They were her whole world. Her marriage had been an utter disaster, almost since day one, but those girls made the years together worth it. They were kindhearted and funny. Smart. Lovely. She and Robbie couldn’t have been too horrible if they’d managed to create such incredible people together.
She watched them go down the driveway just as Wyatt came back to the house. He lifted his hand to wave to Aimee. Faith didn’t know if they knew each other. She was a transplant from San Antonio, having followed her husband here a few years earlier, but Wyatt was polite to everyone. Faith had kept her eye on him when they encountered each other in town, even before her alien problem.
He wasn’t rushing around. Faith put her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. “I take it you didn’t find anything.”
“I’m afraid not.” He shook his head. “I’m going to say what I said before—it’s got to be some kind of animal.”
“Or a figment of my imagination,” she said, interrupting him. Faith had heard this before. “I’m not crazy and if you call me that, Wyatt, my head will explode and take yours along with it. And don’t you dare cite me for threatening a police officer.”
He threw his head back and laughed. It was a warm, lovely sound. Wyatt had shoulders that looked like they could hold up the world. That was a funny thought but a true one. Faith did a pretty good job on her small frame of keeping things in working order and making sure the universe didn’t crash down on their house. Still, it sure would be nice to have someone to share it with.
Or to help her decide not to make stupid decisions, like getting that tattoo she should have left alone and not had put on her lower back like a ridiculous midlife crisis. She had no business sporting a pyramid there. She hadn’t even had a good reason for the picture except she liked it.
Wyatt was ridiculously hot. It should be illegal to have shoulders that broad.
“I won’t call you crazy.” He held out his hands in front of him. “Once again, the only evidence I find is that the neighbor’s kids are playing too loudly. There’s probably a noise violation in there somewhere, but I’m not going to pursue it. “
He had the best ass in the world. Faith realized as that thought dawned on her that she’d sort of tilted her head to the side slightly to look around him and stare at it. Immediately, her cheeks were a hundred degrees. Or at least they felt that way.
“Nothing?” Faith rubbed the back of her neck.
“Nothing. Faith, I know you’ve been through a lot.”
She sighed. Really, Faith didn’t have it in her to tell him that this time in her life was easy compared to others. That leaving Robbie had been hard, but not nearly as difficult as living with him and his verbally and emotionally abusive assholery. Faith was on her own. Her girls were safe and happy, albeit adolescent so obnoxious, just as a rule.
Being alone was easier than being endlessly unhappy. She was strong. She wasn’t making up aliens in the backyard as some kind of delayed breakdown. Faith had seen what she’d seen. It was real, damn it.
She stepped toward him. “Wyatt, I have a legal shotgun in this house. My father gave it to me when I turned twenty. I’ve never used it. I’ve used firearms but only in the course of ranching, and I’ve not had a lot of call for that lately. I’ve kept them locked in a gun safe only I have the code to.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
She stiffened her back. Faith might not be a badass but she could pretend to be one with the best of them. “And the next time I see those little green fuckers I’m not calling you. I’m going to take it out and I’m going to start shooting. Whatever they are, they’re trespassing and they’re scaring me. My kids live here. I’m not playing around.”
She was done with this.
Chapter Two
She waited for him to warn her about firearms, about the fact that she’d just made a threat in front of him. He didn’t do those things. Instead he took off his hat, crossing in front of her to place it in his car.
Wyatt’s hair was shaved down so low that it was almost to the point of being totally bald. If the town gossips were to be believed, he kept it that way on purpose. Shaved all way down like that every two weeks to keep thick dark hair under control. What would he look like with it long, so that a person could run their fingers through it if they wanted to? So that she could run her fingers through it?
Wyatt stayed silent, staring at her until she shivered from the effect. A warm feeling crept inside her, the kind of sensation that happened when a woman knew a man wanted her. It had been a long time since she’d had that kind of blatant male regard, and he hadn’t uttered a word.
He leaned against his car. “Are you under a lot of stress?”
Her nostrils flared. He might be sexy as hell, but if he was going to be that guy he could just go fuck himself. “Are you?”
“Well, at the moment I’m at the home of a very nice woman who has two lovely children, who teaches in my town, who I grew up with, and who is seeing little green men. So, yes, I’m not feeling unstressed right now. But I’ve certainly been in worse situations.” He held up his hands. “I’m off the clock. Okay? I’m not the sheriff right now.”
Where was he going with this? “What?”
“I’m clocking off.” He picked up his phone and sent a text. “I even just told them. Done for the night. I never do this but we’ll say that my sheriff duties have stopped until I clock back in. You want to smoke pot? I won’t notice. You want to speed? I don’t have my radar turned on.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t do either of those things.”
“Well, that’s good, but the point remains the same. You can talk to me. I won’t judge or arrest. Unless you’re going to harm yourself or others. I can’t cross that line. I’m a little concerned about the idea of you shooting at nothing since that’s what I’m finding out there, nothing. Same as all the other nights, I’m afraid. I see the neighbors half a mile away to the west. The kids are outside playing. Otherwise, I can’t spot a thing. And I have good eyes. I’ve had to find things in much worse circumstances than this, and I did. I also grew up hiding in these woods. I know them. I’m telling you. There’s nothing there.”
