Rebel Soul: (Rebel Series Book 1) ((Rebel Series))

by J. C. Hannigan

  Travis was taller than me by nearly five inches. He had wavy, dark blond hair that couldn’t quite decide if it was curly or straight. It teased his shirt collar and fell in a charming swoop over his forehead. He was lean and fit, but he didn’t ooze the delectable masculinity that Brock did. By all counts, I should have been attracted to Travis, and I probably would have been at least enamored with him…had Brock not invaded my senses.

  “Were you at the concert?” Travis’s voice stirred my thoughts away from Brock and I tried to focus on his face. The alcohol in my system made that normally easy task a little challenging.

  “Yeah, I was there. It was good,” I shrugged.

  Travis grinned. “Just good?”

  “Sorry, it was the most amazing thing I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing, ever. My ear drums will never be the same again,” I corrected sarcastically, smirking. Travis blinked at me for a moment, and then he threw back his head and laughed.

  “Shit Tessa, you’re the realest girl I’ve met in a long time.” He sounded astonished by this fact.

  “That’s really sad.” I frowned. “Especially considering we’ve already met before, so that doesn’t even really count.”

  The corners of Travis’s lips perked up as he tried to repress a grin. His hands began to roam my hips, feeling the skin through the thin fabric of my shirt. I was disappointed to not feel a rush of desire, so disappointed that I stopped dancing and closed my eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Travis asked, his hands hesitating. I eyed him regretfully for a moment, wishing that I’d feel that chemical reaction I felt whenever I was in close proximity of Brock. I felt…nothing. Crickets. Silence.

  “Nothing,” I said, trying to will the disappointment from my voice and face. To my great relief, the song finally ended. “Thanks for the dance, Travis! It was great seeing you again.” I stepped out of Travis’s embrace, leaving him on the dance floor looking confused.

  Elle was still waiting for me at the bar, her eyes wide with excitement. “So how was it?”

  “It wasn’t.” I shrugged, tossing back another shot that she’d gotten for me in my absence.

  “Little sister, that better not have been alcohol.” I froze for a moment, the shot glass hovering just above the bar table, and slowly turned to see Gordon and Tommy approaching. Benjamin, thankfully, had grown bored with such displays. At twenty-seven years old, he was busy with his work and his wife. She was actually due in a couple of months with their first child.

  If only Gordon and Tommy would settle down and leave me alone.

  “You guys are ridiculous,” Elle remarked, smiling a little as she shook her head. “Are you going to follow Tessa along to college too, make sure that she doesn’t drink there either?”

  “We just might have to.” Gordon frowned, scratching at his fair beard thoughtfully and exchanging a look with Tommy.

  “Or,” I said, drawing out the word a little longer than necessary, “you could just mind your own business. I recall the both of you doing far worse things at eighteen than drinking at a party.”

  “That’s different,” Tommy argued with a slight smile on his face. He was about to keep talking, but I raised my hand.

  “Shut up, Tommy.” I sighed. “I really am quite tired of your hypocritical bullshit. If you’re both going to insist on being your usual selves, I’ll just go elsewhere.” I straightened up, about to push past them and head outside, when my eyes locked with Brock’s. He was walking over with Braden, but paused when our eyes connected. My heart rate increased in tempo, and my throat suddenly felt very dry.

  My brothers saw me gaping like a fish, and turned around to see who I was staring at.

  Brock

  Every goddamn time she looked me at with those wide, beautiful eyes, I forgot where we were. I forgot who I was and who she was. I forgot every damn little detail I was supposed to remember because I was completely lost within their amber depths.

  The entire world seemed to fall away; the barn, the people. I forgot about the fact that two of Tessa’s brothers were standing right in front of her. I forgot that I’d just watched her dance with another man, one of my former best friends at that, and bit back waves of jealousy so intense, I could barely see straight.

  It was a bad idea to come out tonight, I thought, inhaling deeply.

