by Dahlia West
The first drops of rain hit the window in a burst and the trees in the yard threw long, wild shadows across the floor as they swayed in the wind.
Austin frowned and moved down the hallway to the bathroom, but that door was already standing wide open and she wasn’t there, either. He headed downstairs, checking the living room first and then the kitchen. No lights were on anywhere and there was no one else on the first floor.
He was nervous now, throwing open doors, even to the office where she had no reason to be but he checked anyway, just in case. The basement door was still bolted shut (to keep Willow from falling down the steep wooden steps) and the side door was locked. On his way back through the first floor, Austin stopped at the living room windows and peered out at the driveway just as a splattering of raindrops smacked the pane.
Several seconds passed, then a flickering of lightning. There, in front of the barn, on a tiny patch of grass, a small, lithe figure spun wildly, as though being tossed about by the shrieking wind. His heart plummeted to his stomach and he darted toward the front door, throwing it wide. He barreled down the steps just as the thunder started to sound louder overhead. Through the raindrops he saw that she’d stopped spinning and was now pinned against the side of the barn.
“Leah!” he called, but it was lost to a gale that ripped through the trees. She started for him, but ducked back again when another bolt of lightning illuminated the space around them. The storm was moving fast. Even in the time it had taken to descend the stairs and step onto the porch it was a full-on rager. Water poured in buckets between them, which he didn’t mind, but the lightning strikes made for tricky navigating.
He waited for another, then charged down the steps and ran across the large, circular driveway, legs pumping. His feet were bare and the tiny rocks stung his soles but he hardly noticed. Getting to her was all that mattered.
He made it to her in record time and before he could stop himself, he reached out and grabbed her shoulders roughly. “What are you doing out here alone?” he demanded. He was surprised at his own anger, shocked at how terrified he’d been when he’d opened the bedroom door to find her missing. The thought of Leah’s absence had not sat well with him. And the sight of her trapped underneath the eave of the barn in the middle of a thunderstorm had driven him half-insane.
Leah, for her part, seemed oblivious to his mood, though. Despite his grip on her, she smiled up into his face. Her wet hair was plastered to her forehead. Her t-shirt clung to her. She laughed, a sound which startled him, because it was so at odds with the storm raging around them and the one inside him. “I’m not alone,” she replied.
Austin watched her hand flutter from his chest to her belly. It rested there, over the rounded bump that he could make out now that she was soaking wet and the fabric was clinging to her. A wave of possessiveness flooded through him.
“I never have to be alone again,” she said.
He growled, low in his throat. The sound was probably lost amid the thunder peals, but it didn’t matter. He knew what he felt, knew what he wanted. God damn right Leah never had to be alone.
Because she had him!
He yanked her forward, almost off her feet, and she gave a startled cry just before his lips came down over hers.
So much for playing it safe.
Chapter Twenty-Two
‡
Leah nearly screamed, she was so surprised. Most of it was lost, half to the wind and half to Austin’s mouth sealed over her own. He pushed her back, under the relative safety of the eave and pressed her against the rough wooden siding of the horse barn. He was shirtless, and she may as well have been, now that she was soaked from the warm summer rain. The thin fabric of her t-shirt was practically nonexistent as her nipples strained against it, against him.
He cupped her breasts in his large hands, the warmth of them sending shockwaves of desire rippling through her body. His thumbs swirled over her hard points and he forced her mouth open wider, making her open for him to explore.
Another flash brightened the sky and the sound of Leah’s moaning was drowned out in the thunder that followed. Austin grabbed her by the hand suddenly and pulled her to the hay barn, guided her through the door, and closed it quickly. Around them, the darkness was lit up by the lightning outside moments before the door shut completely, muffling the sound of the thunder that followed. The small building shook a little, though.
