Chapter Six
Lilly
These boots were far more comfortable.
They were also the only ones she’d managed to bring with her when they fled Damien’s place, and she was getting them covered in mud. The path they were taking toward the forest was not meant for walking this time of year. If they had been any less bored she was betting that one of them would have suggested turning back by now. They were both in desperate need of doing something, however, and so they pushed on.
“I’m going to need new boots. Other than the new ones Sandy gave me, this is all I have besides heels and wedges. None of which are really winter-appropriate.”
“Online shopping.”
“What?”
Torran frowned. “Are you not a human female? Do you not love to shop for clothes? Do it online, have it shipped out here.”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “Are you not a human male? Who talks like that anyway? Have you ever dated a girl who’s ordered clothes online? Half the shit never fits.”
He shrugged. “So buy twice as much.”
Her mouth dropped open at his cavalier attitude to spending money. “If only.”
“It wasn’t a hypothetical. I’m telling you to do it.”
Lilly laughed. “Listen, moneybags, I don’t have any money. At all. Even my phone is still being paid for by Damien. That’ll probably get cut off any day now when he clues in to it. I can’t see him wanting to give me money after I left.”
“I wouldn’t tell you to do something like that and expect you to pay for it. I’ll give you the money. It’s the least I can do to help you get back on your feet.”
“What? Torran, no, you can’t do that. Women’s clothing is not cheap.”
He frowned, a sort of thoughtful look. “Yeah, I’m aware. I’ve seen the prices they charge you for little triangles of material that they call underwear. I would call it extortion if it didn’t look so good.”
“Still,” she said, smiling over his truthful comment. “I can’t.”
“You can, and you will. I told you, money is not an issue. You need new clothing. Proper clothing.”
Lilly looked up at him in wonder. There was something different about him. He was just unlike what she was used to. He had the size and the muscles that she liked in men—who didn’t?—but also he had the gentleness of touch and kind personality that all too often didn’t go together.
Plus on top of that his smile could drench the ground she was walking upon if she let it. Which she wouldn’t. Because that would just be trouble.
“You look at me like that a lot,” he remarked, calling her out on it.
“So?” she shot back, doing the exact thing she’d just told herself she wouldn’t do. Flirting with him was not wise. “You have a problem with that?”
Apparently he was wrong that time he’d told her she wasn’t an idiot. Because she was doing the exact stupidest thing possible.
“Problem? No, not at all. But I should warn you that if you keep looking at me like that, I will have to kiss you.”
His tone was light, airy, and designed to be a complete joke if she took it that way. It was only his eyes that gave it away. They were an olive, avocado-like green, depending on the lighting, and while his face danced with humor, there was a secret desire lurking in the depths of his gaze that told her he’d like nothing more than to make good on his “threat.”
She swallowed, readily aware of the urge to give him another of those looks, whatever they were, just to test the theory.
Just then they started hiking up a mild incline. The ground grew drier underfoot, and by the time they reached the top of the hill, the grass and dirt beneath them was actually relatively dry, all the moisture traveling downhill.
A river gurgled and swirled on the far side of the hill, carrying water downstream. The hill was formed at a bend in the path. It came almost right at the hill, then banked away again. Lilly stood at the summit, watching the water go past. The surface was calm, rarely broken by any turbulence, moving fairly slowly in the late-autumn weather.
“I feel so at peace here,” she said. “So…I don’t know.”
“Free,” Torran supplied, coming up to stand next to her.
Free. That was exactly it. She was outside. Wearing clothing she wanted to wear. Talking to another man. All because she’d chosen to. She, Lilly Jordan. Nobody had forced her into doing this, and she wasn’t terrified of being discovered while doing so either.
Her life was suddenly hers again, and she could do with it as she pleased. She was free, like Torran had said.
Maybe it was time to celebrate that freedom.
Shifting her feet, she looked at Torran, admiring the strength of his solid, blocky features. His stubble was getting a little long, but she actually liked it that way. This way she could admire the slight reddish tinge in the beard hairs compared to those on his head.
