Rhyannon Byrd - Waiting For It (17 page)

“Deal,” she said quickly, before she could change her mind.

“One of several,” he murmured, his eyes telling her he was talking about the other deal they had going,  and she was suddenly a little worried about what he’d find in there. Whatever it was, she had to do it,  according to their agreement, and that thought was as disturbing as it was exciting. The only thing that  kept her from opening her door and getting the hell out of there was the fact that she trusted Jake  implicitly.

Well, she trusted him with her body. Her heart was another matter altogether.

She watched him disappear into the modest looking storefront, and she couldn’t help but wonder at what he’d find inside. But since the front windows were tinted and she couldn’t see what was happening in there anyway, she took the opportunity to brush the tangles out of her hair and then flipped down the passenger’s side visor, hoping for a mirror to retouch her lip gloss.

The mirror was there, but all thoughts of make-up slipped from her mind as she stared into the reflective surface.

Her eyes opened wide, surprised to find that the overtly sexual, decadent reflection staring back at her was her own. She looked wild and wanton, like some fairy creature stolen from a primeval forest. For the first time in her entire life, she looked like one of the otherworldly beings she painted instead of the dowdy, demure painter who created them.

For the first time ever, she looked like a satisfied woman.

A woman who had been well-handled and fucked, wonderfully debauched, taken hard and long and rough in the steamy cab of Jake Farrell’s truck.

A woman who had been well and thoroughly loved.

The wild woman inside of her wanted to curve her lips in a victorious smile, stretch her glowing, lithe little body in a sinuous, sensuous arc against the seat, and bring the beautiful male animal inside that sex shop to his knees. She wanted to bathe in the hot, blazing flame of lust she knew would be smoldering in his green eyes. Wanted to gorge herself on it until it’d stretched her skin and she had to break away from the world or burst at the seams.

The wild woman wanted to be inside that shop with her man.

And suddenly Taylor realized she wanted the exact same thing. She was done hiding out in the truck like the “old” Taylor, willing to sit back and watch as life passed her by, while her man went to buy sex toys by himself.

Screw this.

She was woman enough to go wherever she damn well pleased. Even if it was a sex shop!

Screw being shy. Screw letting her man just walk away.

Fired with determination, her heart pounding in excitement, Taylor latched onto the door handle, ready to fling it open, when she caught sight of him.

She caught sight of Mitch.

Holy shit. He was standing on the opposite side of the street, wearing his sheriff’s uniform and aviator sunglasses, making it impossible to see his ice blue eyes behind the mirrored lenses. Still, his rigid posture and the hard set of his mouth told her exactly what he was thinking.

He’d seen who she was with and for some bizarre ass reason, he didn’t like it. All the lies he’d told came flooding back to her. All the pain caused by hearing him tell her how much Jake disliked her, the cruel things he’d made up, and for a split second she grabbed the door handle tighter, ready to jump out and slap his cocky face for all the malicious heartache he’d caused.

He hadn’t wanted her, but for some unfathomable reason, he hadn’t wanted Jake to have her either.  And now it was too late for any of them because she no longer trusted herself. All the years of pain and humiliation pressed down on her and it was almost like suffocating, feeling her throat close up, choking on regret.

She closed her eyes, feeling caught between her past and her future. On one side of the street was  Mitch, who’d systematically tried to dismantle her feelings of confidence and self-worth, while on the other side, buying God only knew what in the little upscale sex shop, was the only man who’d ever made her feel like a beautiful, desirable woman. The only man she’d ever loved. And because of the one, she was too afraid to take a chance on the other. Her heart clenched, already feeling the pain of when Jake would be gone. An empty ache that would grow over the years, worse now that she knew how incredible it felt to have him buried deep inside of her, a part of her, held against her heart.

This was so fucking unfair, and her hands shook in her lap as the rage poured up from inside of her.  Rage at Mitch for marrying her when he didn’t want her. Rage at herself for believing his lies. For marrying him when she didn’t love him. For never going after Jake when they were young and she still believed in happily ever afters and they might have had a chance.

The sound of the driver’s side door unlocking jolted her eyes open, and Mitch was gone. The sidewalk was empty. Her hands unclenched, smoothing over her thighs, and she forced a smile as she turned back to Jake. He climbed into the big truck, her breath catching like it always did with her first look at him, and hot tears were suddenly burning behind her eyes, threatening to spill over.

She held them back with the full force of her will, afraid that once they slipped free, she’d never be

able to stop them. Jake twisted to place a blue paper bag on the backseat and then turned back to her,

his eyes seeing past her false smile, straight into her soul.

He reached out, smoothing a strand of hair from her temple and tucking it behind her ear. “What happened, honey? You okay?”

She nodded her head, praying her voice wouldn’t tremble. “I’m fine, but do—do you think we could just grab some food and eat back at the hotel? I don’t really feel much like going out anymore.”

His green eyes showed his concern, and her heart twisted harder. Oh yeah, she definitely hated herself for not trusting this man with her heart. He’d offered her love and she’d rejected it. But no matter what was in that mysterious blue bag, she was going to trust him with her body. She owed him that much, after everything he’d admitted to her, even if she couldn’t really believe all of it. Hell, she owed him everything.

“Whatever you want, Taylor. You name it, honey, and it’s yours.” He stroked the outline of her lips  with one blunt fingertip, his eyes going dark and hungry with more than just sexual need. “Haven’t you  figured that out by now?”

She took a slow, deep breath, unwilling to admit anything of the sort. Instead, she whispered, “Thanks,

Jake,” and leaned over to give him a quick, chaste kiss on his cheek.