“God,” Leah breathed, staring at the tiny crack in the door. “This storm is crazy. I didn’t realize—”
Austin was on her quicker than the lightning outside. His mouth came down on hers again, and his hands wrapped themselves in her wet hair. There was a lot Leah hadn’t realized, apparently. He was hard, for one. His erection pressed into her lower belly as he moved her back, farther into the recesses of the barn. And two, he intended to do something about it this time, something more than kiss her, she suspected.
As he pushed her down into a pile of soft straw in the corner, Leah felt that now-familiar thrill whenever Austin touched her. He reached down and ran a hand along her bare thigh. “Why is fuck crossed off?” he growled as his fingers danced over her panties.
Leah could barely concentrate on anything but his touch. “What?” she whispered, lifting her hips into his hand.
“Why is fuck crossed off your list?”
“Because…I…” She bit her lip, nervous now. Like the lightning, she’d come crashing back down to Earth, fully aware now, back to her senses. She moved away from him, tugging down her night gown as she put distance between them. “I don’t…have a lot of experience,” she mumbled. “I don’t…fuck.”
She’d thought about it, lots of times over the years, whenever she stumbled upon a particularly racy book or movie, a strange and forbidden act that she could never bring herself to try. She’d tried others, though. Not even Candace knew Leah’d had a secret bucket list, years ago. Filled with ridiculous things, things that were pointless. Drink a beer, smoke a cigarette, have sex. All things she watched other kids do around her and in a desperate bid to be normal, she’d tried them, as well. The beer and the Marlboro had both made her sick. The sex that followed had been just terrible. Birds and the bees. The bee part was right—it had been just like a sting, painful and quick.
The boy had been awkward and put off by her appearance. He’d done it anyway (of course) and afterward they barely looked each other’s way in the hallways at school. Fucking with him—or anyone—seemed as possible to Leah as walking on the moon.
“I don’t fuck,” she declared again, feeling stupid.
Austin had no response to that. Instead he simply lifted her night gown, farther past her hips, higher, revealing her belly. Leah quickly yanked it back down. “No one’s going to come in here,” he told her. “Not in this storm. Not in the middle of the night.”
“It’s not that,” she replied, holding the fabric tight.
“Then what?”
“I…I don’t want you to see me.”
“I don’t want to hear about push up bras and fake ponytails, Leah. Your face is still the same. Your eyes are still the same. And they were the first thing I noticed about you.”
“Austin,” she said by way of argument.
“It’s dark,” he counted. “I can barely see you at all.”
“Just…just leave it on, okay? Please just leave it on.”
“All right,” he finally conceded. “But these—” He grabbed her panties and yanked. “Are coming off.” He tossed them aside and then, shockingly wrapped his hands around around her legs, gripping her behind her thighs, and pried them apart. His head started to dip down.
Leah squirmed. “Oh no! No, no!”
Austin growled, holding her tightly in his hands. “How many times are you going to tell me no, Leah?”
Her heart knocked in her chest and she struggled to catch her breath. “I don’t…I didn’t mean ‘no’. I meant…I…” She blew out a hard breath. “No one’s ever…” She couldn’t even b
ring herself to say the words. She knew her face was on fire at this point, embarrassed all the way up to her ears. Hell, even her scalp was tingling. “I haven’t,” she finished lamely.
“Hold still,” he ordered.
Leah willed herself not to move an inch.
He pressed his mouth to her and she gasped, feeling dizzy. It felt nothing like she thought it would. He kissed her pussy the way he’d kissed her mouth, firmly but with his soft lips brushing over her. It felt the same, like a welcome invasion.
It was some time before she realized she’d stop clenching her fists and now had her hands in his hair, holding him against her. She startled and let go but he only redoubled his efforts, growling low in his throat which vibrated against her folds and made her tense all over. Her belly felt hot and tight.
“I’m going to come,” she whispered, feeling like she was floating in warm water.
He stopped suddenly and rose up over her. The loss of sensation caused a shock like she’d been struck by the lightning outside.
“Why do you do that?” she screeched, sitting up and slapping at his chest. “Why?” He’d stopped before, in the hotel room. It had driven her mad.
