by Marla Monroe
“Then I guess if we don’t get started, nothing will get done.” She attempted to stand up, but Tyler’s hands held her down by the shoulders.
“Hon, let’s get something straight right now.” He walked around, squatting at her feet, looked up at her until she allowed her gaze to remain on his. “I’m not going anywhere you don’t go anytime soon. I’m sticking this out. Relax and don’t look like you’re expecting me to jump on my bike and ride off at any moment.”
“You didn’t sleep with me last night. What am I supposed to think?”
“Ah, hell, Celeste. I was trying to give you some space to really relax, not pull away. I’m sorry, babe. I should have said more last night. You were exhausted and needed to rest. I honestly can’t control myself around you. I’d have coaxed you into sex and that wasn’t what you needed.” His voice held that air of understanding along with a healthy dose of lust.
“You’re right, but I still feel like you’re drawing away, and it’s all too fast. We’ve only known each other for a short time and I’m already dependent on you. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Honey, when two people care about each other like I think we do, time isn’t a determining factor. In fact, I don’t think time even figures into it.” Tyler stood up pulling her to her feet and into his arms. “Stop over thinking it. I have. It is what it is, and nothing either of us tries to make out of it will change anything.”
“I know you’re probably right.” At his lifted brows and widened eyes she rephrased her words. “That you are right about all of this, but it still feels like an alternate reality, and I’m going to wake up and nothing is the same anymore.
“Faith, Celeste. You need to have faith and make your own destiny by believing in it. Not everything happens because of fate. I believe we create our future by molding our todays. Just one day at a time. You’ve got this, babe. You’ve got this.”
* * * *
Celeste’s next few days were super busy with repairs and paperwork. Insurance had to be convinced it was necessary to shoot holes in the ceiling in order to prevent more extensive damage and old Brian was having some difficulty with the reinforced steel he’d put up fitting in one of the joists. Tyler had been up in the attic several times helping the man. She periodically heard real curses, which meant they came from Tyler. Brian made up stupid ones like “dagnation” and “golden pond.”
“Think we got it fixed.” Tyler strode up to drop a kiss on the top of her head as she counted inventory in the bar proper.
“Great. Now poor old Brian can get out of that attic. I worry about him up there at his age.” She grinned up at him. “You’re still young enough to handle it.”
“Gee thanks. I’m glad I’m still young enough.” He tugged on her long braid. “Am I still young enough to satisfy some urgent cravings I’m having?”
“Depends on what those cravings are.” She didn’t look up this time but continued counting and marking off numbers.
“Oh, the bend you over the table and fuck that sweet pussy from behind kind of cravings.”
“Tyler! Brian’s still around isn’t he?” She looked around.
“Yep. Right here. Don’t worry. I didn’t hear nothing. Got your bill ready. Want to just mail it to me? I’m ready to go get me a shower and get this insulation off of me. Itches something fierce.”
“Um, yeah, Brian. That’s fine. Just lay it on the table over there. Hope you get some rest.” She found him directly behind Tyler who had to have known the man was there.
Celeste shot Tyler a dirty look. The idiot only grinned wider. She’d get him back for that.
“Don’t go shootin’ up the place again anytime soon, hon. Okay?”
“I don’t plan on it. This was a bad one, and I didn’t know any other way to put a stop to it before they tore the entire place down.” She smiled at Brian when he nodded and turned to leave.
Once he’d walked through the door letting in a brief ray of sunshine, Celeste turned on Tyler. Instead of lighting into him like he probably expected, she started pulling at his clothes.
“Take them off. Right now. You’re going to make good on that suggestion. Guess I’m having some urges myself.”
“Now who’s getting frisky?” He didn’t hesitate, to her delight, and pulled open his shirt and then started unfastening and unzipping his jeans. “Drop those jeans, babe. I’m not getting undressed for this and neither are you. This is sex down and dirty between you and me.”
