Josie was straddling my face with a devious grin. She tasted sweet and musky, and I would have been content to stay here, just like this, until dawn. I plunged my tongue inside her, searching for her g-spot, and when I found it, she almost shot off my face. I worked that bundle of nerves with the tip of my tongue as she clenched around me. She spiraled into another orgasm—hands shaking the headboard—so I slipped back to her clit. Flicked her through the aftershocks until her fourth orgasm crashed over her.
Josie didn’t move for a full minute, sitting back on my chest and piercing me with a look of complete and total sexual satisfaction. Her smile was lazy as she pressed her palm against my cheek. We were both out of breath, covered in sweat.
I was bound to this bed and rock hard with need—yet I felt weightless. Almost effervescent.
She was kissing me hungrily a second later, her body sliding down mine. I sensed her… giving me something before she sat back up. Smiled again.
“I really needed that,” she said quietly, illuminated by moonlight.
“I really wanted to give it,” I said. I’d never been more honest.
Her hands floated up towards my wrists, massaging the tender skin there. “You’re still okay?”
“Never been better,” I assured her. She kept massaging, working blood flow back into my tethered skin. Her hair cascaded across my chest, the rain cascaded down the window, and for a moment we were two sweet lovers, not practical strangers.
Let those walls down, I wanted to beg but swallowed the words.
Josie worked her way down my body, running her tongue along every inch of my abdomen, fingernails scratching down my ribs. I groaned, fighting the urge to thrust my hips. Let Josie explore.
Her lips descended on my cock again, and I sent a prayer to every god in the universe.
My cock hit the back of her throat.
“Jesus,” I growled, head back. The cord was cutting into my wrists.
But Josie only groaned with pleasure, speeding up her rhythm. Twisting her fingers at the base and gliding up in time with her lips.
“Fuck, I can’t…” I pleaded, my orgasm beckoning. I wanted to come so badly. So fucking badly. But I also wanted to play this game, to be controlled by Josie in all the ways that made her happy.
“Please, fuck… Josie,” I pleaded again, my hips thrusting of their own accord. I heard her humming, then her fingers traveling up my stomach.
I looked down to find her eyes on mine.
“Josie,” I whispered, seeking permission. “Josie, please.”
And then the sweetest miracle of my life happened. Because my tattooed vixen gave me a subtle nod of affirmation and sucked my cock between her lips again.
And I let go.
Light and sound danced and flared; a deluge of nonsensical sounds spilled from my lips.
And an orgasm finally swept through me.
* * *
When I finally opened my eyes, Josie was leaning over me with swollen lips and flushed cheeks. The hunger in her gaze was mostly gone, replaced with something deeper. An understanding. Our fantasy was over, but Josie remained my whole world, the shape of her fitting perfectly.
“Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey,” I whispered back, giving her a wide grin.
After a moment, she returned it, and an odd tightness came over my chest.
Josie untied the straps that held me to the bed. The liberation of my arms was intoxicating, and the only thing I could do was gather her to me, kissing her hair, her cheeks, her eyelids.
“I’m supposed to do that for you,” she said sleepily, wrapping a leg around my waist and sighing with a deep satisfaction. “I want to make sure you’re okay. That I didn’t… hurt you.”
“Too bad,” I said. “And I’m more than okay. I’ve never been better.”
“So you enjoyed that?”
“If by enjoyed,” I kissed her cheek, “you mean every cell in my body re-arranged itself, then yeah. I enjoyed it.”
Lightning flashed through the room, illuminating a vulnerability on Josie’s face I’d never seen before.
“And I was… okay?”
The question was so absurd I wanted to laugh. Except she was serious.
I stroked my thumb across her cheek and tugged a curl of hair behind her ear. “I didn’t think it was possible for my fantasy to be even better in reality.” Her eyes softened. “Thank you for exploring that with me. For showing me what it would be like to be controlled by a gorgeous, sexy woman.”
“You liked it?” she asked.
