by Misti Murphy
She stopped at the car and tried the handle, but I didn't unlock it.
"I told you I'm fine."
"Don't give me bloody fine," I said, coming up behind her. "I know what fine means."
Staring at the door of the truck, she ignored me, and I snapped. She’d said she’d try, but she wasn’t. We were going to get nowhere unless she took me seriously. Leaning into her, I pressed her against the door, my hands either side of her on the roof of the truck. When she'd come to me, it had been for my dick, and if that was what it took, then I'd use it.
My breath whispered along her neck, causing the hairs to stand up, and I nibbled at her skin as I pressed my hips into her ass.
"Orion." Her voice was husky and trembled as she tried to keep it low.
"Do you feel me?" I whispered, my lips dancing over the shell of her ear.
"Orion."
"Do you like how I make you feel when I'm inside you, or when I'm feasting on your pussy?"
Her breathing sped up and she pressed back against me, but she didn't answer the question. Sliding my hand inside her dress, I palmed her tit before I sought out a nipple and teased it into a hard bud. "You want that, don't you? You want me between your thighs. Now that you've had a taste, you can't deny you want more."
Again, she didn't answer me with words, but her moan as I wrapped my arms around her and ground myself against her was answer enough. But, I wanted more. I needed her to say the words.
"Do. You. Want. Me?" I growled and nipped her shoulder as I continued to press my erection into her ass.
"Yes," she whimpered. "Yes, I want you."
She turned in my arms and her knees wobbled as she reached to kiss me. I pulled away, leaving us both aching for each other.
"You gave me your word that you'd be open to giving us a chance for more. I expect you to keep it. Do you understand me?"
"I’m trying." She took a step toward me. It would have been easy to give her what she wanted.
"No. No, you're not."
"What do you want from me?" Her bottom lip stuck out, tempting me to suck on it.
"I want you, Clo, all of you. I know you're independent. You're strong. You think you're broke, but you're not. Let me try to show you how good we are together."
This was hard on her. She didn’t want to show any weakness, but if I wanted to have all of her, I had to let her feel what it would be like not to have me. I'd been her rock for so long, always would be, but right now she had to admit she needed me, had to choose to want all of me.
She bowed her head, and when she caught my gaze again it was with an inner strength that hadn't been there before. "Okay."
I unlocked the truck and beat her to the door handle. For a second, I thought she might cuss at me, but she shut her mouth and let me open the door. Shutting it behind her, I climbed in behind the wheel. We were still a long way from where I wanted to be, but it was a start. She'd given me something to build on.
Chapter Twenty-Three
"Over the next month, she did try. Every time I opened a door for her she bit her tongue, and when we went out for dinner she let me pay. It seemed she was getting used to me looking after her." Orion shoves his hand through his hair.
"She belonged with me, but she wasn’t mine. There was still a part she held back. The part of her I wanted most, and I wondered if I’d ever be able to change that. I wanted to tell her I loved her, but she wasn't ready to hear it, although she knew how I felt." He bounces his legs and clasps his hands together on his knees.
"She continued to fight me on the big things. She was scared of becoming reliant, and she couldn’t get past the lesson Zack had taught her. Love was destined to end in pain. I was fighting a losing battle, but I couldn’t give up on her."
June 2011
"What are you doing out here?" Clo entered the garage, and put the mugs she was carrying on the workbench.
Glancing at her from beneath the hood of the car, I watched her gaze rove over me, her tongue flicking out to wet her lips. My grease covered arms and bare chest were having an effect on her, and she tread closer, her gaze darting between me and her car.
Grinning, I rubbed a grease-covered thumb along my jaw, hoping to distract her from the car. Her eyes widened as she touched her fingers to her lips. She'd been trying to let me treat her the way she deserved. Even though I still caught her going for her purse when we went out for dinner, she no longer fought me on the bill and didn’t bat an eyelid when I opened doors for her. However, fixing her car was out of the question. We hadn't progressed that far yet. It didn’t matter she knew I could. Every time I'd brought it up, she'd argued with me. Tonight I'd decided to push her. She ran her fingertip down the dips and lines of my abs in direct conflict with the frown marring her features. God, she was cute when she was annoyed.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm going to fix your car." I washed my hands in the small sink behind me.