He wasn’t anything at all like what she’d expected. And even more confusing was his apparent interest in her.
“You’re looking at me like that again,” he said, giving her a warning.
Here went nothing. “I know,” she said softly.
Torran turned faster than she expected. The movement startled her and she stumbled backward without thinking, losing her balance on the decline. Lilly didn’t have a chance to even yelp before Torran was there, his arms encircling hers, lifting her free of the ground.
But where her feet could touch nothing, her lips felt something as he grazed his face against hers. She closed her eyes automatically, arching back into the kiss without a second thought as heat settled over her body in a haze of need and desire.
“I warned you,” he said, pulling back with his face but keeping her pinned against him, her feet dangling in the air.
“I’m a big girl; I know what I’m doing.”
Wow, she was getting good at lying. Lilly truthfully had no idea what she was doing. Besides kissing him. Again. This time it was her move. She pulled him into her, hooking her arms around his powerful neck. Their lips parted. They tasted each other, and then again a few seconds later.
Lilly moaned softly as he ran his tongue along her neck, alternating between that and sucking and biting the tender skin there. Her nipples were hard, and each brush of his steel-like chest against her sent waves of pleasure through them and into the rest of her body. By the time his hand came around her rear and between her legs from behind she was already nearing climax.
It didn’t take long from there. Her body exploded with longing as he stroked her with his fingers, touching her gently, quickly, hard, slow, never sticking to one thing long enough for her to get accustomed to it. His mouth covered hers and at the same time he started moving two fingers in a circle. Or was it three? Fuck it, she didn’t care. Her moans filled her mouth and his as he kissed her through her orgasm.
She was glad he was holding her in the air, because her legs spasmed and twitched violently. Lilly didn’t realize how much she craved being touched, being wanted. Being the center of attention. For so long she’d been the provider that now, suddenly, to have her pleasure taken care of first was almost overwhelming.
“Wait,” she gasped as he started to play with her clit again through the thick denim. How the hell does he know exactly where to put his hands? “I need a moment to recharge. Then you can go back to doing that.”
Torran grinned and didn’t fight as she slipped out of his grasp and landed on the ground. “If you insist, though I suspect I could persuade you otherwise.”
“You know, you just might,” she agreed. “But right now, I want this.” She pressed her hand against the hard bulge in his jeans that had been pressing into her stomach.
Torran undid his belt, but Lilly’s eager hands flicked that and his boxers over the massive erection and pulled them down to his ankles, leaving them there so he was immobilized.
“Wow.” It was so cliché and she felt ridiculous after saying it, but damn, the dude had a nice-looking cock! It was long and thick, but fell just short of being intimidatingly so. She had no fear of having him inside her, just anticipation.
She went to squat down to her knees, but Torran shook his head. “No, not today. Today is about you.” His voice was calm, yet it carried with it an undeniable command that she couldn’t disobey.
He leaned forward and slowly undid her jeans, his fingers easily peeling the fabric down her legs until she too had jeans wrapped around her ankles. Then he picked her up and spun her around.
“I would prefer to look you in your face,” he rumbled in her ear, one hand grabbing her breasts, the other between her legs, preparing her for what was to happen next. “But that just doesn’t seem practical today.”
“I guess not,” she agreed, biting her lip.
Lilly shivered, caught firm in his web, trapped but not wanting to escape either. When he pressed himself up against her opening she gasped despite herself. Her left leg began to shake in anticipation, wanting what was coming next, needing it. Needing him.
Torran was losing control as well, and he slipped inside of her quickly, pushing in deep as fast as she could take it. Lilly shook when the warmth of his skin made contact with her legs and ass, warding off the chill cold of late fall with sudden ease.
He groaned and didn’t move for a moment.
“Are you okay?” she asked, trying to look back.
“Fine. You’re just tight,” he gasped. “It feels too good.”
“Too good?”
