“Matthew?”
Her reply was soft and she turned away when she spoke. “Yeah.”
He let himself do something he’d been avoiding for months, watched her ass sway when she walked. Her hips rolled beneath the dress as she went along the walls, looking at the tools and ropes hanging on hooks. Some of the stuff he used frequently, some of it hadn’t been touched in years. The pitchfork caught her attention and she touched the points with the tips of her fingers. After tapping each tine, she dropped her hand and looked over her shoulder. “You live here alone?”
If she’d noticed that he’d been staring at her ass, she gave no indication. “Yeah. My dad moved to Santa Barbara with his new wife. They live in her place. My brother lives in the city.”
“I’d like to see you hit the bag.”
Her request hung in the air, a challenge. But damn if he understood what it was about.
“Now.” She took a step forward and looked him up and down, this time more slowly, with more weight in her stare. “If you don’t mind.”
Striding toward the darkest corner of the barn, Dan unbuttoned his shirt and tugged out the tails. She followed him again, the sound of her feet louder this time. Or was it that he was more aware of her? Judging by the thud in his chest and that he could smell her, it was the later. Every nerve in his body was firing, snapping with an awareness of her and what he’d been tasked to do. He reached the corner and shed his dress shirt and then the white undershirt.
Tara picked the gloves up off the bale of hay where they’d been resting and held them out. He took them, slipped them on and smacked his fists together. She sat. He moved to the bag.
The first swing of his right hit the edge and the chain whined as the bag swung to the side. He hooked with the left, sending it twirling in the opposite direction. Several punches in, he found his rhythm and the thump of the bag and the moan of the chain soothed him as much as the physical release. He circled the bag, working his way around to the backside so that he could watch Tara watch him.
After he’d gone through the initial burst, he slowed his pace but continued slamming the bag. Punch after punch, step after step, he kept at it long enough for his skin to become coated with a sheen of sweat and to feel pressure in his lungs.
He only paused when Tara got up and came to him. “You know I love him,” she said, placing the fingertips of one hand on his chest and then running her hand down across his abdomen.
Dan dropped his hands, the gloves suddenly feeling tight and heavy as he watched her caress him. “I know.”
She took a step closer and reached up to touch his shoulder. “I’ve never seen him like this.” She put her other palm on his other shoulder and then ran both hands down his arms. A few drops of sweat hit the dirt when she wrapped her fingers around his wrists. Strands of hair fell across her face when she looked down. “I don’t know what to do. I tried…”
Dan let out a long breath. “He wants you to stop trying.”
“He asked me to come here, tonight with you. So here I am. This is trying, isn’t it? Trying something else?”
It was. But what exactly were they trying to do? Was Dan a placeholder for Matthew? A distraction for Tara? “He told me the rules,” he said. “You come to me but he doesn’t get to ask you any questions about what we do.”
She shrugged and lifted her face, the movement a combination of noncommittal and come-hither. “That’s right. What happens with Dan stays with Dan.”
He grabbed her waist, held her as well as he could with the gloves still on and lightly kissed her neck, making a trail down to her shoulder. Her entire body seemed to vibrate with sexual energy. The muscles beneath her skin quivered each time his lips touched her. “You think he’ll be able to stick to that?”
“His rules. His decision.”
Dan reeled from the reality of it all.
What the hell was wrong with Matthew? He spent night after night with this gorgeous, fuckable woman—and nothing? If he could see Tara and him now, Dan was pretty sure Matthew, a man he’d risked his life for, would try to tear off his head.
Tara swayed toward him, the tips of her breasts brushing his chest.
He tightened his grip on her. “I’m going to kiss you now, unless you stop me.”
Chapter Three
The first touch of her lips was tentative but when he guided his mouth over hers, she eagerly welcomed his demand for more by tipping back her head. Dan flicked his tongue across her lips and then delved deeper to graze her teeth. The soft, inner recess of her mouth tasted sweet and he could feel the pant of her breath whisper across his tongue and lips. Soon she was matching his motions and exploring his mouth with her own swift strokes. Her curious movements became more definite and sure yet he could tell she was holding back.
