by Kayn, Debra
"You're taking me down." He patted her ass. "Hop on."
"I don't know how to drive one of these things." She turned in his arms and faced him. "We'll crash or go off the side of the trail and die."
"I won't let you die." He chuckled. "I'll be sitting right behind you and can take over if you get scared."
"It's slippery," she said.
"It's 4-wheel drive."
"There's a reason why you made me wear a helmet, and I'm sure there's a sticker somewhere on it that says 'Experience Needed'." She tried to step around him.
He blocked her escape. "You can do it. I'll be right there with you the whole way."
"Emmett." She hummed in defeat.
He recognized her giving in to him and smiled.
"Fine but if I kill us both, I will bitch and bitch at you through eternity. I will make eternity last forever." She climbed on the ATV and sat down. "Forever. You got that?"
"Loud and clear." He sat behind her. Now was not the time to laugh or tell her he was pretty sure eternity was forever, but he got the point she tried to make. He wouldn't let her die.
"You'll want to hold on to the handlebars. On the right one, you'll feel a lever by your thumb, go ahead and push it," he said.
"I moved it," she said.
"That's your throttle. The only thing you need to do is push with your thumb. Now with your left hand, straighten your fingers and find the bar in front of the handle."
"Got it."
"That's the brake. Squeeze it when you need it." He patted her thighs. "Lift your feet for a second."
He slid his boots under her feet and kept his toe off the right foot brake. All she had to do was concentrate on using her hands, and he'd take control of the foot brake in case she needed help. Though he wasn't going to tell her that he planned to keep them both safe. She needed to feel the joy of riding herself.
"I'm going to start the ATV and put it into gear. When you're ready to go, go slow, and get the feel of the trail. Once you're comfortable, you can play with the speed a little." He turned the key, pushed the ignition, and shifted the gear to low.
Her body tensed. He rubbed his thumb against her thigh. The headlight lit the trail.
After several minutes, the ATV jumped forward and stopped. He yelled over the engine, "Keep it steady with constant pressure."
She nodded, bumping her helmet against his.
The next time she tried, she caught herself before the quad could stop and kept it creeping forward. He leaned to the side and shouted, "Good girl."
She turned her head to look at him, and the bike veered to the right. He grabbed the handlebar and corrected her mistake. "Look straight ahead."
His foot hovered over the brake as she approached the first switchback. Slower than walking, she kept the ATV hugged to the side of the mountain, staying far away from the straight drop off. All her concentration centered on keeping the speed down.
He relaxed, making sure not to touch or startle her. The slow ride gave him time to appreciate having her tucked in front of him. She'd enjoyed herself on the ride up. The mud speckling her face and soaking her clothes never bothered her a bit.
She even let him hold her in front of the others and after seeing her almost naked in his kitchen, it took everything he had to pull back and go slow with her. He'd made progress tonight and made her forget her desire to slow things down between them. Someday soon, he'd be able to lay beside her for hours and count the freckles across her chest. Hell, who knew freckles would turn him on.
He'd never had a woman he knew deep in his gut that he wanted more than Nova. Deep fucking aches that left him hungry and unable to eat.
Every night—or morning if Nova came around—he'd go to sleep with her on his mind and wake up still thinking about her.
She fit against him perfectly by his side and in his life. The more he learned about her, like tonight and how his woman enjoyed getting outside, letting loose, hanging with his friends, he became more determined to keep her with him.
Half way down the mountain, he pointed in front of them and pressed down on the foot brake bringing them to a stop. "Look."
Ahead about one hundred feet on the trail, two yellow eyes reflected the light off the quad. He slipped his hands under hers and took control of the handlebars, slowly riding closer.
Within twenty-five feet, an elk lumbered across the trail and over the side of the cliff.
Nova flinched, turning her upper body toward him. "He fell."
"No, they can run almost straight up the mountain. She's fine."
"She?"
He kissed her mouth and said, "No antlers."