Excitement burned through her veins. She hadn’t done anything like this since she’d been in her twenties. She didn’t even care if she had to sanitize whichever table they used later. Spontaneous sex could be some of the best sex, and with Tyler, she was sure it would be amazing.
“Now bend over that table over there. No.” He moved her around a little. “Here so that the sun hits your hair. I’m taking that hair out of the braid. I love it down, Celeste.”
She helped him unravel the thick stands until he could run his fingers through it. Then he pressed a hand on her low back to push her against the table.
“Hold on, babe. I’m going to move you and this table all over this room before it’s over with.”
It was the only warning she got before he spread her wide and sank two fingers deep inside her cunt. He knew her by now. Any dirty or suggestive talk and she got wet in seconds. He thrust his fingers in and out, circling her clit before he pushing them deep again. When he was satisfied that she was truly ready, Tyler squeezed one of her ass cheeks and thrust his cock deep into her pussy. It tore a moan from her even as she tried to press back to take more of him.
A sharp slap to her ass startled her. It didn’t really hurt, but it stung. Tyler rubbed the area before bending over her to growl in her ear.
“I get to do all the work. You just get to lie there and take it. Your only job is to come hard, loud, and long for me.” He pulled nearly all the way out and tunneled back in. “I want to hear it echo off those new rafters up there. Sing to me, Celeste. Sing to me.
She couldn’t come up with one single retort to that. She was in heaven with Tyler’s thick dick stretching her with each drive deep inside of her. Once he’d learned she didn’t mind having her cervix bumped, it was if he made it his goal during sex to do just that as often as possible. Celeste found that when he did it several times in a row the slight burn morphed into something that made her itch all over. It sweetened her climax to the point she thought she’d pass out once. The man knew his way around a woman.
His woman. Was that who she was to him? His? God, she wanted to be. It scared her to trust another man again, but she’d long passed that point. She trusted him with everything and it looked like she’d trusted him now with her heart. The question wasn’t how far she was ready to go, it was how far was he and would he trust her with his heart when it came down to it. Something in his past had kept him single all this time. Something still gripped him now. Maybe not as much as it had when he’d first shown up at the bar, but it was still there.
“You’ve got the best looking ass I’ve ever seen, Celeste. I love how I can fuck you hard and it doesn’t feel like I’m banging my pelvis on a rock. I love watching it jiggle every time I sink my dick inside your sweet pussy. More than anything, I like that I can hold on to you like this and fill you up.”
“God, Tyler. You’re killing me. Stop going on and on about my fat ass and fuck me! I need you hard, baby. Make me feel it.” She wanted all of that control he held intact to spill out and take her. She wanted him to make her take him.
“Gonna make you scream my name when you come, Celeste. Hold on tight.”
He picked up the pace and thrust hard and fast deep into her cunt and moved his hips somehow that rubbed his cockhead over that sweet spot with each hammer of his cock. It felt a-fucking-mazing. She could feel the burn turn into a stick of dynamite with the fuse already lit. She was careening around a bend in the pleasure and couldn’t slow it down. When she came, it was going to blow her away.
“Come
for me, Celeste. Come! Right. This. Second.” Tyler reached around and pulled lightly on her clit as he pounded into her like a jackhammer.
She felt the scream leave her throat, but heard nothing as a thousand bells went off in her ears. She’d squeezed her eyes so tightly shut that bright flares had her eyelids alight with fire. The pleasure poured through her like a tsunami with tidal wave after tidal wave rolling in behind it. Celeste was sure she’d pass out. With the way Tyler had her on the table, her pussy ground against the top of the table with his hand caught between them, one finger still on her clit. The pleasure seemed to go on and on forever until the pressure of his body lifted some and took the stimulation off of her clit.
And that’s when she passed out and probably melted to the floor.
Chapter Thirteen
“Easy there, babe. Don’t drown on me.” Tyler watched as Celeste finally began coming around and nearly sank below the water in the tub. “I’ve got you. Be still a second and let me change positions. Are you hurting anywhere?” he asked.