"I don't think so." Arms crossed, she slid between the car and me.
Drying my hands on a clean rag, I turned to her. "It needs a new alternator and spark plugs. I want to check the leads too."
"There's nothing wrong with my car. If there was, I'd take it to a garage." She turned and slammed the hood shut. "Don't push me too far, Orion, I’m trying to let you in with the small stuff."
With her hands on the hood and her hair cascading down to her ass, she was perfection in tight, faded denim. My teenage dream, come to life. The only thing that could make this fantasy better was if she were bent over the hood of the GTO. A growl bubbled up from low in my chest as I pinned her against the hood, and she gasped in surprise.
"I push you because you want me too. If you didn't we wouldn't still be fucking on a daily basis. Hell, we would still only be friends, and you would have no idea how much you mean to me."
"That's not true." She shook her head, and pressed her ass against my crotch.
"Are you sure about that?" Leaning over her, I covered her body with mine. "Would you have ever looked at me as more than a friend if I hadn't pushed you to come home with me that night?"
"Okay, maybe you have a point."
"And I have a point now. Let me fix your car?"
"Not a chance, Orion." She shook her head, her hair swaying against my arms.
"Then I'll push you. If you want me to fuck you right here, right now, then you're going to beg me to fix your car."
"Is that right?" she retorted and arched closer.
Brushing her hair from her shoulder, I nibbled her neck. "That's right."
Instead of trying to escape, she turned her head so I could kiss her. Catching her mouth with mine, I stroked along her bottom lip teasingly and gripped her hips, molding her to me. "It's okay, Clo, just give in to me looking after you. I'll catch you."
She sucked my bottom lip between her teeth and pushed into me. "No."
"No?" I massaged her ass with my palm until she moaned and arched into my hand. "Is it really that hard to let me fix your car? A couple of words and I'll give you what you want."
"I don't need you... to fix my car. I'm not going to ask." She wimpered as I slipped my hand between her thighs and felt her heat through her jeans.
"Fine... have it your way," I growled, and slapped her butt before crushing my rock hard erection against her ass.
A yelp escaped her, turning into a whimper, and I circled my hands around her waist to undo her jeans. Yanking them down revealed a bright yellow band of cotton between her thighs already soaked with her arousal. Damn cotton wasn't so easy to rip, so I dragged them down, exposing her pussy. "You think you put that thing in front of me, and I won't be able to help myself? That I'll sink to my knees right here, and tongue fuck you?"
Running my fingers through her wetness, I pushed two into her slit, and she rose up on tiptoe trying to pull me into her. "You should," she whimpered, "I'm not going to beg you to fix my car."
Slipping out of her, I ran my hand up the line of her ass. She sobbed
as she dipped her head and pushed her tight little ring against my finger. "Believe me, I want to. You know I'm addicted to the taste of your pussy, but..." I slapped the plump flesh again and she cried out. "You're enjoying this far too much."
"Yes," she exhaled.
Leaning over her, I ran my other hand over her clit as I thrust two fingers into her. Her hips pumped faster as I brought her closer. I pulled out of her and slapped her ass again. "Last chance, ask me to fix your car, and I'll let you cum."
"What?" she groaned, pushing her hips up to me.
Unbuttoning, I took my cock in my hand and rubbed it over her slit. "It's only a few little words, babe. Say ‘Orion, please fix my car.’ And I'll give you what you want."
Holding my breath, I ached to hear the words that would push her more firmly into my life. Her agreement was more than desire. It was another barrier between us falling.
"Okay," she whimpered, and tried to push herself onto my cock, but my fist frustrated her attempts.
"What was that? I didn't hear you."
