by Piper King
“It was my fault,” I breathed the words that had given me nightmares for so many sleepless nights. “You knew it. Everyone knew it. If I’d changed the alternator in my car months and months before like everyone kept telling me to, the engine wouldn’t have seized up. My parents wouldn’t have crashed when they’d decided to drive home from the airport with your parents that night. No one would have died.”
My chest began to heave as the panic clouded my thoughts. It had all been my fault. Axel had kept telling me to take care of my car. So had my dad. But I’d ignored everyone, and it had cost us all so much. And I’d seen the blame in Axel’s eyes when he’d found out what had caused the accident. The hate his gaze had held had been far too much for me to bear. I couldn’t stand him, of all people, to have so much anger toward me. I was a walking reminder of what had caused the death of his parents. And I had to get out of that town, out of his life, if only for his sanity.
I started crying. I couldn’t help myself. Tears leaked out of my eyes and dripped down my face, joining the rain and specks of hail that had gathered there on our trek to the truck.
“Annie Jackson. You left because you thought I blamed you for the accident?” Axel’s voice was soft and far from accusing. He loosened his grip on my shoulders and pulled me into his chest. His strong and warm arms encircled me, driving away the chill that had soaked into my skin. And I didn’t understand. My mind couldn’t make sense of it. All this time I’d thought he blamed me, so why was he hugging me like I was a lifeboat in the midst of a storm at sea?
I pulled back and looked up into his face. “You don’t hate me?”
Axel tucked his hand under my chin, brushed my skin with his thumb in slow soft circles just like he used to do back then. “I could never hate you. I was mad as hell when you left, but I never hated you. And I never blamed you for what happened.”
“So…you didn’t want me to leave?” I asked, eyes widening, heart thumping hard. I’d made a terrible mistake. The kind of mistake that had cost me my happiness, had cost me the only life I’d ever wanted. I’d been miserable in the city, in a soulless job that promised no future. And all for what?
“You silly girl.” He pulled me to his chest again, and I could hear the heavy thump of his heart, picking up speed as he held me close. “All I ever wanted was to be with you for as long as I live. I never even thought about blaming you for what happened.”
“But the engine…”
“Shh.” He pushed his finger against my lips before dragging them down my neck. An unexpected thrill went through my body, and my blood rushed in my ears. His hand stayed on my neck, his thumb playing against the delicate spot under my ear, and it took all my self-control not to lean against him and moan.
What was happening? It was all too much for my brain to comprehend. One minute we’d been snapping at each other, the next moment I’d been crying, and now he was touching me in ways that did nothing short of drive me wild with desire.
And I sure as hell didn’t care about that damn truck door being stuck anymore. I no longer felt trapped in here with him. A feeling of satisfaction poured through me, a sensation I hadn’t felt in a very long time. Like I was suddenly back where I had once belonged, and everything in world had been put right again.
Slowly, I lifted my chin and met Axel’s eyes before resting my hands lightly on his strong shoulders. His muscles tensed underneath my touch, but he didn’t move away. Instead, he shifted closer, his body practically sighing when our chests melted together as one. And suddenly, I was off the ground. His hands found my ass and gripped it tight as he picked me up into his arms. My thighs wrapped around his waist as my heart thrummed a million beats per second.
My back slammed against the wall, our bodies crushing together. Axel’s lips found my skin, licking and tasting my neck as if he’d never tasted it before. He moaned, a sound so familiar and so alien at the same time. I’d fantasized this exact moment a hundred times in the five years we’d been apart, hearing his groans and feeling the hardness of his cock through his jeans, just as I did now. But it had been so long that it was far more thrilling than I had ever imagined.
He pulled my jeans from my hips in one fluid motion before digging his fingers into my flesh. A moment later, his cock slid from his zipper and he plunged inside me. I cried out, the walls of my tight pussy squeezing around him. It had been five years since I’d had a cock inside me—his cock, only his—that it hurt just the same as it had when he’d first taken my virginity at sixteen.
But it hurt in the best possible way.
My nails dug into his back and he pounded inside me, fast and furious. He moved with the frenzy of a man who had been starved for years, and I guessed he had. I’d never had anyone but him, and he’d never had anyone but me. My thighs gripped tighter around his waist at the thought, of knowing that there was no one else he wanted in the world but me.
17
Annie’s tight little body felt better than I remembered. I’d spent many nights jerking off with her face in my mind, imagining the feel of her squeezing pussy around my throbbing cock. But the memory had nothing on the original. She felt so good she drove me wild, so wild I came within moments of jamming my rod inside her.
We lay on Whitney’s couch half-asleep after several more rounds of love-making. The first time had been in a frenzy, passion overtaking my lust-addled mind. And the second was soft and slow with plenty of time spent exploring the bodies we hadn’t seen in such a long time. The third time was back to pure fucking. It was as if we were both driven by a need we could sate. And my cock was already getting hard all over again just thinking of the way she’d looked on top of me, her perfect pair of tits bouncing in my face. I wanted to cum all over that face and make her taste my seed.
A seed I wanted to put inside her.
