Just That Easy (20 page)

“Yeah. I think.” He croaked. His throat felt like ten pounds
of gravel.

He climbed out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. He used
the toilet, brushed the horrid taste out of his mouth, and yawned and
stretched. He caught sight of himself in the mirror. His skin was a little
pale, but he looked as if he’d live. He stared into his own eyes.
You
mean-hearted bastard you, how could you lie to someone that sweet? Your own
mother didn’t even show you a tiny fraction of the compassion she did. She
stuck by you when you left with no explanation. What the hell are you doing?
She doesn’t deserve this.

The realization that Al was right, he was using her to some
degree, using her because he needed her so damn bad and giving her nothing,
nothing except trying to tell her he loved her, which is the last thing she
wanted to hear. And it wouldn’t help either when she found out.

He hung his head. Not looking up again, he went back to bed,
back to Teryn, the only place he wanted to be anymore.

When he woke up he felt as if he’d shed at least some of the
weight he’d brought back with him. The sound of the shower was inviting. Just
as he walked into the bathroom, hoping to slide in behind her, she stepped out.

“Oh! You scared the hell out of me!”

“Sorry. I was trying to sneak into the shower with you.”

“Too bad big guy, you’re on your own for the shower.”

“Aww, but I’ve been gone.”

“Yeah, how well I remember. I have to run to the post
office, it should only take a little while, then I’ll come pay attention to you
when I get back. You hungry?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well that’s a switch. If you are I’ll make you breakfast,
or whatever you want, when I get back.”

“Teryn?” He couldn’t believe he was ignoring the “whatever
you want” comment.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

She turned to look at him, seeming surprised. “You’re
welcome.”

Unable to help himself, he moved the few steps between them
and pulled her into him, holding her close. A tiny, ragged breath came out of
his chest and he clamped it down. He kissed her hair, pushing her off toward
the door and turning quickly to get in the shower.

“See you when you get back.”

He heard her close the door and he turned the water on. He
stood under the hot stream, trying to shake the moment.

What the fucking hell?

This whole thing was going to hell in a handbasket, fast.
Along with all the other new things he was discovering about himself, his
newfound lack of ability to control the situation was so far just completely
pissing him off. He was starting to think if he had to trade in his balls for
becoming the guy Teryn would hopefully fall for—hell, was that even possible?
And which one, trading his balls, or her falling for him?

He scrubbed his face, his body, as if he were trying to
punish himself. He knew the last few crazed days had sent him into emotional
overdrive, but he wasn’t used to handling emotions much at all. He generally
tossed them off, shut down, and moved on. That was all but impossible right
now, especially if this was going to work. So deal with it, jerk.

Time to sort.

Okay, the shock of, just, well, Teryn. Period. That’s a good
thing, learn to navigate it.

The little moment of terror in the library, when he’d
realized she was close to the edge of just telling him to fuck off, that she’d
seen something going on between him and Al and was about done with all of this.
Okay, that one is going to come back to haunt you, make a plan.

Running off and leaving her—not even going there—but pat
yourself on the back for dealing with your father like a man, for once. Own the
fact that the asshole didn’t ruin you and be proud of Jack too. Fine, file that
one, done and over.

He sighed. He was going to burn in hell for what he’d done
when he came back to her though—the one thing that was getting to him the most
right now, bringing on the guilt like a tide. It was so obvious how badly she
had missed him, but he’d gone the unforgivable-asshole route with it. The
reprieve was good, and the way she took care of him the last day was also good,
really good. That he’d used her sympathy to counter her anger that he’d left
her high and dry smacked of exactly what he didn’t want to be, and exactly what
he had always been.

He knew how raw, wounded, he was when he got back, but had
intended to bury it. Then the way she’d responded to him, wrapped him up in
herself, soothing him, had managed to sneak past his defenses and he just let
her. Then took it a step farther. Playing it heavy on purpose, loving the
tenderness it brought out in her. He hadn’t really meant to, but she was
shutting down on him when he couldn’t tell her the truth, and he had been
desperate. If she knew that, he was dead meat, for sure. So ease off on the
kicked-puppy routine and get back to a little normal, quit milking her for
affection.

God was he really standing here talking himself through this
like the old Grant? Had he just played her, using the whole mess with his
father to get sympathy? Acting desperate. Him. No wonder he was a fucking mess,
he really still was being an asshole, plotting this out like some kind of damn
hostile takeover and using whatever advantage he could grasp to gain her trust.
That was never going to work. And he damn well knew it.

