Chapter Nine
Jamie tapped his thumb on his steering wheel to the beat, trying to push down the anticipation in his stomach. Two weeks. It had been almost two weeks since Skylar had gone on the boat; since he had actually spoken to her. Sure, they’d passed by each other. Yet it seemed any opportunity they would get to speak, Skylar would run away in the other direction.
And he was damn tired of it.
Since it was his day off he swung by the diner to see her. His plan to hang out until her shift was over and confront her was ushered out the door by Cat, who gave him a knowing smile and said it was Skylar’s day off. So he drove back to Wolf Creek, determined to find the fiery she-wolf at her house. Hopefully alone, it being the middle of the day and all.
When her pink atrocity of a house came into view, he shifted in his seat. Her old blue Bronco sat like a blinking beacon of her presence. How the woman drove the damn monstrosity really blew his mind. He’d give her credit—it was in good shape for its age. It had to be early ’70s, yet no rust graced its paint job, and the interior seemed nice from what he’d seen. But nothing about Skylar should really surprise him.
He parked next to it and turned off his engine, breathing deep to get his bearings. Then he stepped down from the driver’s seat. He had it all figured out. They would have a calm, adult conversation. He would ask her why she was avoiding him. She would give her reason. If it came down to it, Jamie could easily give her up. They’d only known each other for a week and half. No way was he in lo—
Jamie somehow stopped himself from falling, bracing his bodyweight on the side of the Bronco when his feet made contact with something below. Looking down, he caught his breath. Oh, shit. Legs. Long, spectacularly sexy legs peeked out from beneath the truck. Skylar’s legs, clad in tight jeans and combat boots…but they were still hers. The same ones he’d had naked and wrapped around him. Jamie swallowed, parched from the heat that boiled in his blood at the sight.
“Gonna stand there all day, cowboy?” she asked, her voice muffled from being underneath…Maggie? Mary? “Or are you gonna hand me that grease next to your foot?”
Jamie cleared his throat and looked at the ground near where he stood. Lined up along the pavement sat different bottles of fluid, tools, cloths, and car parts that he didn’t think he could name. He grabbed the first bottle and dropped it into her waiting hand. It disappeared beneath the truck but popped back out with her laughter.
“Not that one. That’s radiator fluid. I need that little round, white jar.”
Heat flooded Jamie’s face. Talk about being shown up by a woman. This time he read the label before handing it over. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, listening to the sound of her tools as they cranked, as parts clanged into place, as she panted and grunted in exertion over every move. He’d never realized that fixing up a car could be so sexy.
Finally, she slid out from underneath, and Jamie held out a hand to help her up. She brushed it away, standing on her own and leaning against her truck. She’d thrown her hair into some messy updo with a purple bandanna tied in place. Stray hairs curled around it, and sweat dripped down her forehead. At some point she’d wiped black grease on her face. It streaked in sporadic patterns around her cheeks and forehead. He smiled when she became nervous under his gaze, pulling at her black tank top and wiping more grease on her cheek.
“What are you smiling about?” she mumbled.
“You’re so cute.”
She snorted, but a faint blush burned on her cheeks. “What are you doing here, Jamie?”
What had he come there for? All memory seemed to be wiped from his mind as he traced with his eyes the seductive curve of her hips in those damn jeans. All he wanted to do was pull her in and kiss the lips she was currently licking. But then he remembered why he couldn’t.
“You’ve been avoiding me, Skylar,” he accused, bringing his gaze to hers. Her eyes narrowed.
“No, I haven’t.”
Jamie nodded, moving closer to her. She stepped back until her rear hit the truck. “Yes. You have. And you keep turning me down.”
She sighed and blinked slowly as she licked her lips again. “Jamie, I have my reasons.”
“Mmhmm. And you can tell me those reasons, and then we can forget all about them. Because they don’t matter.” Even now, dirty, sweaty, and frustrated, she looked amazing. Her shirt clung to every dip and curve of her body. The breeze played with her loose hairs, swirling her scent in the air. Vanilla laced with motor grease. He stepped farther toward her until their bodies met.
“But they do, Jamie.” Her voice came out breathy, husky, even as her words told him no.
He reined his desire in. But his hand seemed to act on its own, trailing down her side, over her remarkable curves, and resting on her hip. “To me they don’t. I want you, Skylar. I can’t stop thinking about you. That night.”
He tilted his head into her neck, brushing his lips against the tender skin beneath her ear the way she had done to him that night. She gasped and shook beneath his hand. He grabbed her hip with his other hand, pushing his pelvis into her, and fought the urge to growl from the contact.