A seed I sure as hell wanted to see grow and grow.
It had only taken an hour trapped inside this truck with Annie, but I was already right back to where I’d been five years before. I still had the ring. As soon as we got out of here, I’d make a plan to surprise her. I’d get down on my knee, pop the question, and we’d make babies together.
It sounded like the perfect fucking life to me.
An hour, or two, or three passed by. Annie and I dozed in each other’s arms before the creak of the truck doors opening jolted me awake. Annie jumped up as well, groggily grabbing her clothes from the floor and holding them to her chest just as sunlight streamed into the trailer. Whitney peered inside. Her eyes widened, and a smile broke across her anxious face.
“Well.” She laughed. “I see you two finally made up.”
Annie’s cheeks flamed. “We took a nap.”
“Yeah, and that’s not all you took.” Whitney laughed again and opened the doors wider, revealing a driveway and a yard strewn with large hail and broken tree limbs. I glanced around, surveying the damage. Nothing a day of work in the yard wouldn’t clear up.
“Sorry we didn’t come back in with your bag, but the doors got stuck,” Annie said, biting her bottom lip. “I hope you were okay?”
Whitney kicked at a massive limb that lay at her feet. “Yeah, this thing fell against it when the doors blew shut. I saw when it happened, but I was a chicken, too scared to come out. You know…I was really worried about you two, and it actually kept me from being too worried about myself. But now I see I didn’t need to be too concerned.”
She waggled her eyebrows, and Annie punched her in the arm. My heart felt as if it grew two sizes larger, watching these two women bicker with each other. They were still the same pair of sisters they’d been five years before, quick to tease but also quick to love. It had been a long damn time since I’d felt this kind of camaraderie with anyone. Things were finally back to how they should be.
But there was a big question lingering in my mind, one I still couldn’t shake. Even though we’d patched things up, in a way, and even though Annie had all but admitted she was miserable in her big city life, would she m
ove back to Tennessee?
Or would she just run away from me all over again?
18
The three of us hauled a few of the more necessary boxes and furniture into the house so that Whitney and I could get started with unpacking while Axel cleared up the mess of limbs that had taken over both of our yards. He even brought us over some toast before getting started for the day. I was touched by how kind he was. He always had been, at least to me. He was such a rugged and fierce man, but deep down inside, he was far more soft than he let most people see.
The fact he let me see that side of him had always made me feel special. And I was starting to realize I’d been a massive idiot for thinking that had ever changed.
As soon as he left us with our breakfast, Whitney dropped the toast onto her plate. It fell with a clack and crumbs scattered across the marble countertop in the kitchen. She didn’t have a dining table yet, so we were hunkered over the island where Mom had spent so many hours doing so much for the both of us.
“Okay,” she said, her face lighting up with a mischievous smile. “You have to tell me everything, Annie. And I mean absolutely everything. What happened in there with you two?”
My face flamed. Images of the night before flickered like lightning through my mind. Axel’s strong arms lifting me from the floor of the truck. His eyes raking across every inch of my skin. The way he’d licked his lips before he dove between my thighs, sending me to the edge over and over again before my ears rang with the screams of my desire.
I was hot all over again just thinking about it, even though he’d made me come at least four times. Maybe five. There’d come a point where I couldn’t tell if I’d entered a permanent orgasm, one I’d experience for the rest of my life.
He’d been that good.
And even though we hadn’t really talked things through, I desperately hoped it had only been a preview of many more nights to come.
“Hello.” Whitney snapped her fingers in front of my eyes. “Earth to Annie.”
I blinked and let a slow, Cheshire-Style grin slide across my lips. “Sorry, I got a little distracted thinking about…what happened.”
Whitney took a bite of her toast and nodded for me to continue. Where could I even start? It was hard to explain when I hadn’t truly made sense of it all myself.
“I’m not sure,” I said, taking a small sip of coffee. “One minute we were arguing. He was really mad at me, Whit, demanding to know why I left five years ago, which I couldn’t understand. I mean, I thought he knew…”
“I told you he didn’t blame you for what happened.” She stabbed a finger at my chest, but her voice was soft. She’d known the guilt that had wracked my thoughts for so long, the nightmares that had plagued me for months after the accident. Every time I closed my eyes, I only pictured me sitting in my car and whistling along, not taking care of it the way I should. And then…that same car destroying all the people in the world I loved. My parents, Whitney, Axel, my friends from school.
One by one until every single person was gone.
“Well, I guess I was wrong,” I said quietly. “I would have blamed me if I were him.”
“No, you wouldn’t have.” Whitney pressed a strand of hair behind my ear and leaned forward. “Because it wasn’t your fault.”
A tear slid down my cheek, and I sniffled. Even after all this time, it still hurt to think about the accident, of what we both lost.
“Carry on,” she said. “Let’s get to the part where he rips your clothes off.”
I laughed out loud at that. “I’m not going to go into the sordid details, but that’s pretty much how it went. I explained why I left, he gave me a hug, and one thing led to another…”
“Good.” Whitney smiled and took another bite of her toast. “So, then you’re staying.”