He’d shucked shorts somehow while she wasn’t aware, rolled onto his back, and that thick, throbbing shaft jutted up into the air. “Fuck me, Leah,” he coaxed as he pulled her over him.
Uncertain about this too, but filled with such a powerful ache she might die if she didn’t finish, she sank down on his shaft. She was wet and he slid in easily, almost to the hilt. She gave her hips a wiggle, so nervous, so unsure.
“Come on, little rabbit. Fuck me hard. Make me cum. Make yourself. Tell me you want to fuck.”
She could only shake her head.
Austin’s hips stilled. “I’ll stop, Leah,” he threatened.
Her belly tightened. “No!” she gasped.
He lifted his hands and gripped her hips, lifting her up slowly, restricting her movement. She felt the imminent loss of his cock and whimpered. “I’ll stop if I don’t hear you. Let me hear you.”
“Don’t you dare!” she hissed while trying to pry his hands off.
“Say it, Leah.”
She glared down at him, her stretched pussy aching, sensitive breasts throbbing. Any second now she was going to pound him. “I want to fuck,” she demanded, but it caught in her throat, came out like an exasperated whisper.
Austin grinned at her. “What do you want?”
Leah groaned. The teasing was killing her. “I want to fuck,” she repeated.
He laughed.
She raged.
“Was that a whine? Are you whining at me?” he asked.
Leah grabbed his hands, forcefully enough this time to tear them off her hips. Or perhaps he just let her. She laced her fingers through his and tightened her grip. “I want to fuck!” she shouted, rivaling the thunder overhead.
Austin lifted his hips and surged inside her. The stretch and burn of her pussy set off a firestorm in Leah’s belly. Not quite an orgasm, not just yet—but flames licked at her insides as she rocked on top of him. She rose and fell, impaled and emptied herself wildly, feeling more powerful than she ever had in her life.
As she looked down at him, his dark eyes were molten, his jaw was tense, his lips still glistened from her wetness. Unable to stop herself, she leaned down and sealed her mouth over his, tasting what he’d tasted.
God, this was so wrong. So devilish. So consuming.
“Be loud, Leah,” he commanded. “Come for me and be loud.” There was no teasing in his voice this time, no lilting tone.
And Leah was falling. Falling straight into Hell. Falling for Austin. Falling into the most powerful orgasm of her life as his cock throbbed inside her and his tongue licked at hers. She tore her eyes away from this man underneath her, lifted her gaze to the darkened roof of the hay barn, and did as she’d been told.
She screamed. Screamed out her orgasm, pulsing around him while he pulsed inside her. She collapsed on top of him then, unable to hold herself up. Her entire body felt boneless. Her muscles were utterly useless now.
Austin wrapped his arms around her and held her in place, still fitted inside her, where she wanted him most.
Leah closed her eyes and listened to the storm and his heartbeat.
Chapter Twenty-Three
‡
Austin woke just as the sun was rising and found Leah asleep on top of him. It was tempting to stay there all morning long, letting her sleep, but that idea was just too fraught with difficulties. He ran his hand along her arm up to the side of her face. “Leah,” he whispered. “It’s time to get up.”
She groaned and doubled down, burrowing closer to him.
He laughed.
“Honey, we’ve got to get up. If we wait even a minute longer, Sofia, Dakota, Walker, everyone, they’re going to be up and about at the Big House. And neither of us is wearing pants.”
“Oh, God,” she moaned, pushing herself up. Even half-asleep and storm-tossed she was beautiful. For the first time he noticed tiny freckles on her nose. And wondered if she had them anywhere else. It had been impossible to see in the dark. But there was no time for that now.
“We’ve got to move,” he said, rising to his feet and reaching down for her. When she was on her feet, he cupped her face and brought his lips to hers. It was less searing, less fueled by fear than the night before, but no less passionate. She rose to her tiptoes to tug at his hair and taste him with her tongue. “I’m going to take care of you,” he vowed suddenly when he finally pulled away.
