by Tess Oliver
“New York’s loss is Bluefield’s gain.” She waved her silver scoop over the tubs of ice cream. She closed one eye and squinted at me. “Wait. Give me a second. Cookies and cream on a sugar cone, right?”
I smiled. “You are amazing, Abbie. Yep, that’s my usual.”
She scooped an extra large portion of ice cream and jammed it on the cone. Becky ordered her pumpkin swirl, and we walked outside of the noisy, bustling shop to enjoy our ice creams.
A help wanted sign was posted in the window of the shop. I pointed at it. “That would be a fun job. All the ice cream you could eat, and Abbie as your boss. Pretty sweet deal.”
Becky quickly licked the drips of pumpkin swirl that were heading to her hand. “The last girl went off to college. You should apply.” She laughed. “I can just see your dad now when you tell him.”
“Yeah some things never change. Except my mom’s workout gear. That changes every fifteen minutes.” I took a semi-bite, semi-lick of my ice cream. “Yum. That woman behind the ice cream counter has my vote for sainthood.”
From the bench where we sat, I could see the crystal black peaks of the coal piles. A gray truck appeared at the top of the long, asphalt road leading up to the mine. The dark heads of the miners bobbed in the back. They’d be heading back to their cars and trucks and some of them would head home on foot. I tried hard to concentrate on the story Becky was relaying, something about an ill-fitting bra she’d bought online, but my eyes and focus kept straying to the big truck waddling like an overloaded elephant as it carried at least a dozen weary miners down from the site.
“I guess the moral of my long-winded tale is don’t trust the pictures on the online stores. I heard Kimmie Hadleston, remember Kimmie, with the sketchy-looking mole on her chin? Anyhow, I heard she decided to buy a wedding dress from some private dressmaker. She never met the lady, just talked to her back and forth through email.” Becky paused long enough to take a long lick of her ice cream. She pondered the creamy orange confection for a second. “Needs more cinnamon, I think. But delish none the less. So, where was I?” She paused again to find her story.
I took the opportunity to glance up the road. The truck was just rolling over the tracks, jostling the live cargo in back.
“Oh my gosh, could you be any more obvious?” She took another lick of her cone. “If this hadn’t been my suggestion in the first place, I’d think you were just sitting here with me to catch a glimpse of lover boy.”
“Nonsense.” I lifted my cone. “I came here for the ice cream and to hear more about Kimmie’s big wedding dress disaster.”
“That’s right. That’s what I was talking about. Long story short, she sent a two thousand dollar deposit to the woman, who turned out, of course, to just be a scam artist preying on helpless, unsuspecting brides.”
“Wow, I did not see that ending coming.”
“Oh shut up. The story was more intriguing the way Yoli told it.”
“I’d say Kimmie hasn’t grown much more brain matter than she had in high school. I still remember when she set a dish towel on fire in home economics.”
Some of the ice cream patrons were making their way to the corner of the block. The miners were hopping out of the back of the truck. My heart did a little leap as the familiar dark head appeared in the group. Dawson was walking next to him. Together, tall, broad shouldered, handsome and slightly coated in the dirt and float dust of the work day, they were hard to look away from.
“Dawson is still as fine as ever,” Becky noted as she peered at them over what was left of her ice cream. She elbowed me with a laugh. “It’s fifty-five degrees out today, but that ice cream in your hand is melting like it’s a hundred.”
Dawson and Kellan reached the corner. Kellan’s gaze drifted the direction of the ice cream shop just as he was turning to walk to the parking lot. He stopped. Our gazes locked. It seemed I could hear my heart beating in my chest. He dragged his gaze away and continued on toward his bike.
Becky had caught the whole exchange. She looked at me with surprise. “I thought he’d at least come over and say hello.”
I made a show of acting unfazed, but I was feeling disappointment all the way down to my toes. “I’m sure he’s tired after working all day,” I added, but it was more for my own self-assurance.