  “Brock!” Gordon’s voice boomed across the space between us, snapping me out of the spell of her. I blinked, focusing on his face. Gordon had changed a lot in the last four years. He’d gotten a little taller and had finally grown a thick, dark blond beard. I think our entire final year of high school was spent with Gordon trying to grow a beard, and carefully grooming the tiny goatee he’d been able to sprout. He was still wearing the faded green John Deere baseball cap.

  “Hey, man. How’s it going?” I nodded at him.

  “Jesus Christ, they weren’t kidding when they said you’ve bulked up!” He shook his head, mystified. “You’re a goddamn tank now!”

  “Yeah, well…” I always felt uncomfortable when people brought up this fact. Yeah, I’ve bulked up in recent years. There was little else for me to do in jail, and even less for me to do in Alberta when I wasn’t working. I only had one friend there, a guy named Grayson. He was dealing with his own stuff though, and he had one foot in the door at being a full-blown alcoholic. When he went to the bars, I went to the gym.

  “You still bull riding?” Gordon asked. He turned around for a moment to order a round of beers, and then looked back at me expectantly.

  “No,” I answered slowly. I hadn’t been on a bull since my last competition, before I came back here and fucked everything up for myself. “I’m working at an oilfield camp in Alberta. Took some time off.”

  I could tell that Tessa was listening hard, hungrily eating up any information I gave.

  “Oh, so you aren’t home for good then?” Gordon questioned, handing me a beer.

  “Nope.” I accepted it, even though I’d long since lost my thirst for alcohol tonight. I swallowed back a sip anyway. “Just here dealing with some family stuff.”

  “I heard, man. I’m sorry.” Sympathy crossed Gordon’s face. I arched a brow in question. My mom hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with her battle with cancer, or at least I hadn’t thought she had. She kept it from me long enough. “Ben’s working at the water treatment plant now,” he explained.

  “Yeah, well…” I cleared my throat, looking for my brother. Braden was standing behind Elle, pulling her against him and studiously ignoring the conversation happening in front of him. “What’s new with you?”

  “Not much.” Gordon shrugged. “Working with the old man on the farm, mostly. Someone’s got to help him out. Ben’s working full-time, and Tommy’s at the old wood mill now. Tessa’s going off to college in the fall.”

  I nodded, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the spike of interest I felt at Tessa’s name. I glanced up, catching her looking at me. “What are you taking?” I asked, purposely drawing her into the conversation.

  She bit down on her lip, an action that drove me wild. “The vet tech program at Georgian,” she answered, almost meekly. Gone was the sassy little spitfire. I had a feeling it had everything to do with her brothers.

  “Nice.” I allowed the tiniest hint of a smile to grace my lips before turning my attention back to Gordon. “Have you seen Travis yet?”

  “No, we just got here.”

  “Oh, you missed him pawing Tessa on the dance floor, then,” Braden helpfully supplied with a smirk. I bit the inside of my cheek, scowling at the reminder and the jealousy I felt. Elle elbowed him, but it was too late.

  “What?” Gordon frowned, glaring over his shoulder at his sister. “Travis put his hands on you, Tessa?”

  “Oh give it up,” Tessa growled, rolling her eyes. “We danced, that’s it, you goddamn Neanderthal!” She was pissed, and it was evident in the way her amber eyes flashed with contempt. She pushed through her brothers and stormed away. She was followed closely by Elle
who shook her head in disappointment at my dipshit brother.

  “What?” Braden chuckled, raising his arms up as if he truly didn’t know what he’d done wrong.

  “I think we need to have a word with our old friend Travis, what do you think Tommy? Brock?” Gordon’s eyes danced between mischief and amusement. Tommy nodded eagerly in agreement, and they both looked at me for my answer.

  I took a sip of my beer, stalling, ever so careful to not let my eyes waiver from Gordon’s face. Part of me found it absolutely fucking ironic that he wanted me to help back him in this, when I was battling my own attraction to his sister. If he could hear the carnal thoughts I had about her, I highly doubt he’d be inviting me along in to ‘chat’ with Travis. “I think Tessa is a big girl, and she can handle herself.”