“I am unsure if I can keep my control around you. My attraction is too strong.”
Lilly pressed back into him, rocking on her feet. “Then don’t. Lose control. Take me,” she begged. She was beyond horny now. Torran’s slow rhythmic thrusting was only making the issue worse as warmth poured from between her legs.
He growled and thrust harder. Lilly couldn’t keep her cries down. They echoed into the forest around them, growing louder every time his swollen cock crashed up against her.
The throbbing between her legs grew worse. Her clit demanded more attention, ready to send her over the edge, into the abyss of warm sweet pleasure that was orgasm. As if he could read her mind, Torran slipped a hand between her legs, hunching over her much smaller form. His long arms allowed him to find the pulsing nub, and he caressed it with all the care in the world.
Lilly meanwhile was slamming her ass back into him as hard as she could, trying to force the next orgasm to come. Her entire body tightened, locking down as she was finally swept over the edge of the falls, carried into the mistiness beyond. Everything shook and she clamped a hand over her mouth as she screamed. It was the most brutal, pounding orgasm her body had ever experienced. She felt like it was ripped from her body.
Warm juices exploded from between her legs, coating his cock. That was too much for Torran, and before Lilly had finished her first climax another ravaged her body. Each spasm happened in time with Torran as he filled her, his groans sounding more like a roar as he thrust into her over and over again for what felt like an eternity.
“Did we just do that?” she gasped as he slipped from within her and they began the awkward cleanup dance that always ensued post-sex.
Torran was breathing so hard he could only get out one word. “Yeah.”
“Okay.”
He handed her a piece of cloth, which she realized he’d torn from his own shirt.
“You look like an idiot now,” she laughed, pointing out the ragged tear from the waistline of his T-shirt. “You’re going to be freezing on the way back.”
Torran smiled. “I’ve been wearing a T-shirt this whole time, but now that I’ve torn a chunk out of it you’re worried I’ll be cold?”
Lilly dropped her head, shaking it. He was right of course. How had she missed that?
Because you were too busy staring at his eyes. Or his shoulders. Maybe it was his chest.
“Hey,” she said suddenly, pulling her pants up and seizing on the thought in her mind now before shit hit the fan. “Can I do something?”
Torran looked down. He was still naked, his semi-hard cock dangling between his legs, coated in both of their pleasure. “Again? I suppose.”
Lilly closed her eyes, scrunching her face up and hoping that her face wasn’t glowing like an oven element. It certainly felt like it was. “Not that, I just…” Without saying more she reached forward and lifted his shirt, filling her eyes with the glorious sight of his ripped abs.
“If you want me to remove my shirt, all you need do is ask.”
“No no. That’s okay. I got what I wanted,” she said, trying to sound more confident than she was. Except of course, that could be misinterpreted to mean having sex with him.
Which she had wanted. But now she desperately wished she hadn’t. Reality was coming crashing back, and despite how damn good he was with his hands and his…his…with other parts of his body, Lilly should not have done that.
It was a mistake, and now she had no way out without appearing mean.
And they lived together. She’d totally forgotten that in the heat of things. This wasn’t just someone she could pretend she’d see again and then ignore their texts and calls. No, she was going to have to see him every day. Eat meals with him.
She found herself wishing a black hole would open up and swallow her right then and there. It would certainly be easier for one, and less painful for another. Worst of all was the fact that she’d instigated it.
But she had just left a terrible relationship. Oh, and she was three months pregnant. This was not the time for a dalliance, no matter how lip-lickingly gorgeous he was, or how often he batted those mysterious green eyes at her. It was interesting to realize that despite having spent so much time around him the past few days, she still felt like he was this hot stranger that she barely knew.
You know him a little better now.
Her insides groaned. How had she given in to lust so easily? Couldn’t she control herself around him, even if he was hot?
The answer was obviously no, which meant she was going to have to do damage control on the situation. No matter how she approached that, one thing was for certain.
It wasn’t going to be pretty.