He towel dried, looking down at his cock. Hard. Again. He
sighed. At least someone is having fun.

Restless didn’t even begin to cover how he was feeling, the
adrenaline pumping through him, pent-up need to take something on, resolve
something, anything. He paced. He did a load of laundry, as if that would take
the edge off. About the time he was thinking about making the bed he knew he
was losing it. Throwing on a pair of jeans, he caught sight of a black Stetson
perched in the top of her closet.

Yep. Time for the next round.

Control

“Wow. Umm…damn you look good enough to eat.”

Teryn knew she was grinning like an idiot, but hell, Grant,
leaning back in the leather chair in just his Levi’s, his bare feet propped up
on the coffee table, long legs crossed, chest bare—and was that the black
Stetson from her closet?—pulled down low over his eyes. Damn if he wasn’t
chewing on something, a matchstick.

“Then come on over here and dig in.”

The box of promo junk from her publisher was dumped
unceremoniously to the floor as she walked the whole ten feet to stand in front
of him, hands on her hips.

“Somebody feels better.”

“Yep.”

She slid into the chair, straddling him and tucking her
knees in beside him. “Oh my god… What is that incredible…” She trailed off,
leaning in to just smell his skin.

“Like it?”

She licked him, slowly from the middle of his chest, to the
hollow at his throat. She couldn’t even identify all the different ways that
scent washed over her. Deep, dark, something heavy and sweet like pipe tobacco,
and spice, some deeper scent like leather. God she was drowning in it, whatever
it was, and damn but it made her want to kiss every inch of him, as if she
didn’t already. Not wasting any more time thinking, she started working on
doing just that.

Lips, tongue, teeth, every part of her mouth met something,
his shoulder, the broad smooth plane of his chest, the small patch of soft hair
in the very middle, and that dark flat little nipple that wasn’t so damn flat
anymore after her tongue got hold of it.

The small, odd noise from his throat—a sort of strangled
groaning, growl noise—made her smile.

She scooted back, licking down his belly, working on the
buttons of his jeans before her tongue even reached the waistband. She licked a
lazy circle around his flat bellybutton, down the thin trail of black hair that
led into his groin.

She heard him suck in his breath in a low hiss. She smiled
again and looked up. “That hat looks pretty good on you.”

A slow grin curled his lips, making him look even more
delicious. “I sorta thought you liked the cowboy thing.”

“Well you’re doin’ some good convincing.” Sure as hell was,
the man could wear a Happy Meal box and look sexy. But button down jeans, a
black Stetson and nothing else? That was a panty soaker.

“So, this yours?” He reached up and tipped it down a little,
the wicked grin getting wider. “Looks like a man’s.”

“Really wanna know?” Her breath feathered over his belly.
She moved all the way back, dropping down to her knees between his thighs.

“Yeah. Long as you can talk while you’re doin’ what you’re
doin’.” He let out another little low hum of approval.

She was slowly, methodically, covering every inch of his
bare belly, which was more and more bare every inch of Levi’s she pulled down,
with lazy, wet kisses.

“Met a cowboy at a rodeo. Three years ago, after, well,
after my fiancé ditched me for a blonde stick girl.”

“Well that explains a lot. So, how’d you get to keep the
hat.”

“I figured I deserved it. He looked like quite the hot rodeo
cowboy, but, uh, let’s just say he filled out the hat better than anything
else.”

She finished the buttons, and gave a little pleased whimper
that he had gone commando, no briefs. She didn’t even have to free his iron
spike of an erection, it had been fighting to get past the buttons on those
501s as fast as she was. She licked, lazily, slowly.

A loud snort came from his throat. Then a small groan. “Poor
guy,” he managed to grunt out.

“No, not really. He was an ass. So I took his hat.” She
sucked the tip into her mouth, slowly, rasping her teeth over the little ridge
just below the slit.

“Remind me not to…uh…what, ah…did he do? Oh…yeah…that’s
good, baby.”

She popped the tip out of her mouth, resumed licking little
circles over him. “Nothing. He liked himself a little much. And I didn’t find
much to like. Left him in the hotel room, admiring himself. Grabbed his hat on
the way out.”

