Shine (Kentucky Outlaw Book 1) (20 page)

After dinner Ethan offered to clean up the dishes while Julie took a turn in the shower.
 
He put fresh sheets on his bed, then made up the couch in the living room.
 
She didn’t have anything to change into, so he laid out some of his old clothes on the bed, then went back downstairs, poured himself a glass of moonshine and sat at the table watching the sky turn a brilliant pink through the kitchen window.

It was almost completely dark outside when Julie came down.
 
She was wearing his Remington High School t-shirt, and her hair was wet.
 
He couldn’t help but notice how fantastic her legs looked in his old shorts.

“Thanks for letting me borrow these,” she said sitting down.
 
He poured her a glass and she said, “More of Dalton’s finest?
 
Think I’ll be a little more careful with it tonight than I was yesterday.”

“Probably a good idea.”

They each took a sip, both of them enjoying the silence.
 
The last couple of days had taken a toll on them, and even though solving Nick’s murder seemed a long way off, the small break was very welcome.
 
Ethan studied his glass, the amber liquid inside and pondered everything it represented.
 
When he glanced up, Julie was looking at him.
 
It was dark in the unlit kitchen, but her blue eyes pierced through the gloom.

“Have you decided what you’re going to do now?” she asked.

“I don’t know.
 
Thought maybe I’d just hand over whatever money I get from the run tomorrow night and take off.
 
They’ll have the start up they need and I’ll still have my freedom.”

The smile dropped from her face.
 
She gulped the last of her whiskey and said, “Nothing better than freedom.
 
I’m going to bed.”

Without saying goodnight, she headed back up the stairs.
 
Ethan heard the bedroom door shut and wondered what the hell had just gone wrong.
 
He played their conversation back in his head.
 
He was talking about leaving and she had gotten angry.
 
Did she want him to stay?
 
Did the last few days mean as much to her as they did him?

He finished off his glass and lay down on the couch. He lay in the dark, wondering if he should go through with something.
 
He wanted to very badly, but there was something stopping him.
 
He thought of Carol Lynn for a minute, of lying in the dark with her.
 
It had felt good, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of the last couple of days with Julie.
 
Could he have a future with her?
 
He’d been telling himself they were from very different worlds, but now he wasn’t so sure.
 
They both had family issues, had unfair expectations placed on them, and they were both on the run from something.

Without even realizing what he was doing, Ethan found himself at the top of the stairs and lightly knocking on the bedroom door.
 
Julie opened, still looking pissed off, but he grabbed her and kissed her fully, without hesitation.
 
Ethan ran his hands through her still damp hair as she wrapped her arms around him.
 
She was pressed tight against him, and he could feel her breasts through the thin t-shirt against his chest, while her thigh pressed tightly inside his leg.

Their tongues explored each other’s mouths.
 
He felt her nails dig into his back when he kissed down her neck to her shoulder.
 
She whispered his name in his ear so quietly he barely heard it, but he loved the sound of his name on her lips.
 

They broke apart and looked at each other.
 
“I need you,” he said.

“You got me,” she whispered.

They fell onto the bed, hands moving over each other, hungrily exploring each other, as if they only had a limited amount of time. Her hands ran down his chest and under his shirt, tugging at the hem until he helped her peel it off.
 
Her fingers traced up the length of his arms, feeling his muscles, and the strength they represented.
 
He kissed her neck and shivers ran up her back.
 
She couldn’t get enough of his lips on her.
 

He hooked a finger in the waistband of her shorts and started to tug them down, but she put a hand out.
 
She couldn’t believe she was stopping him, she wanted him so badly and was ready, but she needed to know something first.

“Is this moving too fast?” he asked.

“No,” she said.
 
“Just tell me this is the start of something for us.
 
Just tell me this isn’t something that’s only going to last the night.
 
That you’re not going to leave when all this is done with.”

He kissed her again and said, “The entire time I was out on the road I was searching for a place I could finally feel like I belonged.”
 
His hand ran up her thigh and her breathing quickened.
 
“I figured out it wasn’t a place I was looking for, it was a person I needed.
 
I really hope you want me, because I’m here to stay.”
 

It was all she needed to hear.
 
Julie climbed on top of him and pulled her own shirt over her head.
 
Ethan was everything to her.
 
The rest of the world might as well disappear outside the bedroom door.
 
He consumed every part of her, fanning the flames she held in her chest.
 
The way she felt was almost maddening, she couldn’t squeeze him tight enough.
 
She needed to be one with him.

While she grinded herself against him, Julie could feel Ethan’s erection and knowing that she was responsible for making him that hard made her want him more.
 
She wrapped her arms around him and pressed against his hard member, moving in a circular motion and driving him crazy.
 
He bent her backward, kissing down her stomach.
 
He laid her down on the bed and positioned himself at her entrance.
 
Ethan held her wrists together above her head with one hand.
 
Julie was consumed with her desire for Ethan.
 
It was a feeling she’d never experienced before, the total need for another person.
 
