by Tl Reeve
“Not that it matters.” Leah kicked her way through some grass. “The town provides anything we need.”
“Is that why I’m here?” he asked, mostly to himself. For the first time in his life, he felt a calling. His heart sped, and the world opened up in front of him.
“Your car broke.” Leah, the innocent Leah, stated the obvious. “We needed the work, and here you are.”
No, his car broke not because they needed the work, or some random act of automotive atrocity, but because he was meant to be here, he was meant to see it, he was meant to find Eden, both the woman and the place. “I have to go to her.”
“What?” Leah returned to him. “What about your phone?”
“I need to go see your cousin.” He grabbed the little girl’s hand and ran back to the center of town and over to the garage.
He let go of Leah and burst through the door of the convenience store. “Eden!” The store stood empty.
Not to be dissuaded, he dashed outside and rushed into the garage bays. “Eden!” His voice echoed in the space.
Finally he went to the office and blasted inside. “Eden!”
Only empty chairs and the damn telegraph met him.
Crazed, and needing to find the woman of his dreams, he hurried into the middle of the one and only street to find none other than Eden walking from the boarding house with a sandwich in her hand. “Eden!” With his goal in sight, he let go of Leah and beelined for her. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” All over wasn’t much here, but it was true.
“Do you need another tranquilizer?” She bit into her sandwich.
“No.” He took her by the shoulders. “I need you. I need this town.” What he really needed was to kiss her again, maybe in the field where he would have his epic concert and save them all.
Eden shoved the last of her meal into her mouth and went past him toward the garage. “What you need is to get your water pump installed, have a new battery, and get on the road, Slick.”
“Eden.” Once more, he skidded in front of her. “Listen to me.”
“Your parts should be here soon. I want to prep everything.” She jutted out her jaw.
“Eden.” He stepped closer to her. “I need to talk to you.”
Rather than answer, she stood there silent.
Since that was the only invitation he was likely to receive, he went for it. “Your town, your little town, is the perfect venue for one of my events. We will call it Untethered, have the artists play unplugged, put Eden on the map.”
She didn’t move, didn’t speak, didn’t blink.
“Don’t you see?” How did he get her to understand? “Once we have the event, we can get people to take notice, and you won’t be at the end of the Earth anymore. We can get Internet and cell sites, and we can be together.” Though he wasn’t really sure where that last part came from, it felt right.
“You don’t understand anything. We have to get you out of here and away from me and this town.” With a huff she pushed him away.
He followed her. “Why are you so scared?”
“I’m not scared.” She barreled into the garage office.
“Yes you are. Scared of change. Scared of me.” He went up beside her. Never in his life had he wanted anything more than what was right in front of him. Everything was clear and focused.
“I’ll tell you what I’m scared of.” In a flash she spun around toward him. “A man who comes in here and thinks he can fix what’s not broken. A man who doesn’t understand. A man who says lines because he thinks that’s what someone wants to hear.”
“It’s different this time.” He lowered his voice.
“I’m sure you promise.” She turned back to the desk and picked up a little ribbon of paper near the telegraph. “Damn it.”
“What is it?”
“No parts, no tow trucks, no break.” After crumpling the paper in hand, she walked into the garage bay.
Though he wanted to follow, he stayed back. He supposed he was here for another night, and he would make the most of it.
What Eden needed was a night away from Eden. She nodded her conviction. While she rarely felt the need to travel outside of her little town, tonight was different. Tonight she needed to go, see something different, be somewhere else.
Fine, maybe it was only to her aunt’s seventy-five miles away for Hanukkah, but it was something. A long drive, clear skies, something new to look at.
The town of Eden wasn’t big enough for both her and Perry. How no one in the greater United States had his parts was beyond her. All morning she’d tried to procure the parts needed, and well past the time where anything could reasonably be delivered, she’d continued to try. When she went to her plan B of getting him out of here, no one was available to help, and her tow truck would only go so far. At this point she wasn’t sure he could leave tomorrow.
Never mind. It didn’t matter. Brush in hand, she went to her mirror and put the final touches to her hair. In a little bit, she would be far away and wouldn’t have to see or speak to Slick until sunup. No, she wouldn’t have to worry about him, or his car, or kissing, or anything. Not that she was worried about kissing, but she needed to cover all her bases, and her bases included that Slick wouldn’t ever get to first base or any base again.
Still, in the privacy of her room in the boarding house, deep inside her she could admit how his kiss had heated her, tingled through her body, and made her weak in the knees. She barely knew how she’d mustered the strength to push him away. All night she’d convinced herself that the kiss didn’t matter. In her restless sleep, she’d decided she’d only craved human contact.
Then he had to go and say they could be together.
Jerk. Ass. Idiot.
Once more she stared into the mirror, not sure who she meant, him or her.
How many times had someone come here, wanting to fix them or take her away? What was it about a small town that made a man think they fell in love in one second, but then forgot the moment they drove away?