He lifted his mouth and tucked her head to his shoulder, held her firmly against his chest. “He loves you too, Tara.”
“Then why am I here?” She ran her hand across him, moved it lower and stroked him between his legs. Her fingers curved around his hard cock. “Like this?”
“He wants you to have what he can’t give you right now.”
Her fingers tightened around his shaft and squeezed. But he didn’t need the stroke of her hand to know she was aroused. He could feel it in the quickness of her breath and tension in her spine.
“I want you,” he whispered. Then realized he wanted to take it back. Not because he didn’t want her to know but because he didn’t want it to be true.
“Is that why I’m here?” She stroked him again. “Because you want me?”
“I’m here because he asked me.” At least that was true.
Tara stepped back. The Velcro rasped when she tugged on the strap of the first glove. After she tossed it to the ground, she looked up as she tugged off the second one. “I want you to want to me.” She lifted the glove to her face and smelled the sweat-soaked leather. “Is that wrong?”
“I don’t think there is a wrong or right here. For us.”
“Only the question of what’s next.”
“Yeah. That.” Dan ran his hands through his hair, shoving the damp strands back from his face. “I have an idea.”
Tara had followed Dan’s instructions. Wearing only her bra and panties, she sat on the hay bale, her back to the open door. With her hair loose and hanging over her cool skin, she waited, listening through the chatter of the barn swallows for Dan’s footsteps.
Off in the distance, she heard the smack of a door. Her heart sped up and her nerve endings fired. She heard each swoosh of feathers above and felt each strand of hay on her ass cheeks. Even the scent of the dirt floor saturated her senses. For a few beats, the possibility of backing out flitted through her mind but she just as quickly rejected it. Doing nothing wasn’t an option. She could do this. Dan’s plan was good. The footsteps became louder and then the signal, two raps on the big wood door. Again her heart kicked up speed but she waited, doing what Dan had explained.
There was a pause, the light scrape of him getting things set. Then he was behind her with his hands on her shoulders. “Stand up and turn around. Let me look at you.”
Tara pulled in a shaky breath, braced her herself by putting her hands on her thighs and pushed herself to her feet. Once up, she felt steadier. The hay bale between the two of them created some distance. Remembering the plan, she straightened her spine and rolled her shoulders back, shoving her breasts up into Dan’s gaze. The wicked glint in his eyes encouraged her.
He was still bare-chested and wearing his jeans and boots. With the evening sun slanting in through the wide barn doors, roaming across her body covered only in the tiny bra and panties, they must have made a porn-worthy pair. That was exactly the point.
He reached for her, she sidestepped and spun, glanced at him over her shoulder. It was a calculated, flirtatious move, but it felt good to be silly. To tease. And it gave her something to do with all the restless, nervous energy flowing through her veins.
After rou
nding the bale, he reached for her a second time but again she scooted aside, a surprising ripple of laughter rolling through her. The third time he was quicker, grabbing her by the waist and holding her steady as he pulled her to him and kissed her firmly on the mouth. The sensation of his strong, warm hands on her bare skin stirred her physical side, that side of her personality Matthew understood so well. The side that brought them close in the first place. The side that seemed to be the problem for them now.
Dan lifted his mouth and whispered into her ear. “Open your eyes.”
She did. He was grinning, a smile that lightened his entire face.
Of all the things she’d been expecting, that wasn’t even close. Matthew had made a point of telling Tara that Dan was dark, controlled, and buried his emotions deep. Yet this man was nothing like that. Laughing, he let go and moved back, set her on the bale, put his boot between her thighs and pushed the sole lightly against her crotch. The brown leather looked even darker compared to her pale skin. “Take the heel and pull.”