"Please, oh," she was almost crying out as she begged me, "please fix my car."
Gritting my teeth, I sunk into her tight channel. "You want to cum, don’t you?"
"Yes. Fuck me, Orion."
She was so slick around my cock I lost control. Rubbing her clit, I pistoned into her. Her body began to quiver around me, her pussy clenching as she went up on tiptoe. The sweet sound of her whimpering my name had me jerking inside her. Arms wrapped around her, I kept her from collapsing onto the hood while she shattered, taking me with her.
Turning her in my arms, I pulled her pants back up before I lifted her onto the hood and pressed lingering kisses to her mouth. "I know that wasn't easy for you, but you'll see, it's not such a big deal to let me in."
She ran her fingers through her hair as I did up my jeans and tossed my shirt over my shoulder. "Sex with you is worth it. It was never that good with—"
I brushed my knuckle along her jaw. "That’s because he was an asshole who didn’t care to look after you the way you're meant to be."
"Our coffee..." Her gaze darted to the workbench as she tried to keep me from noticing the slight shine in her eyes.
"Will be cold."
She slid off the hood. "I guess I’ll go make more while you fix my car.
With her under my arm, we headed inside. "I'd already finished."
"You’re an asshole." She slapped at me and I ducked, unable to keep the grin from spreading over my face. Sometimes fighting with her was worth it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
"Sometimes the fight plain sucked. At that point in our relationship, each day could bring us closer together, or tear us apart."
June 2011
Someone was playing drums. Sitting up, I shoved a hand through my hair and stared at the alarm clock. Whoever it was they were making a fucking racket.
As the last dregs of sleep faded from my brain, I realized it wasn’t drums but someone at my door. Shit! I stumbled into my jeans as I made my way to the front door to find Clo, arms crossed and tapping her foot.
"What’s going on?" I mumbled and let her in.
Pushing past me, she stalked into the bedroom and flicked on the light.
"Are you all right?" I wrapped my arms around her from behind.
Yanking free, she turned to stare at me. "Why didn’t you answer your phone?"
"Huh?"
"Why didn’t you answer it?" she snapped, glaring at me.
"I was sleeping."
"Oh." She seemed to deflate.
"Are you okay?" When I pulled her close this time, she relaxed into me. I pressed my lips to the top of her head. "Do you want to come to bed?"
Her breath brushed over my skin as she caressed my collarbone with her lips and nodded.
"What’s all this about, babe?"
"Nothing, it’s nothing."
"There’s something on your mind. Talk to me." I lifted her up.
"It doesn't matter. Let's go to bed."
As much as I wanted to slide under the sheets and fall asleep wrapped around her, I needed to know what was wrong. I let her go to pick up my phone from beside the bed and scrolled through my messages. There were six from her.
She reached for my phone. "Please don't read them. Not tonight."
Holding it above my head, I read the first one aloud. "Weird day. Call me." I thumbed down to the next one. "What are you doing? Why haven't you called me back?"
"I'm an idiot." Trying to get me to look at her, she took my face in her palms.
The next text sent a chill through me. "Who are you with? Is she better than me?" I raised my eyebrows and stared at her. "Are you fucking serious?"
"No, I mean, I thought..." She pouted.
At any other time it might have been enough for me to drop it, but she was accusing me of cheating on her when she couldn’t even admit we were in a relationship. "What? That I would cheat on you. Come on, Clo, you know me better than that."
She pressed her lips into a thin line. "I knew Zack better than that, but look how well that turned out."
"I am not him. I would never, and besides Zack was always..." I spun away from her, my shoulders crumpling. I’d nearly told her I'd known how Zack was for a lot longer than she had. It wasn't something she needed to know, and we were doing so well, the idea that she might not forgive me had me clamping my mouth shut.
"He was always what?" she snapped, pacing the room.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is you think I would do that, could do that to you."
"You can do whatever you want. We're only friends who fuck."