"She was beautiful." Nova pushed back her helmet and looked at him. "Emmett...?"
"What Nova-girl?"
"I..." She shook her head, and her smiled softened. "Thank you for this. For taking me up on the mountain, for letting me learn how to ride, for the elk. I'll never forget any of it."
She turned back around. His heart beat hard in his chest. A primal need to keep giving her moments where she let down her guard and threw all the other shit keeping her from being with him away.
He placed her hands back on the handlebars. Without any prompting, she accelerated. The rest of the way down was uneventful. She kept a steady speed, concentrated on the trail, and he enjoyed having his hand in the middle of her stomach, his crotch cocooned against her ass, and his thoughts centered on the moment she finally told him yes, she wanted sex.
The end of the trail came into view, and Nova rode through the break in the trees. He pointed to the left and directed her around the outside loop so not to disturb too many residents and straight to the back of his trailer.
"Pull it up to the back steps," he said.
He put the ATV in PARK, shut off the engine, and removed the keys. Nova slumped forward and laid her arms over the handlebars. He got off the quad, his legs numb from the long ride. Twenty minutes up, and it took them a good hour and a half to get down the side of the mountain and Nova loved every second of it.
"You're alive." He helped her off, stood her in front of him, and removed her helmet. "Happy?"
The floodlight from the pole between his trailer and Nick's trailer showed him a tired, but delirious smile on Nova's dirty face. "Not counting you buying me paint and letting me do my street art on the laundry building, that ride had to be the most fun I've had in a long time."
"I'm glad." He grabbed her hand and walked her around the trailer. "You did great."
"That's the closest I've ever been to an elk." She turned sideways on a skip as she walked beside him. "I've seen them from the car and back home, but nothing compared to seeing one on the trail. I had no idea they could climb the side of the mountain like that. I thought for sure we scared him, I mean her, and she fell in the dark."
He laughed taking in how her excitement covered the way her body shook from the cold. "We need to get you into your dry clothes. You're shivering."
She looked down at herself covered in mud. "Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes."
"Do you want to grab a shower before you put your clothes on?"
Her head snapped up, and her eyes widened. "Oh, my God. I left my phone in my other jeans. What time is it?"
"I don't know. I never take my cell out riding, because service doesn't work on the mountain." He turned at the sound of Nick's door banging shut.
Shayla hurried over. "Nova? It's three o'clock. Why did it take you guys so long to get back down?"
"Shit." Nova shoved her fingers in her hair. "I need to go."
"Now?" Emmett widened his stance.
"Yeah." She stepped toward the door. "My...my boss is calling me first thing in the morning. He's on the east coast, three hours' time difference, and that means I need to be back in my room by four."
She stopped before going inside his house. He walked over and opened the screen. "Go ahead."
"I'm covered in mud. I'll get your house all dirty."
He kissed her uptur
ned mouth. "It's fine. I'll mop everything up."
"Thank you." She kissed him quick and ran inside.
Giving her privacy, he stayed outside. Shayla looked up at the sky and stayed quiet. He couldn't understand Nova's boss calling her early if she was on vacation. Even if she had to work an odd hour now and then, she at least deserved time on her own.
"Rain stopped." Shayla studied him and sighed. "You're good for her, you know."
"Yeah?" He rocked back on the heels of his boots. "Sometimes I wonder what we're doing. She's planning on leaving, and I..."
He wanted her to stay.
He cleared his throat, changing the subject. "Are you going to take her back to town?"
Shayla nodded. "That's the plan."
Emmett crossed his arms and waited, imagining Nova tugging and pulling on her clothes, trying to get them unstuck from her body.
"Maybe I should go in and help her." He stepped toward the door when it opened, and Nova came bounding out of the house in the dry clothes she'd arrived in, carrying her purse and stopped in front of him.
Her face, still covered in mud, turned upward. "I can't thank you enough for letting me go with you tonight and letting me ride down the mountain."