A smile quirked her lips as she wrapped her hands around the smooth, hard heel. “You’re kidding?”
After tapping his toe lightly, he said, “Pull.”
She took hold and tugged, grasping so tightly that Dan had to hop on the other foot to keep his balance. It came off and then, using exaggerated care, she set the boot on ground.
“Very funny,” he said, lifting his other foot.
She arched an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the second boot.
His devilish grin faded as she wrapped her fingers around the heel and pulled, more gently this time. She placed the second boot beside the first then set her hands behind her. The lace of her bra was sheer enough that her tight, peaked nipples were easily visible. She liked the way his gaze narrowed as he stared at her breasts.
“Unzip my pants,” he said, moving forward and folding his arms across his chest.
As soon as she had the zipper down, he nodded. “Now pull them off.”
“You going to ask me to suck your cock next?”
“No point in talking dirty. We’re too far away for him to be able to hear you.” The teasing gleam came back into his eyes. “Now do what I told you to.”
She tugged his jeans all the way down and saw the solid erection pushing at his briefs. She grabbed the waistband and pulled them down. He kicked away his pants and spread his legs, angling his hips forward, bringing his rod close to her face. “See anything that’ll give him ideas?”
“Yeah.” She touched his inner thigh then moved her fingers up toward his balls. “I do.”
“Glad to hear it. Come on.” He lifted her to her feet, took her hand and led her out of the barn.
Matthew didn’t go back to sleep after he watched the video Dan had sent to him. Wearing only his robe, he’d sat on the balcony, watching the city with his cell in one hand and his car keys on the other. Using either would be a violation of the rules he’d established.
After several hours passed, and Tara still didn’t come home, he got the message. She was staying over, sleeping in Dan’s bed, no doubt.
The sun came up and he went inside to make a breakfast he knew he’d be eating alone. Each time he took another bite of his eggs, he glanced at his phone, hoping it would flash from a new text and yet also hoping it wouldn’t. About the time he was headed to the shower, it vibrated from an incoming call. He answered it with a hard knot in his gut. His question came out before he had a chance to hold it back. “Is she okay?”
“Of course, I left her a few minutes ago. She had me drop her off at the beach. I guess she wanted a few minutes to herself before she came home.” After a beat of silence, Dan came back to ask, “How are you? You okay?”
“I got the video,” he said, stepping into the bathroom and looking at his weary face in the mirror. The face of a man who’d spent the night fantasizing about his wife being fucked by another man.
“Good.”
Matthew shrugged out of his robe and glanced down at his cock. It was getting hard again as the image of Tara’s breasts bouncing as she tugged off Dan’s boots flashed in his mind.
Dan spoke again. “Did you like it?”
Matthew stroked his dick. “What kind of question is that?”
“A serious one. Did you like it?”
Matthew watched his hand, the dark skin of his fingers moving across the pale skin of his cock. He squeezed the shaft, felt his balls heat. Matthew clicked off to end the call, threw down the phone and grabbed his dick with both hands. Tara’s smile, her breasts, the lighthearted way she dodged Dan’s attempts to grab her—even the sight of his friend’s bare ass and rigid cock. Those images flowed through his mind, teasing him, tormenting him, making him more horny than he’d been in a long time.
Damn.
What had they done after they’d left the barn?
When Tara had first left with Dan, he’d felt lost, lonely, weak and depressed. Then, after the video had arrived, he’d been on fire. Half hating, half loving the lust churning inside him. He’d been avoiding jacking off all night, almost frightened by the fierce urges coming over him. But he couldn’t take it any longer. His hand picked up speed, his fingers tightening around his shaft as he stroked himself, seeking the release he’d been aching for for hours.
