Liabilities (17 page)

“We can’t stay.” I pleaded.

“I’m not going,” she said firmly and stood. “I’ll lie down. We can leave in an hour or so.”

Understanding her shame, I thought I could give her that time. Most would still be out talking about the fire. There was no way we wouldn’t run into someone even if we took the back way. Many used those routes to head to their respective homes.

“Fine, but you should pack first.”

It was odd to get that
are you crazy
look from only one side of her face, but I understood.

“And,” she gestured to the clothes she wore. “This outfit is probably all the rage in the city.”

She had a point. “You’re right. I have extra clothes, and we can buy you some once we get there.”

“
Fine.
I’m going to lie down.”

I watched her retreat to her bedroom.

Self-preservation was high on my “to do” list. I found a skinning knife in the kitchen, and I lay down on what could be called the sofa. I’d already started a fire after bringing in more wood from outside. Just like my father said, it would rain. And rain hard it would. Just in the off chance we stayed here tonight, which wasn’t happening. I wanted to be prepared.

All preparations made, I thought I had a little over a half an hour left to my agreed time to sit and figure out what I was going to do.

Both men were men any woman would desire. Handsome and sensual, even though they were different, they possessed some of the same qualities.

My love for Turner had stood the test of time. He was solid, and I could trust he’d never do anything to break my heart.

Everything with Kalen was new and exciting. It was akin to the budding of first love. It held mysteries still left to unravel.

When my eyes closed for only a second, I held the knife at the ready under the pillow I’d brought in from the room I’d been using. I thought I might know what I was going to do.

With the thundering boom of lighting and assaulting rain, the door opened, letting a fierce wind in. A sloshing mass of a wet man stepped through the door and woke me up. Before the door closed on the man, I saw the pitch blackness behind him.  I sat up and looked to my right to see the lump of my sister through her open bedroom door unmoved by the noise.

The figure headed in her direction, and my grip on the knife was true. He looked in the room before shutting the door. When he turned to look at me with dark intense eyes, I knew my sister was fine but I was in danger.

He stomped forward, the storm masking the noise of his footsteps. I rose, unwilling to be in a defenseless position when he faced me not a foot away.

His beautiful face was plastered with wet hair. I was unable to stop my hand from pushing the limp strands from his face when he reached me. My hand cupped his cheek. Without words, my expression as seen through his eyes in the dancing light of the fire was sympathetic. He leaned into my touch.

This man let everything pour out. In a helpless way he begged me silently to choose him. It broke the wall I’d erected around my emotions and carefully hidden heart.

Sopping wet, I couldn’t be sure. But something said the rain that dripped down his face was mixed with tears. I stepped into him slowly. When we were flush, I stood on my toes and kissed first one cheek then the other. I tasted the unmistakably saltiness of tears. Mine fell in equal measure when I pressed my lips to his. My hands on either side of his face drew him closer. It didn’t matter that his wet clothes seeped and dampened mine.

My fingers moved from his face down the hard plains of his chest and down to top of his pants. I tugged the offending article of clothing free of them. Droplets of water sprung out, and I managed with his help to get his shirt over his head.

His hands reached around my neck and undid the tie. He parted the fabric, separating it to my shoulders freeing my arms. I stood exposed in my bra from the waist up as my skirt clung obstinately to my hips.

During my turn, even as close as we were, I managed to undo the front flat of his pants. With one good push, they fell with the speed of gravity to hit the floor creating a puddle of fabric and water. At the same time he sprung free giving little doubt to his intentions and mine.

His hand reached back up to my neck and his fingertips glided down the center of my back after he popped the clasp on my bra. Letting my arms loose, it fell to my feet. I shivered as much from his cool and damp fingers as the touch itself. He pushed my dress and my underwear down as one. It hit the floor without the splash.

As a unit we took two steps back out from the clothing that had confined us moments before. His lips touched mine for the first time as our bodied melded together, and he continued to dance us back to step on the rug in front of the fire.

My hands went to his shoulders and pressed down letting him know my objective. He surprised me by lifting me up. Hands urged my legs to wrap around his waist. I did just that, trapping his rock solid cock against my core to make exquisite pressure. It felt like in “T minus Ten” I would have lift off. Too much sexual tension had been building. We didn’t end up against the wall much to my dismay. Instead, he knelt with me still wrapped around him.

When my back met the rough tread of the rug, I barely registered it. My arms wove around his neck drawing him in for a real kiss, the prelude to everything to come. He kissed me in a way that made my legs relax giving him room to shove himself in me in the most delicious way.

He, however, had different ideas. He trailed a dotted line of hot kisses to my collarbone only to continue to a breast. He suckled it making my back arch off the floor. He paid homage to the other one eliciting the same response. When his hands trailed down my sides along with more kissing and licking, I squirmed with the penetrating sensations.

Pay dirt happened when he played tic-tac-toe down the center of my body. First was the capturing of my clit with his lips and a gentle nip with his teeth. Then his tongue thrust inside me, making me rise up on my elbows to look down at him. When his tongue flicked a little lower, my head fell back nearly cracking the floor. His fingers moved inside my core while his tongue continued to tease an area I wasn’t sure I’d make available to anyone else. I couldn’t think very well past the pleasure.

His thumb teased that entrance, and my body grew wetter still. His tongue moved back as if eager to lap up all I had to offer. Just when I was about to call out and beg him to fill me with his length, I moaned out my orgasm. His fingers worked me in and out heightening my pleasure.