I stared at the dripping disaster in my hand. Suddenly, the ice cream didn’t look so yummy. In fact, my stomach was feeling anything but up for cookies and cream. “This is just way too much ice cream for me.” I got up from the bench, dropped the cone in the trash and wiped my hands clean with a napkin.
I wanted to kick myself for feeling this way already. But that jagged line, that fissure that Kellan had carved in my heart long ago had never healed properly. Becky knew I was upset, but good friend that she was she didn’t say a word.
I spun around and forced a smile. “Guess I should be getting back home.”
“Yeah? Something tells me you won’t be going home just yet.” Becky leaned her head to look past my shoulder. That’s when I heard the rumble of the motorcycle as it came around the corner.
All the ice cream eaters watched as Kellan rolled up, stopping his Harley in front of the shop. His big black boots lifted off the foot pegs and rested on the asphalt as his thick, strong arms held the handlebars steady. He’d pulled on his worn leather jacket, but he had on no helmet or sunglasses. Just a thin layer of coal dust on his face and hands. Every inch of him was raw and erotic and masculine. Now, even swallowing took concentration and focus.
Several of the high school girls, wearing backpacks and Bluefield High sweaters twittered and giggled about something. I heard the name Kellan Braddock mentioned a few times. His dark blue gaze coasted my direction. He didn’t call me over. He didn’t need to.
I looked with apology at Becky.
She rolled her eyes. “Hell, if I had a guy like that roll up on a Harley, I’d ditch my friend too.”
“You sure?”
“Just go. But keep your head about you, Ry. Kellan is the kind of guy who makes straight thinking and common sense melt away.”
I gave her a quick hug and walked over to the bike.
“Tommy and Dawson are going out to get some steaks. We could go with them, or . . .” He let his gaze drop slowly over my body.
“I like or.”
A crooked grin turned up one side of his face. “Thought you might. Hop on, baby. You smell like cookies and cream, and I can’t wait to taste you.”
Chapter 17
Kellan
I closed the door behind us and couldn’t stop myself from pressing Rylan up against it. I kissed her only lightly, not wanting to cover her with the day’s work still clinging to my skin.
She looked disappointed by the kiss.
I held up my hand and showed her the back of it. “I need to shower and get rid of this dirt, so I can do all the dirty fucking things I’m thinking about right now.”
“If you’re thinking about them right now . . . then why wait?” She hopped up on her toes, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, not seeming to care that coal dust was smudging her arms and face. And if she didn’t mind, I sure as hell wasn’t going to hold things up. I’d been thinking about her all damn day.
I reached down to the hem of her sweater, and we parted our mouths just long enough to yank the sweater up and over her head. I flung it back behind me. My greedy fingers made a grab for the button on her pants. She did the same and reached across to unbutton mine. I had hers down around her ankles long before she’d opened my fly.
“Let’s take these damn shoes off, Lanie,” I grunted in frustration as I tried to wrench her leg from the pants. She held my shoulders and lifted one leg at a time, allowing me to pull them off.
I pulled her pants free. Still crouched down in front of her, I pushed off her pantie
s. I had a raging, fucking erection. There was no way I could slow down. I pushed my mouth against the sweet-scented pussy in front of me and allowed myself a few seconds of running my tongue along the hot, wet lips of her pussy.
Her fingers tangled in my hair. She pulled it lightly, urging me to stand up. “Take me now, Kellan. Please. I need you to fuck me.”
I straightened. Her mouth and neck were smudged charcoal gray. It only made me that much harder. She’d never shied away from what I was. She’d never turned me away for being a Trog who spent hours down in the mineshaft, digging in the layers of earth and silt and coal beneath our feet.
My gaze raked hungrily over her near naked body, half her beautiful skin creamy and pink and half marred by my gritty black handprints. I wanted those handprints to be permanent, to stay there for everyone to see that Rylan Merritt belonged to me and I belonged to her. No matter what the fucking Highlanders said, Rylan was put on this earth for me and no one else.
