Going All In

by Alannah Lynne

  Callie opened her mouth to clarify she’d just made the call; the coast guard and fishermen had saved the day, but Jen stopped the flow of words by adding, “My little girl is growing up.”

  Speechless and unable to respond, Callie stood with her mouth open, staring at her friend. She never realized Jen saw her as being little or small and incapable of handling herself, but that certainly explained a lot. Like why Jen always felt the need to direct Callie, even when Callie didn’t want or need Jen’s overbearing mothering.

  Maybe something good had come from the day’s horrible events and they’d finally be able to find some kind of equal footing. It would be nice to leave the constant tension between them in the past.

  Wade stepped up behind Callie and pressed a hand to the small of her back. “I need to get going. Are you staying here?”

  “Hell no.” She took a deep breath and made eye contact with Jen, warning her to stay out of the impending discussion, then turned to Wade with a smile. “And you’re not driving. Raul is.”

  His eyebrow rose a notch and he blinked a few times, but other than that, his face remained a blank mask. Realizing he didn’t know Raul and might even think the car and driver were hers, she quickly added, “Raul is Jen’s driver, and he’s here to take us to Charleston. You’ve been through a lot today, and you have to be tired. I would imagine you’re going to have an adrenaline crash, and the hypothermia will leave you tired as well.”

  As his eyebrow notched a little higher, she held up her phone and smiled.

  “Google. As soon as we got back into cell range, I checked the symptoms and researched what to do to help you. Let Raul drive us so you can rest. Depending on how long we have to wait for Tyler and Alex, we might even need the car for naps. When they’re ready to come home, we can bring them back with us in this, which will be a much smoother ride than your bouncy truck.”

  He still didn’t look convinced, so she gave him a sassy smile, stood on tiptoes to whisper in his ear, and pulled out the big guns of persuasion. “I’ve never had limo sex. Have you?”

  His eyes narrowed and his shoulders stiffened as a little choking cough escaped his throat. “You don’t fight fair.”

  She shrugged apologetically. “Did it work?”

  He looked intrigued, but not entirely convinced, so this time she appealed to his emotional side. Framing his face with her hands, she held his head and his gaze. “Please let him drive so you can ride in the back with me. I want to hold you all the way there to reassure myself you’re really okay.”

  The muscle in his jaw tensed, then he pressed his lips together and shifted his gaze to the car. It wasn’t a full capitulation, but the tide was turning, so before he flat-out refused again, she tossed her keys to Jen and said, “Take my car home. I’ll get it from you when I get back to town. I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening and when we’ll be back. Thanks for letting Raul help us.”

  “Of course. What’s mine is yours. You know that.” Another quick hug and then a hurried, “I love you,” left Callie speechless for the second time in five minutes.

  As Jen rushed off to Callie’s car, Raul came around to the passenger side and opened the door. Speaking to Wade, he said, “I’ve contacted DAN for an update on your friends. They’re in chambers and doing well. I have directions to the hospital and will take you directly to them.”

  Everything about Wade’s demeanor softened and relaxed. He seemed surprised and a little overcome as he extended his hand to Raul for a shake. “Thank you.” Emotion cracked the words, so he cleared his throat and nodded once, then motioned for Callie to get into the car ahead of him.

  The car was neither super-stretch nor over-the-top fancy, but it worked well for Jen and her friends and would be great for today’s needs. A single seat ran along the left side, then wrapped around the front, backing up to the driver. A short seat ran along the ride side, and a bar was sandwiched between the end of the seat and the door.

  The privacy glass was already raised, which was incredibly convenient because Callie probably would’ve been too nervous and backed out—or fumbled around and made a mess of things trying to raise it herself. Not to mention never being able to make eye contact with Raul again.

  Callie set her bag and the stack of blankets and jackets on the floor, then sat on the long seat and waited for Wade to join her. “Do you know Raul?” she asked once the door was shut and they were closed in together.

