Not Going Anywhere
Emrys
I hadn’t slept well the night before.
It was crazy how quickly I’d gotten used to the warm press of Sutton’s body next to mine in the dark. I loved the way he threw one long leg over mine and pinned me with his weight. I craved the way his arm laid heavily across my chest, holding me in place and locking me in position. For someone who never felt anchored to anything substantial, having Sutton Warner doing his damn best to make sure I was exactly where he wanted me when he woke up in the morning was some heavy stuff. For someone who never wanted to be tied down or attached to another person, I was far too eager to let him keep me in one place. Without him there, I tossed and turned, fitful and restless. When he was still gone this morning with no update from Cyrus, I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin.
After the fourth time Daye griped at me for not focusing on the book I was reading to her, and the third time Leo told me there was no new information, and the second time Brynn chased me out of the kitchen, I busied myself by emptying out my suitcase and washing my limited wardrobe. I picked up all the stuff I’d left scattered around my borrowed room so that it was close to spotless. I even made it through a stilted conversation with my mother. The time was coming where I was going to have to come clean about all the things I’d been running from for so long. My parents deserved to know that I’d taken a hit but had bounced back. They needed to know where my scars came from and the story behind them. I wanted my dad to know I’d put up a good fight just like he taught me.
When there was nothing left to clean, or fold, or put away, I decided to take a shower in the hopes that the hot water would relax some of the tension that was making my neck ache and giving me a low-grade headache. Really, I was running out of ways to kill time until we got word on what was happening with Sutton. The shower was my last resort to keep myself occupied so I didn’t climb the walls or take off half-cocked into town to get answers from that sheriff face to face.
I was lifting my hands to slick my wet, heavy hair off my face when I heard the bathroom door open with a faint creak. I lifted a hand to wipe at the steam collected on the glass to see who was there but never managed to lay a hand on the smooth surface. The door to the small enclosure was yanked open with so much force I was surprised it didn’t go flying off the hinges. Between one breath and the next, I was crowded up against the cool, tiled wall with nowhere to go because there was over six feet of fully clothed, soaking wet cowboy in front of me. Sutton’s big body was practically vibrating with emotion, and at first, I thought it was relief at being back home that made him so eager he couldn’t even bother to take his boots off before coming to me. All it took was one look into those ever-changing green eyes to know he was feeling something a whole lot more volatile than relief.
His jaw was locked. His teeth clenched. His skin had a furious flush and there were angry, white lines fanning out from the corners of his narrowed eyes. His blond hair was the color of wheat as the water from the showerhead plastered it to his furrowed forehead. Before I could ask what was wrong, one of his hands wrapped around my jaw. He tilted my head back against the wall and pressed into me so the soaked fabric of the button-up shirt he’d worn to the funeral clung to my skin. The drenched denim that gripped his powerful thighs was rough against my own as he pressed one of his legs between mine.
I was so stunned by his sudden appearance and by the stark, bleak look on his handsome face that the only words I could manage were obvious and ridiculous. “You’re getting your boots all wet, cowboy.”
His thumb dragged roughly across my lower lip and his other hand caught both of my wrists in an unrelenting hold as he lifted my arms up over my head. We were pressed so close together that the water falling over us barely had enough room to squeeze between our bodies.
“Don’t go, Em.” His words were ragged and uneven. Each one sounded like it had been pulled loose from the very bottom of his soul. His eyelashes were spiked from the water as they lowered over his pleading gaze. “When I asked you to go, you listened. I’m hoping to God you’ll do the same thing now that I’m begging you to stay. I know I haven’t given you a reason to stick around, but I’m asking you to anyway.” The hand that was cradling my jaw dropped to my throat and I felt his hold tighten as his thumb chased after my erratically beating pulse. “Give me a chance to give you more than one reason not to leave me.” His forehead dropped so it was touching mine. His lips ghosted over the part between mine where his name escaped on a sigh. His words stole my breath and froze me as other places lower in my body started to heat up and tighten with anticipation. He looked good all wet and slightly unhinged. It suited the wildness in him and sparked a slow burn deep within me that I had no desire to repress. Instead, I enjoyed the way it spread throughout my limbs as I was held captive against him. I wasn’t going anywhere unless he released me.