“Loved it,” I said firmly.
Behind her, the clock was trying to let me know I only had a few more hours left with Josie—that the sun would rise, and she’d be off down the highway, back to L.A.
I ignored it.
“You turned my world upside down tonight,” I whispered, pulling her in for a swift kiss.
“And you affirmed my suspicions that my real job should be professional dominatrix.”
“I’d book you every night of the week,” I said, and she laughed sleepily. “In fact, I think we should do it all over again in a few hours.”
She tucked her head against my chest. “Gabriel, I just came four times.” Her hands wandered down my back.
“I know, gorgeous.” I said, against her ear. Already, her breathing was even and steady, body heavy against mine. “And I think you deserve even more than that.”
Chapter 18
Gabe
It was the thunder that woke me.
Or the lightning, like a knife slicing through the sky. Josie was still asleep, curled against my chest, but my heart was racing as I tried to put together why I’d been jolted awake. My nerves screamed with adrenaline. A quick inventory: I didn’t hear anyone in the bedroom. Or the hallway. The windows were closed, and most importantly, Josie was clinging to me.
“Shit,” I breathed out, wondering if it’d been a nightmare.
But then I heard it: the shrill ring of the emergency phone, the dedicated landline most people in Big Sur had to ensure they were informed during a natural disaster.
“Shit,” I said again, jumping out of bed, still completely naked.
Josie stirred, and I smoothed the hair from her face, brushing my lips against her cheek.
“Go back to sleep, gorgeous,” I whispered, and she gave me a sleepy half-smile.
And then I was moving, pulling open the bedroom door and half jogging down the hallway, half-formed memories of the last time I’d heard this phone ring already sliding through my brain. The horrific wildfire three years ago. The earthquake. The flash flood when I was fifteen that had almost washed pieces of Highway 1 into the Pacific Ocean. I tried to remember how much canned food and bottled water I had. Tried to make a plan for who might need rescuing.
“What happened,” I said into the phone, already knowing who it would be.
“Gabriel,” my dad said with a sigh of relief. “You’re okay.”
“More than okay,” I said. “Here at The Bar. Nothing damaged as far as I can see… at least no human beings damaged.”
“Which is the most important,” my dad said with a quick, relieved laugh. “There were two massive rock slides about forty minutes ago. I’m going to need you to call the last ten businesses on the list. I’ve called the rest.”
“Fuck,” I swore. “Who’s hurt?” My mind flew back to Ruth, patting my cheek before she left. To my brother Austin, who lived with his girlfriend Paige just down the road. To Kevin and Gloria and Gladys.
“No one, as far as the fire department can tell. The storm was so bad most people were at home, not on the highway. But the slide occurred at the entrance, and exit, to Big Sur.”
My father’s words slowly dawned on me: the worst-case scenario that most residents often feared. Highway 1 was the only access point for our town, and if both sides were covered in heaps of boulders…
“Okay,” I said, my stomach jumping with anxiety. “How bad is it? What can I do?”
<
br /> I heard voices in the background—my mother’s. A whispered he’s okay from my father. “Hey, Austin is okay, right?” I asked. “Do you need me to go pick up him and Paige?”
A shift, then I heard the phone go to speaker phone.
“Hey, big brother,” came Isabelle’s voice, sounding tired. “Maya and I are here with the baby. We’d decided to stay, ride out the storm. And we just called Austin and they’re fine.”
I let out a long exhale. “Well, good. Only issue is we can never leave Big Sur, but—”
“—that’s basically your dream come true,” Isabelle laughed.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, peering through the windows as a heavy branch ripped off the elm tree in the front of The Bar. I grimaced. “Happy to hear no one’s dead.”
“It missed the Mayor’s house by inches. Same with Charlie’s,” my dad said. My heart lurched. Living in Big Sur was like that. You always had a dark understanding that, at any moment, nature could force its way through you.
“When are the road crews going out? And do they need extra hands?” I asked, looking under the bar for my work gloves.
