THE RIDE HOME was dark and much colder. I felt Diane shiver behind me and bury herself closer into my back. At least it wasn’t raining. Maybe she hadn’t jinxed us with her earlier words.
A single raindrop hit my visor when we turned onto the main road from the ferry. Unfortunately, all of its friends followed it. By the time we approached the darkened Greenbank Store, there was no denying it was more than a mist. Jinxed.
I pulled the bike off the road and we ran for the overhang of the store. Standing in the shadows next to the bagged ice freezer on the side of the building, I took off my helmet and brushed the rain from the back of my neck. Diane was dry on her front, but the back of her jacket appeared nearly soaked.
After she took off her helmet and set it on the ground, I gave her a stern look. “See what I mean about not talking about the weather? Around here it can rain when the sun’s out.”
Brushing the water off her jacket, she peered up at me with a sheepish smile. “Sorry. How long do you think we’ll have to wait it out?”
I left the dry safety of the overhang to stare up at the fast moving clouds swirling above us. “Hard to say. Might turn back to being a mist. Might not.”
“Can we ride home in the rain?” she asked, leaning against the wall. Her wet jeans clung to her legs and I found myself staring while she lifted one leg to brace it on the wall.
“Sure. Do we want to? Not really.”
“What should we do?”
I lifted my eyes to her face. Her eyes sparkled same as they did back in the bar. I swept my thumb across my lower lip and then ran it across my chin.
Since our hike at Deception Pass, I couldn’t stop thinking about kissing her. The day she received the letter from the asshole wasn’t the right time. Normally, I didn’t give this much thought to making a move. If I wanted to kiss a woman, I did. As long as she gave me the right signals. Maybe that was part of the problem with Diane. I didn’t know her signals. We flirted, we teased. I caught her staring, but it never moved from thoughts to action. My hand was getting tired of all the time I spent thinking.
There was a time and place for action.
That time and place was now.
“Store’s closed. Nothing to do but stand here and watch the rain fall.” I moved closer to her along the wall, my shoulder brushing hers when I mirrored her posture. My hand dropped between us and brushed against her leg, but I faced the line of water dripping from the roof gutter.
“Nothing?” she asked, her voice more of a whisper.
“Can’t think of anything,” I whispered back while I turned to gaze down at her. “You?”
I could see everything in her eyes. I wasn’t the only one thinking about kissing. When I entwined our fingers, her breath hitched. I broke eye contact and stared down at her mouth. Her lips parted and her tongue peeked out to wet the bottom one.
“John …” Her words faded away when I leaned down. My gaze flicked up to her eyes. Her nod answered my silent question.
Our lips met, soft and slow. So slow. The sound of the rain dripping from the roof and our heavy breaths broke the silence. She moaned and reached her hand behind my head, threading her fingers into my hair. I rolled my body until I pressed her into the wall. Even on her tiptoes, she was short. Too short. I cupped her thighs and tugged her to me.
Breaking the kiss I whispered next to her ear, “Lift your legs.”
She lifted and wrapped her legs around my hips. I easily held her weight with my arms.
“Much better.”
“Mmmm,” she murmured, rubbing her cheek and chin along my jaw. “Much.”
I didn’t answer because her lips crashed into mine again. Nothing slow or gentle this time. She leaned away from me and rested her shoulders against the wall, giving me access to her neck and chest. My hand dragged along her neck and collarbone before wandering down to the zipper of her jacket. Again I stared into her eyes to make sure she wanted to cross this line.
Without opening her eyes, she moved her hand down to cover mine and pressed. Message received.
Her skin beneath her jacket felt warm and dry, an oasis in the cold rain. I traced her breast through her shirt and watched as the skin below her collarbone broke into goose bumps.
“Cold?” I asked, stroking the back of my index finger along the curve at the top of her bra.
“Yes, but that’s not why I shivered. Keep going.”
Enough talking. My tongue found hers. All words and thoughts beyond her mouth and her body left my mind. Whatever blood rational thought required thickened in my cock. I thrust into her, grinding my erection along the denim covering her warmth.
Moans came from both our mouths when we tried to catch our breath.
Fuck.
Diane felt amazing. So amazing I was practically fucking her up against the Greenbank Store while the occasional car splashed down the road, the headlights throwing our shadows along the siding.
Realization hit me like cold rain water down my back. We were making out, dry-fucking against the wall of a store, only half-hidden by the freezer. Slowing down my kisses, I pulled away from her. My hand stayed over her heart and felt the racing beat matched my own. Blood thrummed in my dick to the point of pain. We needed to stop.
“Don’t,” she said when I moved my hands to her waist to shift her down.
“I could kiss you all night standing here, but we are in public. The road is right there and anyone driving by can see us.”
“I don’t care.”
I raised my eyebrow at her. In the dim glow of a beer sign in the window I could see her flushed face and her eyes wild.
“You want me to fuck you here?”
She blinked up at me as she slid down my body. I waited for her to find her footing before releasing my grip on her waist.