Matthew watched himself jack off until the sensations became so brutal that he had to close his eyes. As soon as his lids flickered shut, he saw Tara’s face with Dan’s dick inches from her lips and felt the first spurts of cum. Matthew gave himself over to his own touch, stroking himself with awkward jerky pulls until the last drops wet his hands. Even after the spasms stopped, he held his wet, limp dick and waited for his breathing to return to normal. Then he opened his eyes, looked at himself in the mirror and saw the reflection of a stranger. He stepped into the shower and turned on the water, let the cold spray roll across his naked body but it didn’t quell the heat.
* * * * *
Exactly a week after the first time, Tara stepped out of Dan’s truck. Again the ride had been quiet but a different kind of quiet this time. It’d been one that simmered, growing both more silent and more intense with each passing second. Energy vibrated between them, buzzed and snapped until Tara was sure she’d leap out of the truck as soon as they reached Dan’s secluded home. Maybe Dan sensed her extreme case of nerves because right after he cut the engine he reached over and set his hand across hers. “Are you going to tell me how things went last week? With Matthew?”
Words formed her in mind but she couldn’t get them out.
“Did he ask about us?”
She offered him a weak smile to show she appreciated him caring enough to ask, then pulled her hand from under his. She climbed out into the shade of the gnarled oak. The air north of the city was fresher, clearer, and had a ting of salt. Even after this, whatever it was, was over, Tara had a feeling that scent would always remind her of Dan. When she walked away from the truck and toward the footpath that led to the open field behind his house he followed, as she knew he would.
Dan caught up and started walking beside her. “Did he act different?”
“Sort of,” she replied, letting him take her hand. His grip wasn’t tight or possessive and it felt right. She curled her fingers around his.
They reached the top of a hill and stopped. Off in the horizon the ocean rolled, white foam across azure waves. Closer, stalks of sea grass poked the sky and all around were batches of purple wild flowers and cactus. They stood in silence for a few moments, until he finally asked, “Sort of different in a good way? Or bad?”
“He kept staring at me,” she replied, thinking about the way her husband had been both distant and possessive. “Looking at me weird but not saying much of anything.”
Dan smiled and playfully bumped against her shoulder. “That’s good.”
Tara tried to ignore the wave of heat his body caused. It wasn’t so much him, she mused, as it was a response to the constant ache for physical release. Well, then again,
of course it was him, if she wasn’t in love with Matthew…
But she was in love with him and that made all the difference.
“If you say so,” she replied. But why had Matthew only looked? Wasn’t the plan to get him to do something?
“I’m a man. I know what that kind of looking means.”
Tara glanced up, knowing the gentle skepticism showed on her face. “You do, huh?”
“Yep. That means it worked.”
Tara shifted her weight to lean her back against Dan’s chest as she gazed out over the rough yet beautiful terrain. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned her head back. It was easy to see how this place had created the man behind her. Even the delicate wildflowers had rigid-looking stalks. Some had sharp-edged leaves but were still beautiful and vibrantly alive. “We never came up here, to the canyon, when I was a kid. My mom and dad talked about taking us to the park to go hiking but we never did.”
“No Girl Scout camping trips?”
“Nope. Lots of days at the city pool, though.”
After a rush of wind sent some brittle brown brambles dancing past, Dan spoke again. “We never went to the city when I was a kid. I spent most all my free time running up and down these mountains with my brother.”
Tara glanced up at Dan, spotting the rough stubble on his chin. “You and Matthew aren’t much alike.”
“Where we were, doing what we were doing, where you grow up doesn’t matter for shit. It’s what’s deep inside a person that makes the difference.”
Tara knew better than to ask any questions about their time together in the military. So instead of speaking, she waited, wondering if he’d say more.
“I know him and he knows me in all the ways that matter.”
A red-tailed hawk swooped low, talons pointed, vanishing quickly into the dense grass. It rose again, claws empty as it flew off, disappearing behind a cluster of olive trees.
Thinking of her husband’s maddening silence, Tara said, “Maybe I shouldn’t have told him so much.”
“About what?”
Wicked Pink Page 3