She pointed at him. “I’m not crazy.”
He held up his hand. “I’m not suggesting you are. There’s nothing wrong with your eyes, right?”
She ignored that last dig. They had to stay on task, and she couldn’t throat-punch the sheriff. “Then what are you saying, Wyatt?”
He walked toward her, invading her personal space. “That maybe you’ve had enough. Maybe everyone has a point at which they start seeing their own version of aliens in the backyard. Maybe you’re a stunningly beautiful, strong woman who has reached a point that she might need a little help her in life.”
He wasn’t talking about fixing her fence. “Are you hitting on me?”
“I am.” He took a long breath like he was breathing her in, and her insides turned to flame. She wouldn’t let herself dwell on just how hot Wyatt was when she was around him. But, boy, he really was. “Are you proposing to fix all my problems with your magic cock?”
Yes, she’d gone there.
His nostrils flared. “No. I never presume. But I do want to fuck you into tomorrow, tonight, Faith. If that’s not something you want, I walk away now. We never discuss this again. You get on with your life, I go on with mine. If it is, you should know I’m not an easy lover. I’m going to want you to come when I want you to and not before.”
No one had ever spoken to her like that before. Her heart skipped a beat. Blood pounded in her veins. A rush of adrenaline traveled through her. She wanted this to be real. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
Was this really happening? Was she actually doing this? Hell, yes, she was. Truth was, she wasn’t at all as confident as she was pretending to be. She’d had two sexual partners in her life. Robbie, who had made her think there was something wrong with her when she didn’t come, and the random stranger in the bar she
’d had sex with the day her divorced finalized. She’d come plenty hard that day, but it might have been adrenaline and feeling like she was finally doing something a little bit wrong for the first time in her life.
But now, as Wyatt walked her backward until her back hit his truck, she had that sensation again. This man could make her come. Hard.
“Tell me now if you don’t want this, otherwise you and I are having sex in that truck.” He didn’t move to take a step toward her. In fact, he stepped the opposite way. “You can walk away now. I’m not intimidating you or making a power play. It might even be better if you did. Walk away, Faith.”
The challenge in his voice drove her interest forward. Her nipples tingled. “I appreciate the warning, but I’m not feeling pressured. I want this. Assuming you’re not feeling like I’m forcing it, then let’s cut the bullshit and get down to it. I’d like to see what you’re offering.”
Having sex with Wyatt wasn’t going to make the aliens go away. They were real. But she’d deal with them later. For now, she wanted to get laid by this hot man who made incredible promises of orgasms. She launched herself at him.
Maybe he hadn’t seen that coming, because for half a second she saw surprise cross his face before she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. His mouth came down on hers. It was hard, claiming. She suspected everything to do with Wyatt would be that way. He was built like he’d been carved out of stone. Had he always been this way? Hell, why hadn’t she noticed in high school?
She really didn’t care. He backed her into his truck again, this time pressing his weight against her. Wyatt wrenched his mouth back; her lips already felt swollen. “You don’t like something you just say so. I want to fuck you. I’ve wanted to fuck you from the moment I saw you. I’m hoping that makes you hot, but I want you to know that from the start. I don’t play games.”
No, she could tell already that he didn’t. “I’m not a virgin who needs hand-holding. I thought you promised me orgasms.”
“Fuck. Me.” His mouth was on hers again.
“Yes.” She couldn’t help laughing. “That is the idea.”
He kissed and kissed her until she’d lost the need to breathe. Right there against his truck where anyone could see them, she was going to get naked as the day she was born with Wyatt Emmanuel, whom she hadn’t seen much of since high school and didn’t know that well even then. It sounded like a great idea. She was going to do it and never question why.
He spun her around until she faced the truck. He squeezed her ass, hard, and she yelped. The slight pinch of pain did nothing to distort the pleasure of his hands on her. “I’ve been thinking about your ass for hours.”
“Hours?”
He laughed, a hearty sound that sizzled through her. “Maybe on and off for days would be more accurate. All together it adds up to hours.”
She loved that he’d been thinking about her like that, even if it was about her ass. It was sexy to be daydreamed about. “Logistics.”
“I guess details matter.”
He pulled her back just enough to open the door of the truck and with one arm helped her inside. He came down over her. The truck’s cab was somehow intimate. It wasn’t the same as being outside. She swallowed. “It’s a good thing they made these back seats bigger. Or you and I would never fit.”
“With the right motivation—and you are that, trust me—I’d have made anything work.”
He pulled at her shirt. They had to scrunch a bit to get it off of her. The back seat worked, to an extent. There was going to be a certain amount of awkwardness about this, and that actually suited Faith just fine. Awkward meant she didn’t have to entirely give in to the heat between them; she didn’t have to acknowledge just how intense this was getting. He managed to get off his own shirt in an equally funny display.
Being able to laugh at some of the discomfort eased things a bit.