“You want to fuck me?” she asked, needing confirmation of what I’d said.
“Pretty obvious I do. Only not here.”
“Okay.” She tugged my hand while reaching down to pick up her helmet. “Let’s go.”
“You sure? It’s still raining.”
“I’m sure. And I’m also pretty certain if we don’t leave right this moment, you’ll switch back into nice guy John and change your mind.”
“Nice guy? No nice guys here.” I strapped on my helmet and zipped up her jacket, intentionally brushing across her nipple. “Let’s go.”
Despite the wet roads and the rain, or maybe because of them, we arrived back to my house in record time. The moment we got inside our mouths found each other again while hands grappled to remove jackets and feet tangled. Babe wove in between us, barking and jumping. I lost my balance first and pulled Diane down on top of me when I hit the ground.
“Umph,” I said when the wind was knocked out of me and my head bounced against the floor. My body had cushioned her fall and luckily she managed to avoid kneeing me in the groin on her way down.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Great. Just great. My plans to get you horizontal worked out exactly as I imagined.” I tugged her up my body so her torso lay across mine. “See? Perfect.” My lips trailed along her jaw and she squirmed.
“Your beard tickles.”
“Sorry about that. Want me to stop and go shave?”
“Never. Every time it brushes against my skin I think of how it would feel other places.”
“Other places?” I nipped at the skin behind her ear, which caused her legs to contract around mine.
“Everywhere. I want to feel it everywhere.”
With those words I rolled us over and pinned her arms above her head.
“I love it when you tell me what you want.” I stared into her eyes before I lowered my face to the top button of her shirt. My nose ran up to the place where her shoulder met her neck and I inhaled her scent. A musk mixed with her usual citrus scent drove me wild.
Babe whined and scratched at the door.
“You need to take care of him?” She gazed up at me and smiled.
“Damn dog. First, he’s the best wingman ever and puts us in the exact position I’ve been thinking about the whole drive home. Now he’s cockblocking me.”
“No cockblocking here. Only a small delay. Point me in the direction of your room and I’ll meet you up there.”
My eyes snapped to hers. There was no doubt or hesitation in hers, and there sure as hell wasn’t in mine.
“Door at the end of the hall, bathroom on the left.” I reluctantly lifted myself off of her. She took my offered hand and pulled herself up to standing.
Her hands found the buttons of her shirt and she slowly undid the first few, never breaking eye contact with me. “You going to stand there and stare, or take care of Babe so we can get back to what we were doing?”
She didn’t need to ask me twice. I raced across the room and opened the door before her shirt hit the ground and her feet pounded up the stairs.
Damn.
A few minutes later, I bounded up the stairs, stripping off both of my shirts and leaving a trail behind me in the hall. The door to my room stood open, but the lights were off. When I entered, my eyes focused on the bed. Diane laid across the comforter, on her stomach, her knees bent with her feet in the air. She’d stripped down to her pale purple underwear.
“Took you long enough,” she said, crooking her finger and motioning for me to come closer. She didn’t have to ask twice.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” My eyes adjusted to the dim light enough to follow the curve of her legs over the swell of her ass and around to her full breasts spilling out of her bra. Meeting her stare, I undid the button of my jeans and lowered them down my thighs. My boxers couldn’t contain my hard-on, which tented out toward her. Her lips quirked into the same lustful smirk from earlier in the day.
“Come here,” she said, shifting her body closer to me. When my knees hit the edge of the bed, she reached for me, grasping my cock firmly in her hand.
I moaned like a teenage boy about to get a hand job. Not knocking hand jobs, but tonight I wanted more.
“Everything about you is big,” she said more to my cock than me.
“I’m in proportion.”
“Yes, yes you are.” She licked her lips when she released me from my boxers. “Yes you are.”
With a quick flick of her eyes to mine, her warm mouth engulfed me. Fuck. I would never get tired of this feeling of warm, wet suction. To stabilize myself, I placed my hand on her head but didn’t direct. As much as I wanted to thrust, I held back.
I wove my fingers into her tangled, windswept brown waves and gently guided her into a rhythm. She was a quick learner. Her teeth only pushed me closer to the edge. I tightened my grip in her hair, but didn’t pull. The nerves at the base of my spine fired as heat moved down my body. Everything tensed and tightened while I fought the pull between pleasure and release.
Sensing my struggle, she slowly dragged her mouth to the tip and waited.
“Your mouth is fucking unbelievable.” I met her eyes. “But you better stop because I have other things in mind for you tonight.”
A final swirl of her tongue and her mouth left my tip. Her hand still kept a steady hold at the base, giving me the occasional squeeze.
“Oh do you?” Her smile was anything but innocent.
“You don’t even know.” I stepped back and her hand slipped away. “More than standing here with my jeans around my thighs and my boots still on.”
She laughed. “I guess you need to take care of that.”
Boots, socks, jeans, and boxers fell into a pile at the foot of the bed. The only clothing left between us were a few scraps of lace.