“God, Jamie. You don’t understand—”
“Do you know what I understand, Skylar? I understand the way I can’t stop myself from watching you when you’re in the room. I understand that when you’re next to me, I can’t keep from touching you. I understand that when we collide, baby, we collide with a fucking helluva bang. Are you really going to say no to that?” His voice sounded haggard even to his own ears, raspy with need. He closed his eyes and ground into her for impact, but the contact reverberated through to his own spine. His fingers dug into her hip bones, and he gasped into her ear. She shivered—fucking shivered—beneath his grasp.
He pulled back to look at her face. Eyes closed, lips parted, she was the picture of yes. But he needed to ask, and she needed to be sure, before they both did something they horribly regretted.
“Are you?” he asked again, causing her to open her eyes.
Her pupils dilated to huge, dark disks. She stared at him, her eyebrows screwed together in confusion, whether toward herself or him, he didn’t know. She searched for the answers in his eyes, and he hoped like hell she saw the ones she wanted. A whimper escaped her before her lips crashed to his. Her fingers dug into his scalp, yanking him deeper into their kiss. Fuck, yes. Jamie picked her up by her ass, enjoyed the delicious way she wrapped her legs around him, and carried her through her front door.
* * * *
Their kiss was dynamite. Exploding like a thousand packets of Pop Rocks with every brush of his tongue on hers. The way Jamie kissed, God, it was like he was desperate for every taste, every whimper that made its way out of her mouth. But she felt the same.
As he carried her up the stairs to the tiny apartment, she couldn’t resist the temptation to nip his bottom lip. His foot fumbled on a step, and she swore they would fall, but he managed to catch the railing with one hand. He chuckled, a low, rich laugh that buried itself deep in her heart. And she couldn’t help but giggle at the almost-fall.
“Do that again, sweetheart, and we may not make it all the way to your bed,” he growled, adjusting her again so he could make it the rest of the way up.
Still laughing, Skylar trailed kisses across his face. His cheek, his jawbone, his neck, until she reached his ear. She sucked the lobe and trailed her tongue around the rim until he gave a responsive shiver.
“I wouldn’t mind,” she mumbled.
Jamie moved faster, and she kissed his lips again. Tasted the unique flavor of Jamie. Her body went weightless as she fell—more like was thrown—onto her bed. Cold air blew on her from the fan she’d left on that morning, but she was immediately covered by heat. Jamie’s heat. He grasped her hands, pinning them above her head as he trailed kisses over her face and neck.
“Ah, sweetheart, I thought I would never get to see you like this again.”
She couldn’t reply past a quiet moan as Jamie nipped her nipple through the fabric, shooting fire through her body. They raced to yank each other’s clothing off. Jamie’s button-up suddenly had no more buttons. Skylar’s tank was ripped from her body.
They met skin on skin, fire to fire. Burning, searing kisses scattered over one another’s skin. Her mind, fuzzy with desire, could hardly process every nip, every lick, as Jamie claimed every crevice of her body. She dug her fingers into his hair when liquid heat and rough tongue brushed against her pussy. A growl ripped from Jamie.
“God, I missed this taste.” His words vibrated across her folds. Her clit tingled in reaction, and a groan burst from Skylar’s mouth. His tongue dipped within her, encircled, teased until Skylar couldn’t take it anymore. She writhed, and his hands dug sharply into her hips to hold her down. She erupted into an orgasm, her body quivering as Jamie kept up his voracious ministrations with his mouth.
When she came down, she was able to peek open an eye and see Jamie with a side-cocked grin. She felt empty, like the orgasm was incomplete. He growled, “Again,” before dropping his mouth back down. Only this time he used his fingers too. It took one crook of his two digits before she was flying off again, sensitive from the previous orgasm.
“Jamie, please…” she begged, needing more. God, she needed more. She needed to feel him in her— She shot up. “Oh, shit. Jamie, I don’t have condoms here.”
He grinned, rising from between her quivering thighs. After a nonchalant lick of his lips, he grabbed his pants with a wink. “Don’t you worry about a thing, sweetheart. I’ve got us covered.”
He grabbed the familiar packet from his wallet. Skylar eyed him. Did he bring that specifically for me, or does he always keep condoms in his pocket? Just in case…or does he really get around like that? Jamie shrugged off her stare.
“It was just in case, Skylar. I wasn’t sure if we would ever…but I hoped.”
He crawled back over her, resting between her legs. His heavy cock weighed down on her stomach, and he leaned over to brush his nose across hers. “I told you. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. There’s been no one else since that night.”
She breathed a shaky sigh of relief. His mouth met hers again, soft, slow, so different from what had just passed. He teased into her mouth, his tongue taking its leisure to taste and savor. Skylar trailed her hands down his back, down the ridges of his spine, to his firm ass. She dug her fingernails in and relished the groan of approval. He nipped her lip and sat up on his knees just long enough to cover himself with the condom.