She didn’t know and didn’t care.
She only needed to get out of here.
After applying a bit of lip gloss, she went to her door, opened it only a crack, and peeked outside down the long hall.
With no sign of Slick, she tiptoed, figuring she would go sit in the family car early and secure a premium space among the caravan of cars.
She snuck out and stopped. The silence in the house confused her. Normally, right before leaving for a big family shindig, the place would be awash in the chaos of coordinating literally an entire town of people to go to a different destination.
Where was everyone?
Eyes narrowed, muscles taut, she gripped the banister, and went down the stairs, only to be faced with a sight she rarely, if ever, experienced.
An empty, quiet boarding house.
Long ago she’d given up alone time. Where she’d once craved being by herself, after she’d accepted her family would be her life, solitude was foreign and uncomfortable.
She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and snuck around her own home.
No one was there: the living room, dining room, game room, all empty.
A shiver traveled through her, and with careful steps she went to the heart of the boarding house, the kitchen. From the large bay window, she could survey the town. The combination of a street devoid of any life and a kitchen without any food cooking let her know she had been the victim of a cold and calculated move.
She had been ditched.
They wouldn’t listen. They wouldn’t learn. They wouldn’t figure out that she was never going to be with someone. It was her path. She accepted the facts; her family needed to do the same.
All she could do was let out a laugh. The whole situation was comedic, insane, straight out of an old movie, only she would end it before it began.
Fine, she would make the most of her alone time with leftovers and a movie up in her room.
“I’m starving!” Slick’s declar
ation boomed through the air in an unwelcome interruption.
She glanced around, but there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape, so she balled her hands into fists and backed up against the wall. Maybe he wouldn’t look this direction. Maybe he would gloss over her.
“Hello, everyone! Anyone?” His voice as lout as a bullhorn.
Perhaps if she held her breath, he would go away.
“Hello!” He came ever closer.
Her heart sped, and she broke into a sweat. The last thing she needed was for Slick to find her.
“Where is everyone?” He was right outside the kitchen.
She sucked in her breath and closed her eyes.
“There you are!”
His sudden outburst made her jump, and she put her hand to her chest. She opened her eyes to find him standing in front of her. No, she refused to notice he was in a pair of well-fitting jeans and a snug gray button-down, just as she decided she didn’t even see the way he’d shaved, and combed his hair back as if to take full advantage of his angular face and ensure she could make out his bright blue eyes.
“Lord help me.” His gaze traveled over her, and he stepped back and crossed his arms.
“What is it?” More self-conscious than ever, she pressed her back against the wall, wishing it would swallow her up.
He paused and tilted his head. “If I tell you, I have the distinct feeling I may end up with a slap across the face.”
How he stared at her made her shift her weight from one foot to the other. He seemed to be scrutinizing everything about her. “You may end up with that anyway.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Before continuing, he licked his lips. “I’m going to tell you that the second I saw you the night I arrived, you stood out. Then at the garage in your jeans and dirty T-shirts you are sexy, but right now, with your hair brushed out and in a skirt where I can at last see your legs, you are fucking gorgeous.”
The man was right. She wanted to slap him, kick him, or shove him out of her way. “You’re crude.” Determination bubbling through her, she pushed away from the wall and went to leave.
He caught her arm. “I’m honest.”
At his touch, she tensed and, rather than run away, chose to face him head-on. “I highly doubt that.”
“I think you spend so much time doubting everything and everyone that you close your doors to anything that would make you happy.” He loosened his hold on her.
“I’m fine.” Still, somehow her eyes heated.
“I think you are so far from fine you forgot what it looks like,” he countered.
Once she breathed and the unwanted, unexpected tears retreated, she managed to speak. “Don’t do this, I don’t need more lies.”
“I speak nothing but the truth.” He stared into her eyes. “Why can’t I see you and feel a connection? Why can’t I want you? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to happen?”
She shook her head. Way back when she’d believed she would find someone, maybe things had been like that, but not now, not ever.
“What’s supposed to happen?” He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
Her strength gone, she let him support her. “You go tomorrow.”
“And that’s the issue?” He moved his face closer to hers. “I leave and then you think I’ll never come back.”
“That’s what happens.” She tried to stand on her own.
“Not always.” He held her tighter, then brushed his lips over hers.
Unlike the cocky kiss of the night before, the one where he’d kissed her because he could, because she’d let it happen, this kiss was soft, knowing, and claimed her.
She didn’t know where, or how, but somehow she found herself kissing him back, wrapping her arms around him, pressing her body to his.
“Yes.” He backed her up to the wall and let his hands travel over her, cupping the side of her breast, then grazing his thumb over her already hard nipple.
“Ah.” When was the last time someone had touched her like this? Her nerve endings shot off in both pleasure and a warning. She shouldn’t let him go further, but her body craved it, craved him. What was it about him?
“You are so beautiful.” He kissed down her neck, nibbled and sucked her flesh, then pulled her shirt open and did the same to her shoulder. “Gorgeous.”