I sighed and pushed away from the kitchen island, moving to stare out the window at Axel cleaning up the yard. His muscles rippled under his tank top as he lifted one heavy limb after another, making a pile at the end of the driveway. I could get used to a sight like that, but it wasn’t as simple as that.
“Not so fast,” I said as I turned to press my back against the cool glass. “Just because we slept together one night doesn’t mean that he wants to get back together. Plus, there’s my life up north, my job. I wouldn’t have any work if I moved back here.”
“Axel’s trucking company is doing real good, Annie.” Whitney took the last bite of toast and slid the plate into the dishwasher before joining me by the window. “He’s worked hard all these years on growth, and it’s paid off.”
“Oh, come on.” I rolled my eyes. “You know I would never want to be a kept woman. I’d want to work, even if I didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, I thought you might say that.” The smile lit her lips again as she slid a piece of folded paper into my hands. “That’s why I brought this home with me as soon as I saw it on the school’s notice board.”
Whitney was a teacher. She loved her job. And as much as I loved kids—and wanted some of my own one day—I didn’t want to teach. Still, I unfolded the paper and scanned the words printed on the page. It was a notice that the school librarian would be leaving at the end of the month, and they were looking for a replacement. Someone with an English degree. Someone who loved books.
Someone like me.
19
After I cleaned up the storm’s leftovers, I headed back into the house to take a hot shower, though I hated to wash the scent of Annie off my body. The night before had been amazing, far amazing than any I could remember. All this time, Annie had blamed herself. She’d thought I blamed her, too. Knowing the truth made all the anger I’d felt toward her evaporate into the steamy shower, the water trailing down my chest.
I moaned thinking of her hands roaming across me, and my cock immediately hardened.
I couldn’t fucking wait to be inside her again, and I hoped to god she was prepared for all the things I wanted to do to her in my bed.
She was mine again. I knew it deep down in my gut.
The only question was, would she give into it and stay?
After I showered, the doorbell rang. I slung the towel around my hips and grinned, amused that it hadn’t taken Annie very long to find herself back over here. She must have been thinking of me this morning just as I’d been thinking of her. Had she touched herself as she showered, fingering her tight little pussy and imagining it was my tongue?
I was so eager to be back inside her that I almost tossed the towel to the ground.
But I figured the neighbors would be none too pleased if they caught sight of my naked, rigid dick.
When I swung open the door, I blinked at the woman standing on the porch. Her long blonde strands were a far cry from Annie’s wavy dark head. I took a step back and dropped a hand on the towel to keep it in place. I certainly hadn’t counted on this.
“Oh whoa. Hey Axel.” Beth cocked her head to the side and shot me a quizzical look, heat spreading across her cheeks. “Um, did I come at a bad time?”
Shit. I’d forgotten all about Beth, what with the storm and Annie and her perfect bouncing tits.
“The storm.” I gave a vague wave to the pile of limbs at the end of the drive. “I didn’t expect you to come.”
Her face fell, but she did her best to hide her disappointment behind a smile. “I’m sorry. I should have called first. We can reschedule for next weekend if that’s alright with you?”
Dammit. I hated to disappoint her. She’d driven all the way here, probably through roads full of puddles and broken tree limbs. I hated to turn her away. I’d promised her that I would do everything I could to help her get her license, and she only had a short time to prepare. As much as I wanted to cancel and go see Annie, that could wait just a little longer.
I’d waited five years to patch things up. Two more hours wouldn’t change anything at all.
Shaking my head, I cast away my surprise at her sudden appearance, opening the door wider to let her com
e inside. “Just give me a minute to get dressed. Make yourself at home, and I’ll be right down.”
20
It was Sunday afternoon, the day after a big storm. Anyone in their right mind would be curled up on the couch and relaxing the day away. But instead of all that, I was making phone calls, logging into my bank account, and making plans.
Big plans.
Plans I’d never thought I would make, but now that I’d truly sat down to consider them, it seemed impossible that my life wouldn’t have led to anywhere but here.
When I hung up the phone, Whitney raised her eyes from the book she was reading, a question-mark prominently displayed on her face. “Well? What did Mr. Moore say?”
Mr. Moore had been the principal of the high school when we’d been younger, and he’d never left since then. He was eccentric and weird, but all the kids had always loved him, and he’d remembered us just as well as we remembered him. He’d never minded being contacted outside of school hours, and Whitney had assured me that hadn’t changed.
In fact, he’d sounded delighted.
“He said that no one had put in an application yet,” I said in a rush of words, my heart beating hard. “He told me to come in tomorrow so we could talk things through, but he basically said the job is mine if I want it.”
Whitney beamed, bouncing onto the edge of the couch and leaning forward. “What do you think? A job as a school librarian. You’d get to work with actual books and actual kids who wanted to read them.”
I nodded, my heart filled to the brink. It might not have been the editorial dream job—or the one I had imagined at least—but it felt a far cry closer to doing what I actually wanted to do than my “dream job” had turned out to be. I would be in a room full of books, day after day. What more could I have wanted, especially with Axel by my side?