“I didn’t give a single shit when Rodie hauled me in yesterday. It didn’t faze me at all to tell this town to go to hell for what they were saying about me and what they’ve always said about Alexa. I would gladly walk in front of any gun pointed in your direction without a second thought, but when I walked in this room and saw your suitcase on the bed, when I noticed that all your stuff was packed up, my heart dropped. It hit the ground so hard it isn’t red anymore, it’s black and blue. It’s bruised so bad I’m not even sure how it’s still beating.”
He caught my gasp in a kiss that stung. His lips were savage on mine, his tongue brutal when he forced his way inside so he could coax out the response he was so desperate to hear. His hand slid down the column of my throat and spread wide across my chest. His palm stopped to rest over my thundering heart. He released my mouth on a moan and kissed his way across my cheek until his lips touched my ear. His scruff scraped across my skin as his tongue flicked along the sensitive curve where he whispered, “Your heart’s bruised, too, Em. It’s sore and tired of being kicked around. Give me a shot to take care of it. I’ll do my best to trust you with the pieces of mine you’ve been collecting from the start. You found them, it’s only fair you keep them.”
I wanted to touch him. I needed to smooth out the frown lines on his forehead and I wanted to feather my fingers over those concerned grooves next to his beautiful eyes. I tried tugging my hands-free but he wouldn’t relent. The only way I could get him closer was by wrapping a leg around his hip and pressing my pelvis into his. His wet jeans were heavy and cumbersome where they stretched over the growing bulge in the front. I rocked my hips against him, seeking friction to sooth the growing ache between my legs.
I leaned forward so I could touch my mouth to his, my kiss calming and consoling in comparison. “I’m not going anywhere, Sutton.” Not even if he changed his mind and asked me to. I was done letting him chase me off. I would much rather chase after him. “I was going stir crazy waiting to hear what was happening with you and driving everyone else in the house nuts, so I cleaned up the room. I had my suitcase out so I could do laundry and I put everything away.” His hand was back on my throat, his thumb sliding sexily along the edge of my jaw. “The only place I’m interested in being is right next to you.”
He stepped farther into me, his boots making a squishing sound as he moved. I lifted my other leg up around his waist so our lower bodies were pressed tightly together. He finally let go of my hands so he could support my weight with one of his hands grabbing onto my butt. I used my freedom to yank on his shirt. The pearl snaps popped with a satisfying sound and when the wet material split, revealing his chiseled chest, I let out a sigh of appreciation.
His mouth touched mine in a biting kiss. Quietly, he muttered, “I was coming up here to ask you to leave again. I told myself it was better if you were gone because things are getting really messy and I’m scared out of my ever-loving mind I won’t be able to keep you safe. As soon as I realized this might actually be the last time I ever saw you, everything inside of me felt like it stopped working. I thought I was broken after getting shot, but that was nothing compared to the way everything crashed at the idea of you being gone. I can’t breathe right without you. I don’t see clearly when you aren’t around. My heart is out of rhythm and nothing feels right. I need you to function, Em. Without you, I’m a man going through the motions, and doing a piss poor job of it, at that.”
His words did a better job of holding me captive and ensnaring me than his rough hold did. He was the only man I’d ever wanted to hold me down and keep me in one place. The weight of him was never crushing or suffocating. It was exactly what I needed to make me feel like I finally found something steady and solid to hold onto.
I rounded my hands on his shoulders, taking fistfuls of wet fabric with me as I went. It was a struggle to get the soaked shirt off of him and the wet noise it made when it landed on the shower floor made both of us grin. His mouth attacked mine, teeth clicking together from the force. His lips parted mine unceremoniously so his tongue could dive inside. This time he wasn’t chasing the words he needed to hear, he was after the low moan of pleasure and the sound of his name as his teeth dragged across my lower lip. The hand holding my neck shifted so that his palm was cupping the curve of my cheek. The edge of his thumb traced my lower lip and his touch, combined with the bruising kiss, turned my heart upside down and the rest of my body quivered with arousal and readiness.