She wanted to come, not give over ownership of her heart and soul to Wyatt just because she fell for his dark eyes. He hadn’t even said he wanted that. This was a one-off. If anything he might feel bad for her and…
All her dark thoughts fled when his mouth came down on her nipple. He sucked, hard. Wyatt wasn’t afraid, clearly, to push the edge of pleasure and pain. It turned out she loved the heck out of the combination.
She closed her eyes, arching her body beneath his to get closer. Her other nipple rubbed against his defined chest. She liked the sensation, and she did it a second time, on purpose, to make it happen again. He lifted his mouth from her nipple and without saying a word took her other one in his hand. He pinched it, and she cried out. Wyatt lifted his eyebrows, the only acknowledgment that he liked what she’d done.
“Fuck, baby. Yes.” She had a dirty mouth, and she wasn’t afraid to use it.
Her insides throbbed, and he’d hardly even touched her yet. He held her gaze, and she didn’t drop it, didn’t even want to. He lowered his other hand, cupping her stomach before leaning over to lay gentle kisses there. That was such a divergence from the pain a second earlier that she sucked in her breath. Who was this man?
She didn’t drop her gaze from his, not even when he unzipped her tight jeans and drew them down her legs. That required him to hoist up just a bit to get leverage. She leaned forward to touch him, and he shook his head. “Not yet.”
Not yet? She nodded. Even as she agreed she couldn’t believe she was doing it. Why was it so natural to let Wyatt tell her when she could and couldn’t stroke his skin? Why was it somehow easy? She’d dwell on these questions later.
For now, her mouth watered and she just desperately wanted to be kissed again. He still had his pants on, but she was now down to her panties. She was glad she’d put on some decent-looking cotton ones that morning. Spending on lingerie was way down on the list. Some of the ones she wore had seen better days. But maybe fate had smiled on her, and she’d grabbed a newer pair from the drawer.
He pulled them down around her ankles and then threw them on the floor of his truck. His gaze caught hers, and he smiled at her slowly. “You can come whenever you want to right now. This time. You’re going to come twice today. Once, now, and then once again with me inside you. That time you’ll take my direction.”
She swallowed before she nodded. It didn’t even occur to her not to. “Okay.”
Her body pulsed with need.
He nodded. Wyatt kissed up and down her legs. Each press of his lips on her shot electricity through her. She shuddered, squirming. He placed a hand on her knee. “Stay still.”
“I don’t like to take direction from you like this.”
He didn’t stop caressing her, sometimes licking her with his tongue. She shuddered. He pushed her knees apart, coming closer to her, before he pressed a finger inside her pussy. “You’re wet. I knew you would be.”
He kissed the inside of her thighs before pressing one on the outside of her core. She gasped. Faith had thought she was ready for this; there had certainly been enough buildup, yet the sheer intimacy of this moment made her giggle. He lifted his eyes slightly, and she shook her head. “I’m in shock that this is happening. Please don’t stop. I giggle when I’m sort of…overwhelmed.”
“As long as they’re good giggles.”
She nodded. “They are.”
He moved his tongue and she couldn’t think at all. Forget giggling, the man knew how to touch her so that she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to use her brain ever again. He found her rhythm instantly, the one she could usually only find when using her own fingers alone in her bedroom at night. Neither of her previous partners had ever managed what Wyatt did instantly. Not even the one who had eventually made her come.
She gasped. How was he doing that? The movements started slowly, circular, like little dabs with his tongue that moved her clit slightly. She got wetter. His hot breath on her pussy added to the sensation of heat pooling through her already. Wyatt jerked his hips against her, his hardness evident even through his pants. Was he that tu
rned on from doing this to her? Somehow that made this even better.
He picked up speed with his tongue, increasing the rhythm as he went, moaning slightly while he did. Her hips buckled. She wasn’t there yet but close. Oh so fucking close. He pressed his tongue farther inside her and she came, hard. Stars passed in front of her eyes, and her ears rang.
That had been…whew. The best orgasm of her life, and he didn’t even have his cock inside her. Should she tell him that? She opened her lids, which she’d apparently fused shut in the midst of all that sudden, amazing pleasure, to find him regarding her, his face a mask she couldn’t read but his eyes molten lava as he gazed at her.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet, and for half a second she was terrified he was about to throw money at her. That’s what men fucking did. They destroyed beautiful moments and made them awful over and over, but instead he pulled out a condom. Okay. She could breathe again.
Wyatt held up the condom so she could see it. “What did you think was about to happen?”
“Doesn’t matter.” She didn’t want talking. She wanted more.
He made a sound in the back of his throat she couldn’t decipher. “Now you aren’t going to come again until I tell you.”
She nodded, agreeing to this like it was the most natural thing in the world. She really wanted to see if she could hold off, somehow take direction for her orgasm from Wyatt. “Is this always what you do in sex?”
He shook his head. “No. I told you, I’m a demanding lover. Frankly, it comes down to what kind of mood I’m in, and right now what I want is for you to listen to me.”
Men In Uniform Anthology Page 21