It felt good, too good, to be in someone’s arms, have their attention and have them say all the right things. She couldn’t fall like this—she didn’t even know him. “I don’t want you to make me feel beautiful.”
At her words he stopped, lifted his head, and took his chin in his hand. “Didn’t you tell me this town always gives you what you need?”
“It does,” she gasped.
“Then you need to feel beautiful. You need this, and you need me.” He crushed his lips to hers.
Together they kissed, harder and with more urgency, their tongues tangling, their hands exploring, ending up on the floor of the kitchen among a mass of clothing they fought to remove without losing any contact with the other.
Like she had done before with disastrous results, she closed her eyes and let the moment take her away. Maybe what she needed was a release. Tomorrow she could watch him go and be fine with it. Fine.
She forced her thoughts away and concentrated only on his smooth tight skin, the way his muscles flexed and relaxed, his masculine taste, and his erection clearly pressing on her thigh. Yes, she would let him have her. She was too far gone to deny she wanted him, had been since the second he’d shown up on their doorstep. Maybe he was right and it was supposed to happen this way, though she knew how it would end.
His fingers snuck into her panties.
She held her breath at his light touch. She needed more. Wanted more.
“I love how wet you are. That’s what I needed.” He slipped a finger inside her and kissed her.
She moved with him, arched her back, dug her nails into his shoulders. Oh, she needed a release, something other than what she could do to herself for two seconds in the shower. He was a fantasy come to life, and she was ready.
Rather than get a condom and position himself on top of her and take her, he worked his way down, kissing her all the entire time.
Lost in her own pleasure, in the way he tended to her, she allowed him to remove her panties. She waited for him to enter her, but instead, he dipped his head down between her legs.
“Oh.” She pounded her fist on the floor. Was there ever a more glorious sensation than a man, a real man, kissing on her most intimate spot? She didn’t think so, but then again, at the moment with his fingers still working her and his lips sucking her in exactly the right way, she couldn’t think of anything. “Oh God.”
He continued, alternating between lapping at her as if she were a great delicacy to be savored and featherlight kisses. His speed varied as he worked her into a frenzy and she lay there, writhing on the floor fully under his command. She was his. The pressure, that swell of ecstasy built inside her. “God!” It felt good to scream, be alone with a man, fully open and there for the taking. “I’m there!”
With her admission, her body exploded. Bursts of pleasure wracked her, and she pulsed beneath him.
He let her ride out every last bit of her orgasm until she lay, spent, on the floor with him still between her legs, gently kissing her stomach. Before she had a chance to react, move, take care of him, anything, he grabbed her hand, kissed it, and stood.
His erection stood straight out, hard and demanding, and she went to get on her knees. She had to return the favor.
“I’m going up to my room.” He held his hand out, stopping her. “Alone.”
She grabbed her shirt and put it over her breasts. Was this some kind of joke?
“Yes, I’m going alone. I want you to know that I will be back on another day to make love to you.” He picked up his clothes and walked away.
All she could do was watch him leave and try not to get sucked into his promises. Like everyone else’s, they w
ere empty when it came to her. She glanced out of the window. The setting sun told her it was time to light the Hanukkah candles. By tomorrow at this time, everything would be back to normal.
4
Night Four
In the three nights Perry had stayed in Eden, he’d spent one awake until he basically passed out, one pining away about a kiss, and one pleasuring himself when he could have literally been in Eden.
For the first time ever, he’d taken the high road. Yes, he might have taken that path when he went down, but it was definitely a high.
He ran his hand over his freshly shaven face, then left his room, hurried down the stairs, and stopped outside the kitchen. The scent of fresh coffee and baked goods filled the air, but if he paused, he could be taken right back to that room the night before when he’d feasted on something even more satisfying. When Eden had let go and quivered around him, all he’d wanted was her to bask in her climax. His didn’t matter. He shook his head. That wasn’t him.
Maybe it was him.
He didn’t know.
“Perry!” Mug in hand, Eden’s mom appeared.
“Good morning.” He put on his best smile and glanced over at the spot where he and Eden had had their moment.
“I have some breakfast.” She took his arm and dragged him into the kitchen.
He stood like a good little soldier as Eden’s mother poured him a cup of coffee and served him a piping-hot Danish the size of his head.
“Did you eat last night?” She pushed him over to a table.
Talk about a loaded question. He stared down at the food. It was fit for any bakery.
She leaned over and grabbed his arm. “Didn’t Eden feed you?”
Technically, yes. Rather than answer, he took a huge bite of the pastry and smiled with chipmunk cheeks.
“Was it good? Did you get enough?” The questions didn’t stop.
Considering her question, he tilted his head. “Actually, I could have had some more, but I know Eden got enough.”
The woman frowned. “She has to learn proper portion sizes.” She jumped up, retrieved another pastry, and plopped it on his plate. “Eat.”
