Exposed: An Anthology

by Brooke Cumberland

  Oh god.

  “All of that coupled with your personality – you can bring a man to his knees,” he admits softly.

  Oh god. That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.

  I don’t know what to say. ‘Thank you’ sounds a bit lame after everything he’s just said, but I can’t think of anything else.

  “Thank you,” I whisper.

  “No need to thank me, darlin’. I’m only telling you the truth.” He kisses my mouth and then cuddles me to him. I think I fall asleep with a big, stupid, goofy grin on my face, but I don’t even care.

  Chapter Seven

  The next morning Jackson has to leave early so he can get back to the station in time for his workers to arrive. I lie in bed and let my memory drift back over the night.

  The kisses started out soft and slow but they soon turned urgent as desire warmed our bodies. Laying me back on the bed, Jackson loomed over me and kissed down my neck and then he slid my shirt over my head, tossed it on the ground and resumed his kissing. Taking a nipple into his mouth, he nipped it with his teeth – not hard enough to cause pain but hard enough to send a bolt of pleasure straight between my legs and then he soothed the sting with his tongue. His hand trailed down my stomach until he found my slickened center. Running his fingers through the wetness he groaned before plunging two fingers deep inside me. Using his thumb, he manipulated my clit as he stroked the inner wall of me. I knew it was coming when my breathing started to hitch. He knew as well because his circles on my nub increased in pressure and pace. Faster and harder he rubbed until I was screaming my release. My hips jerked off the bed as I rode his hand, drawing my orgasm out. Before I’d even finished pulsating, he flipped me over and positioned me.

  My arms are stretched out in front of me; my hands gripping the sheets. My stomach and breasts are flat on the bed. My knees are bent and tucked under while my ass is in the air. I felt Jackson crawl up the bed behind me and kneel between my opened legs. His hands trailed patterns lightly over my ass and down the backs of my thighs. “Please,” I mewl.

  “Soon, Ace,” he whispered, still teasing me with me his soft caress. I shifted my hips in the hope that he’d touch me where I needed him but he deprived me again. He positioned his cock at my soaking entrance and slid all the way in. “Oh god,” I whimper. He slowly withdraws and the sunk in again. “Fuck. So fuckin’ good, baby,” he grits out through clenched teeth.

  “Faster. Please, baby, fuck me faster,” I begged.

  “You’ll take it the way I’m gonna give it to you, baby. And tonight, it’s gonna be slow,” he growled as he unhurriedly thrust into me again.

  Gradually, I felt the burn start to build. It consumed me until I could no longer fight it back. I convulsed around him on a long, drawn out moan. His pace started to quicken and I heard his breath hitch. I knew he was close so I squeezed my muscles tight around him. He slammed into me once more before emptying himself inside me. He collapsed over me and I took his weight, lowering my knees so I was flat on the bed. He kissed my bare shoulders repeatedly, softly. I sighed in contentment. Sex with Jackson just keeps getting better and better.

  Oh god! My eyes snap open and my hand jerks away from stroking my folds. He finished inside me. He’s never done that. All the times we’ve done the wild thing, he’s pulled out and spilt his load on me. Last night, he finished inside. Shit.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  I went off the pill when I was travelling. My script ran out and I didn’t bother trying to find a doctor or medical center to refill it.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I do the only thing I can do. I pick up the phone and dial.

  “Hello,” a sleep voice greets me.

  “Jules, it’s me. I have a problem. I slept with Jackson and-,”

  “Yay! That’s fantastic news. Was he good? Did he look after you or leave you hanging? He doesn’t look like the kind of guy that would leave a girl hanging, so I’m betting he took care of you. So happy for you, babes.”

  “Yeah, I’ll fill you in with the details later but Jules, last night when we did it again, he didn’t pull out. You see, every other time we’ve done it he didn’t come inside me but last night he did. Oh god, Jules. What am I going to do?” I wail.

  “Nothing sweetie, don’t stress. You’re on the pill, remember?

  “No! No, no, no, no. No, I’m not. The script ran out while I was travelling. I never got it refilled. What if I fall pregnant, Jules?” I panic.

  “Sweetie, the chances of you falling pregnant from one time are like, zero. Or, not really zero, but close enough to it.”

