hell. “Troy’s got a sensitive bottom.”
She couldn’t hold back a giggle. “Really? A tender tushy, huh?”
“Yep. And you can tell him I told you so.”
Another giggle came as she followed him to the Customer Service desk. Once there, she had to put her back to the middle-aged woman behind the counter. If she didn’t, she was bound to giggle again when Paul asked for the toilet paper.
“Hey, there, Miz Charlotte. How’s Leroy?”
It made sense that he’d know the area since they lived and worked there. She wondered if he was any less serious with his friends. Or at least whenever he wasn’t on the job.
The woman let out a sigh that reverberated over the microphone next to her. The sound swept around the store. “Oh, shoot. I forgot to turn this blasted thing off.”
Now Daisy was trying to keep from giggling at Miz Charlotte. She covered her mouth then pretended to be looking at the coupon stand next to her. It took a few moments longer before Miz Charlotte managed to get the “blasted thing” turned off.
“That old coot’s the same as he’s always been. As stubborn as a mule and twice as ornery.”
Despite her words, Daisy heard the love in her voice. Once she was older, she hoped she’d be able to talk about her spouse—spouses?—with as much affection. She paused to think about her choice of words. It was possible to love more than one man. She’d seen it often enough with friends of hers, especially those working at Second Chance Ranch. But could she do that? Would she want to have more than one man in her life? And yet, at that moment, she could honestly say that she had three.
She glanced at Paul, then looked away again. Or, at least, the prospect of three.
“You tell Leroy that he’d better treat my best girl like the queen she is. If he doesn’t, he’ll have to answer to me.”
The genuine affection in Paul’s tone left no doubt that he adored the lady. And probably her husband as well.
“I’ll do that. And who’s this with you?”
“Miz Charlotte, this is Daisy Winters.”
The lift of Miz Charlotte’s eyebrows showed that she’d expected more of an introduction, but she didn’t push. What would Paul have answered if she had? That she was a client? A friend? Possibly more?
“It’s nice to meet you, Daisy.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Miz Charlotte.”
If the woman tried any harder to keep from asking more questions, she’d have to bite off her tongue. She waited, obviously hoping that Daisy would give her more information.
Daisy, however, decided to play it cool. If Paul didn’t want Miz Charlotte to know anything, then maybe he had his reasons.
Miz Charlotte frowned before putting her pleasant face back on. “Okay then. Well, what can I do you for?”
“I need some toilet paper. You know the brand.”
“I sure do. But I’m a bit tied up here at the moment. Tell you what. Old Man Grisham is out today so he can’t go fussing if I let you go in the back and fetch it yourself. You know where it is, don’t you?”
“I do. But are you sure he won’t mind? He is the manager, after all.”
Miz Charlotte gave a very unladylike snort. “What he don’t know won’t hurt him. Go on now. Do what you’ve got to do.”
“Thanks, Miz Charlotte.”
Paul put his hand on Daisy’s shoulder then pushed their shopping cart ahead of them. “Follow me.”
They were at the rear of the store when Paul pushed two metal doors open with the cart. She followed him even when he entered the huge storage area.
“Now I know what Miz Charlotte meant. We’re not supposed to come back here, are we? Employees Only and all that, right?”
Paul kept on rolling ahead. “Right. But she makes exceptions for me and the other firemen. We’re sometimes in a rush. Plus, she knows she can count on us.”
“And what if Old Man Grisham catches us? Will she get in trouble?”
He made a snort not unlike the one Miz Charlotte had done. “First of all, Old Man Grisham is twenty-seven. He just acts like an old man so that’s what the employees call him.”
She bit back the chance to say that some people might think he acted “old” whenever he was so somber. “Does he know they call him that?”
“Beats me.”
It was obvious he knew his way around. He headed straight for an aisle stacked with various kinds of toilet paper.
“And Miz Charlotte knows you guys because you come into the store a lot?”
“That and the fact that we helped her out when Leroy dropped a cigarette onto the couch and nearly burned their home down.”
“Oh, my God. Was anyone hurt?”
“Fortunately, we got there just in time. It took a few months of rebuilding, but they’re back in their home. And she’s got Leroy on the patch to stop smoking. Doubt it’ll work, but it’s worth a try.”
She watched him, loving the way his muscles flexed when he snagged several large packages of a brand of toilet paper she’d never heard of. It hit her again that she was with a real live hero.
Damn if he doesn’t look the part, too.
