Fueling His Hunger

by Sparrow Beckett

  “Somehow, that’s what I thought you’d say.”

  Chapter 8

  Bloody hell. Why did the woman have to be so perfect?

  Having parked her in front of the fire with a cup of coffee bright and early, he packed up the tent and sleeping bags, then stowed them in the back of her SUV. They’d bathed in the river not long after first light, after only a few hours of sleep. The buzz still hadn’t worn off from hog-tying her after their second dip in the river and going down on her until she begged to come again, like a good girl. He’d cuddled her for ages afterward, eventually opting to pack up camp before he broke his dick. He’d fucked her so much that he was sore, so he could only imagine how much worse it was for her.

  Really, as a gentleman, he should kiss her better.

  The memory of licking her sweet little pussy while she wriggled helplessly in his bonds, desperate to come or to get away, made his cock start to stiffen again. She was so receptive to dominance and yet so confused by her own reactions. He’d never dominated someone who had no real experience with kink, and watching her realize how much she loved submitting was a heady experience.

  Everything about her drove him crazy. It was too bad they’d only have a few days together.

  Once everything was packed up, he swept up the sleepy girl and deposited her in the passenger seat of the SUV, and couldn’t help pressing his forehead to hers. She averted her eyes and blushed, and he could feel himself sliding down the slippery slope to that possessive, protective affection that came with caring for a submissive.

  He had no right to those sorts of feelings with her. Not already, and really not ever. There was no place for either of them in each other’s lives. The last thing he needed in his line of work was a famous girlfriend who attracted paparazzi, and the last thing she needed in her line of work was a criminal boyfriend.

  And it had only been about thirty-six hours since he’d accidentally kidnapped her. Falling for someone after thirty-six hours was impossible, even though they’d barely slept.

  Afterglow wasn’t love, no matter how lovely it felt.

  Give your head a shake, idiot.

  He threw the campfire blankets in the back of the SUV, then dumped water on the fire and covered it back over with dirt when it was well out. By the time he got into the driver’s seat, Ophelia was sound asleep again, her seat belt buckled, and her legs curled beneath her. God, she was adorable when she was asleep.

  Reluctantly, he pulled his gaze away from her and checked his phone. The group chat with Fox, Addison, Atlas, and himself had kept going without him. It took several minutes to read through all of the ribbing he’d missed.

  Before he’d even arrived at the bottom of the messages, his phone vibrated in his hand. Atlas.

  He got back out of the SUV before he hit answer.

  “What the fuck do you want?”

  Atlas’ deep chuckle irritated him. “Am I interrupting?”

  “Like I’d answer my phone if you were, peasant.” Absently, he stomped over the buried fire pit again, tamping it down more firmly.

  “This unscheduled vacation wasn’t approved by management, Mr. Larson,” Atlas replied severely. “I’m afraid your employment with our organization has been terminated. A hot girl named Addison has taken your position.”

  Luke shook his head, not in the mood for banter. His emotions were all over the place this morning, and he just wanted to get back to Ophelia. “She’s welcome to it. Just don’t let Fox hear you call her hot. It makes him cranky.”

  “You’re going to run out of money eventually.”

  “Oh, for fucksakes.” He picked up a green twig that had somehow found its way to the ground, and swished it through the air, wondering if it was safe to use as a switch. Maybe if he covered it with duct tape or whittled it smooth. “I wouldn’t run out for a few years, at least.”

  Atlas huffed a breath into the phone. “I hope you’ll make it home before that. We’ve got jobs piling up.”

  “Oh, fuck off. I left yesterday.”

  “Yeah, but you’re coming back for the wedding, right?”

  “Oh my god, Atlas, what’s your problem? They haven’t even nailed down a date yet. I’ll be home in less than a week.”

  “You don’t know what it’s like.” He sighed. “At least with you here I was the third of four wheels. At this point I’ve locked myself in my room and I’m afraid to leave it, even for food.” His deep voice dropped to a rumbling travesty of a whisper, “They’re having sex everywhere.”