  “Unh-unh,” I frantically shake my head even though she can’t see me, “Remember Magdalena Cordoscova from school? She claimed she’d only had sex with Bryan Simpson one time when she fell pregnant when she was sixteen.”

  “Oh, yeah. Well, maybe that was one off. Just don’t stress about it until you know whether there’s something to stress about. Okay?”

  “Yeah, okay. It’ll be fine. I mean, if I am I’ll deal, either by myself or with Jackson. It’ll be fine.” I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince but it didn’t matter. Like Jules said, there was no use worrying about something when I wasn’t even sure there was something to worry about yet.

  “So, tell me how things are going between you two?”

  “It’s good, Jules. No, it’s great. He took me up in a helicopter and flew me to his favorite place on the Station so we could watch the sunrise together. And, he can cook. Like, really well. He introduced me to his mum and dad; they came to dinner as well, along with Jeremy and Oscar, his four year old nephew. He wants to take me to Brunette Rodeo in a couple of weeks, and get this Jules – he and Jeremy are going to ride in the rodeo. Bulls, Jules. They ride fucking bulls. I’m gonna freak my shit, I just know it. Look what happened to Lane Frost. My god if that happened to Jackson… I wish you could come for the rodeo,” I pout.

  I hear a sniffle on the other end of the line. “Jules? What’s wrong? Are you okay? Jules?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” sniffle, “I’m fine,” sniffle, “It’s just, It’s been a long time, Edie, since I’ve heard you so happy, babe. I’m just happy.”

  This time the sniffle came from me.

  “Jules,” I whispered.

  “Happy for you, honey. I’ll see what I can do about Brunette Rodeo. Text me the dates when you get a chance, okay.”

  “Will do. I better let you go. Talk to you soon.”

  “Love you, Edie.”

  “Love you too, Jules,”

  I end the call and decide to push all thoughts of potential babies and pregnancy scares from my mind with a coffee from the Coffee House.

  I order from Ava and after making small talk, I take my regular seat outside.

  “So, news is spreading like wildfire around town about you and Jackson,” Ava says as she sets my coffee down.

  Oh crap! I’d totally forgotten about Ava having feelings for Jackson. I’d meant to talk to her about it but I’d been completely caught up in my own life and forgotten all about it. I was such a shit friend.

  “Listen, Ava, I’m really-,”

  “I’m so happy for the both of you,” she claps her hands together, “You’re such a nice person, and it’s about time Jackson had a good woman in his life to make him happy.”

  “But I thought... Ava, the other week at the pub when Jackson walked in, you … I thought that maybe you … that’s why I told him to dance with you …” I manage.

  “Oh, Edie,” she gasps, “You didn’t think I had feeling for Jackson, did you?”

  “Well, yeah. He walked in and you perked up.”

  “No. No, definitely no. I perked up because-,” she pauses to pull a chair out and sit down next to me, “-I was hoping Jeremy would be with him,” she whispers.

  “Jeremy?”

  “Shh! Yes, Jeremy. It’s a long story and maybe with a lot of alcohol, I’ll tell it to you one day,” she’s still whispering.

  We quickly discuss Brunette Rode
o and I find out that Ava is going as well – she goes every year – so we plan to meet up and keep each other company. After that, Ava goes back to work, I suck down my coffee and head back to my cottage to clean and do laundry.

  ***

  The next month passes quickly and the weekend of the Brunette Rodeo is upon us. Jackson and I haven’t spent a night apart since our first date. If I’m working a night shift, he meets me at the cottage. If I work a day shift, I stay at Binowee Station. The more I’m with him, the more I like him and all indications point to him feeling the same way. Jules was able to get the Friday and the Monday off work, so she flew up very late last night. Jackson insisted we stay at his place while Jules was in town because he had the room, and he didn’t like the idea of Jules sleeping on the couch (because he would be sharing my bed with me). So Jackson drove us to Darwin Airport to pick Jules up and we arrived back at the house around midnight. Jackson went straight to bed, while Jules and I stayed up for a few hours talking and having a few wines, because even though we were both tired, we had a lot of catching up to do.