She’d always liked men in uniform, but even dressed in a plain black T-shirt, Paul looked every bit as dashing and valiant as any man dressed in the finest of uniforms. He positioned the TP on top of the other things they’d thrown into the cart.
All at once, she saw not a mountain of toilet paper, but a mattress of white behind him. Lust, pure and clear as she’d ever felt it, roared to life. She’d missed a chance to have him in the car, but she wasn’t about to m
iss another go at him.
Even if Old Man Grisham walked in.
This is, after all, the twenty-first century. A woman can take what she desires, just like a man can.
The days when a man had to make the first move were over. As far as she was concerned, women had the right to be as aggressive as they needed to be. And with Paul? Well, she was finished waiting for him to take the initiative.
She attacked Paul, flattening her hands against his chest and pushing him just as he turned around to face her. They fell backward onto the stacks of toilet paper.
She landed on top of him as he let out a small “uh.” Not giving him time to react, she plastered her mouth to his and started where they’d left off.
At first, she was fearful that he’d reject her. It didn’t make sense that he would, but how else would she explain that he wasn’t reacting to her so blatant advance?
Then it was as if he’d finally come alive. He pushed her away from him, his fingers digging into her arms, and stared at her.
Suddenly, his arms wrapped around her and he flipped her over. Rolls of toilet paper surrounded her, but all that mattered was seeing his handsome face above her.
“This is happening.”
She could only nod, her bravado of a few moments ago gone. Instead, she felt as women throughout time had felt when snared by a man. Her body ached for him to possess it. Her mind screamed for her to open her legs and let him plant his cock inside her.
His thick, manly lips crashed against hers again with such power that she sunk lower into the rolls. She shivered and laced her fingers behind his head. His tongue swept inside her mouth, tasting her flavors in exchange for his. If nothing more happened between them, that would be enough.
But oh, how she wanted more!
“I just about went insane watching you last night.” His tone was deep, rich and consumed with testosterone.
“You should’ve joined us.” Her words were breathy, yet filled with need.
“I should have.” His fingers caressed her cheek. “Doesn’t matter now. This is our time.”
The internal temperature of her body, fueled by the heat between her legs, rose high enough to burn the paper and them along with it. The harsh fluorescent overhead lights cast shadows around them but she thought them as beautiful as the stars in the night sky. Her breathing quickened as the air around them thickened with the scent of their musky aromas.
When he lifted away from her, she reached out, trying to hold onto him. His dark gaze met hers as he tugged his shirt off. Almost laughing with joy, she undid the silver buckle and yanked his belt free. He shoved her hands away and unbuttoned his jeans. She helped him shove them over his hips and down. His cock struck outward like a sword ready to slice her in half and she was willing to die for the cause.
Kicking off his boots and then following them with his jeans, he flipped her again, putting her back on top of him. Rolls of toilet paper scattered to the floor around them as they made a bed of the rest.
“Damn, but you’re beautiful.” He threw his arms back as she crossed her arms, then tugged her shirt over her head. His gaze fixed on her breasts as she reached behind her and unhooked her bra. When it fell off her and her breasts bounced free, he groaned and took them in his massive hands.
She shimmied out of her jeans, then yelped as, once more, he took her onto her back. He yanked on her shoes then took her jeans from her. The lace panties she wore weren’t the best she had, but he didn’t keep them on her for long. In the next instant, he tore them from her body.
They paused, each silently regarding the other. The muscle in his jaw worked as he scanned her body, then trailed his gaze with his fingers sliding slowly downward. Between her breasts, over the rise of her stomach, until, startling her, he whipped his gaze and his hands back to her breasts.
His strong fingers played with her breasts, his fingertips toying with her nipples, sending quick stabs of desire into her skin and then into her heart. With each touch he raised her need, her lust, her yearning. She clutched his arms, silently willing him to do the same to the rest of her.
He bent and kissed her neck, then pressed his face to the hollow of her shoulder blade. She heard him inhale, his breath shaky.
“The smell of you drives me insane.”
Whether it was what he’d said or from his touch, she didn’t know. Her skin tingled as though a tiny fire had swept over her, awakening every nerve ending, and electrifying all her senses. She arched, preening toward him as his hands flowed over her, exploring every curve, every slender slide of her.
“Daisy.”
She responded, her body reacting to his like the tide of the ocean to the moon, urging him to do with her what he would. Each touch, each caress he gave her heated her until she was sure she’d burn alive. Her pussy ached, needing to have his fingers, then his cock inside her. She squirmed, dislodging even more rolls to fall to the floor. Her craving for him was insistent, a living, breathing creature of lust that only he could feed.