I tightened my legs around his waist and shoved a determined hand between our slick torsos. I rubbed the back of my knuckles over the ridges in his stomach and gave an appreciative hum. The buckle of his belt was slippery and warm from the water. The leather fought against me as I tried to get to the opening of his jeans. There was zero give in the thick material, and the way the dark blue denim clung to his growing erection was a sight that I would never forget. He should be in the cowboy calendar . . . the X-rated version. He didn’t need a cute baby animal to make a woman swoon. All he needed was his knowing smirk and a flash of the cut V on either side of his lower stomach. The low-riding jeans and soaking wet cowboy boots didn’t hurt the visual at all.
I made a frustrated noise when I couldn’t get the sopping wet fabric to cooperate. I got my hands on his dick but it took longer and more effort than it should have. Sutton chuckled at my impatience while hoisting me up higher on the wall. He let go of my face so he could reach down and tug the clothes that were keeping me from what I wanted out of the way. It was clear he wasn’t going to step away so that he could get out of his boots and pants, so he made do with shoving everything down to his thighs.
I crossed my ankles at the small of his back, heels digging into the curve of his ass as my head rolled against the slick tile. I let out a moan when his mouth landed on the swell of my breast. I felt the wet slide of his tongue as he traced the uneven line of one of my scars. He dragged the tip of his nose along the valley between my breasts and nuzzled lightly between the full flesh. My nipples beaded up and pointed directly at him, begging wantonly for his attention. He was quick to devote plenty of time to each aching point, circling one with the rough pad of his thumb and sucking the opposite into the scalding heat of his mouth. The sharp edge of his teeth dragging across the sensitive peaks made my back bow and my hips grind against the hardness of his thickening cock between us.
When I shifted to get closer, the movement lodged his cock against my heated center. The contact made his eyelids lower and caused his hips to thrust into the waiting warmth. I felt his hardness glide enticingly through the wetness that had collected between my legs. Moisture that had nothing to do with our location and everything to do with the man in front of me. I wanted him when I was worried he was on the verge of sending me away. Now that I knew he wanted me to stay, I more than wanted him. I required him. He said he couldn’t function without me in his life and I felt the same. When I was with him, I felt like I finally had a purpose. He forced me to focus on what I wanted, what I needed to finally feel like I had accomplished something. He made me work for it and I had a feeling he always would.
I felt the wide tip of his cock nudge my clit and the zing of pleasure from that small amount of contact made my eyes roll back in my head. My fingers clutched at his wet hair and his name escaped on a strangled breath. He let out a grunt that had chills chasing a shiver of delight up my spine. His hips pressed forward and the ridged shaft easily found a rhythm sliding through my soaking-wet folds. Every time he pulled back, I felt the tease of his tip against my waiting entrance. When my body was denied access to that straining, full cock, it clenched in protest. I dug my heels deeper into his flexing ass and gave his hair a hard tug for good measure.
Those emerald eyes were almost black with desire and his full lips quirked up in a grin when I demanded, “Stop playing around and fuck me.”
One of his sandy eyebrows lifted and a full-fledged smile turned him from his typical, brooding hot-guy handsome into a heartbreakingly beautiful man. He wore his woes well, but nothing looked better on Sutton Warner than happy and healthy.
“I like a woman who knows what she wants.” His lips touched mine and that torturous cock once again bumped purposefully into my clit. The hand he had playing with one of my nipples lifted and the tip of his index finger softly traced around the perimeter of my parted lips. “Tell me what you want, Em.”
That was easy enough. “I want you.” Really, he was the only thing I’d ever wanted for myself. “I want everything that comes with you.” His unpredictable moods. His bad decisions and unwavering loyalty to those he loved. His tricky past and complicated future. His tight-knit family. His adorable little girl. His talented dick, which was slowly driving me out of my mind as it glided through my swollen folds and caressed through the valley of my ass cheeks.