She looked up at him with a confused look, brow furrowed. “I never doubted it, Austin. I’m grateful that you took me in.”
Took her in? Like she was a stray cat who’d wandered onto the property? It galled him to hear her talk about herself that way. He had half a mind to stand here and lecture her about it but time was running short and if Leah didn’t want Austin to see her naked, she probably felt the same about his brother seeing her in her panties.
Outside the barn, he bent and lifted her.
“Austin!” she hissed.
“I don’t want you walking on the gravel with your bare feet,” he told her, carrying her toward the porch. Next time you want to dance in the rain, wear your boots. And wake me up first,” he added.
She blushed and he wished that they’d stayed in the barn.
They crept into the house and he was relieved that they didn’t run into anyone downstairs. At their respective bedroom doors, her fingers slipped from his and he had to fight to keep himself from tightening his grip, to hold on to her for just a little while longer. She gave him a shy smile just before she ducked into her room. Austin stood a moment in the hallway, debating whether or not to follow her in, but it was already light out and he needed to get ready to put in a full day’s work.
He skipped another shower, threw on some jeans, and ended up sitting across from her at the breakfast table, surrounded by the others. She gave him a shy smile as he pulled out his chair and he didn’t seem to be able to wipe the grin from his face, either. He wanted her again, just seeing her now, and he could see that she was fully aware of it. Her cheeks flushed and she pressed her lips together just before she looked away. He couldn’t stay away from her. He didn’t want to. And the churning heat he was trying to ignore inside him wasn’t going to be ignored.
Spending a whole day without her was unacceptable.
He tossed his plate into the sink and followed Dakota out the side door, catching up with her halfway across the driveway. “Turn Colter out with the mares today,” he said.
She looked up at him, surprised. “You’re not going up to the Folly?”
“I am. But I’m taking the truck.” He hustled back inside and found Leah at the sink, rinsing off her plate. Only Sofia was in the kitchen, sweeping the floor, so he put his arms around his woman and pulled her back against him.
She gasped.
“Thought maybe you’d like to go for a ride,” he s
aid, nipping her neck.
She giggled and tilted her head to give him better access. “Oh, I’m sure I would.”
Austin chuckled. “Before you get too excited, I’m talking about a different kind of ride.”
As expected, Leah’s mouth dropped open and her eyes darted to Sofia who was waving her hand at them and shaking her head. The older woman was smiling, though. Austin turned back to Leah and her still parted lips. He stifled a groan as he imagined all the things he’d like to do with her mouth, which was as-yet unexplored.
“Oh, you!” she cried and slapped at his arm.
“Come on,” he said, pulling her away from her chores and to the side door. In the driveway, he opened the passenger door of his truck and held it for her. “Hop in.”
“Where are we going?” she asked as she climbed up to the cab.
“I thought you might like to see where I work, what I do all day.” That was true, she might like it. The real surprise, though, was how they’d get there. He slid behind the wheel and headed down the long driveway to the highway beyond. In just a few minutes, they were on the county road that led to the mine. Austin let off the gas, downshifted, and pulled the truck over to the shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” asked Leah looking around. “Are we…out of gas or something?”
“Nope, not out of gas.” He set the parking brake and opened the door, setting his boots down on the scorching pavement, then patted the seat. “Slide over,” he ordered.
Leah gaped at him. “What?”
“You heard me. Stop acting like you didn’t. Move your sweet ass over here and put your feet on the pedals so I can adjust the seat for you.”
“A…Austin I can’t drive. I don’t know how to drive a stick shift. I don’t…I can’t—”
“Well now, maybe you don’t but that doesn’t mean you can’t. I don’t want to hear can’t. I want hear I will. It’s not hard. Hell, if my idiot brother Sawyer could learn, I know you can. You’re already smarter than him on his best day. Now come on. The Folly’s over five miles down this highway and we’re burning daylight, rabbit. Get us there so I can get to work.”