I shoved my pants down and my cock sprang free, slick and hard and so ready, so fucking ready. Rylan was just as ready. She threw her arms around my neck. My hands rounded beneath her naked ass, my fingers digging into her flesh. The door rattled on its rusty hinges as I pushed her roughly against it. Her legs went around my waist, and before either of us could pull in another breath, I was inside of her. Some of the urgency, some of the tension in our bodies melted as that first feel of being locked together coursed through us.
Rylan’s long, dark lashes fluttered softly as her green eyes drifted shut. Her lips parted as her pussy melted and reformed perfectly around my cock. “Fuck, baby, it’s like your pussy was made just for me. Fits me so fucking perfectly.”
“I think we’ve been sculpted solely for each other’s pleasure,” she said on a long flowing whisper.
I contracted my ass and rocked hard against her, briefly wondering if the door would withstand my thrusts. I leaned back slightly and stared down at our bodies, connected together, locked in place like a perfectly fitting puzzle. “Hold on tighter, baby. I’ve got to stroke you until you come.” I moved my arm so that one hand held firmly onto her ass. I reached between us with my free hand. My thumb pushed into the hot, wet slit of her pussy and found the nub that would make her purr my name and milk my cock.
Bracing herself harder against the door, her ass tightened in my hand as she writhed against my thumb.
“Your callused skin, the rough feel of it is like heaven, Kellan.” Her thighs tightened around my waist. “Yes.” She pushed forward to receive the full brunt of my blows as my thumb stroked her to climax. Her arms and legs trembled as she clutched me. Her body shuddered in my grasp as her pussy clenched around me. A faint pink blush covered her skin making the streaks of coal stand out sharply. I removed my hand and ground against her, never getting deep enough.
My muscles tightened, and I held her firmly against me as my cock ground into her one last time, spilling my hot seed inside of her.
I held her to me as I carried her down the hallway to the bathroom and to a hot shower. I stayed buried in her pussy, not wanting to lose the grip she had on me and on my heart.
Chapter 18
Rylan
Hot steam filled the small bathroom. Kellan stepped inside and offered me his hand. The coal dust turned the water a gunmetal gray as it dripped down his chest. Kellan pulled me under the warm stream of water and held my face as he kissed me.
He stopped long enough to reach up with his thumb and wipe a streak of coal off my cheek. “God, baby, do you know how hot it makes me to see you like this, wearing my work day, the dust that never really leaves me, on your flawless skin. You’ve never been like any of the other girls in this town.”
The water returned from gray to clear as it washed the grit away. I pressed my mouth against Kellan’s chest.
He took a deep, long breath. “When you put your lips on my skin, Lanie,” He growled. “I’m hard again, darlin’. Just a brush of your mouth, and I fucking have to have you again. What you do to me, baby. I can’t even explain it.”
Kellan reached down and wrapped his big hand around both my wrists. He lifted my hands above my head and pinned them against the tile wall of the shower. Warm water sprayed down on my naked skin. It turned pink from the warm water and from the way Kellan gazed down at me.
I was defenseless and his captive in more ways than just his firm grip on my wrists. Even years ago, when he’d broken my heart beyond repair, I’d sworn to myself that I would never let Kellan invade my heart and soul again. But I’d been a fool. The second I saw him I’d realized that he had never left. He’d been with me all along. All I’d needed was one glimpse, one touch, one kiss, and I was completely and hopelessly in love again. All my pep talks and promises to myself vanished, and I was the same girl he’d left waiting for him on the roof of the gym. I’d had no explanation yet for what happened that night, but for now, I was putting that pain behind me. I was with Kellan again and that was all I cared about.
Kellan’s dark head lowered as his mouth suckled at my water drenched nipples. I arched my back toward his mouth as he explored every inch of my skin. I shivered with the sensual feel of him holding me captive and taking complete control of me with just his hot kisses. We’d only just had wild, urgent sex up against the front door, but my pussy was already aching for more.