His eyes drifted closed, and when they opened back up I swore I could see his heart shining out at me. “I want you, too. Even when I didn’t want to want you, I did. When I thought I wasn’t ever going to want anyone ever again, I still wanted you and only you.” He shifted his hand so his palm was gripping the back of my thigh and used his hold to lift me and slide his heavy cock into my eager opening. My body fluttered excitedly around his and my mouth reflexively opened wider when he slid the finger he was using to trace my lips in between my teeth. His eyes gleamed at me and the flash of his teeth turned predatory when he growled at me, “Suck, Em.”
I did as I was told and sucked on the fingers he put in my mouth as his hips started a driving rhythm into mine. My inner walls quivered around his hard flesh; the sound of wet skin sliding and smacking drowned out everything else. When Sutton added another finger to the one I was already circling my tongue around, I closed my eyes and lost myself in the sensation of being taken and owned by him. The hand that was holding me up was digging into the fleshy part of my thigh, hard enough I knew I was going to have his fingerprints underneath my ass for a few days. His thumb was rubbing against the pointed curve of my chin as I darted my tongue between the fingers he had in my mouth. I was doing my best to mimic the way I loved on his cock when I went down on him; I figured I was doing a pretty good job if the way he kept muttering my name under his breath was any indication.
His dick was drilling into me, deep and insistent. He was hitting a place that made my toes curl and had my thighs clenching around his waist. I could feel pleasure curling around each nerve and spiraling down my spine. He was making my entire body tingle and turning me inside out with desire. I couldn’t remember what anything felt like before Sutton Warner claimed his place inside of me. I was pretty sure my heart never hurt or felt anything at all before he did his best to break it.
Suddenly, his hand was gone and his lips were on mine, he spoke before he kissed me breathless. “Open your eyes.” I peeled my heavy lids up and locked eyes with him. He was watching for my reaction, gauging if I was as caught up in him as he was in me. “Put your hand between your legs, Em.”
The order was raspy and rough against my mouth, the same way his beard was against my cheeks. I sucked in a breath and untangled one of my hands from his hair so I could do what he asked. He growled at me when I stopped to tug on my nipple; the rosy tip jutting through my fingers sent a jolt of pleasure through me that had my body tightening reflexively around his. He swore when my muscles clamped down on his hammering cock, so I did it again and again until his kiss turned vicious and punishing.
When I touched the place where my clit was practically vibrating, it made my entire body spasm. I swore that even my hair reacted with a shock of satisfaction. He grinned at my reaction and leaned forward so my breasts were flattened against his chest. I loved the way our slick skin slid together and relished in the soft drag of my nipples against his hard pecs. It all felt so good and I told him so. It wasn’t like I could hide my reaction. I could feel how wet I was around his throbbing, thrusting cock. I could smell our combined arousal and see the way our skin heated and pebbled up in response to one another.
“I want all of you, Emrys.” His words were thick and heavy with a promise. “Want my dick between your tits while you lick the tip.” His lips touched the corner of my mouth as I gasped and watched him with wide eyes. The hand with the fingers I was sucking briefly touched my hip and my fingers faltered where I was lightly stroking across my clit. I felt him squeeze one side of my ass and stiffened involuntarily as his fingers delved into that place I’d been hesitant to let him explore. “I want you bent over, ass in the air, as I take you right here.” I felt the press of his wet fingers and my body balked at the invasion. My eyebrows shot up to my hairline as I watched him watch me. He was still grinning at me, like he knew I was going to give in to him now that I knew he wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m gonna wrap all that hair of yours around my fist and fuck you until neither one of us can see straight, and then, I’m going to do it again and again. We’re both gonna be so raw and sore that we won’t want to move.”