“They’re going out as soon as they can. And I don’t think they’ll need any help,” my dad cut in. “Although, if you took over sandwiches and beers, courtesy of The Bar, I’m sure you’d be their hero.”
I laughed, taking out a pen and a post-it note and scribbling the idea down. “Consider it done. I’ll bring them lunch every day.”
“Wait,” Isabelle said, “I’m surprised you didn’t hear it. The first slide wasn’t more than a mile from The Bar. It’s five miles from us, and I thought a train was coming through the living room.”
I shifted on my feet uneasily since I’d been thinking the same thing. But Josie and I had both been out cold. I didn’t usually sleep well with a stranger in my bed, usually tossing and turning, unsure of what to do with my limbs.
I glanced at the wall clock. We’d been deeply asleep, curled around each other, for hours now.
“I’m… you know, I’m not sure. Always been a heavy sleeper, you know?” I said, laughing nervously, knowing that I’d be grilled by both of them later. Nothing was a secret in our family, and god help you if you tried to keep one.
“Must have been some girl,” Isabelle said, and I heard an oof as my dad shoved her out of the way.
“Ignore your sister,” he said, “Although I know all about the purple-haired Satanist, and believe me, your mother and I have plenty of questions.”
“Well, gotta go,” I said quickly, holding the phone away from my mouth. “I’ve got natural disaster protocols to put into place, bottled water to find, you know the drill.”
“Mhmm,” my dad said, and I could hear the grin in his voice. “And Gabe—we’re happy you’re safe.”
“Me too.” I smiled, the relief continuing to course through me, lightening my heart.
I slammed the phone down, grabbed the protocol book. Looked up the first business, and of course it was The Mad Ones. Underneath, it still said Robert Ellis, owner.
Growing up, my parents used to drop all three of us off at The Mad Ones, knowing that Robert would keep an eye on us as we ran through the bookshelves. But, more often than not, Robert and Maggie would open the back doors and tell us to go play in the woods—plying us with lemonade and cookies when we’d run back hours later, exhausted but happy.
Those were some of my favorite memories growing up: falling half-asleep on the floor of The Mad Ones with my siblings. That comforting feeling of my parents picking me up and carrying me to the car.
And now the emergency phone was ringing, and Calvin was taking forever to answer.
“Um… yeah?” came his hesitant reply, finally. He sounded out of breath.
“It’s Gabe,” I said, not realizing how worried I’d been. “There’s been a rockslide. Two actually,” I said, quickly filling him in on the few details that I had. “I wish I had more to tell you, but you’ll need to tell the Hollywood People they’ll be stuck here a little longer than they’d initially thought.”
And Josie was one of the Hollywood People. We’d both been set to say goodbye when morning came in a few hours, however reluctantly—at least, reluctantly, on my part.
But now…
“How long, do you think?” Cal asked, and I knew he was thinking the same thing. Whatever was happening between him and Lucia would have a few extra days to breathe.
“My dad thought maybe a week? Maybe less, but as soon as I know more, I’ll tell you. The main thing for them to know is they are… we all are… essentially trapped.”
“They’re uh… not going to be happy about that,” he said, and I heard him turning, the sound of people entering the room.
“Godspeed,” I said. “And let them know whatever hint of internet connection they thought they had is gone for good.”
I looked down my hallway where, through the open bedroom door, I could just see the bottom of my bed. A bed where Josefine was waiting for me.
“Oh, and Cal?” I said, suddenly nervous. “Can you let Lucia know that Josie is here? Um… with me?” Christ, now I sounded like Cal. I was a thirty-four-year-old man suddenly shy about talking about the girl he had a crush on.
A long pause, then Cal said, “Are, um, congratulations in order?”
I laughed. “Yes… yes, they are. I just didn’t want Lucia to worry. And Josie’s safe here. With me.” That odd tightness again, right where my heart was. A desire to protect her—from the elements but also from whatever it was that lived inside her, causing her undue pain.