“Aha.” He gritted his teeth and his hips bucked up gently
into her as her tongue moved south, sucking one full testicle between her lips,
rolling it over her tongue. “Did you fuck him?”

She looked up. His eyes were dark, sharp. He wanted to hear
her tell him she fucked another man. Interesting. “No. I wish he’d have been
worth fucking, but he wasn’t.”

He grinned. “Too bad, I wanted to hear the rest. Pretty
impressive you just went and picked up a cowboy for yourself like that. Would
have been a good story.”

“I can always think of another one, if you want.”

“Any as good as me?”

“No. And hell no.”

He just grinned.

“Pretty smug little smile there.” She moved to the other
one, bathed it with her tongue, then sucked it completely into her mouth.

“Well…your tongue, is, ah… oh, man…” He leaned back, closed
his eyes, and she let the rush of watching him get taken over by complete raw
lust roll over her. “I can say the same for you, baby, never this good.”

The words sent a rush of pure heat through her. Like a flood
of mercury, it pooled in her belly, heavy and thick.

Flattening her tongue, little licks bathed every inch of
him, and she watched his skin grow damp, his body twitching with little
involuntary movements, as she covered his balls, his thick shaft, the velvety
soft head of his cock with slow, wet licks. Looking up at him through her
lashes, she licked the bead of fluid off the head, watching him lick his own
lips, heard him sucking in a heavy, ragged breath as she rolled it around on her
tongue, then over him. A shiver ran down her spine, skating right into her
thighs, sending even more little pulses through her. He tasted so good, every
single inch of him.

“God I love your mouth on my cock.”

“Mmm. Me too.” She hummed against him, letting the
vibrations pulse through him. Then she opened wider and slid the entire length
of him deep into her mouth.

“Fuck, yes!”

The groan he let loose when she all but swallowed the entire
length of him, her hand fisted around the base of his cock, echoed off the
walls of her living room. God she could pull everything and more out of him,
and it was even better because he didn’t care, he wanted her too. Letting go
never felt so damn good.

She sucked, hard and deep, licking the length of him with
each stroke of her mouth back up his cock. He watched her dark-pink lips take
him, that soft tongue swirl around the head of his cock and he wanted to
scream. The little moans that were vibrating the back of her throat and over
his cock were sending him over the edge.

“Take off your shirt, Teryn. I need to see those beautiful
tits.” Actually, it was a stall. He didn’t want to lose it yet. She was pushing
him so fast he was in danger of coming all over himself like a teenage kid.

She sat back, grinning. “I think I can help you out there.”
There was a wicked gleam in those green eyes.

She lifted her shirt, pulling it over her head and tossing
it to the side. Then she reached behind her, unhooking her lacy white bra,
letting it slip down over her arms. That wasn’t the floor show.

Her hands slid up her belly, eyes locked on his. He didn’t
need to look to know how hard his cock was twitching, feeling what was coming
before she even got there. She played it so slow, teasing him. Her fingers slid
up under her breasts, cupping them, pushing them closer, finally, letting her
thumbs stray down over her nipples, just brushing them, a long low moan
escaping her lips, parted slightly, god she was panting. Her eyes were half
closed, heavy, hazy, still staring straight into him.

He watched the need overtake her, fingers moving to twist
and pinch at the hard tips of her breasts, pulling them much more roughly than
he usually did. He’d have to remember that. She moaned again, breathing harder.

“That’s it, baby, let me watch you. I love to watch you
touch yourself.”

A whimper, more twisting, she bit her lip. He could see her
swaying a little, rocking her hips in rhythm with her fingers on her nipples.
One more deep cry, and she pulled her fingers away. Before he could even
anticipate the feel of her hot mouth it was on him, her hands shaking as she
grasped him, stroking solidly, her tongue twisting over him again before taking
nearly his entire cock into her mouth. How the fuck did she even do that?

“God, baby…yes…yes…suck me hard!” His hips and his body were
moving in their own little world now, thrusting into her mouth, watching that
perfect pink circle swallow and suck at him until he couldn’t breathe.

She pulled back just long enough to cup his balls, licking
them lightly, and whisper against the shaft of his cock. “I want to watch you
come in my mouth.”

“Fuck, keep talking like that and you can make me do any
damn thing you want.”

Talking over, she pulled him back into her hot, wet mouth,
where her tongue, teeth, the back of her throat all conspired to set his entire
body on fire.