I wasn’t sure how he made that sound like more fun than I’d ever had before, but he did. I stopped fighting against the press of his touch and the way he filled my body. I was struggling to breathe because there was so much to feel between the way he was moving inside of me, the pleasure expanding outward from my fingers circling my clit, and the new, intense feeling of him working his fingers inside me from behind. I felt like I was stretched as thin as I could go, body taut as it had ever been. I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer as he fucked me within an inch of my life with both his fingers and his pulsing cock. I completely lost my hold on reality when he put his mouth back over mine and started kissing me with lots of teeth and tongue. I couldn’t keep up the swirling caress I had going on between my legs and only managed to rock helplessly against his pounding body. When he started moving his tongue against mine to match the way his fingers were moving in and out of my ass, I felt like I was shoved off the edge of a cliff and right into the center of my orgasm.
I screamed his name, hands pulling at any part of him I could touch. I felt his control snap when my body went molten around his. He moved his hold on me so that my knees were hooked over the insides of his arms, opening me up and pinning me against the wall as he powered into me until he found his own finish. His hips jerked against mine, his kiss turned into an uneven pant and his eyes went unfocused and hazy. It was hot.
The water was not.
Somewhere in the middle of our activities, the hot water had run out and we were now standing under a frigid downpour. I shivered against Sutton, but he still had his jeans on and the fabric was even colder than the wall behind me. He made a noise low in his throat and reached to crank off the water. He shoved his hands through his hair and rubbed them over the damp scruff on his face. His big hands slicked over the sides of my head as he pushed my hair back from my face. I thought I was going to melt into a puddle at his feet when his lips ghosted over my forehead in a kiss that I swore I was going to feel forever.
“You mean the world to me, Em.”
I blinked against the water that was still dripping down my face and finally smiled back at him. “I know. You ruined your boots for me.”
He chuckled at that and pulled away, making both of us groan at the loss of contact. His belt buckle was freezing against my skin when he hitched his pants back over his narrow hips. His eyes lowered, locking on the spot where my legs were shakily holding me up. I followed his gaze down and felt my breath catch when I saw that once again, he was watching the evidence of our frantic coupling slowly roll down the inside of my thighs. There was no ignoring the fact that we’d gone at each other without thinking things through. It was a good thing he wanted me to stick around, because at the rate we were going, we were going to be tied to one another by something, or rather someone, neither of us were prepared for.
Like he did the last time, he sighed and reached out and rubbed his fingers through the mess, painting my thighs with our mindless mistake. “I told Cyrus I couldn’t think straight around you, that you were dangerous. He told me it was good to be distracted because that meant I wasn’t thinking about myself. Not doing a very good job of taking care of you, Em, and we haven’t even started yet.”
He opened the shower enclosure and grabbed two fluffy towels that were hanging on the rack. He handed one to me and used another to swipe at his head and shoulders. I wrapped the fabric around myself and tucked the corner between my breasts. I was wringing out my hair when I told him, “You took care of me just fine. That’s how we ended up here.” The man made me lose my mind. I forgot all about the things that needed fixing when he had his hands on me.
He gave me a look I couldn’t read but his tone was deadly serious when he told me, “I will do my best not to let you down. I know you might not believe me because there hasn’t been a lot of proof lately, but I swear you can count on me. I want everything that comes with you, too.”
I nodded and followed him out of the shower after he bent and picked up his shirt. “As long as we deal with whatever comes our way together, I think we’ll be fine.” That was what I’d always wanted, someone to lean on, someone to push me and challenge me so that I wasn’t always the one in control.
He caught the ends of my wet hair in his hands and tugged me to him for a kiss. “Speaking of what comes our way, we were supposed to be downstairs for a family meeting forever ago. I want to fill everyone in on what’s going on all at once and knock out what happened after Rodie took me. We need to take some precautions, and now that I know I won’t be able to let you go, we need to talk about why I think you’re in some serious danger.”
He kept talking but I barely heard any of it. I was too focused on the fact he had included me when he talked about having a family meeting. He was making room for me, including me and protecting me instead of sending me away. He was wrong about there not being any proof that I could count on him. He had just handed it to me on a silver platter.