“All over. Where am I? What happened?” She opened one eye and looked around. Tyler couldn’t help but chuckle at the squint-eyed look he got from her.
“We’re in your tub because I don’t have one and we kind of broke a table downstairs. Sorry.” He wasn’t in the least. He was just glad he’d caught Celeste before she’d fallen. That might have hurt her for real.
“What happened? Did I fall on it? Why was I on top of the table?” Then her eyes grew wide and round even as her mouth fell open. “Oh. My. God! We had sex in the bar.”
“Yep. Really, really, good sex, too. I made you scream my name at the top of your lungs and then you passed out from all the pleasure I gave you.” He couldn’t help but sound smug. It was a major feat to do that with a woman.
Tyler was a little worried that they’d gotten too rough, though. She had a couple of bruises on her thighs where they’d been pressed hard against the edge of the table. He should have padded the thing with his shirt or some bar towels. If she ever let him do it again, he’d remember next time. God, he hoped she’d want to do that again. First, he’d need at least a few months to recuperate from this one.
“Don’t sound so smug. I bet you came just as hard as I did.” She stuck a toe up through the water and regarded it for a couple of seconds. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into that, Tyler. Now I’m going to have to sanitize that table.”
“Whoa there, kitten. First of all, you are the one who shoved me into it. Second of all, you can’t sanitize the table because we broke it, and third of all, yes, I did come just as hard but not as long as you did. I didn’t think you’d ever stop.” He grinned across the tub at her and lightly bit the toe she had sticking out of the water. “Seriously, though. Are you hurt anywhere? We, no, I got a little too rough I think. I’m sorry.”
She laughed, that cute husky one that did crazy things to his gut. “I’m sore, I’ll give you that, but I’m fine, Tyler. I will tell you this, though. Nothing that wild for at least a few months. I’m getting too old for that shit.”
“You and me both, woman. I pulled a muscle in my ass when I came. Thought I would die before I finished. Ever had so much pleasure and so much pain at the same time you didn’t know whether to laugh like a lunatic or cry like a baby?” He grinned across the tub at her.
Her eyes softened as did her smile as it smoothed out the lines at the corners of her mouth. “Yeah. I know exactly what you mean. That’s kind of like how it is when you bump my cervix at first. Then I’m so gone with it that the pleasure is almost the same as the pain. You do that to me, Tyler. You ring all my bells.”
There had to be a giant potato in his throat. He couldn’t swallow around it and he thought he’d suffocate if he didn’t get some air in his lungs. All he managed to do was cough. Then he drew in a deep breath, the scent of her skin wafting up from the water.
“You rev my motor, babe. And, you make me want to turn off the key.”
He couldn’t believe he’d actually told her that. Would she even know what that meant to him? He wanted to give up the nomad life and settle down.
With her.
Forever.
Where did she stand on that? Tyler knew he needed to make it clear to her and stop talking in euphemisms around her. She deserved the actual words and to have them clear and out front. It scared the bejesus out of him, though. Making that kind of commitment after only a couple of weeks was kind of stupid, right?
No. Not according to his subconscious. There was no right or wrong time. He was either sure and knew it all the way to his toes or he wasn’t. End of story.
Tyler was sure.
“I’m tired of this place, Tyler. I want to sell it and move on, but I don’t want that asshole, Lyle, to get his hands on it. All I can think to do is burn it down and sell the land.” She hated to do that, as well, but what could she do?
“We’ll take care of it, babe. No burning the place down, though. I don’t want to be writing you from prison for arson.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to do that, Tyler. If I was going to do that, I’d do it myself.” She slapped the water at him. “Besides, haven’t you heard? Orange is the new black.”
“Don’t even kid around about that, Celeste. It would kill me for you to get hurt or go to jail. Just let me think about it and see what I can come up with, okay?” He had to think of something for her.