  We’d only gotten a few hours of sleep when Jackson woke us up with a breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup and coffee. We ate quickly, stopped in to pick up Jeremy (Oscar was staying in Darwin with his grandparents for the weekend) and shot off to Brunette in Jackson’s Land Cruiser wagon. It’s a perfect match for his Ute – both are dark navy, and a perfect match for my RAV4.

  Jackson and Jeremy helped Jules and I set up our camp chairs and picnic blanket and left us with the esky while they went to finalize their registrations for the rodeo.

  “Hey,” Ava called as she dumped her camp chair and esky down with ours. “Where is everyone?”

  By ‘everyone’ I’m guessing she meant Jeremy. I had filled Jules in about my mistake last night which led to me filling her in about Ava’s secret crush on Jeremy. I didn’t think Ava would mind though, because Jules wasn’t about to take out an advertisement in the Pine Creek Daily.

  “The boys are over doing their registrations,” I point in the direction they left.

  We spend the afternoon watching the different events, including bare back bronc riding, calf roping and even steer wrestling. We drank wine, ate marinated pork spare ribs and roast beef and Swiss sandwiches (which Jackson had packed) and of course we checked out the cowboys. It was dark by the time the open bull riders were called to the back of the chutes and I was feeling pretty relaxed thanks mostly to the wine I had consumed. Jackson bent down to take my lips in a swift, soft kiss before he went back to warm up.

  “See ya in a bit, Ace,”

  “Be careful, please,” I murmur.

  “Always, baby.”

  He turns to Jeremy and says, “Time to cowboy the fuck up, brother.”

  He walks away and I watch his ass move in his tight jeans. Nice. Then the nerves hit.

  “Geez, I’m nervous,” I mutter anxiously to the girls.

  “He’ll be fine. I’ve watched the Henley boys ride before and they always do well,” Ava soothes.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, coming out of chute number three all the way from Pine Creek is Jackson Henley. Tonight Jackson has drawn the bull they call ‘Diablo’,” a loud, booming voice fills the arena, exciting the crowd, eliciting screams and cheers all round. I nervously clap my hands, all the while watching chute three like a hawk. I see Jackson nod his head and then the chute flies open. A massive Brahman bull bucks out. Black Betty blares over the speakers as the bull kicks up his back legs before landing heavy and kicking up again. Twisting and turning. Jumping and spinning. He tries to knock Jackson off his back. Saliva flies from the bull’s mouth and dust flies as he kicks it up with buck. My hands come up to cover my mouth and restrain the scream that’s clawing up my throat. The crowd is screaming and cheering, clapping and hooting. My heart is my throat for the entire eight seconds, which by the way, feels like eight years, until the horn sounds and Jackson jumps free of the bull.

  “Thank God,” I whisper.

  “Told you he’d be fine,” Ava rubs my arm and gives me a reassuring smile.

  “Jeremy’s up next,” I say to Ava after we’ve watched a few more cowboys attempt to ride, some successful, others unsuccessful.

  “Yeah. Now I’m nervous,” she laughs.

  Jeremy draws the bull called “Cloud Chaser”. I see where he gets his name from when, on his final buck after the buzzer, Jeremy goes flying through the air and I wonder if he did actually reach the clouds!

  “Good ride, cowboy,” I say giving Jackson a hug when he arrives back at our spot.

  “Did you like it?” He asks after laying a long, wet, utter delicious kiss on my lips.

  “Mmm,” I hum.

  “Did you get hurt?” I ask noticing he’s not putting his weight on one of his legs.

  “Nah, just landed the wrong way. It’ll be right in the morning,” he replies flexing his leg.

  “Are you sure? Here, you should sit down and let me have a look at it,” I’ve got the most vivid picture in my mind of his ankle bone protruding through the skin of his leg. I don’t know because there’s no blood, but still…

  “Darlin’ I’m alright. What I really want to do is get you back to the swag and show you how much fun camping can be.” I feel his hot breath tickle my neck as he whispers the words in my ear. All of a sudden, I don’t want to be standing around here. No, I want to be lying in a swag with my man showing me how fun camping can be.

  “Okay,” my words are a breathy whisper.

  “What’s wrong?” Jackson asks when he feels me tense solid.