  Wade glanced at her, then continued his perusal of the interior of the car. “Do I look like the kind of guy who knows limo drivers?”

  Ignoring his cranky tone, she said, “Then how does he know your friend, Dan?”

  He stretched his long legs out in front of him, rested his arm across the back of the seat, and laid his head back, showing for the first time his exhaustion and the toll the day had taken. “DAN stands for Divers Alert Network. They coordinate with the coast guard when there are diving accidents. He must dive himself or has friends who do.”

  Callie tried to imagine Raul diving but had a hard time envisioning him doing anything but driving a car. He’d worked for Jen’s father for years, but like so many people in her life, Callie realized she didn’t know anything about him personally.

  Taking Wade’s outstretched arm as an invitation to curl up against his side, she grabbed the heavy wool blanket and sidled up next to him. A wave of contentment rushed through her and escaped on a sigh when he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tight.

  Resting her head on his chest, she stretched her arm around his side and squeezed. “They’re going to be okay, right?”

  “Yeah, they’ll be fine now that they’re in the decompression chamber. Alex would’ve been fine eventually. Although his life would’ve been hell for a while. But Tyler was down there a long time.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and stared at the ceiling. Speaking quietly, and more to himself than her, he said, “He was so close to being out of air. There wasn’t any way to do safety stops, so the bends would’ve hit quickly. He’d have been in deep shit without the chamber.”

  She shivered against the chill of his words as well as the cooler-than-normal temperature radiating from his body. She’d stayed wrapped around him all the way back into shore, like she was riding on the back of a motorcycle, and thought she’d helped warm him a little. His body temperature, however, still seemed well below normal.

  Snuggling closer, she asked, “What about you? Do you need the chamber?”

  “No, I’m fine. I wasn’t down long enough to get into trouble.”

  “What about the hypothermia? Are you warming up at all?”

  He tipped his head to the side and looked at her through the fringe of his lashes while flexing his arm to tighten his grip on her. “Oh, yeah. You always heat me up.” Her pulse fluttered as his eyes softened and he swallowed deeply. “You’re incredible, you know that?”

  Warmth spread through her at the pride radiating from him… and with the pride she had in herself for handling the situation so much better than anyone—including herself—would’ve expected. She didn’t ever want to go through anything like that again, but she’d proved she could handle stressful, life-threatening situations if necessary, and she was damned proud.

  “Hey.” Wade tipped up her chin and swiped his thumb across her cheek, gathering a stream of tears she didn’t even realize were falling. “Don’t cry, baby. It’s all over now, and everyone, including you, is fine.”

  She bit her lip to fight off the tremble as her mind broke loose and she lost control of her emotions again. “I wasn’t worried about me. You could’ve died down there. You would have if you hadn’t found him.”

  She didn’t pose it as a question. She didn’t need to. She knew the deal as well as him, and the tic in his jaw, along with the raw intensity radiating from his eyes, was further confirmation.

  “But I did find him. And thanks to you, the coast guard was waiting and now they’re getting the treatment they need.”

  “I w
as scared.”

  He closed his eyes and wrapped his other arm around her to pull her onto his lap. “So was I, baby. But it’s over now, and I’m damn glad that’s not the way the story… our story… ended.”

  They sat in silence, curled together, each lost to their own thoughts. After a moment, she said, “Wade?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “I’m ready.”

  He cracked his eyes open and caught her gaze. “Ready for what, baby?”

  “For you to make love to me.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Wade’s body tensed and the arm wrapped around her tightened as a choking sound escaped the back of his throat. “Now?”

  He sounded incredulous, and despite her increasingly sexed-up state, she laughed. “Yes, now.” She shifted around on his lap and straddled his knees, facing him. The position worked well the other night on her couch. Hopefully it would work even better now.