I wanted to vault over the bed and shake her. Instead, I clenched my fists by my sides, until my nails bit into my palms. "Is that what you really think?"
Silence ensued, and I wondered how she could be contemplating the answer when we both knew we were so much more.
"Yes." She sighed. "That's what I think."
Liar. I swallowed and collapsed onto the bed. For the first time, I was too tired to fight with her. "I have to be up in three hours. You can stay, or you can go."
I waited for her to climb in beside me, but instead she turned the light out and moments later I heard the click of the front door shutting. That she could accuse me of being nothing more than a giant tumescent dick, made me want to act like one. The idea of dragging her to bed kicking and screaming gave me a moment of comfort, but I was no more a Neanderthal than the cheater she'd accused me of being.
How had we gotten here, with her running away again? We'd been making headway against the issues she struggled with, but tonight only served to highlight how much Zack had screwed her up. Did I have the stamina to keep up with her until I broke down the last of her barriers?
Gritting my teeth, I read the rest of her messages. It was fucking bullshit. Despite all our years of friendship where I had stood by her, she was letting fear dictate how well she knew me. Another text popped onto the screen with a whistle, and I opened it. Sorry.
Her apology eased me, and the fact that she wasn’t sleeping either made me consider sending her a text, but I didn't know that I would be able to keep the anger out of my words. Dropping my phone on the bed, I closed my eyes. I could break through to her, hell, I would. Nothing was worth more to me. Tomorrow, we would talk, and I would make it clear I was not and never would be the man who fucked her over. "Anything for you, babe."
Chapter Twenty-Five
"The worst part was her fear and the way she let it take her over. She worked hard to push me away." He inspects his cuticles before he returns his gaze to the camera. "I loved her and I was ready to deal with whatever she threw at me, but sometimes she didn’t give me much."
June 2011
If I hadn’t had to work, I would have been at her house at sunrise. Sure, our fight had, in some ways, shocked me after how far we’d come, but it was a good thing. Underneath her defensive words, and the anger she’d aimed at me, was jealousy and fear. Even if it w
asn’t obvious to her, I could see the idea of me being with anyone else affected her. Whether she was ready to admit it or not, she fucking loved me. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been prepared for that when she’d rocked up late at night and now I regretted it.
Determined to get her to realize it, I only gave her the day before I went to her house.
A second car I didn’t recognize was parked in the driveway when I got there. Parking the truck on the curb I jumped out and strode across the grass. Anybody but Hugh, and I’d be able to convince them to leave quickly so I could talk to my girl. If it was her Dad though, I grimaced. The man was still intimidating. I tripped over my own feet, and stumbled.
The front door squeaked open, and I glanced up to find Zack exiting her house. My fists clenched automatically, my gut dipping. What the hell was he doing here?
A smirk on his face, he brushed past me. "Clo has some news for you. I think you're going to like it."
News? What news? Bristling, I fought the urge to take a swing at him. Sure his words got to me, but unless he provoked me I wouldn’t be the guy who couldn’t control his anger. Silently, I begged him to give me the opportunity to knock a few of his teeth loose.
Turning my back on the son-of-a-bitch, I rubbed at the ache building in my chest and pushed through the door. Whatever news he’d wanted to rub in my face would not be good, and the sooner I found out what it was the better. The fact that he was here, that she’d given him the opportunity to come back into her life, made my stomach roll. No good could come of it.
I found her in the kitchen, stretched up on tiptoe, trying to reach something on the top shelf of the pantry. Crossing to her, I maneuvered the bottle of bourbon easily and handed it to her. "What was Zack doing here?"
"Oh, I ran into him while running errands. We got to talking." She got two glasses from the cupboard.
If that was all, why was she avoiding making eye contact? Pouring liberal shots into the glasses, I handed her one. She took it, the liquid sloshing over the side and dripping on the floor in her haste. "Do you have any Coke?"
"Yeah. I, um. There should be some in the fridge." She sipped it straight while I got the mixer out of the fridge.