  Luke snorted. “They always have sex everywhere. Just use the ice-water spray bottle on them a few times. They hiss, but they slink off to their room soon enough.”

  “Yeah, Fox doesn’t take that sort of harassment from me for some reason. He threatened to castrate me if I tried it again.” They both laughed. “Things are good though?”

  Luke sighed. “Too good.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Don’t do it, man. There’s no future in this.”

  “I know. But the things she lets me do . . .” He grunted, shaking off the arousing images that threatened to distract him from the conversation.

  “Don’t fall in love with her,” Atlas warned. “We don’t have time for you to get distracted like Fox is. Although at least Addison picks up the slack. Any chance this girl would make a good . . . computer programmer?”

  “No, she’s a good girl.” Calling her that reminded him of the spanking he’d given her.

  Atlas must have heard the nuance in his voice, because he groaned. “Good girls are so distracting.”

  “Fuck, I’m camping in Montana. You don’t have to tell me how distracting they can be.”

  “Fiiine. We can manage for a week, but you need to get your ass home after that. The guy we did the last job for has another order for us—not as crazy as the last time, but more work and he’s only giving us two weeks. We’ll get some done before you get home, but we need you back here, as soon as you can pull yourself away from your little distraction.”

  Damn it. He didn’t want to think about work while he was on vacation. The urgency to get home and help out was going to ruin things if he let it.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there,” Luke grumbled. “Is that it? I have to get back on the road.”

  “Fuck.”

  “What?”

  “I think they’re fucking in the living room, and I’m hungry.”

  “So take the other way to the kitchen.”

  “Maybe I’ll rent a suite at Fitte until you come home,” Atlas mused. Having friends who owned a hotel/tattoo shop/club had its advantages. “Do you think they’ll settle down once they’re married?”

  “Nope.”

  “Yeah,” Atlas said dejectedly. “I don’t think so either.”

  ***

  They faced each other over the diner booth’s peeling yellow table, squinting at their menus. Luke felt like he needed to use the forks to prop his eyelids open, but hoped several mugs of coffee would be enough to help him stay awake. When they got to Glacier they’d need to take a nap or call it an early night. Well, he’d have to. Ophelia had been sleeping for the morning’s two-hour drive, and was just as adorable awake and groggy as she had been curled up and asleep.

  She’d been quietly eating her eggs and toast and he had a hard time focusing on his own breakfast because of her sexy mouth. At some point during the morning drive she’d mewled in her sleep, her lips parting slightly, and he’d been subjected to a very detailed fantasy of her sucking his cock. She’d told him she didn’t really know how, and now he was fascinated by the idea of coaching her through it.

  “What?” Her full lips curved in a wry smile. “Why are you staring at me?”

  “I just got distracted by your mouth.”

  Her eyes widened and she coughed, turning bright scarlet as t
he diner’s owner refilled their coffee mugs. The man gave them a friendly nod and withdrew just as Ophelia kicked Luke’s shin under the table.

  “What?”

  “He heard you!” she hissed, giggling. Maybe she’d deny that it was an actual giggle, but it sounded suspiciously gigglish.

  “Watch yourself in the mirror sometime, and tell me you can blame me.”

  She snorted. “You’re crazy.”

  They ate in silence for a while, with Luke stealing glances at her. She cut her food into tiny pieces and put them into her mouth with a primness that came from being raised in a very formal household. She’d even unfolded her paper napkin and laid it in her lap. Compared to her, he felt like a barbarian.

  Especially when he thought about the things he’d done to her last night.

  Despite her manners, she did manage to work her way through a large portion of her plate. Hopefully, she’d need energy for later.

  “So how far are we?” she asked.

  “Under three hours. We’ll get there good and early. Are we camping tonight, or staying at a hotel?”

  “Hotel. For some strange reason I feel like I need a hot shower.”