  “Oh I know she can handle herself,” Gordon said carefully, his eyes locked on mine. “I just want to make sure that my friends remember she is still completely off limits.”

  My hand stilled for a moment, the beer I was slowly lowering suspended in the air. I was bristling on the inside, but outside I remained stoic and indifferent.

  “If you feel like you need to pass out that reminder again, by all means, go talk to Travis. But I won’t be cracking my knuckles in the background. Not my fight, brother.”

  Gordon was still for a moment, and then he started to laugh. A deep belly laugh that was almost unsettling. He clapped his hand on my shoulder again, giving it a little squeeze. “I can respect that. You want to keep your nose clean, I get it. It was good seeing you again, Brock.”

  “You too, Gordon.” I nodded, watching as the two middle Armstrong brothers walked off to find Travis.

  “Whoa, that was fucking intense,” Braden remarked, his eyebrows raised. “I see what you mean.”

  “You just had to stir the fucking pot, didn’t you?” I growled, slamming the barely touched beer down on the bar. He shrugged, like it couldn’t be helped, and picked it up.

  I stalked out of the barn. I’d had enough of the bullshit drama and I wanted to go home. Several people were hanging out in front of the barn, smoking cigarettes and talking. Elle and Tessa were sitting on the log fence that separated the driveway from the field. Elle was rubbing Tessa’s shoulders, talking gently to her. I’d have to pass them to get to where I’d parked my truck.

  Elle looked up and spotted me. She whispered to Tessa, and those amber eyes landed on me, rendering me absolutely powerless to anything else. Tessa said something back and then slid slowly off the log, walking purposely towards me.

  “Take me back to your place,” she said, coming to a stop in front of me. I could barely concentrate on anything, save for the creamy colour of her collar bone and neck. Her sweater hung off her shoulder, leaving more of that heavenly looking skin exposed. I swallowed hard.

  “What?”

  “Take me back to your place,” she repeated, her eyes fixated on my face. “I want to go home with you.”

  “Why?” My ability to string two words together at a time had apparently disappeared, along with any control I ought to have.

  “Because I want to,” she said simply, shrugging. She sunk her teeth into her lower lip. “And I think you want me to. I don’t think you’re going to let anybody else tell you what you can and can’t have.”

  Tessa’s thick lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she lowered her gaze, clearly seeing the affect that her words had on me. My pants were straining, and my breathing had deepened as I desperately fought my urges.

  She was right. I normally wasn’t one to let someone tell me what I could and couldn’t have. But this was different. This wasn’t just any girl asking me to take her home. This was Tessa Armstrong – the sister of one of my old best friends, the daughter of a man that I knew would skin me alive if I touched her. She was off limits in every sense of the word, but I’d never wanted anybody more than I wanted her.

  “Let’s go,” Tessa said, her hand reaching out and grabbing mine. She led me down the driveway, away from the people. Her hand felt small, soft and warm in mine. Holding her hand was like touching light, like coming alive again after years of being dead. I never wanted to let go.

  Which is exactly why I had to.

  I cleared my throat, releasing her hand so I could dig through my pockets for my keys. I found them, hitting unlock and opening the passenger door for her. She climbed in without help; a girl like Tessa didn’t need assistance getting into a lifted truck, and that in itself was the hugest fucking turn on. Most girls that I’d been with would have waited until I helped them in. Not her.

  I closed the door, walking around to the driver’s side while gnawing on the inside of my cheek. I was in serious fucking trouble. I got behind the wheel, but before I could slide the key into the ignition, Tessa was scooting over to me. Her thigh brushed against mine, the scent of her skin invaded my nostrils. She smelled like lavender and honeysuckle, and I wanted to taste her more than I wanted my next breath.

  There’s only so much a man can do when a beautiful girl presses herself against him. There’s only so much a man can do when she runs her hand along his chest and peers into his eyes with wanton desire and bites her bottom lip. My hands acted on their own accord to cup Tessa’s face. I used my thumb to tug gently on her bottom lip, freeing it from her teeth.