  “I need to touch you. To feel you moving inside me so I know you’re really okay. I want to look into your eyes, and this time, I want to see life and promises of a tomorrow.” She tugged on her lip with her teeth and battled the nerves tightening her throat. “And when you look into my eyes, you’ll see the same thing. I’m ready to give you everything, Wade. Please.”

  His chest rose and fell rapidly and his eyelids grew heavy while the pupils dilated, making his irises a dark, rich brown. “What about a soft bed and a pillow?” He glanced toward the front of the car. “And privacy?”

  “Raul can’t see or hear anything. Trust me, he’s had lots of practice with Jen. He probably thinks we’re already naked.”

  Wade’s upper lip curled as he glanced at the seat, probably imaging Jen’s naked butt in the exact spot he sat. “Another reason to wait until we’re home.”

  “I don’t want to wait.” The intensity of the day, knowing she’d come close to losing him just as she’d found him, made Callie crazy with desperation and bordering on out-of-control reckless. Ignoring his reservations, she reached for the fly of his jeans and fumbled with the buttons. “Please don’t deny me this.”

  His hands tightened on her waist, and she could tell from his choppy breathing and pounding pulse he wanted this as much as her. But he still held himself back. “My wallet is in my bag in the truck. I don’t have a condom.”

  She’d never experienced such a desperate driving need and the urgency to have Wade inside her shocked even her. She twisted to the side and reached behind her to open the bottom drawer of the bar, revealing the super-sized box Jen always kept on hand. “Problem solved.”

  Heat and desire flashed in his eyes as he glanced to the box, and a second later, she was flat on her back on the seat. He wedged one knee between her legs and settled the other on the floor. One elbow rested above her head and his other hand pressed to the floor for balance.

  “This isn’t how I imagined our first time.” His soft, tender voice still seemed hesitant, and she had the impression he was giving her another chance to change her mind.

  That was so not happening.

  “Me neither. But I also never considered the possibility of you dying before we had a first time.” She tugged at the hem of his partially tucked-in shirt. “I’m not willing to wait another minute.” She paused. “We’ll have a second and a third and a fourth time, right? We can do the bed thing later.”

  His grin was slow and sexy as he lowered his mouth to hers. “Absolutely.”

  At first, it was a soft brushing of lips against lips, but then the kiss grew hard and hot, and his tongue branded her as it swept over her bottom lip, then demanded entry into her mouth. She didn’t know how his internal body temperature was doing, but if he was like her, he’d be in danger of going from hypothermia to overheating any minute.

  “You wanna be on top?” he asked, breaking the kiss, giving them both the opportunity to gasp for much needed air. “I can’t imagine the seat is real comfortable for you?”

  “No.” She slid her palms under the hem of his shirt and pushed them upward across his abs and chest, dragging the shirt to his neck in the process. There was no time for slow exploration right now, and after stripping off the shirt, she went to work on his pants. “I’m comfortable right here. I’ll be even better when you’re naked. On top of me. In me.”

  A smile curled his lips and his eyebrow rose. “What happened to you out there? Where’s my shy little kitten?”

  She stopped trying to strip off his jeans long enough to look him in the eye, making sure he couldn’t miss the seriousness of her answer. “What happened is I now know how fragile and fleeting life can be. I’m not wasting another minute. This is too important. You’re too important. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’m not waiting another second to be with you.”

  He made another of those strangled sounds and clenched his eyes tight, then drew in a ragged breath as he pushed himself up and looked out the window. “We only have forty-five minutes. At the most.”

  The regret filling his voice had her laughing. Sweet, sweet man. If he only knew her sad history…

  “I can live with forty-five minutes. But if you don’t get busy, we’re not going to have that long.”

  God, she loved it when his eyes turned dark brown and gooey and filled with heat and promise. “Yes, ma’am.”

  He swept her hair off her face and fanned it around her head on the seat. His touch was so incredibly soft and gentle. She found it hard to believe these were the same hands that had been fisted in anger, ready to pummel the guy at The Blue Lagoon.

