by Chloe Morgan
“Everything okay?”
“It will be. At least, I keep telling myself that.”
“Another rejected application?”
“Actually, no. I had an interview at the beginning of the week,” she said.
“Well, that’s a good thing. Right?” I asked.
“I’m one out of one hundred and fifty applicants.”
“Okay. Not so good,” I said, chuckling. “What if I tell you drinks will be included in our little outing?”
“I’d ask you what time you were picking me up,” she said.
We pounded out the details, and I set to work on a plan that had surfaced in my head while we talked. A picnic lunch, complete with miniature wines and bottles of beer, by Horsetooth Reservoir. There were plenty of secluded areas back there. It was quiet and serene. No one would bother us out there, and it would give us both a chance to wind down.
I ran out and quickly threw everything together, then made my way to her house.
Serenity came out of the house looking more radiant than I’d ever seen her. She had on a pair of jeans that clung to her sloping curves and an off-the-shoulder shirt that fluttered in the breeze. Her curly brown hair was down, bouncing on her shoulders as she made her way to my car. She opened the door and slipped in, shooting me the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her face.
“Ready to go?” I asked.
“Where are we headed tonight?” Serenity asked.
“Sit back and relax. It’s a surprise.”
Horsetooth Reservoir had a breathtaking view of Fort Collins. As a teenager I had come up here to make out and get some, but as an adult, I appreciated it for what it was: a quiet area where people could gather, look out over our beautiful town, and enjoy the silence of nature around them.
And when I pulled up, Serenity gasped.
“You know, I’ve never been up here,” she said.
“Well, prepare to have your first picnic up here,” I said.
“Wait, you packed a picnic?”
“Complete with sandwiches, chips, wine, and beer. Oh, and some fruit. Can’t forget the fruit.”
“Of course. When you’re around, there better be plenty,” she said, giggling.
“Not my fault fruit is sweet. And I have a massive sweet tooth.”
We got out of the car, and I spread a blanket out onto the ground. The two of us sat down, facing the city below us as we reached into the picnic basket. We ate our sandwiches and nursed our drinks, talking about old times and regaling one another with asinine high school stories. I told her about the time some buddies and I had intentionally gotten ourselves locked inside the school one night as a senior prank. How we had ended up getting caught because of security cameras we had never even thought to look for. In return, Serenity told me about her class’s senior prank.
“You drove the principal’s car into the narthex,” I said.
Serenity nodded. “Yep. We had a hell of a time getting it through the front doors of the school, but we managed.”
“The principal’s car.”
“Yep.”
“In the middle of the school.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Who was driving!?” I exclaimed.
When Serenity grinned at me, I felt my heart skip a beat.
“You little rebel, you,” I said.
“I had my moments,” she said, giggling.
I liked her sense of adventure. She’d always been that way—wild and fun. Itching for new experiences and wanting to explore new things. It shouldn’t have shocked me at all when she helped me up from my seated position. When she wanted to walk around and through the nature that surrounded us, ogling the trees and bushes and flowers that had survived the first cold snap of the Colorado winter. The darkness of the night cast shadows across her face that made her look both innocent and grown-up at the same time. Our hands knocked together, charging my body with electricity I couldn’t ignore.
When we got back to my car, the air sizzled around us. I couldn’t help but pull her to me. Get her closer as my stomach twisted into knots for her. I pressed her against my car. Pinned her with my body as her breath pulsed against my lips. Nighttime covered us and filled her deep blue orbs with a lust I wanted to send boiling over her edges.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
I answered her by fisting her hair and bringing her lips to mine to devour.
9
Serenity
I moaned against his lips as he mashed them against mine. His hand fisted my hair. I heard the car door open, then he tossed my body into the back seat. I felt like the prey of a hunter about to meet its end, and when he collapsed on top of me, I couldn’t hold myself back. He picked me up and pushed me against the other door. He closed us in and pressed the lock button, trapping us in his back seat. Clothes ripped. Seams busted. The fire between the two of us mounted and crested the hill of the alcohol we had consumed. I felt my bra clasps bend and break. The tight seams of his shirt gave way as I tore it over his head. His lips devoured me. My cheek. My neck. He nibbled on my earlobe as my body bared itself for him, as my legs fell open to accommodate his naked body.
As the windows fogged up around us.
He dragged his teeth down my pulse point and bit into the meat of my tits as his chiseled muscles slid across my soft skin. Sweat permeated my brow. I groaned out as he wrapped his lips around my nipple. I felt my pussy leaking down my slit, down my ass crack, drenching the seat below me as I gazed out the windshield. The fact that anyone could walk by and see us sent shivers through my core. I bucked when he tugged my nipples with his teeth. Like he couldn’t taste enough of me at once.
“Fucking hell, these curves,” Chase groaned.
I ran my fingers through his hair as he pressed his face between my breasts.
Soon, I felt myself moving. Shifting. My legs got tossed over his shoulders as he held me around my waist. My back was pressed to the seat, my body pinned as my thighs locked around him.
“Chase!” I exclaimed.
Then his face pressed into my pussy.
