by Harlow Layne
Stepping out of my shorts, I wrapped her in my arms and took her down to the cool grass beneath us. My hips settled in between her silky thighs as I pinned her hands above her head. I nipped along her jaw until I could bite down on the shell of her ear. Without preamble, I thrust inside, and it instantly felt like home. I had no idea if it was the setting or just her, but either way, I never wanted to leave.
Her legs wrapped around my waist in a vice grip as I pumped in and out of her, kissing, licking, and biting every available inch of skin I could reach. There was no holding back for the first time since we started this. Here we could be lovers. Here we could explore what life was like as a couple, and I planned on relishing every moment of it while I could.
I started to pump faster, my fingers moved down her body to rub her bundle of nerves, wanting to bring her to completion so we could move to the next spot I had in mind. The pool or hot tub would be fun. Hell, maybe even a lounger before we christened every inch of my house.
She ground against my hand, moaning my name louder than ever before. When her legs started to shake, I moved one leg up higher so I could hit her at a deeper angle, knowing she was close to falling over the edge. With one more thrust, she clenched around me. Her nails dug into my back, shoulders, and any available surface she could find for purchase. Her eyes slammed shut as her head tipped back, her entire body arching up into me. I slowed my movements, wanting to bring her down before I moved us into the pool, concentrating only on Aspen and not my impending orgasm. When her body went slack, I sat back on my heels and pulled her into my arms. Her head lolled to the side as her hot breath caressed my neck.
“You weren’t kidding,” she panted out.
“Not for a second. Now I’m going to take you in the pool and maybe again out here before we move inside. Wrap yourself around me, Doc.”
She did as I asked, although her hold was weak from exhaustion. Slowly I stood and walked us into the pool from the shallow end. When I had her up against the side of the pool, I turned her around and let her upper body sprawl out onto the edge of the pool.
Running my hand down the length of her back, I grasped her ass and squeezed before running my fingers along the seam. Oh, how I wanted to take that hole, but she needed prep and for it to not be a quick fuck in my pool. I wanted to take my time with her and worship her body the way it deserved.
“Stick your ass out for me, baby,” I demanded as I plunged two fingers deep inside her cunt. Always obedient, at least in bed, Aspen gave me her ass. I gave it another squeeze with my other hand before I pulled my fingers out of her and replaced them with my throbbing cock. I wouldn’t last long after taking her out on the lawn and not being inside of her while we were in Texas for my race. Never before had I not wanted my bosses at a race until I found out she would be holding out on me until they weren’t staying in the same hotel. It didn’t matter that their suite was on the other side of the floor. She was afraid we’d be found out, and that would be the end of us.
“This is going to be fast, but I promise I’ll be slow and sweet later,” I growled into her ear as my hands clasped onto her hips to keep her steady as I plunged into her with deep, hurried thrusts. When her walls began to pulse, I fisted her hair in my hand and pulled her back into me as I licked up her neck and groaned as my dick started to pulse. “You feel so fucking good.”
Her hand came around and held my hip as I continued to piston into her, and when my hips started to jerk, her sweet cunt milked me for everything I had in me. Fucking hell, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to walk us out of the pool with how light and free I felt in that moment. I wanted to sink to the bottom of the pool and look up into the sky with her by my side.
Instead, I slowly pulled out. My cock already feeling lost without being inside her heat. Aspen moaned and turned around to wrap her arms around my neck. She placed a soft kiss to my chin before she rested her head on my shoulder.
Moving my arms to rest under her ass, I walked us out of the pool and headed straight for my bed. Her face was pressed against my neck, her lips moving and kissing. “Where are you taking me?” she murmured sweetly.
“To my bed. I have to have you in my bed.” I felt if I could get her into my bed, then what we were doing would be real. It wasn’t a fuck at a race stop. No, once I laid her down on my fluffy white comforter, she was mine, and I was never going to let her go.
“Cal,” she hummed, “I’m not sure I can go another round right now. You’ve just given me two of the best orgasms of my life.”
Pulling back the covers, I placed her down on my bed and crawled in beside her. I wrapped my body around her in a tight embrace, tangling our limbs together before I kissed her temple. “Sleep, Doc. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
She made some noise, but what it was I couldn’t say. I was already drifting off to sleep. Finally, being able to relax with her in my arms for the first time in my bed, in my house that now felt like a home.
“Is there ever a bad sunset when you live by the ocean?”
I hadn’t been looking at the sun or the water but at Aspen. I took in the water and the slowly setting sun with its oranges and yellows that were being chased away by the darkening blue before we found a table.
“It is beautiful. Wait until you see it from the house. It’s almost as breathtaking as you are, and one of the reasons I bought the place.”
Her hand convulsed in mine at the mention of her being breathtaking. She had no idea just how gorgeous she was.
“This is cute,” Aspen exclaimed as we sat down at a picnic table on the soft sand. “I think I’m in love with Malibu. I’ve only been to California a couple of times, but I never made it up here. It’s different. Less hectic.”