He twisted his hands into her hair, not needing to guide
her, force her or hold her there, she did just fine on her own. Better than
fine, her lips were the best damn thing he ever felt on his cock besides being
buried in her. He just needed to have his hands fisted in something, anything,
and the supreme pleasure of having your hands wound into the hair of a woman
whose sole mission was to suck you to ecstasy, that was a powerful male
privilege.

“I’ve…ah…damn, woman, I’ve…ah…I’ve never
felt…anything…so…fucking… good.” Barely being able to speak was probably a
better compliment.

The laugh was what did it. That deep, husky laugh curling
out of her throat—part moan, part gravel—driving though his cock, bringing his balls
up hard and tight, the heat overtaking him. He could see her sense it building,
she pushed closer into his thighs, her warm skin pressing against him, laying
her hands on his belly as she sucked him fast, deep, over and over. He was
thrusting into her mouth now, hard, but she loved it. Those damn tiny cries of
pleasure that made him go crazy vibrating through his cock as she pulled him
down into the darkness just before the light exploded behind his eyelids. He
forced them open to watch her swallowing every last drop from him, licking him
gently as the shudders subsided.

Leaning forward he kissed her, brushing her lips with his,
licking them slowly, tasting himself on them. “Tell me what to do, Teryn, tell
me how you want me to love you. I’m only going to do what you tell me to do.”

He watched her eyes widen, faced with the sudden prospect of
having to take control of her own pleasure. It was one thing to bring someone
else crashing down into their orgasm, but another thing altogether to decide
how you wanted your own, and ask for it.

He heard, rather than saw, the deep, stuttering breath she
took, because he had buried his face in her neck. Breathing in her scent,
resting his lips just over the pulse at the base of her throat. “You can’t
cheat and recite your scene, either. I have an eidetic memory, I know it word
for word.”

She pulled back, looking at him. “Serious?”

“Very.” He moved back to her, reconnecting his body with
hers, skin on skin. “Tell me, Teryn, I’m yours to command. Anything you want,
I’ll do it for you.”

“Kiss me. Slow, easy…then harder, ’til it feels like you
wish you could climb inside my mouth. I love it when you do that.”

She nailed that one. He did love kissing her. He nibbled at
her lips, licked the curve of her bottom lip, pulled it between his teeth. Then
he brushed his over hers, tilting his head, sliding his tongue gently between
hers, parting them, tasting her mouth. He licked inside, tasting her, teasing
her tongue out of her mouth and into his. He didn’t even need to think to
follow her directions because before long he was devouring her mouth, sucking
at her, biting her softly, wanting to pull everything out of her and into him.

Pulling back, she was breathing hard. “Tell me how you
learned to kiss like that.”

“Kiss like what?” he murmured, too immersed in the taste of
her mouth to break free.

“You said anything I want.” She breathed the words, almost a
moan, head tilted back and her eyes closed.

“I was thinking it would involve touching you.”

“Fine, then touch me. But talk.” She grabbed his hand,
cupping her breast with it.

“Jenna Longly. School slut,” he groaned, thumbing the hard
tip of her nipple.

Her eyes popped open, at least partially. “That’s not nice.”

“Never said I was all that nice, did I? Told you I have had
a lot of women, Teryn, she was one of the first. You asked, remember? And she
was a slut, but she liked to be, so it wasn’t a big deal. Not to a
seventeen-year-old kid, anyway.”

He used his thumb to continue to rub circles over her
nipple, watching the blood rush in, it grew tight, thicker, harder as he
watched. “You have the most beautiful nipples. So smooth and soft.”

“So which one of them taught you how to say things like
that?”

“Learned that on my own, baby. I may have been busy, but I’m
not selfish. Never was. I made sure everyone left smiling.” He pinched her
nipple, enough to make her jump.

Her breathing had grown deep and erratic from his touch, but
her eyes were still wary. “That’s what I thought, you do use it to seduce me.”

“No, it’s the truth. I tell you exactly what I see, Teryn,
exactly what I feel, nothing else.”

“We can go with that,” she sighed, giving over to him as her
eyes slid closed and she arched into his hand.

“So now what? Are we going to sit here while I tweak your
nipple reciting my entire sexual history to you?” This was starting to feel
like a battle of wills. Not the direction he’d wanted it to take. The one he’d
been looking for was the one where she let herself go, followed her every
heart’s desire to have him pleasure her in whatever way she wanted.