“Okay. I’m ready to get out and take a nap. I’m exhausted. Someone fucked me silly today.”
* * * *
“So we’ll open Thursday night. That will give us a short week to start things off slow.” Celeste looked at her girls. Tyler sat on the bar while they talked. “I’m not putting up with crap anymore. Nothing. You have an issue, take it to Tyler and let him handle it before things get out of hand. I don’t want to shoot up the place every few weeks.”
“What are we going to do when the bikers stop by at the end of the month?” Velma asked.
“That’s where I come in,” Tyler jumped down from the bar and strode over to where they all sat around one of the larger tables. “I’ll talk to them before they come inside and make sure we understand each other. I don’t think it will be a problem. According to Celeste, they’re Black Widows. I’ve dealt with them in the past. If they come in, be polite and stay away from them. They probably come in here more to discuss business than anything else.”
“They don’t cause trouble, but they’ll finish anything that gets started,” Celeste added. “Just follow my lead and be respectful.”
“They scare me. I hope they don’t sit in my section again.” Crystal shivered, running her hands up and down her arms.
“If they do, I’ll take them and you can take the same tables on my side. No prob, kid.” Velma ruffled her hair.
“Hey, stop that.” Crystal pouted at her.
“You know old Lyle will get someone to start something,” Jennie, her part-time help pointed out.
“I know, but when anyone recognizes any of his guys, let Tyler or me know and let us handle it. Now, go home and rest up. Tomorrow night is going to be a long tiring one since we’ve all been off for nearly a week.” Celeste stood up and shooed the women out the front door.
Tyler escorted them to the door and watched until they’d all pulled out of the parking lot.
“You know, Celeste? I think the time off did those women some good. They all look a bit fresher than before. Maybe you should think about closing down a few days every month if you don’t sell it before then. You’re making ends meet aren’t you?” Tyler yanked on her braid. “Wouldn’t hurt you to have more downtime either.”
“You’re just saying that ’cause you want more access to a certain part of my anatomy. I know how you think, biker boy.”
“Maybe.” He drew the word out over two strong syllables.
“Right. I think you’re right, though. I just hope we figure out a way to sell without it going to Lyle before much longer. I’m restless and want t
o find somewhere to settle and put down roots for a change. I’ve never felt like this was home.”
“I may know of a place you would like, but first things first. We need to decide how to offload this place without the old bastard’s hand in it. Plus, you should make a good profit off of it. It could start you into another business if you want one.”
Celeste smiled, absently thinking that another business would be nice, but what could she possibly own? She wasn’t a dress kind of person and restaurants were iffy at best. What did she like? What did she enjoy doing? At that moment, she couldn’t think of anything that didn’t include Tyler.
That made her wonder where this place Tyler was hinting at might be. Was it his hometown or where some of his old buddies lived? He talked a lot about someone called Morgan and his wife Amanda. There was a set of twins as well as someone named Dodge. She’d like to meet some of his friends and find out all the juicy little tidbits that people shared with new girlfriends to embarrass their buddies.
Then it hit her that she was assuming they were going to remain together when she didn’t really know that at all. Yeah, he’d talked about sticking it out for the long haul, but how much of that was the sex talking?
I’m already over my head with Tyler. I know there’s more to him he isn’t letting me see, but I don’t think it’s anything that would put me off of him.
Celeste cared about him to the point that thinking of life without him hurt almost as much as losing the baby. Almost?
“Hmmm, someone got serious there. Are you okay, babe?” Tyler ran the back of his fingers down the side of her face. “Why the frown?”
“Nothing. Just thinking about options. Anything to do with this bar seems to bring out the serious in me lately. Let’s change the subject.” She grinned up at him and caught him by surprise when she jumped into his arms.
“Whoa, babe. Better warn this old man next time you plan to land on me like that. I don’t want to risk dropping and hurting you.” Tyler swung her around and settled her higher up on his waist.