  “I can’t imagine why,” he said, his tone bland. “Maybe it was all the fresh air.”

  “Yes, the fresh air.” She narrowed her eyes. “Not your fault at all.”

  “I’m glad we agree.” He winked and she rolled her eyes. “If we don’t have a tent to set up, I guess we could take a side trip somewhere.”

  She grinned and then yanked a pamphlet out of her bag, as though she’d been hoping he’d say that. “I grabbed this on the way in.”

  The pamphlet, with its blob of a logo, was photocopied crooked and had obviously been hand-folded in a hurry.

  “Mitchell’s Museum of Alien Contact,” she said, poking the place’s name with one finger. “It’s only about a half hour from here. Can we go?”

  With those sweet golden brown eyes shining at him like that? Hell, he’d drive her anywhere.

  Oh wait, he already was.

  “Of course. Why there?”

  She shrugged. “I always wanted to go to hokey places like this, but my mom was too fancy to let that happen. It seems fun, so . . . why not?”

  The owner came back to take their plates and saw the pamphlet and chuckled. “You’ll make old Mitchell’s day if you drop by. Tell him you saw his pamphlet here and he’ll take two dollars off your entry fee.”

  “Thanks!” Ophelia said eagerly.

  They complimented him on the food, and the man smiled and wandered off into the kitchen with their dishes. Luke left a fifty to pay for their ten-dollar order and led Ophelia out to the SUV.

  “That was a big tip,” she said, smiling at him like he’d done something noteworthy.

  He shrugged. “Those were some damn good eggs. I was starving for some strange reason,” he said, echoing their earlier conversation about her wanting a shower.

  “I can’t imagine why,” Ophelia said, following suit. “Maybe it was all the fresh air.”

  “Yes, the fresh air. Not your fault at all.”

  “I’m glad we agree.” She winked and he winked back, then he shocked himself by grabbing her hand as they walked to the SUV. How long had it been since he’d done something silly like hold someone’s hand? Ages, but holding her hand just felt right. Although she glanced up at him in surprise, she didn’t object.

  They grinned at each other like goofy middle schoolers. A loud, revving engine caught his attention. He turned toward the noise just in time to see Ophelia’s SUV peel out of the diner parking lot.

  “What the fuck?” he shouted, then released her hand to take off after the thief. It was pointless, though, since the car was already on the main road, its taillights soon too distant to see.

  They were out in the middle of nowhere, which meant there weren’t many places for the fucker to go. Luke scanned the lot, looking for something fast he could hotwire.

  Ophelia jogged to his side. “It’s okay. I have insurance,” she told him, watching him warily. “Or I can just buy another one.”

  That wasn’t the point. He’d be damned if he let some idiot steal a car right out from under him. Without answering Ophelia, he ran to an ’86 Corvette. The car looked like it’d seen better days, but he could work with it as long as it ran. The door was unlocked and he leaned down under the wheel to hotwire it.

  “Be my lookout,” he ordered Ophelia, whose face had gone pale.

  “What?” she hissed. “What are you doing? I’ll just get another one. Stop!”

  He ignored her. When the engine purred, he motioned to her. “Get in.”

  “No,” she answered. “This is crazy! I’m not doing it.”

  Shrugging, he settled into the driver’s seat. “Suit yourself. I’ll come back for you.”

  Her gaze darted around them while he buckled his seat belt. “Fuck,” she finally muttered, then moved toward the passenger seat.

  “Buckle up,” he ordered when she slid in.

  She obeyed. “Promise you’ll return it—”

  He took off after her car and she threw a hand out onto the dashboard. “Whoa! Luke!”

  Focused on the chase, he ignored her distressed reprimand. Some dick dared to steal from him? No fucking way. He was going to give whatever punk took her SUV a serious lesson in manners.

  Luke knew it was hypocritical, but he was too pissed to care. Ophelia gasped and clutched the seat as he flew through a yellow light.