  She closed her eyes and sighed, her lips parting invitingly, and there wasn’t anything else I could do. I was hopeless. She had me under a spell. My lips found hers, gently at first, tasting her. I just want one taste, I told myself.

  Then Tessa took control, deepening the kiss while she brought her right leg over my lap to straddle me. I groaned, the feeling of her tongue sliding into my mouth and pairing with mine almost too much to bear. Her hands were on my chest, feeling the hard muscles and the frantic beating of my heart, and she moved against me, grinding against my groin. Two pairs of denim against my hard as fuck cock was torture, and I would have given anything in that moment to be in her.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she whispered huskily, giving me a playful nip on my bottom lip before she fluidly moved away and buckled up. She sent me a daring grin and arched her brow, wondering why I hadn’t stomped on the gas immediately.

  I swallowed hard, trying to adjust myself as I started up my truck and pulled away from the barn.

  It was dark. The clock on my dashboard read one o’clock in the morning. Nobody was on the road, and I had to concentrate completely on driving and not pulling off to have my way with her. I was still painfully hard, still acutely aware of her right beside me.

  “How drunk are you?” I asked, my voice sounding rough from need.

  “Not that drunk,” Tessa answered, sending me a playful look. “I’m sober enough to know what I want.”

  “And what do you want?”

  “You. I want to feel you inside me,” she replied, her words easily becoming my undoing. I swallowed hard again, my throat dry.

  I said nothing for several moments, turning onto the road that led to the Armstrong farm. “Wait, I thought we were going to your place?” She was sober enough to pay attention to her surroundings.

  We’d reached her driveway now, and I drove up it quickly, the dust flying out beneath my tires. I needed to get her here before I changed my mind and took her back to my trailer. I put the truck in park, leaving it idling.

  She looked at me, those wide eyes full of hurt. “Don’t you want me, Brock?”

  I turned to face her, tipping her chin up to force her eyes to meet mine. “Yes, Tessa. I want you really fucking bad.” I was ninety percent sure that this whole experience was going to give me the worst case of blue balls I’d ever had.

  “Then why’d you bring me back here?” she demanded, anger flashing in her eyes.

  “Because you deserve better than a quick fuck in my truck on some back road, Tessa, and I intend on giving it to you,” I told her, my voice heavy with desire.

  “What if I want that, Brock?” she asked. “What if I want a quick fu
ck on some back road?”

  Whenever she talked dirty like that, my vision wavered and all I wanted to do was kiss her until everything melted away. I would have too, if the porch light hadn’t turned on and if Bill Armstrong hadn’t stepped out in his plaid pajamas wearing the most menacing look I’d ever seen a man wear.

  “I don’t want to be a decision you regret in the morning,” I said lowly, my hand falling away from her chin.

  Tessa’s mouth opened and closed as she struggled to find something to say. She was so captivated by my words and me that she didn’t even realize her dad was out front until he walked up to my truck and opened the passenger door.

  She startled, struggling with her seatbelt.

  “Brock.” the way that Bill said my name seemed to be a threat.

  “Mr. Armstrong.” I nodded, watching as Tessa stumbled out of the truck. She looked at me over her shoulder, biting her lip once, her eyes swirling with confusion and want.

  As I watched her walk up the front steps with her dad, I instantly regretted my decision to bring her home. I should have just brought her back to my trailer like she wanted. I should have just let her sleep it off in my bed, then drove her to Elle’s in the morning. I shouldn’t have made a decision for her, even if my heart had been in the right place. I truly hadn’t wanted to be something that she woke up to regret in the morning.

  I’d also known that I wouldn’t have been able to resist her. The thought of her in my bed was enough to drive me insane with need, having her actually in my bed and being unable to touch her…that would have fucking killed me.

  Tessa

  My father marched me up the front steps and into the house. I made a move to head up the stairs to my room, but his voice halted me.

  “Table, now,” he said sternly, pointing to the kitchen. The old oak table was reserved for family meals and what Dad liked to call ’family meetings’, which were basically sit downs where he disbursed punishments and talked about things that needed to be done around the farm.