It was less chaotic if you weren’t out on the main drag. We’d walked along the beach to get to a little restaurant that served the best seafood I’d ever eaten here. Not in the world, but pretty damn close.
I wanted to say something about her staying here forever, but what would that do? I wasn’t home from March until the beginning of December year after year. What I needed was for her to continue to follow me around the world, even if it wasn’t fair to her and the job she loved so much. I still needed her to calm me down at least once a race, and I wasn’t sure if that would ever go away.
“We’ll have to explore more when we get back from Mexico. Whatever you want. You can go shopping on Rodeo Drive, or we can hit the road and travel…” I realized what I was saying, and the words dried up in my mouth.
“That sounds wonderful.” She reached across the table and clasped my hand in hers. “I know you think you’re hopeless without me, but I’m here to tell you that couldn’t be further from the truth. You have the tools you need, and you do a great job of using them to calm yourself down.”
“Logically, I know that, but when I’m behind the wheel, it’s different.” I cocked my head to the side and asked. “Would it be so bad to travel the world with me until I retired?”
Aspen sputtered and sat back in her seat. “And when would that be? How many more years do you plan to race because I can’t see us hiding a relationship or whatever this is for years on end.”
“Or whatever?” My voice was deadly quiet as I asked her to expand on what she said.
“Yes, I don’t know what this is. I don’t want to be that girl who asks to define what we have between us. Especially when we have to hide it. I won’t be a grid girl for the foreseeable future.”
My blood boiled at Aspen calling herself a grid girl. She wasn’t a groupie in any way, shape, or form. I hated the words that tumbled from her lips.
“I don’t have it all figured out, but I planned once the season was over, we’d go to Colton and tell him we’re in a committed relationship, and that I want and need you by my side all the time. I think he’d understand.”
“Committed?” She rolled the word on her tongue as if it was unfamiliar to her.
“It’s not like I expect him to pay for your trave
l or anything of that nature. I have plenty of money, so it won’t ever be a problem.”
“It would be if I don’t like men paying my way. Have you once thought about what I want? Did you think to ask me if I want to tell them about us or if I want to travel the circuit with you? What about my patients?”
I leaned back in my chair and took her in. Each word she spoke was said calmly as if she wasn’t upset, but I knew she was. Was it because I hadn’t asked or talked to her about this?
“I know you care very much for your patients, but I thought you cared more about me. You’ve said numerous times how you want to travel the world now. Why not do it with me?”
“It’s not a matter of caring, Callum. Of course, I care about you. It’s that you never once talked to me about this, and you were ready to tell your boss everything, and very soon for that matter. Would you have talked to me about this beforehand or just gone to him?”
Leaning forward with my elbows on the table, I looked her dead in the eye. “Of course, I would have. I wanted to see how it went with you staying at my house and in my bed to make sure. This is the first time where we can just be us as a couple without hiding from everyone around us.”
She nodded, and when our waiter brought her glass of wine, she drank down half the glass in one go. She tapped her fingernail against the rim as she regarded me over the table. “Can I get another one of these, please?”
“Of course.” The waiter smiled and backed away.
The moment the waiter was out of earshot, I stood and brought my chair around the table to sit by her side. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“This is my fault for not opening the lines of communication. I assumed, and we all know what that makes me.” She gave me a tight smile. An ass, but I wasn’t going to say that. I wanted her to continue to open up to me because there was no way in hell I was leaving here without her understanding how I felt about her. “You’re not one for relationships or commitment.” I went to open my mouth, but she placed one finger over my lips and held it there. “Those are your words, and you haven’t expressed anything remotely different to make me think you changed your mind.”
She was right, I hadn’t, but I thought since she was so smart and seemed to be able to read just about every thought that passed over my face that she knew.
“That’s my fault. I guess I thought we were on the same page, but I can promise you that I was going to talk to you once we went to Mexico. I just wanted to see what it was like to have you living in my space and for us to be free before I said anything.”
“You wanted to make sure.” Her voice was quiet, and I couldn’t tell what she was feeling at that moment. Was she upset I wanted to make sure we were a good fit before I started waxing poetic words to her and telling her how I wanted to spend the rest of our lives together?
“Yes, is that so bad? Are you sure about us?”
“Me?” she questioned in a squeaky, high-pitched tone. “No, I’m not sure because no one can ever be one hundred percent sure, but also because I thought there was a possibility you were going to be through with me once your last race was over.”
“Oh, Aspen, how I wish you would have said something.” I lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “Not for one second have I ever saw you as just a fling. I’ve wanted you from the first moment I saw you.”
“Yes,” she said sternly. “You made mention of how you wanted to get in my pants many times, but that’s all I knew.”
I looked down at our joined hands. “I wish you would have said something before now. I hate that you’ve been walking around with me, city after city, thinking that I would throw you away because I’ve known since the moment I got you that I was never going to let you go. I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole, and I never want to get back out. You are it for me, Aspen Belle. Maybe things would have been different if we didn’t have to hide who we are to one another. You know I’m a straight shooter. I’m not going to lie to you. Now or ever. If you ever want to know something, don’t be afraid to ask.”