There was no doubt in his mind now that he was the one he’d been waiting for, that she’d been waiting for.
 

He pulled down her shorts with his free hand and she immediately pulled his pants down and off.
 
Their legs intertwined, their arms wrapped tightly around each other, they were addicts for each other, each needing the other more than oxygen.
 
As they reached their boiling point, he joined with her, sliding in easily.
   

Julie felt full, whole, and complete as Their rhythms become one even as their hands continued to explore each other.
 
She dug her nails into his back and kissed him hard, her tongue inside his mouth as Ethan pulled her harder onto him.
 

Once they were too close to hold back she cried out his name, pushing him over the edge.
 
He exploded inside of her as she simultaneously reached her own intense climax. Her nails dug harder into his back and they continued kissing long after their orgasms had subsided.
 

When they did finally break free from each other, they fell next to each other, exhausted.
 
They lay in a tangled mess around each other, the sheets strewn in a nest about them.
 
Ethan wrapped his arms around Julia and held her tight. Now that she had him she wasn’t letting go.
 

She pressed her naked body against his.
 
“Tell me something.”

“What do you want to know?” he asked.

“Anything.
 
I want to know everything about you.”

“I was born in Remington, Kentucky twenty-five years ago to Zeke and Marianne Dalton. “

She shoved a pillow in his face and said, “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” he said, “and it feels great that you want to know about me.
 
No one’s ever cared enough to ask.”

“No one?”

“My friend Carol Lynn almost did, but even she wasn’t someone I felt completely comfortable opening up to.”

“Carol Lynn?
 
Do I have competition?”

“Jealous?” he asked, teasing her.
   

“Is that a bad thing?” she said.

“No, it’s a good thing,” he said and kissed her.
 
“But don’t worry.
 
She’s a friend, but it’s nothing like what we have.”

“We’ve been through a lot these last couple of days.”

“We have, but it’s more than that.
 
It’s tough to explain, but I realized something recently.
 
I left years ago because of a lot of reasons.
 
The pressure from my family was one, but it was mainly because I was searching for something.
 
I didn’t know what, all I knew was I’d spent over twenty years in Remington and I had never found it, so I needed to see what was out there.”

“What did you find out there?” she asked, running a finger down his neck and across his chest.

He closed his eyes while he thought about her question.
 
“I made some friends, I pissed some people off.
 
Sometimes they were the same people.
 
I worked some jobs and lived in some places.
 
I was just trying to work a job and keep to myself for the most part.”

“You were trying to disappear,”

“Hm?”

“When I was about thirteen I went through an awkward phase.
 
My arms were suddenly too long for my body, I tripped all the time, and it seemed like my face was put together from spare parts that never fit right.”

“That didn’t last very long,” Ethan said, kissing her again.

“Thank you,” she said and kissed him back, “but I didn’t know that.
 
I thought I was the reverse ugly duckling, a cute kid that was turning grotesque.
 
I just wanted to disappear, turn invisible, and go through life that way.
 
You know, go to school, watch movies, all the stuff I normally did, but I didn’t want anyone to see me.”

“I think you’re right.
 
I disappeared from everyone who knew me, including Nick.
 
I told you we stopped being friends because he changed, but I wanted out too.
 
I was done with everyone here and it was just easier to leave than try to make life work out for me in Remington.”

“You make me feel safe,” she said.
 
“Nothing can hurt me when we’re together.
 
I want to lie naked with you, smell you, feel you, and know that I’m safe.”

“You’ll always be safe with me.”

Julie climbed on top Ethan, her legs settling outside of his thighs.
 
She put her hands on his chest and held herself there.
 
She had seen him naked earlier, but she’d been so consumed with what was happening that she hadn’t really been paying attention.
 
Now she could see him fully in the dim lamplight of the bedroom. His chest with jus the right amount of fuzz, his hard stomach, and biceps, and his penis was starting to harden again for her.
 

This time they took things much more slowly.
 
Julie rocked on top of him, moving her hips in a clockwise motion.
 
With one hand on his chest she slipped her other against his jaw, never breaking eye contact with him.
 
Even when their union brought them both to a slow, intense orgasm, she held his eyes and they came together.

Ethan reached up and flicked off the light as Julie laid down next to him again.
 
She said, “That first time was for me.
 
This time was for you.
 
There’s a sadness in you and I’m not egotistical enough to think that two rounds of intense and passionate sex with me is enough to drive it away, but I want you to know that I’m here for you.”

He ran his hand up her back as he said, “Don’t sell yourself short, you were working some magic there.”
 
She laughed and slapped his arm.
 
“But you’re right.
 
There is sadness in me, a darkness that I tried to run from but I couldn’t.
 
Right here, for the first time I’m seeing a light at the end of that darkness.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she said.

“Just being here is enough.
 
You’re enough to lead me away from the darkness.
 
Other times, you know with other women,” he said, somewhat embarrassed, “my first thought after being with them was how to get away, but you,” he paused for a moment, “I want to hear your voice just before I fall asleep.”