Build it Strong (The Ballard Brothers of Darling Bay Book 2)

by Rachael Herron

  A sudden gust of wind made the control bar buck. Fear rolled through her. She was driving this thing—she could crash it if she wasn’t careful. “Take it back?” she called to him. “Please take it back.” Her voice shook. She hoped he didn’t hear it.

  But he just took the bar back and said, “Ready for your surprise?”

  The dirty image that filled her mind shocked her. “Yes,” she called back to him, grateful he couldn’t see her face.

  “We’re escaping.”

  “What?”

  “First, let’s do a fly-over.” Aidan steered them back over the spot from which they’d taken off. The camera crews obediently faced their lenses up, and Tuesday laughed down at them. She waved. Gene and Anna waved back. “Are you having fun?” she heard someone call, and another laugh was the only answer she could manage.

  “Now, we get out of here.”

  Out of here? They were supposed to land in the same field they’d taken off from. If they didn’t, where would they land? How would the network van know where to follow them?

  Oh.

  Maybe Aidan didn’t want the network van to follow them at all.

  More warmth suffused her, this time heating her face. The cool salt air hitting it was a relief.

  They soared north, dipping down and then raising back up again as he caught the updrafts. She knew they couldn’t go much inland, or they’d lose the coastal thermals, but maybe he was taking her to a different beach?

  It wasn’t until she spotted the Callahan house—her house—that she realized where he was heading. “They’ll find us,” she called.

  “Not for a little while,” he said, banking left toward an empty field. “Remember what I said about keeping your feet bent until mine are on the earth? I’ll stop us.”

  She swallowed her terror and held her breath.

  The landing was both worse than she’d thought it would be—the earth moved under them much faster than she’d thought it would—and easier, too. She just stood up when the motion ceased.

  Tuesday laughed in sheer delight. Her cheeks felt windburned.

  Aidan helped them disentangle, first her, then him. He reached forward and took off the camera attached to her helmet and turned it off. He did the same to his camera.

  He turned to her. “Now. We’re off the radar and we can do one of two things.” His eyes were lit from inside, a heat that she wanted to press herself against even though she was still overly warm from the excitement of coming down.

  Tuesday raised a finger. “Tell me one.”

  “We call Anna and tell her where we are. They come get us, film us some more, and maybe we go get a sandwich or a meal somewhere.”

  In response, Tuesday’s stomach growled. She put up another finger. “Tell me option two.”

  Aidan pointed to a low line of bushes that ran along the deserted one-lane road. “We pull out the bicycles I hid in those bushes this morning. We ride them to your hot spring. We soak and then have a picnic.”

  Joy rose through her, pushing against her as the wind had. “You have food?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  Impulsively, Tuesday pressed her hands against his chest, lifted up on her tiptoes, and planted a close-mouthed kiss against his lips. “You’re a genius. Let’s go.” Her voice came out surprisingly breathy, and she swayed backward, away from him. Had he moved toward her? Or was that her imagination?

  Aidan cleared his throat. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let me text Anna where I’m leaving the glider.” He grinned at his phone. “The biggest problem with this thing is transporting it to and from, and I’m going to make them do the second half.”

  “They must think we crashed and died somewhere.”

  “Nah, they’ll have seen the footage from our helmet cams until I turned them off. If Anna asks Jake or Liam about it, they’ll know we went into hiding. But yeah, I don’t want them to worry too much.”

  Into hiding.

  It sounded illicit.

  Tuesday was all in.

  Chapter 21

  T

  uesday was a good, strong bike rider. He should have known, with those incredible calves. As they came around the Third Street curve, she grinned at him, looking cute as hell in her red hang gliding helmet that had doubled nicely as a bike helmet. “They’re probably freaking out right now.”

  Aidan had no doubt they were. He was going to hear about this for the rest of his life from Felicia, and he was glad she hadn’t come in this morning. “Probably. But right now, we’ve got some time.”

  They hid the bikes in an alley four houses down from the Callahan place. He shouldered the picnic backpack and put the blanket over his arm. “I know a shortcut through the Hildeboom’s backyard. Come on.”

  Then they were in her yard, ducking low, hoping none of the workers looked outside. Tuesday giggled behind him, and the sound sent a shiver up Aidan’s spine. He pushed open the gate, shoving the cut wisteria branches and vines out of his way, praying that she was in the mood to get down to her underwear again.

  Or less.

  He held the gate open for her. “Ladies first.”

  She slanted a look he couldn’t decipher at him and ducked under his arm. “You don’t have any water on you, do you?”

  Aidan gestured at the pool of steaming hot water. “Like this?”

  She shook her head. “Never mind, I’m fine.”

  “Or do you mean like this?” He pulled a bottle of water out of the backpack.

  “You’re magical.”

  Damn it all, her smile was so sweet. How was it that a woman who looked like she did—like the grade-school teacher she was—could light him on fire like she did? He cocked his head to the side and watched her as she drank. She was unselfconscious, glugging it down. She saved the last half for him.

  “Here you go. Thank you. You probably saved my life.” She shivered.

  “You cold?” He felt a shiver, too, low in his torso.