“Please, Paul.”
He answered, slipping his hand between her legs. “You’re mine.”
Hadn’t Troy and Wade said the same thing? And yet, they all spoke the truth. The truth resonated within her, filling her with resolve to keep them forever, to possess them as much as they would possess her. She’d submit to them, control them, be whatever they wanted her to be, act however they commanded.
And in return, she’d become their everything.
His fingers found their way between her folds and she cried out, then shut her mouth, remembering where they were. Swirling his fingertips over and around her clit, he took the fire inside her and changed it into a raging inferno. A lust-filled blaze consumed her, searing through her. Every inch of her was his to blissfully torture.
He kissed her again just as he entered her pussy with his finger. She arched upward, pushing her breasts against his chest. His thumb toyed with her hot little bundle of nerves, driving her to the brink of madness. Where she’d wanted the pleasure to go on forever, now all she could think was to end the pain of her need. She spread her legs and wrapped them around his waist, then tugged him to her.
He chuckled, then, with a groan, replaced his fingers with his long, thick cock. He pierced her, plunging his shaft into her weeping pussy. The fire inside her grew stronger, threatening to take her over until she could stand no more.
“Do it. Please. Harder.”
He drove into her again, harder, faster, only to slide out of her in an agonizingly slow draw. She dug her fingernails into the flesh that covered his hard shoulders and held on for the ride.
“Ride me, baby.”
He turned over, pulling her on top of him, but never taking his cock away from her pussy. She cried out, uncaring who might hear them.
He rammed into her, his gaze fixed on her face, his jaw set. She bounced upward and pushed her breasts together as she put her hands against his wide chest and tried to hold on.
He was her hero, her modern day warrior.
She rode him like the stallion he was.
Her climax spun out of control before she could prepare for it. Again, she cried out as every fiber of her being got caught up and turned upside down. Her body shuddered as it racked out of her, her juices flowing over his cock and the curly hair beneath her.
She closed her eyes and held on for as long as she could. If she could’ve stopped time, freezing them together forever, she would’ve done so without regret.
Suddenly, he drove up again, ever harder, then groaned as he took her breasts in his hands and squeezed. She opened her eyes, capturing the sight of his climax in her memory forever.
Paul.
His name echoed over and over as her body lost what little strength she had left. He lowered her to his side, then laid his arm over her stomach.
She struggled with her breaths, gasps slowly becoming soft puffs of air. Turning to face him, she saw the only thing that could’ve made their time even better. His smile.
“I’m never going to think about toilet paper the same way.”
She giggled, heard the echo that it made in the cavernous room, and realized how easily anyone could’ve overheard them. As much as she hated to, she pulled away from him and started gathering her clothes.
“Take it easy. If they haven’t found us yet, then they’re not going to.”
His light touch on her arm made her tremble with renewed need. If they were anywhere else, she would’ve attacked him again. “Still. We need to get back.”
She took in the toilet paper packages and single rolls scattered around them. “After we clean up.”
Paul rose in no hurry as though they were safely in a bedroom without the possibility of anyone walking in on them. “Don’t worry about it. I know the guy who’s working back here. He’ll take care of it.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re not going to tell him, are you?”
“Nope. It’s on a need-to-know basis only.”
She tugged her jeans on, slipped on her flats, then smoothed down her wrinkled shirt. All at once, she was wracked with nerves. Even if someone walked in and found them now, dressed, they’d know what they’d done.
“If you say so. But let’s get out of here, okay?”
He tossed a few more packages of toilet paper into the cart. “I reckon I should buy a few more to make up for the mess.”
Daisy glanced around her. Did no one work back here? But thank goodness they didn’t. Taking control of the cart, she headed back the way they’d come.
Miz Charlotte caught them as they were checking out. “Did you two get what you needed?”
Daisy wanted to sink through the linoleum floor and straight down to China. Paul, however, was cool and collected.
“Sure thing. Be sure to say hi to Leroy from us boys at the station.”
“Pff. I will because you asked me to, but if I find that he’s been smokin’ while I’m at work, he’s going to be sleeping outside in the hammock.”
“You’re right about that, Miz Charlotte. Take care.”
Daisy glanced at Paul and saw the affectionate look he gave the older woman. Was he nice to everyone? Did he save his scowl just for her? Or was that when he was “on duty”?