  “You’re beautiful.” He kissed her temple, her cheek, and the corner of her mouth. “And smart.” He dipped lower and kissed the side of her neck before moving up to her ear. “And resourceful. And strong.”

  She struggled to concentrate on his words while his tongue swept the shell of her ear and his teeth nibbled her neck, but she eventually managed to whisper, “I’ve never seen any of those qualities in myself.”

  “I’ll remind you every day until you believe it.”

  He kissed his way back down the side of her neck until he ran into the top of her turtleneck and sweater. She’d always worn high-collared clothing, not only to stay warm, but because she was so conservative, but she suddenly understood why Jen wore low-cut, easy-to-slip-off tops.

  It was time to go shopping and make serious wardrobe changes.

  Equally frustrated with her clothing, Wade sat back on the seat and pulled her with him. He yanked the sweater and turtleneck over her head and, no longer hesitant or holding himself back, he wasted no time in flicking open the front closure of her bra. After tossing it onto the floor with her sweater, he grabbed the blanket from the seat behind him.

  “Let’s spread this out under you so you’re more comfortable.”

  After he had her stretched out on the seat the way he wanted, he undid her belt, unfastened her jeans, and tugged them down until they bumped into her shoes. He might’ve been leery of limo sex in the beginning, but he was fully involved and ready to go now, and the growl escaping his throat had her giggling and reaching out to help.

  “How about this…?” she said, easing his hand away from the hem of her jeans as he continued to tug. “I’ll undress me; you undress you?”

  She fought off a grin as he narrowed his eyes in warning. “You think I can’t handle a pair of shoes and jeans?”

  Giving up the fight, she giggled again. “I’m sure you can, but I’d rather them not end up in shreds. I’d like to go into the hospital with you, and I don’t want to have to explain why I’m wrapped in a blanket and nothing else.”

  He glanced out the window again and his eyes widened. “Jesus. Raul’s hauling ass.” He scooted away from her and reached for his buttons. “Okay, deal.” He paused and raked a scorching gaze over her. “This time. Next time, it’s a bed and all night.”

  Heat blossomed in her belly and spread over her skin in a thin sheen of sweat. Oh yeah, she would look forward to the next time, the bed, a
nd all night. But for now, their new arrangement worked for her, and less than a minute later, they were both naked, she was once again lying on the blanket on the seat, and he was sheathed in a condom, hovering over her.

  He dipped his head and circled her nipple with his tongue, then clamped down with his teeth and pulled. Holy hell! Everything between her nipple and toes blazed from the force of the tug. She arched her back, cried out, and grabbed the back of his head, holding him in place, hoping he’d do it again.

  He didn’t disappoint, and she arched her back even higher as he switched to her other breast and lavished it with kisses and strokes and, oh God, another of those magnificent tugs that caused a splattering of sparks and fire to race through her stomach and into her sex.

  “God, so good, but I need more.” She sounded even more desperate than she’d been before, and she wiggled beneath him, trying to maneuver him into place.

  The car swayed as Raul changed lanes and Wade lurched to the side, barely catching himself from falling by grabbing the back of the seat. “Limo sex is overrated. You know that, right?”

  She wrapped her legs around his waist, locking him into place while at the same time trying to pull him closer so he’d be perfectly aligned with her. “I told you I’d never done it before. And if you were down here with me, your center of gravity would be lower and you’d be much safer.”

  A grin crawled across his face as he ran his finger down the center of her stomach. “You can be quite persuasive when you want something.” He continued lower with his finger and when he ran it through the center of her sex, his head fell back on his shoulders with a groan. “God, you’re so wet.”

  “And ready. And waiting.”

  He repositioned her legs so one was over his shoulder and the other lay along the back of the seat, giving him ample room to slip between them. Even though she was on her back with him on top of her, this was miles from the typical missionary position she’d experienced in the past, and she’d never been more needy or ready.