“Oh, Chase.”
He growled. “That’s more like it.”
His tongue lapped my slit. He sucked on my pussy lips. His tongue flicked my clit as my juices poured over his chin and his cheeks. I heard him swallowing me, willingly drinking all I had to offer as he held me to his face. Like an animal enjoying his meal after pinning his prey underneath him. I was trapped by his strong arms around my thighs. My pussy at his lips. My legs over his shoulders. My body helpless to his assault.
My legs locked as he flattened his tongue on my clit, causing my world to spiral.
“Chase!” I cried out.
He groaned.
My nails curled into the skin of his ankles as he lapped me slowly, riding me through my orgasm as the blood rushed to my head. The world tilted. The car spun. My legs quivered as he cleaned up the juices I left behind. I went weak in his grasp, panting as he slowly sat me upright. I straddled his lap as my face fell into the crook of his neck, my pussy folds molding around his pulsing cock.
He slowly bucked against me, slicking himself down until the tip of his dick breached my entrance.
“Oh, yes,” I whispered.
“So tight for me,” Chase groaned.
He sank into me and I lost my head. Sweat dripped down our bodies. My tits bounced against his chest. He held me tightly to him, pounding into me as my juices dripped down his balls. The hair on his brow was soaked. I felt sweat dripping down the back of my neck. I clung to him. Attached myself to the pebbled muscles of his back as condensation dripped down the inside of his car windows.
I ground against him like a wild animal, unable to contain my need for him.
Our lips collided. His hands fisted my hips. I gripped his hair and moaned down his throat as my pussy fluttered around his cock. I milked him dry as he painted my walls. I felt each spurt as they marked me as his. He growled like a wild animal. Grunted as he swiveled his hips. I kissed his neck
. Bit his shoulder. Marked him and sucked at his skin until the two of us went weak and fell into the back seat of his car.
Face to face, still connected at the hips as his cock lay there inside me.
“You know, we’re going to get caught if we keep having public sex,” I said breathlessly.
Chase chuckled. “Then maybe one of us should get an apartment so we don’t have to worry about it.”
“Yeah, well. I’m working on it. Tell someone to hire me and I will.”
“Just tell me when and where and I’ll give ’em a nice striptease.”
I shook my head. “Nope. All mine.”
The words fell out of my mouth before I could catch them. Before I could stop them. I couldn't read the look in Chase’s eyes. I pulled away from him and quickly sat up, my eyes darting around the floor of the car for my clothes.
“We really should be heading back,” I said.
“Maybe after we air the car out,” Chase said.
I scrambled for my clothes, feeling his eyes on me as I pulled them on with his come still dripping from between my thighs.
“We’ll roll the windows down. It’ll be all good,” I said.
How the fuck had my tongue run away from me that quickly?
10
Chase
I dragged my ass out of bed at four in the morning with the scent of Serenity still on my lips. I had to be at work at five, which I really wasn’t looking forward to. I hopped into the shower and turned on the hot water. I had to wash her off my skin or I’d never be able to focus on my twelve-hour shift. But no amount of scrubbing with soap could get those words out of my mind. Or how awkward things had become between us after she had said them.
Nope. All mine.
Had she meant it? Fuck, I really wanted her to have meant it, but the way her mood shifted after, I couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or ashamed. She let me hold her hand on the ride back to her place, but she got out of my car before I could come around and open the door for her. Then again, her brother’s car had been in the driveway. There were simply too many factors in play to correctly figure out what the fuck she had meant by those words.
Specifically, if she had meant them at all.
I peeked in on Mom and Dad before I went into work. I found Dad cradling Mom like he always had, only this time, he seemed to be holding onto her a little tighter than I remembered. It sank my gut. It was like he was holding onto her in fear that if he didn’t, she’d slip away. And honestly, I understood. I held her like that sometimes too. I wanted to keep hoping that the treatment would work this time around. Again. I wanted to believe it would go and stay gone this time.
But some days I wasn’t sure if she could waste away any more, trying to fight this shit off.
I got into work and pushed myself into my office. There was already a mound of paperwork on my desk to be looked at and signed. I guessed I needed to start getting used to it if I was going to take over my father’s position at the company once he finally retired. Logging was a dangerous job, but someone had to do it. Most of the paperwork my father signed and filed away on a daily basis were workers’ compensation files. The day dragged by painfully slowly. I took a nap during lunch instead of sucking it up enough to eat, and when five o’clock rolled around, I still found myself swamped.
My twelve-hour shift turned into a fifteen-hour day; I didn’t walk out of there until almost eight o’clock that night.
I fell into the seat of my car and rested my eyes. Fucking hell, my car still smelled like her. Bold. Heavenly. The scent of her pussy rushed me. The sound of her moans drew me back. I still felt her sweat dripping on my skin. All of it was intermingled in the cushions of the back seat of my car. Filling me with memories. My gut filled with electricity. It shot throughout my veins, pulling me into memories of her endless curves from the other night.
Nope. All mine.
Her voice bounced off the inside of my skull again as my phone vibrated on my hip.