"Glad you enjoyed it." He picked up her hand and twined his fingers through hers. "Why don't you stay. You can clean up, sleep on the couch if you want. I can open the store late, and we can spend more time together."
She shook her head and lost her smile. "I wish I could, but I can't."
He looked over at Shayla to find her back toward them, giving them privacy. "Come tomorrow night?"
"I'll try."
Resigned to letting her go, he leaned down and kissed her again. She grabbed on to his sweatshirt, holding him in place. He deepened the kiss, stroking her tongue, and wished he could say something to change her mind.
She stepped away and gave him a shaky smile. His whole body alert and hard. He watched her walk to Shayla's car, and he stepped over and sat on his front step. For a few hours, he had her right where he wanted her. They'd grown closer, and she'd forgotten about fighting him every step.
Now he was left alone to jack off to the fantasy of what he'd wanted to happen tonight.
Chapter Twenty Two
The beer cans flowed from one person to another through the crowd outside Emmett's trailer for the last two hours ago. The kids in the park were carried off by tired parents an hour ago after they'd consumed the last hotdog off the barbecue. Caren held court to a few single men on the other side of Emmett's car while Kirkland and Jason ribbed each other about who fucked up at work in the mine earlier.
Emmett sat in his lawn chair next to Nick, his phone on his thigh, waiting for Nova to call. She planned to come over to the trailer park after she finished one last phone call to her boss, and that had been an hour ago.
Shayla walked over to Nick. "I'm going to pick up Nova."
"I'll get her." Emmett stood, anxious to see her and have her by his side for the rest of the night.
"That's okay. I already talked to her, and she's expecting me." Shayla raised her brows. "Do you need something from town while I'm there? Beer? Smokes? Pizza?"
"No." Emmett reached out and took Shayla's keys from her hand and tossed them to Nick. "I'll get Nova."
"Hey." Shayla grabbed his shirt. "I said—"
"You've drank. I haven't. I'll get her." Emmett walked to his car.
"I've only had one beer," said Shayla.
He turned around and walked backward. "Go, have another one. I'm picking Nova up and will take her back to town later. You're off Nova duty tonight."
"God, you are so bullheaded." Shayla fisted her hands on her hips. "She's under the viaduct. East side."
He raised his hand in acknowledgment and opened his car door. Within two minutes, he drove up the on-ramp of Interstate 90. Whether Shayla picked her up or he got the job wasn't the point. Nova had been in constant contact with him through the day, even calling him three times while he'd worked at the auto parts store.
The first time, she wanted to know his favorite song— Hair of the Dog by Nazareth— in which she laughed so hard, she hung up on him and left him smiling for the next two hours. The second time she called, she asked him his middle name— James. On the third call, she caught him as he locked the front door of the store and instead of asking him a question, she wanted him to talk, to say anything, because she wanted to hear his voice. So, he talked standing in the middle of the store and described the many different colors of spray paint he carried and what he'd had for lunch and how he couldn't wait to see her tonight.
He tossed his cap on the dash of the car, rolled down his window, and stuck his elbow out.
Last night, Shayla had brought Nova to the park, and she'd stuck by his side the whole time, joining in on the conversations, and kept her hand permanently in his back pocket. He checked his rearview mirror and took the next exit. Her change from sexually yoyo'ing with him to becoming a permanent fixture at his side settled over him comfortably, and all he wanted to do was get Nova away from the others tonight and have more of what she was giving him since deciding she wanted to try to work things out.
He spotted Nova next to the pillar of concrete under the viaduct the second he pulled off the interstate. His chest tightened, and blood rushed out of his head. He lifted his finger off the steering wheel in a wave, even though she couldn't see him in the dark with the headlights aimed at her. He drove into the public parking area and stopped beside her. She opened the door and slid into the seat.
"I thought Shayla was picking me up." She leaned across the expanse of the seats and kissed him, humming her pleasure. "Though I'm glad it was you. I've wanted to kiss you all day."