  She nodded. “I think it’s just the excitement of landing. I can’t stop shaking.”

  “I get that way sometimes.”

  “You do?”

  He did, though it was usually only when he had a hang gliding call that felt too close. A few months back, he’d swooped so close to the edge of the cliff he felt the wing tip scrape the very edge of the rock. A little harder, and his flight would have been abruptly ended—he would have fallen to the hard-packed sand fifty feet below. He’d shook like she was now.

  That didn’t explain why he was shaking at this moment, though. It was almost imperceptible—when he sneaked a look at his hand, he couldn’t see the tremors.

  But he could feel them.

  They were entirely due to Tuesday.

  Tuesday.

  “Let’s do this,” he said.

  Aidan went in first. It was only sensible this time. Once Tuesday stripped down to her underwear, he’d be hard again, and if he was in the water, it would be a secret.

  And he would get to watch.

  Tuesday stood on a wide, mossy rock and pulled her pants off first. She folded them carefully. She paused, as if thinking.

  She took off her glasses. “I’m putting them here, on this stump.” She pointed. “So later, when I’m panicking, you’ll be able to tell me where they are.”

  “Can you see anything without them?”

  “Nothing far away, but I can see okay up close.”

  He’d have to stay close to her, then.

  Another pause. Then Tuesday stripped off her shirt.

  She had a scar. Damn. A big one, thick and angrily red. The viciousness of it took his breath away. The scar snaked from under her right breast, across her stomach, and into the top of her panties.

  She caught him looking, and her face flushed. Her cheeks went so pink he forgot to think about her scar and whether she was okay. He could only think about how damn hot she was.

  “Tuesday—” He took a step through the water toward her. Then another.

  For a long moment, her gaze
met his. Something smoldered between them—a bomb’s wick, lit and running fast.

  Then she smiled, and dove forward. She stood for a brief second, the water up to her armpits. Then she closed her nose with her fingers, and dropped below the water.

  It broke the spell, as she’d probably meant it to. Aidan shook his hair, spraying droplets everywhere. He felt alive. He was fully inside his body, and he felt every breath of wind, heard every low creak in the treetops that ringed the pool. Far off, a dog barked, and then another one joined it. Aidan thought for a second about joining their joyful howling.

  But he was waiting for Tuesday to reappear.

  Three more long seconds.

  Then three more.

  Jesus.

  How long was she going to hold her breath? Aidan shifted from one foot to the other. Had it been twenty seconds? Forty? Longer?

  She was fine. It wasn’t even four feet deep where she was.

  There were no creatures waiting to bring her down. No Nessy in this hot spring (though one of the Homeless Petes had sworn he’d seen a lizard monster in the storm drain behind City Hall more than once).

  There weren’t even any big tree roots to catch her foot underneath the water—just flat, silty rock.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  That was it.

  Aidan launched himself at the place he’d seen her last. His hands touched her body—maybe her shoulders?—and he grappled to get a grip on her arms. He hauled her up and out of the water, pulling him against himself.

  “Oh!” Tuesday spluttered.

  “Are you okay?”

  She gave him the same smile she had right before she’d ducked under the water. “I like to see how long I can hold my breath.”

  Aidan’s frozen blood start to move again. The heat of the water helped. So did the feeling of her body against his. “Next time, warm me.”

  “Do you mean warn you?” She tilted her head coquettishly. How had he possibly thought this woman was regular-looking?

  He nodded. Yeah. That’s what he’d meant to say. He opened his mouth to correct himself, but instead of speaking, he raised both his hands to her wet face. For a split second, her expression stilled. Sobered.

  But her eyes still danced, and lord give a man a little mercy, she was irresistible.

  He kissed her.

  Or did she kiss him? It was impossible to tell. Her mouth tasted slightly salty, slightly alkaline. Her tongue was cool in comparison to her spring-heated skin. She pressed her breasts against his chest, and the two scraps of lace and his boxers that were between them did nothing to disguise her body from him. His hands roamed into her wet, tangled hair, down her dripping spine, to the curve of her ass. He cupped both her buttocks, and she moaned into his mouth. He bent his knees, sinking deeper into the water, and lifted her so that her legs went around his waist.

  Tuesday put her hands on his chest and pushed herself a few inches away, leaving her legs wrapped around him. Aidan froze. He needed this woman on a cellular level, but if she said stop, of course he’d stop.

  How he’d stop, he had no fucking clue.

  But he would. “You okay?”

  Her answer was to tilt her pelvis against his hips. She pressed herself lightly against his cock, and she looked as frustrated by the fabric between them as he felt, her eyebrows drawn together, her lips tight. “Um.”

  “Tuesday?”

  “I’m okay,” she choked.

  “Really? Because—”

  “I’m not okay.”

  Aidan opened his hands, releasing the grip he’d had on her hips. “All right—”

  “I want more.”

  The words didn’t make sense to his overheated brain. “Huh?”

  “But I’m about to spontaneously combust. Can we get out?”

  Stop. She wanted to stop. That was it. Fine. “Yeah. Yes, yeah.” He stood slowly from kneeling, but her legs were still wrapped around his waist, and she made no move to release him. Pressing into his feet, he stood all the way up, holding her against him. The water made him unsteady, and he swayed.