Skylar couldn’t help watching his face as he watched himself enter her. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration, his mouth parted, the rigid lines of his shoulders as he fought to control himself. But then she lost all ability to concentrate. He pushed deeper. And deeper. Until he was in to the hilt, pressing against her G-spot. She was so full of him, his warmth. He leaned over, his hands supporting him on either side of her head. She grabbed his wrists, needing to do something with her hands.
“Ah, babe, you feel so good,” he ground out and rocked slowly in and out of her. She gasped with each movement but felt like it wasn’t enough. She needed rough. And hard.
“Jamie, please. Faster.”
He opened his eyes to look into hers, and he shot her a cocky smile. In a quick move, he picked her up so she straddled his hips. He sat on his knees, pushing into her impossibly deeper. Skylar moaned, gripping his shoulders and throwing her head back.
“Oh, yeah, baby.” He groaned into her throat, holding on to her lower back to keep her steady.
They rocked into each other. She rose and slammed down, feeling each impact of their connection. It shook every molecule of her being, pulling on her, bombarding her with sensations. Her mind went fuzzy, and she swore her ears rang as each thrust brought her closer. When she reached the edge, Jamie’s grip shifted to her hips. She protested, thinking he would stop her.
“No, Jamie…” she begged, her voice hoarse. Please don’t stop.
But fuck… Jamie yanked her harder. They moved at a furious tempo. His cock collided with her deepest spot, bringing her over the brink. She screamed, actually screamed as the orgasm ripped through her body. Her body tensed and burned with the intensity of the passion that pulsed through her veins. He growled, loud and long, continuing his speedy thrusts even as his cock pulsed with his own orgasm.
They collided with a fucking bang.
* * * *
Skylar stretched her languid body, relishing the sensation of post-orgasm. Jamie feathered kisses over her body, but not in a way that promised more. It promised cuddles. Long, all-night cuddles and conversations. He paused at her ankle and lifted his head to look at her.
“I didn’t notice this before. What’s this tattoo?”
The black ink was deep and dark the way newer tattoos tended to be. On the way down from Montana, she had stopped by a shop to get the piece done. Black birds flew around the top of the knob of anklebone, trailing slightly up her ankle before ending. Curved in beautiful calligraphy beneath were the simple words Take these broken wings and learn to fly. There may have been a different meaning behind the song, but to Skylar it was a new beginning. A way to start over in a world that was so unlike the one she knew.
“It seemed fitting. I got it after I left Montana.” She shrugged, trying to play it off as nothing important when it really meant so much more.
He always seemed to see more than she wanted. He stared at her knowingly, and she saw his urge to ask. His mouth pursed, his eyes squinted…but he knew it would ruin the moment. So instead, he leaned down to place a long, lingering kiss on the permanent ink.
“It’s beautiful.”
Skylar smiled. His acceptance of her silence was refreshing. It renewed…whatever they had going on. Her smile fell, and Jamie saw the motion. He lifted up to crawl back over her body, lying down next to her and pulling her close.
“What’s wrong, Skylar?”
“What is this? What we’re doing?” Skylar asked. Her stomach fluttered at the possibilities their relationship could bring. He could be either wonderful for Skylar, bringing happiness and understanding to her life where it never used to be before—or he could be dangerous and put her right back where she was.
One of his fingers trailed over her cheek. “Just being us, Skylar. No need to put labels on it.”
No labels. No commitments. Just them being them, solid in affection and lust. It simultaneously excited her and disappointed her. In some way, she desperately wanted him to fight for what they could be.
“I’m okay with that.” Her words came out as a whisper, and she smiled at him. He kissed her nose and turned over to look at her bedside clock.
“What time do you need to pick up Emery?”
Skylar peeked over his shoulder to look at the time. “In two hours. Why?”
He beamed at her. “Perfect. There’s this Mexican place in Big Bear where we can grab some really great carne asada tacos.”
Jamie rolled away, sitting up on the side of the bed and searching for his jeans. Skylar stared at his back. She didn’t want to get up. She wanted to snuggle underneath her soft, tribal blanket. She wanted him to hold her, cherish her just a little longer before reality set in. Skylar pulled herself up on her knees and crawled to Jamie. She sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his stomach and resting her chin on his shoulder.
“Or…we can stay here, have a couple sandwiches and…” She trailed off, leaving it to Jamie’s imagination.
Jamie stilled beneath her hands. Would he turn her down? Insist on the Mexican food? Maybe he was really starving and she was being inconsiderate… God, she could be such a sex fiend. Jamie put her worries to rest when he whipped around to grab her, a huge smile on his face crinkling his cheeks.
“Or there’s always that,” he agreed, kissing her roughly on the lips. Then he stood, pulling her with him. “Let’s take it to the shower, grease queen.”