"She was on her way to her car to pick you up, and I stopped her." He inhaled the intoxicating scent of her perfume. "Missed you, Nova-girl. All fucking day."
She kissed him deeper. "Missed you, too."
"Buckle up. Let's get back to the park so that I can have more of those kisses.
She pulled the seatbelt around her and clicked it into position. "I was going to arrive at your place and surprise you and instead you surprised me."
He shifted the car and got back on the interstate. Settled in the right lane, he reached over and put his hand on her thigh. "I'm taking you in my house and keeping you for the rest of tonight. What time do you have to be back?"
"I, um..." She laid her hand on top of his. "Are you asking me if I'll come inside your trailer and have sex with you?"
"Will you?" he asked.
"No, I won't have sex."
"Then, that's not what I asked you." He glanced at her and then gazed back on the road. "I'm tired of sharing you with the others."
She curled her fingers between his. "I know."
He continued to drive holding her hand until he approached the off-ramp. A couple of miles and he'd have her to himself and be able to give her his full attention.
She twisted in the seat to face him. "You've got a lot of energy tonight, don't you?"
"What kind of question is that after talking about sex?"
"You were talking about sex. I wasn't." She laughed, looking ahead as he pulled in front of the trailer. "Our nights together last until early morning, and you have to get up early for work. I never see you yawning or tired. You keep thumping your thumb against the steering wheel like you're anxious or ready to run."
He put the car in Neutral and set the emergency brake. "I'm dead tired right after work, so I normally eat and then crash for a few hours before getting up and going outside. Knowing you're coming over gives me something worth staying awake for."
"Me, too." Her smile softened. "I do want to spend time alone with you."
He opened the door, and Nova exited the car before he could get to the other side. Together, they walked to his trailer.
Inside his small living room, he wrapped her in a hug and lifted her off her feet, plopping her down on his lap on the couch. He cupped her fac
e and kissed her the way he'd wanted to since she slid into his car.
Slow and deep, he caressed her mouth, her tongue, and fed off her response. His chest throbbed with urgency settling deep in his gut. He buried his hands in her hair, holding her softening body against his, and continued to stroke, tongue on tongue.
Nova's leg came up, rubbing his side, and she squirmed on his lap. His cock pulsed, hardening for attention. She had no idea how easy it'd be for him to have sex with her right now and she'd be begging him not to stop.
He softened the kiss and pulled back. He'd promised not to push her, and for him, that included making her change her mind before she was ready to tell him verbally she wanted sex.
"Wow," she whispered, stroking his jaw with her fingers. "That was...you really went there."
"We're not even close to there." He leaned back on the couch taking her with him.
She slipped her purse over her head and tossed the bag on the coffee table, and then laid her head in the crook of his neck. Her heart beat hard against his chest, making it impossible to know who got more out of the kiss. Her? Or, him?
"Soon." She inhaled deeply and wrapped her arms around his chest. "I'm not trying to make you suffer. I want to have sex with you, too."
"You'll be leaving me soon. I think about that all the time, Nova-girl. It's not a good feeling." He let his head fall to the back of the couch. "Never thought I'd say this to a woman, but if you're planning on giving me that last bit of yourself and leaving Federal, it's probably best we don't go there."
He hadn't meant to say anything about sex. Once he admitted how he felt about her plan to wait, he owned them. He wouldn't go back on his word.
Sex with Nova was the first thing he thought of every fucking morning when he woke up and every time a woman walked into the store with her husband at her side, he imagined Nova beside him, looking up at him as if explaining the difference between a carburetor and fuel injector meant the world to her.
She sat up straighter. "Don't say that."
Emmett took in the worry at the corners of her eyes. "It needs to be said. My life is simple. I work. I come home. I have responsibilities that include everyone living in Bitterroot Trailer Park. I can see and believe sex isn't something you fall into easily, and I respect you more for your stance. You want to get to know me first, and that's a rare thing in my world. You've asked for time, but we don't have time on our side."