For a split second his mouth twisted with regret, as if he knew what was going through her head, and then he started the engine, pulling into the gentle flow of early evening traffic. Taylor laid her head back against the headrest, trying to ignore the truth she’d heard in his words and the way they knifed into her heart, determined to ignore the little voice inside her head telling her she was a fool and an idiot. Then Jake’s big hand reached into her lap, grabbing hold of her own, engulfing her with his size, yet holding her hand so gently, and she turned to look out her window into the safety of the night as those stupid tears began to fall.

Chapter 14

Something had happened, ruining the easy mood of the afternoon, and Jake was damned if he knew what it was. Taylor had cried all the way to the fast food joint, but by the time he’d asked what she wanted to eat, she’d gotten herself back under control and he pretended he hadn’t noticed she’d had hot tears spilling over her cheeks.

But their time was running out and he was done pretending. “Taylor, we need to talk.”

“No.”

He hated the cold, distant look falling over her face, like she was closing up on him, and a fresh surge of anger burned through him, powered by frustration and fear. She was shutting him out, not even giving him a chance, and he felt as if he were already losing her. His time was nearly gone, and the anger in his blood only made him that much more determined to break through to her in the only way

she seemed to understand. If she wouldn’t listen to his heart, then she was sure as hell going to get the

message from his body.

“You don’t want to talk? Fine,” he muttered, propping himself up on the bed pillows, watching her

rummage nervously through her suitcase, searching for God only knew what. “Take off the dress.”

She snorted, almost making him smile, but it was strained because he was nearing his limit. “Come on,  Taylor. You agreed to fuck me for forty-eight hours and we’re only halfway down. And I’ve been thinking about your sexy little body underneath all that soft cotton all damn day. Now drop the dress like I told you to do and let me see it.”

Her head shook in disbelief. “You like scrawny girls suddenly, Jake? Somehow I don’t think so. And we’ve already had sex today, twice this morning and then in your truck. There’s nothing under here you haven’t already seen.”

“This morning doesn’t count because we hadn’t even gotten dressed yet, and you weren’t naked in the

truck. I got to feel it, but I didn’t get to see it. And for your information,” he rumbled, “I like you!”

He was careful not to use the wrong “L” word and send her running. “I like your soft tits, and that heart shaped ass, and everything else from the top of your pretty little head down to those sexy little toes. And I especially like that sweet, fist-tight little cunt between your legs. I like the way it looks, the way it smells, the way it tastes and the way it feels wrapped around my cock. Now take off the dress,  Taylor, so I can see you before I come over there and rip the thing to shreds!”

“I never knew you could be such a bully,” she muttered, but he could see the need burning in those  sable-colored eyes, slowly overtaking the uncertainty. By the time he’d reacquainted himself with  every delicious inch of her, she’d never have any doubt how she affected him. And he’d happily fuck  her into conviction every single day and night for the rest of his life, if she’d only give him the chance  to prove himself.

She turned around, giving him her back, making him smile at her shyness. Making him look forward to ridding her of her stupid hang-ups. Who in the hell would want to grind against another woman when they could have Taylor, with her sexy as hell looks and soft, womanly body? She may not be stacked or built like a swimsuit model, but she was just what he wanted. He didn’t know why she was so insecure about her perfect little curves, but he was looking forward to showing her in dirty, explicit detail just how much he loved them.

The dress fell to the floor in a soundless heap, and he had to swallow over the lump of lust in his throat to see the naked line of her spine and that rosy ass barely covered in the sheer pair of nude panties she’d put on the minute they made it back to the room.

“Turn around,” he growled, sounding like a fucking animal. Any second now and he was gonna be all

over her.

She turned slowly, her arms crossed over her breasts, the soft, satiny mounds pressed up tight against her chest, and he nearly swallowed his tongue. Her belly was smooth perfection, her slim hips just right for a man to sink his fingers into and fuck his way to heaven. His eyes went lower, and there it was, the prettiest little cunt he’d ever seen, the demure lips just visible through the sheer panties that let him see

it all. He couldn’t wait to spread her open again and look his fill. He wanted to take a fucking  magnifying glass to her and study every delicious, precious inch of her pussy—to know it better than  the only other man who’d ever been lucky enough to get anywhere near it.

He wanted—no, needed—had to claim it for his own. Shit, it was only fair, considering his cock had belonged to her for years now. A lifetime, if he was completely honest. “Move your arms.”

She lowered them slowly, clasping them around her waist, which only pushed the sweet swell of her breasts higher. She had tiny, puffy pink nipples the same color as her lips and he loved them. Loved their texture and taste and the way they fit so delicately inside his mouth. “Now the panties. Walk to the end of the bed, take them off and hand them to me.”

She shook her head.

“You made a deal to do everything I said, Taylor. You backing out already?”

She moved forward, her breasts gently swaying, and his cock nearly broke through his fly then and there. Then she bent over, pulled down the insubstantial panties and tossed them onto his outstretched hand. His fingers closed around the damp fabric, making a fist. “You’re wet, Taylor, and I haven’t even touched you yet. Climb up here. Right on the end of the bed there.”

She started to sit down, and he growled, “No. I want you on your knees. Then spread your legs as wide as you can.”

“Why?” she asked uneasily, eyeing the blue bag on the nightstand out of the corner of her eye.

He didn’t even look her in the face, his eyes glued to her glistening pink folds. “‘Cause I wanna see your cunt again and you’re gonna show it to me. Right now.”

She laughed softly, thinking they both must be crazy. “Yeah? And what are you going to show me?”

Jake rose to his knees on the mattress in front of her in one fluid movement, somehow oddly graceful for a man of his size. His smile taunted her as his fingers began ripping at the buttons of his fly. “If you wanna see my cock, sweetheart, all you have to do is ask. Anytime. Anywhere.”