“This is Chase.”
“Hey there. It’s me,” Serenity said.
“Well, you’re music to my sore ears.”
“What?” she asked, giggling.
“I’m tired. Don’t mind me. How are you?” I asked.
“I’m good, for the most part. I was calling to see if you wanted to meet for a late dinner, but I think I already got my answer.”
“Are you sure? You didn’t technically ask.”
“You just said you were tired,” she said.
“I could grab a coffee on the way. Though, I’m kind of dirty from work. Had to get out into the fields for a while today and fill in for someone who called in sick.”
“I don’t mind. I don’t look too good myself,” she said.
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“It is when you spent all day putting in applications, then took a nap instead of taking a shower.”
“So, you’re dirty like me. We’ll match,” I said, grinning.
“Wanna grab a pizza?”
My stomach rumbled out the answer as a smile crossed my cheeks. I told her I’d meet her in half an hour, then cranked my car up and sped out of the parking lot. I barreled through yellow lights and cursed out the red ones. I gripped the steering wheel a little too hard, anxious to get to Serenity and share a casual meal with her. That was one of the things I enjoyed about her. Nothing ever had to be too fancy or formal. She was just as content with a large pizza as she was with a steak dinner.
I walked into the restaurant and found her already sitting in a booth.
“Chase!”
She waved me down as I walked over.
“I don’t know what you're talking about. You look great,” I said, grinning.
Serenity blushed. “Well, you don’t look too bad yourself. I’ve figured out firsthand that sweat doesn’t always look bad on you.”
My cock pulsed at her words as I slid into the booth.
“I take it you’ve already ordered?” I asked.
“Is it still pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives?” she asked.
“Just like you take yours.”
“Good. I got us some garlic knots, too. I’m starving. Haven’t eaten all day.”
“That’s not good, although I can’t really lecture you. I slept through my lunch break,” I said.
“Well, look at who we have here.”
Serenity’s face dropped at the sound of her brother’s voice. I slowly turned my head, watching as Shawn made his way toward us. He stood beside our table, looking at us with a stern, inquisitive stare. I looked at Serenity, and she shook her head and widened her eyes as if to communicate to me that she hadn’t told him anything.
I was getting tired of his controlling bullshit attitude. No matter the fact that we had known each other since kindergarten. No matter the fact that we were best friends. He sure as hell wasn’t going to control my life like this.
I hoped Serenity would forgive me for it.
“The two of you out on a friendly outing?” Shawn asked.
“And if it’s not?” I asked.
Shawn’s eyes hardened on me.
“It better not be,” he said.
“So, what if it is? We’re both adults,” I said.
“Is this a date?” he asked his sister.
I looked at Serenity and watched the tick of a grin slide across her face.
“I’d like to think it is,” she said.
That was all I needed. Her words confirmed everything that had been spinning around in my head. Shawn’s face reddened and I drew in a deep breath, readying myself for a fight. If he thought he could come at her again, he was sorely mistaken. I didn’t need or want Shawn’s approval. And if he thought his opinion on this mattered, he was about to get another think coming his way.
“That’s my sister!” Shawn exclaimed.
He whipped his eyes to me as I slowly stood from the booth.
“Not the place or the time,” I said.
“We talked about th
is. Several times. Now, I expected her to go behind my back. But I didn't expect you to, Chase,” he said.
“No one’s doing anything behind your back. We’re consenting adults on a date. You aren’t her father. I don’t need your approval.”
“You sure about that? Because I sure as hell am not gonna let you treat her like you treat all your other little fuck toys?”
“You want to run that by me again?” I asked.
“Guys, cut it out!” Serenity bit out.
I stared into Shawn’s eyes, my fists clenched at my sides. He finally backed down and stormed out of the pizza place, murmuring about how things weren’t over or some other shit like that. I looked at Serenity and settled back into my seat, watching as she sighed and hung her head. She slowly lifted her eyes and held my gaze.
“He’s got a point,” she said.
“What?” I asked.
Serenity sighed. “Shawn didn’t want us being together because he’s apparently seen the way you treat women.”
Hurt bloomed in my gut. “Do you think it’s true? Do you think I’d treat you that way?”
She shrugged and looked down into her lap as our food arrived.
The sight broke my heart.
“I’d never do that to you, Serenity. You’re more than a one-night stand,” I said.
“Am I, though?” she asked.
“Yes. You are. You mean more to me than any of those girls.”
“Are you sure about that?”
She lifted her gaze to mine, and I saw a wall come back down. A wall I had thought I’d never see between the two of us again.
“Are you serious right now?” I asked.
“I mean, you never did talk about your feelings or anything when we were hooking up all those years ago,” she said.
“Neither did you, if I recall correctly, so you can’t just pin that on me. We both had a hand in that.”
“If we had, would it have changed anything?” she asked.
Her eyes stared deeply into mine, and my pause was a little too long. She shook her head and scoffed as if my silence had given her the answer she had been looking for. I watched her get up without even touching her drink. She gathered her things and walked by the booth. I reached for her arm, wrapping my hand around it.