“Good,” Cal said. “I’ll come down tomorrow morning. We can, um… talk about a few things.” Nothing more than that, but a note in his voice told me he had news to share.
“Looking forward to it,” I said, hanging up the phone. I called the other businesses quickly, making sure everyone was safe, making sure they had what they needed. A few folks were low on water, and I promised I’d cart some jugs out as soon as I could.
A few folks asked about Josie, questions that I dodged unsuccessfully. But in exchange, they offered me a few juicy tidbits for the Big Sur Channel, which I took down to tell Gloria and Gladys later.
After the last call, I stood for a moment, watching more branches snap and skitter across the ground. A week ago, Big Sur had been drenched in sunshine, warmth finally seeping into the coast.
Just like that.
Our delicate ecosystem, snapping like the branches. Or rather, doing what it was supposed to do: destroy. Then rebuild.
I was suddenly keenly aware that I was naked and freezing and had some bad news to share with the vixen in my bed. Which, considering how skittish Josie had been, I wasn’t sure she was going to take well.
I walked down the hallway, seeing the blankets move, hearing her stirring. Pushed open the door slowly to see her sitting up, long hair pulled over one shoulder. Legs tucked underneath her. Face wide and open.
“Josie,” I said, rubbing my hand down my jaw, “I’ve got some bad news.”
Chapter 19
Josie
Gabe was making me break my rules.
Every single one.
I’d come back to him for a date, even though I refused to date.
I’d gone back on my promise to not let him come, even though I’d originally planned to deny Gabe his orgasm all night long. But as I’d licked my way down his fierce, strong body, I was gripped by the need to unravel him fully.
Unravel he did—back arching, hips thrusting, binds straining. Yet I had no doubt that if I’d pulled back right before he climaxed—if I’d whispered stop—he would have. Because he was so attuned to the part of me that desired control. To the part of himself that desired submission.
Gabe came with my name on his lips, a litany, voice hoarse with pleasure. And thank fucking god we were never going to see each other again because his beautiful climax sent the hard walls of my heart tumbling down.
I’d remember this night, years from now, when I
needed to. Needed to remind myself that the world wasn’t as dark and hopeless as I’d convinced myself it was.
Then I’d let my Viking clasp me to his chest, and I fell asleep with him.
Even though I never stayed.
I fell asleep with my ear pressed to his broad chest, listening to the reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat. Letting myself, for the first time in two years, really feel this moment, this man beside me. Not just some stranger in the night that I’d taken home for mindless sex and second-rate orgasms. But Gabe: this funny, sweet romantic-with-an-old-soul who’d sent me peonies and irises so that I could feel, if only for a day, cherished.
A ringing phone had sent him racing to the other room, but I could only hear the low tones of his voice. Nothing specific. The alarm clock reminded me I needed to leave—soon—and I was torn between relief and regret.
“Josie?” Gabe said, leaning against the doorway.
I looked up at him: naked. Glorious. Kindness in his eyes. My bruised heart fluttered like a bird trapped in a cage. I knew there’d be no tomorrow for us. I knew it was highly unlikely I’d ever see this man again, but rational thought had fled my mind the moment I’d laid eyes on him.
“I have some bad news,” he said.
* * *
Gabe walked over to sit next to me on the bed. “How would you feel about… staying in Big Sur another few days?”
“What?” I asked, sharply. “What happened?”
“Everything’s going to be okay, and no one was hurt, but there were massive rock slides along both sides of Highway 1. While we were sleeping. The storm dumped too much rain on the mountainside; the ground got too soft. It’s happened before here, a few times, but not as bad as this.”
It was taking a while for my thoughts to catch up. “Wait, this happened while we were asleep?” I pulled my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.
Gabe nodded with a tight smile. “You fucked us into unconsciousness.”
I couldn’t let myself smile back. I was already supposed to be on my way, breezing through the door with a kiss and a wave. “Everyone’s safe?”
Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set Page 207