When I could no longer hold myself up to watch this magnificent man’s magic, he rose up. Muscles cording with his movement as he crawled to place his diamond shaft at my opening. Slowly he pushed inside me.

My cry was stifled by his kiss. Thankfully, the storm outside continued to rage on and provide the cover we needed. But neither one of us seemed to care that my sister could walk in on us.

I tasted my orgasm on his tongue and that strangely wound me up again. I rocked my hips urging him forward, but he took his time. His eyes were tightly closed. Our kissing stopped as he seemed to be memorizing every inch of my insides.

There was a bit of a pain when the tip of him hit the back end of me. He pulled back, not as slow, but not fast either, before he moved back in. It was like he was being careful, but I didn’t want or need that. I bucked my hips a couple of times before his eyes opened wide and he began moving in earnest. Rolling his hips, he dragged the tip of himself against something deep inside that made me thrash with pleasure.

Although his pace had picked up, I was in need of something fast and hard. I met his thrust trying to force his pace when he finally broke and gave me what I wanted. He stroked me with purpose, hard and deep, hard and deep, his eyes colored in the amber light from the fire that danced along beside us. I came again, and it seemed to last a lifetime. Just when the waves that crested over me began to subside, he came in a guttural trust.

When he went limp on top of me, it was only a moment before he rolled so we lay side by side. Still inside me, he kissed me with a sweetness that didn’t match the furious love making seconds before. In his arms, I found peace enough to fall asleep.

When I woke, he was on his back. I was tucked in on the side of him. We were still naked and the fire had burned down to nearly embers. It was getting chilly. I got up to get a blanket from the room. I put on his shirt not wanting to walk around naked, and I needed to check on my sister. I draped the blanket over him before heading towards her room.

She was still asleep. I had no idea if she’d woken in the night and found us. One thing was sure, Mike hadn’t come. I felt okay thinking that they’d probably found him and locked him up as promised.

So I crept back into the room and stared down at the man who had loved me in ways I would never forget that night.  I took off his shirt, which was still damp. I put back on my bra and panties, then my dress. I put another log on the fire and added more kindling.

Then I picked up his clothes and draped them over the side of a chair near the fire to dry out. He still lay sleeping.

I walked out the back. The rain had ended sometime in the night. It was a bit chilly out, but the cold was the reality I needed. The rain burned off any heat from the past day. The sun was just making an appearance on the horizon. I thought about the man inside and my tears burned hot paths down my face. I also cried for the other man I loved who would never forgive when he found out. I knew what I had done. I wanted so badly to stay in this moment and not face the music.

Tears couldn’t cover that I’d done the only thing I could do. The need he’d come to me with was one I had to answer. And any choice I made would have killed me, so I let him make the choice for me. I had to hope I’d be able to live with that decision. There was no forgiveness for this transgression.

I stood and walked forward as the gentle breeze moved the cornfield to sway as if in a dance. The sounds that played through the stalks were its own melody. It sang of love and loss, no right or wrong.

When the rays of the day fully emerged from its slumbering across the fields, I turned to go face the song of betrayal that awaited me.

A swishing sound had me looking back.

Everything was wet. The rain had come before we’d made it back. My knuckles burned from the wallop I’d given that Mike dolt. The laddie, Turner, ended up agreeing with me on this one. The Brewsters didn’t even try to help the wanker when we dragged him back. The scunner was limping because Turner had given him a well-placed kick when he moved to blindside me.

I’d owe the lad one for that.

After we caged up Mike in a makeshift cell with actual metal bars, I found myself impressed.

Turner grinned. “I know you thought we were backwoods folks, but we’re always thinking ahead.”

I didn’t bother to tell him my own origins were much more like what they had here. We may have had electricity and indoor plumbing, but they had more than what I had with food and family.

“I’m a little surprised,” I said.  “You don’t have a police force but you have a jail.”

He sighed. “We get all kinds. People want to know about us or hide here. And I suspected Mike was hiding here. I knew something was off about the guy. I’m going to have them relook into Mr. Fisher’s death. The guy may have been old, but he was strong. I’d always assumed he’d outlive me.”

The way the guy had bruised his wife and most likely been the one to start the fire, I drew the same conclusion. I nodded my agreement.

Turner continued “And some people get out of hand. The jail isn’t used often. Still, it’s important to have.”

I gave him another quick nod. I didn’t want to like this guy. Bailey still hadn’t made her choice between us. He was my competition to her heart, not a friend. As it was I was giving him the benefit of the doubt that he hadn’t touched her even though I’d witnessed his possessiveness that first night.

Once we made it back to his house, we found it was dark. We were both wet and confused.

“Weren’t they supposed to be here?” I asked him.

My memory of the events at the jail with Turner broke off, bringing me back to the present, as I opened the door to Violet’s house. It too looked almost dark, although I could see the low-burning fire inside the hearth.

Turner had assured me that the girls were coming back to his house. He may have been my competition, but I hadn’t read the guy as a liar.

The door seemed to have its own mind when it broke free of my hand, and it banged open when I stepped inside. Then I saw the figure lying down.

Before I approached, I caught sight of one empty room on the right before heading to the other on the left. Bailey’s sister Violet was still asleep. I could just make out the rising and falling of her chest. I let the door close behind me before I moved back to the figure.

Once I was close, I announced in a volume to wake the dead, “Where is she?”

Turner rolled over, and I caught site of bare shoulder. “Huh,” he said and wiped his eyes like his vision needed clearing.