Her eyes darted from my lips to my eyes to my lips and back again. “Have I ever told you I love how open and honest you are?”
“Once or twice.” I leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth.
“I’m not perfect, Cal. I’m human, and I make mistakes too. I carry baggage just like every other human being on the planet. Until now, I didn’t realize how much I’d let Alejandro affect me and my trust. Normally, I’d like to think I would have talked to you and asked you what you wanted from me.”
“I want you by my side until the end of time. I never want there to be a day where I don’t see your beautiful face smiling at me, encouraging me to be the best man I can be. I want you always. Is that enough?”
“It’s more than enough, but I’m not sure if I can give up everything to travel with you.” She hung her head. “That’s a lot of you to ask of me.”
“It is.” I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “And I’m sorry I didn’t ask you. I promise I won’t say a word to anyone unless we decide that’s what we want.”
“Thank you.”
“Let me say one final thing, and then I’ll drop it so we can have a fabulous dinner together.” She hooked her finger to mine and nodded. “Don’t think for a single second that I like hiding us or what you mean to me. I’m falling for you. Some days you literally take my breath away. While I hate what brought me to you, I think it just might have been fate that brought us together.”
“Oh, Cal,” she cooed. Her hands cupped my face. She brought me close so she could smash her mouth to mine.
It was a desperate kiss. One that told me she felt the same about me as I did her. She loved me, but it was too soon to tell each other those three simple, yet significant words. Instead, she showed me with the way she held me in the palms of her hands, and her tongue danced with mine.
When we pulled away, we were both smiling and panting. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to whisk her away in my arms, take her back to my house, and make love to her for the rest of the night.
12
Aspen
Mexico City, Mexico
Normally, I watched the races from a little suite set up for me. They had a TV on the wall, nice plush couches to sit on, and food service, but they didn’t have one available for me this time. Today I was in one with Colton and his team. It was much bigger than the ones I’d previously been in, and the room was full of people I didn’t know. Everyone was at work, looking over stats and speeds and who knew what else. None of it made sense to me.
A notification dinged in the air. I knew it wasn’t my phone because it was turned off. I couldn’t be distracted when, at any moment, Cal might need me. I watched from the other side of the room as Colton pulled out his phone, his brows furrowed as he read whatever was on his screen. When he looked up, his eyes landed on me, and they were blank. Gone was the happiness, the kindness, everything. They were void of all emotion. He stared at me for a long moment before he turned his head and went back to work.
Something had happened, but as I listened to Cal and his team over the system, I knew everything was fine on his end. He was in second place and was close to passing and taking first. He truly was an amazing driver. In every race I’d been to, he was always in the top three. Maybe that’s why the other racers disliked him so much.
On the TV, I watched as one of the cars spun out of control and hit the guardrail. Smoke filled the air. Kaspar relayed to Cal what had transpired, and the moment he heard the news, his breathing picked up. I waited and listened to see if he could handle it on his own, but when he croaked out a shaky ‘Doc,’ I pulled on my headset and put the mic in front of my mouth.
“I’m here, Cal. You’re nowhere close to the wreck, and it will be cleared by the time you get there. Now, remember what I taught you. Clear your head of everything else but your driving. What your hands are doing, your feet, your breath. Take deep breaths and slow your heart rate.”
“I
can’t.” His voice shook, and it made me want to cry. I wasn’t sure why he was having a setback. “Talk to me. Tell me something. Anything.” It sounded like a demand, but I really knew it was a plea.
“Okay, but I want you to take slow and steady breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth. If you stop, then I’ll stop talking.”
“I think I can do that,” he said but didn’t sound sure of himself.
“I know you can. You’re safe. If there was any chance of anything happening to you, Kaspar and your team would let you know. You know they’d never put you in harm's way.”
“Kaspar’s the best fucking guy,” he croaked out.
I saw the man in question dip his head and then look over at me. One corner of his mouth was tipped up in a smile.
“My favorite place in the whole world is Green Lake. I can’t wait to go back to it. I want to dive in the clear water, hike the trails, and lay out under the stars all night.”
“Oh, yeah? That’s your favorite place so far?”
He knew where my true favorite place was. It was his house in Malibu, but I couldn’t say that. If the team knew I’d stayed with him until we had to head to the next race, everything would be over. Green Lake was right on the heels of his oceanside house, though.
“It is. I’ve never seen a more perfect place. It’s a hidden gem.”
He let out a low chuckle. “I’m not sure how hidden it really is. I found it didn’t I? It’s just not a place most people know about unless they live there. But I agree, it’s pretty spectacular.”
Cal was back. His voice wasn’t shaky. His breathing was steady, and he was already joking around with me.
I stayed quiet for a few more moments to make sure he was okay. I didn’t want him to panic only because he stopped hearing my voice.