  At least the road was straight and flat. Thank god for long, empty stretches on this route. He passed two other cars whose drivers had honked as he’d sped by. The back of Ophelia’s SUV was visible in the distance. He hadn’t really thought past catching up to the car. What was he going to do once he did? Ram it off the road?

  “There it is,” Ophelia pointed out. Her body stiffened as he accelerated. The car’s speedometer was pushing past a hundred.

  Luke pulled up beside the SUV, trying to get a good look at the driver, but from his view he couldn’t see up into the SUV’s window. Putting Ophelia between himself and the other driver also felt wrong—dangerous. Fuck . . . why had he even told her to get in the car?

  “Oh my god, the kid who’s driving looks like he’s maybe fourteen!” Ophelia’s mouth opened in a grimace of indignant shock. “I bet he doesn’t even have a license!”

  That complicated matters. If it was just some impulsive kid, who knew what he’d do?

  “Luke!” Ophelia screeched just as he noticed a car coming at them. A long line of cars snaked along behind it, like the driver was going well below the speed limit.

  He floored it and sped ahead of the SUV. “Hold on,” he told Ophelia then veered right to cut the car off. When he slowed to a stop, the kid behind him was forced to stop too, brakes squealing. He swerved, almost hit the guardrail, then pulled left and bumped the rear of the Corvette.

  “Oh my god,” Ophelia whispered, her eyes glazed over as she stared out the windshield.

  Luke put his hand on her knee and squeezed. “Are you okay?”

  She gulped loudly then nodded.

  “I’ll be right back.” He threw open his door. “Stay here.” He had to deal with this kid before he took off, then he’d get back to Ophelia.

  The thief was scrambling to get out of the SUV as Luke sidled up to him. His seat belt appeared to be stuck. All the better.

  The door was already open so Luke blocked his exit. “Nice try, kid.” He could feel people driving past them, staring.

  The kid’s eyes widened under his mop of shaggy blond hair. “Don’t fuck with me. I have a gun!”

  Rolling his eyes, Luke put his hands up. He wasn’t in the habit of terrifying children. “I’m not going to hurt you, and I know you don’t have a gun.”

  The boy sighed and threw his
head back against the seat. “What are you gonna do? Call the cops?”

  “Worse.” Luke leaned in, glad his cousins weren’t here to laugh at him. “I’m going to call your mother.”

  ***

  When given the choice to call his mom or wait for the police, the kid reluctantly dialed her and handed his phone over. The woman was pissed and heading to the diner to pick her son up, profoundly grateful that Luke wasn’t calling the cops.

  Luke snuck the Corvette back into its parking spot without anyone seeming to notice it had gone missing. Weird little town.

  After hurrying back to the SUV, Luke ushered Ophelia, who’d finally calmed down, from the driver’s seat into the passenger seat. He kissed her before he closed the door and circled to his own side.

  “How am I in the passenger seat again?” she asked when he’d slid in behind the steering wheel. “I thought we’d be sharing the driving.”

  “I let you drive for a while last night, until I couldn’t hold back anymore.”

  “Oh god,” she blurted. “Shut up.” She covered her face with both hands.

  “What?” he asked, amused by her discomfort. He pulled out of the lot and back onto the highway. “Don’t blame me. You’re the one who brought it up.”

  “I meant driving the car, not . . .” She glared unconvincingly. “You know damned well what I meant.”

  “I get the distinct impression you prefer it when I drive.” He chuckled. “Although you’re actually a very good driver when you’re too horny to second-guess yourself.” He patted her knee when she moaned in mortification. “And as for driving your SUV, I drive a lot for work. For me it’s like breathing.”

  They followed the hand-drawn map on the back of the pamphlet, taking the twisty trail up the mountain.

  “If we meet up with someone going the other way, we’re fucked,” Ophelia said.

  Luke laughed. “What? I’d just reverse back to that overlook we saw earlier and let them pass. Not a big deal.”