His mouth trailed over me as his free hand slid between my legs, once again coaxing me close to an orgasm. My appreciative moan rolled off the shower tile. “Oh, Kellan.”
His long finger impaled me, and a whimper tumbled off my lips. I wanted to touch him and struggled to move my hands, temporarily forgetting that he had them secured above my head.
He kept his grip on my wrists as he straightened. His mouth came up next to mine as his hand stayed tucked tightly against my pussy. “Baby, don’t come yet.”
Another cry left my mouth followed by a frustrated groan. I was on the edge, ready to splinter into a million pieces, and the relentless, perfectly erotic assault on my pussy was taking me closer each second. My knees weakened as I worked to hold myself together. Kellan tugged my wrists to keep me from melting into a puddle in the bottom of the shower.
“Please. Please, Kellan.” My plea sounded helpless in the milky steam surrounding us.
He lowered his mouth to mine. “Don’t you come yet, baby. Let me take you to the top of fucking Everest before you fall off.”
I tugged to free my hands, which only made him grip me tighter. His fingers impaled me, and his thumb swam in the cream he’d teased from my pussy. My thighs trembled as I clamped them around his hand, begging him to finish what he’d started. “Oh, Kellan,” I begged again.
He squeezed his fingers around my wrists. My fingers were tingling, and my wrists felt tender from his strong grasp. “Not yet, baby, do you hear me? Your begging is making my cock ache for you. Tell me how badly you want this.”
“Please, Kellan, fuck. I can’t hold back, Kellan. I need—” Breathless and trembling, my words were lost. “Please.” I spoke so quietly it was lost in the steam. My body shuddered weakly, drained by the energy used to hold back.
The pulsing need between my legs had grown so strong my mind centered there and I could think of nothing else but being fucked and fucked hard to gain that release I yearned for. Without warning, he pulled his hand from my pussy. My cry of disappointment echoed off the shower wall. He released my wrists and caught me before I crumpled into a pile at his feet. Then his mouth came roughly down over mine as he lifted me, bracing me against the tile.
“Lanie,” he grunted as he pushed his cock inside of me.
I cried out and clutched at his arms, looking for something solid to hold on to. It took only two thrusts and my pussy clenched down hard around him. Holding back had produced sweeping waves of ecstasy that seemed to last forever.
I groaned in pleasure
as he pushed hard and fast inside of me, bringing himself to climax. My body still pulsed and my pussy still writhed hungrily over his cock wanting to feel every last tingle before the sensation was gone.
Slowly, I lowered my feet to the ground. Kellan pressed his forehead against mine until our breathing had slowed. The water was cooling, but the heat between us remained as fierce as ever. I thought briefly back to sex with Chase and nearly laughed out loud.
Kellan caught my smile through the mist. “What’s that grin about?” he asked, unable to keep back his own.
“Just happy.” A shiver rattled me before I could stop it. “And getting a little cold too.”
He reached back and shut off the water. I followed him out of the shower. There was only one towel. Kellan dripped water on the bathroom floor as he wrapped it around me. He lifted me into his arms and carried me down the hall to his room.
Chapter 19
Kellan
The continuous miner, the huge drilling machine that plowed the coal from the mine lay silent, like a massive sleeping giant with terrible teeth. All the machinery had been shut down, and another long day underground had come to an end. The light from our caps glanced off the milled limestone covering the ribs of the mine. The limestone powder, which glowed an eerie white under LED lights, was used as a thermal inhibitor to prevent an explosion.
Dawson swung his lunch pail back and forth like a kid happy to be leaving school. “I heard Ulrich was having trouble with the continuous miner again. The remote kept turning off.”
“That piece of equipment needs to be sent to the graveyard. High time the owners forked over the money for a new one.”
“That’s not going to happen anytime soon.” Dawson glanced over at me. “Are you going to The Hole tonight? Hear Scott’s booked that band again, Salt Dogs, the one with the hot singer. I do love all those piercings. You think she’s got one on her pussy?”