In a swift motion, I lifted her up and flipped her on to her back, her head resting in the pillows. She gasped and smiled. She didn’t expect that, but she liked it.
I trailed my hand down from her round breasts to the top of the purple lace at the juncture of her thighs. Her legs spread open for me.
“Patience,” I said, my tone stern.
She closed her eyes, a smile toying at the edge of her lips.
My eyes shadowed my hands when they moved around her body, watching for her reactions. When she sighed, I took note. When she moaned, I memorized the place. When her skin pebbled, I wanted more. Kneeling over her, I slipped my hand under the lace and pushed down the bra to play with the soft flesh of her tits. I needed to put my mouth on her.
My arm snaked underneath her back to undo the clasp, and the bra joined the pile of my clothes on the floor.
I kissed her again and my hand continued to explore her body while I took her hands in my other hand and pushed them above her head.
“Hold on to the headboard,” I told her. She didn’t even open her eyes to question me, but grabbed the wood in silent compliance. “Good.”
Shifting again, I laid down alongside her body. My beard brushed against her neck when I kissed, licked, and nibbled my way south. She squirmed when the rough texture hit a sensitive place. Rough, wet, soft—each texture produced a reaction on her skin. Cool, pale flesh heated and turned rosy with each pass of my lips and scruff.
Not remaining idle, my hands pinched and tugged her nipples.
“More,” she said, nothing more than a whispered moan.
“Mmm … not yet,” I answered, nipping at her pink bud.
Following the path burned by my hand, my mouth lowered down her body until it reached the last of the lace. Her legs opened further when I nudged her with my nose. I inhaled deeply before skipping over her heat. Down her left thigh and back up, I moved over to her right leg, dragging my beard lightly across her skin.
“Gah,” she said. “You’re torturing me.”
“Am I?” I smiled into the lace. I wouldn’t admit it, but torture was exactly what I was doing. To both of us.
“John Day, if you don’t stop …”
I cut off her words with a small bite to her hip.
“I’ll …”
Another nip to the other hip caused her to pause. When I exhaled over her heat and met her eyes, she clamped her mouth shut and her eyes rolled back in her head.
“Aha. That’s how I get you to stop talking,” I said while tugging on the sides of her underwear. Her ass lifted off the bed, and with a final pull, she was naked. And fucking gorgeous. I stopped my actions to take in her body. My stillness caused Diane to open her eyes.
“What?” she asked, her brows pulling together in concern. She lifted up on her elbows. “What’s wrong?”
“Absofuckinglutely nothing.” I grinned at her and leaned over to kiss her. “Nothing. You’re beautiful.”
We kissed and slid our bodies together while we tumbled around on the bed. Lifting her leg, I flipped her over and she straddled me, never losing contact with her mouth.
“I want to taste you,” I said, sharing our breaths. I lifted our entwined fingers over my head and put her hands on the headboard behind me. My hands wrapped around her thighs and I showed her where I wanted her. Once she situated herself above me, I was in heaven.
Each pulse, twitch, and contraction I felt with my tongue when she moved over me. All of my senses were consumed by her, only her.
Her body told me when she started to climb. I let it lead me, teaching me what to do and when to extend her pleasure until she stilled and moaned. Easing back, I kept contact until she quivered and collapsed next to me.
I wiped a hand across my beard, feeling the well earned wetness. Damn. I could do that all day. Maybe she’d let me.
When I rolled onto my side facing her, she opened one eye to peek at me before leaning up to kiss me.
“You’re soaked,” she said, embarrassment tingeing her words. When she pulled back, I wrapped my arm around her.
“You’re not going anywhere. Nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. You don’t know how much that turns me on. The sounds you made, the way your body responded to me. Nothing is more sexy.”
“Really?”
“Honest truth. I don’t think we’re done here.” I rolled us over toward my nightstand to grab a condom before settling over her.
When I pushed, she opened. When I retreated, she tightened. We found our rhythm and increased the tempo. Each movement brought us closer.
My mouth couldn’t get enough of her lips, her neck, or her tits. I hitched her leg higher, going deeper, wanting more until the warmth returned and the tightness warned me I was at the point of no return.
“I’m close,” I warned. She kissed me harder, her hands on my ass, guiding me.
A few erratic thrusts and I came, pulsing inside her.
My vision narrowed from the overwhelming sensation and I closed my eyes, drawing out every second.
When I opened my eyes again, her eyes were the first things to come into focus.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “You okay?”
“Better than okay. Best.”
“Best what?”
“Best as in beyond better than okay.”
I chuckled and shifted, separating my body from hers.
Her head lolled on the pillow but her heavy, hooded eyes followed me when I stood up.
“You’ve ruined me forever for clean-shaven men, John Day.”
“Damn straight.” I leaned over and kissed her forehead.
Her eyes closed completely. “Damn bearded lumberjack,” she said, fading into a mumble of words as she fell asleep.
I stood there and gazed down at her body. When I woke up that day, I hadn’t planned on having sex with Diane. Now that I had, I didn’t plan to stop.