  “Dannika,” I reply. He follows my line of sight to see his ex, walking straight towards us.

  “Hey Jackson,” she coos as she sidles up beside him and rubs his arm affectionately.

  “Dannika,” he replies curtly. I have to resist the urge to laugh as he shakes off her touch.

  “How you been, baby?”

  Jackson looks down at me and answers her without taking his eyes off me, “Fuckin’ fantastic.” I grin up at him and I’m rewarded with one of his melt-your-heart-and-your-panties smiles. “Have you met Edie, my woman?” Jackson asks Dannika.

  Her eyes turn from soft to glacial as she narrows her gaze on me. “Edie,” she purrs, at least I think she’s trying to purr but her voice reminds me a mosquito buzzing right near your ear and you can’t swat the fucker – annoying.

  “Hi Dannika,” I smile, giving Jackson a squeeze.

  Her lip curls up in disgust at me before she schools her features and looks back to Jackson, “See you ‘round then, baby.” She struts off, putting extra sway into her hips but Jackson doesn’t see because he’s looking at me. “God I hope not,” he mutters so only I can hear.

  We pack up our chairs, esky and blanket and make our way back to where the boys parked the Cruiser. Once there, Jules and I set up the chairs while the boys unroll the swags.

  “I’m going to head off now, Edie. We should meet up for coffee before Jules goes home.” Ava says to me.

  “You’re going home?”

  “Yeah, I never stay. Text me okay?” She gives a wave to everyone, calling ‘bye, and then starts to leave.

  I jump up and yell out, “Wait! Ava, stay. You can’t drive home. You’ll end up hitting a kangaroo or something. It’s late. Please stay.”

  “It’s cool, Edie. I don’t have my swag or anything. I’ll be fine – I’ll drive slow.”

  Before I can argue with her, a rumbling voice sounds from behind me. It sounds a lot like Jackson but just a bit different. “You can share my swag. Don’t want you drivin’ home this late.” Jeremy’s tone brooks no argument.

  Ava mouth falls open and I feel mine do the same. I turn to look at Jeremy and see that Jules and Jackson are flat out grinning like loons. Jeremy slaps Jackson up the head and mutters something I can’t make out. I turn back to Ava, who is still standing there like a stunned mullet with her mouth agape.

  “Can’t say no to an offer like that, girlfriend,”
I say quietly so the boys won’t hear.

  “Uh,” she stutters.

  “Just go with it,” I whisper. I grab her hand and lead her back to the campsite.

  Giving me a wink and a gesture of his head, Jackson makes it clear he’s ready to turn in for the night, so we make our excuses and head off to bed.

  The swag is more comfortable than I originally thought. It’s got a thick padded double mattress bottom and is covered in green canvas material to protect us from the weather. Jackson and I are lying facing each other; my arms around his waist, his arms around mine.

  “You sure you’re okay?” I say softly.

  “Yeah, Ace.”

  “So, you going to show me how much fun camping can be?”

  “Thought that was what I was doing. Nice night, open air, good company, beautiful woman beside me. Fun.” He tries to keep a straight face but I feel his body shaking with laughter.

  “Not funny. You’ve got tension to work out of my body, seeing as though you put it there,” I snap.

  “How’d I put tension in your body?”

  “By riding those monsters. Geez, that was the longest eight seconds of my life.”

  “Guess I better get to work then. Don’t want my woman all tense and shit.” I feel my body immediately relax as he starts nibbling down my neck. I shiver when he licks below my ear and then blows his warm breath on the same spot.

  “Hmm,” I sigh as he draws my earlobe into his mouth, sending a jolt of pleasure straight between my thighs, with a detour through my nipples causing them to harden painfully. His hand slides up my shirt to cup the bottom of my breast while his thumb swipes across my tight bud. I trace my hand down his back, feeling the sculpted muscles bunch beneath my fingers. Down over his perfectly rounded behind, my hand travels, stopping to squeeze and pull him against me, then moving toward the front to feel the evidence of his arousal. He’s pitching a mighty fine tent in his jocks tonight. I run my finger around the elastic of undies and then pull down so his cock springs free. He groans as I massage his length, loving the feel of its silky smooth hardness. His hand leaves my breast and finds its way to my wetness.