  He was still hard as a rock.

  Nothing he could do about it, really. Not for a few minutes at least. He took a breath. Her mouth was an inch from his, their noses almost touching. Water sheeting from their bodies. “Getting out. You want to eat lunch?”

  Tuesday bit her lower lip, as if she was considering something. “I want…Oh, God. I can’t say what I want.”

  He could barely breathe. “Anything is—Tuesday, tell me. Yes or no.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “For fuck’s sake, yes.”

  Chapter 22

  A

  idan grinned, feeling like he could fly without the glider. “For the very sake of the fuck, then, follow me.” She unwrapped her legs, and pushed against his chest lightly, putting her feet back into the water. Her took her hand. Without another word, he led her to the edge of the pool, then stepped up and out.

  She was grace and beauty, water streaming from her strong limbs. Her scar didn’t mar her body—it made her look stronger. Next to her, Aidan felt like a bumbling oaf. He stumbled as he stepped up onto the lowest rock.

  He led her to the blanket in the shade. Carefully, he moved the picnic backpack onto the grass.

  Tuesday sat. “I’m getting the blanket wet.”

  “Mmmm. Do I need to be careful here?” He touched the skin next to the scar on her stomach.

  She shook her head wordlessly.

  He didn’t ask then. He took.

  He covered her body with his, pressing her onto her back. He tried to keep his weight on his elbows as he kissed her, as he moved his mouth down her neck, as he played with the edge of her earlobe with his teeth. His arms shook, though, and she scooted sideways so that he could rest fully on one elbow. “Good,” he said. “I can see you this way.”

  Tuesday closed her eyes as if she were going underwater again. Then she opened them and said. “See more of me, then.”

  Aidan’s mouth went dry.

  Fuck, yes.

  He rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. He unclasped her sodden bra. It dropped to the blanket next to them, and Tuesday straddled him, her bare breasts tilted up toward the sun.

  They were glorious breasts—full and round and surprisingly heavy. He curled himself upward, moving his mouth to take one nipple and suckle it before moving to the other one. He got harder, and when she moved her hips against his, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to have her, and God help him, he had to have her soon. Before he died of this feeling.

  He tugged her mouth down to his, and spoke against her lips. “I need you.”

  She gave a whimper that further served to rid him of conscious thought. She slid sideways and tugged off her panties before helping him with his wet boxers. Huh. He should feel cold, a small part of his brain said. There should be shrinkage.

  Thank God, there was none.

  There was the opposite. He reached down and felt his shaft, which had never been as hot or hard, perhaps in his whole life. “Wallet.” He pointed at his jeans which lay next to the blanket.

  She understood and complied, handing him his wallet. He extracted the condom stashed behind a couple of twenties.

  “Did you only bring one?” That crooked little grin again, and Aidan exploded into action.

  He ripped open the package. She tried to help him put it on, but there were three seconds of fumbling, and that kind of carelessness might actually kill him, and he had no interest in dying at the present moment—he only wanted to live, to live hard, preferably inside her, and preferably soon.

  The condom was on.

  He rolled her onto her back.

  He held himself over her. “I feel compelled to point out that foreplay is a thing I’m usually better at.”

  “Are you kidding me? You made me fly.”

  Chapter 23

  T

  uesday tilted her hips, and pressed her opening to the
tip of his shaft, and with one fast stroke, he was inside her. She felt hotter than a furnace and he filled her so tightly, it almost hurt. She gasped a breath.

  He made the same noise. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him against her. “Wait.” Her breath was a quick pant. “Just a second. Let me—you’re big.”

  “We can stop.”

  They could. She might die, though, if they did, and if she’d lived through hang gliding, she could live through this.

  So Tuesday growled in his ear. “More.”

  He took her mouth, biting her lip as he ground his hips into hers, plunging again and again, each time a little deeper. She could feel herself get tighter and tighter.

  He slid his hand between their bodies and pressed his thumb against her clit.

  The pleasure was too big. Too intense. She gave a short scream, pulling her mouth away from his.

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “Fuck, yes. But here.” She used her own hand to adjust the placement of his thumb and then—suddenly—bit the side of his neck to keep from screaming again.

  Time slowed to a stop. Tuesday was aware of everything. Each time he pushed into her, she felt the shudder than ran through him. Her hips shook and trembled as she pushed her clit against his thumb. He let her drive the rhythm, matching his strokes to her shivers. She wrapped her free arm around his neck, and he buried his face in her hair and he fucked her so hard and so fast that her body exploded under his at the same time that he came so hard, so deep that she thought neither might ever stop coming. She clenched around his cock, again and again, spasms rocking her torso. A fine trembling started in her arms, and moved to her legs, and when he kissed her again, they panted against each other. She tasted sweat on the skin between his upper lip and nose, and the way he laughed, moving inside her as he did so, made her gasp.

  “Holy shit.” She held the side of his face in her hand. “Holy shit.”

  Aidan dropped to the right, sliding out of her, palming the spent condom as he did. “Holy shit,” he agreed. “Are you okay?”