CHAPTER 10
“C’mon. Call it.” Parker hovered above her, slowly stroking in, then pulling almost all the way out. His chest showed red in places where she’d nipped and sucked and gotten carried away.
She’d be sore tomorrow. Her bones felt like liquid, her muscles stretched and worked to the point of exhaustion. “I will never surrender of my own free will,” she ground out, rolling her hips while reciting from the Military Code of Conduct.
Besides, he made her feel so damned good. She’d been sore before, never from an afternoon sex marathon, but she’d recover.
Parker’s laugh came out in a short huff as he thrust home, picking up the pace. Her orgasm hovered just out of reach. She’d lost count of how many orgasms she’d had. Parker had been true to his word. In a few short hours, he’d managed to discover all the places on her body that lit her up. She’d found more than a few of his – information she’d stow away for future romps.
“Say my name again.”
“Which one?” She stretched her arms behind her and clutched the headboard, arching her breasts.
Parker dipped his head, taking a taut nipple in his mouth and pulling as he thrust. There was something about that move that sent waves of pleasure straight to her clit. Nothing made her come faster.
“Cookie Monster?” she said breathlessly.
He thrust again as he licked a path to her other breast, taking the waiting peak in his mouth and sucking and thrusting again. He gave a grunt she knew to mean no.
“Sex King?” She lifted her hips and met his thrust, heat building and burning through her.
Parker squeezed her ass cheeks giving another pull on her nipple, and her orgasm crashed over her in hot waves. “Yes, Parker,” she cried out shaking from the intensity of her release.
Two more thrusts and Parker followed, collapsing on top of her, his weight pressing her into the mattress. He pressed his mouth to hers, then propped himself on his elbows, grinning. “Sex King, huh?”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
“I think the stamina issue has been settled, don’t you?” Parker rolled them onto their sides.
She placed a finger over her mouth. “I’m not sure. We might need to test you again.”
He lightly smacked her ass. “Enough sass. You’ve got to be starving.”
She was famished, but she wasn’t letting him claim victory. “Are you calling uncle?”
He laughed a throaty belly laugh that made his eyes light up. “I’m going to suggest we call a truce.” He pulled himself from the bed and walked out the door, calling over his shoulder. “One turkey bacon sandwich coming up with a helping of sweet potato fries.”
She couldn’t stop smiling. Was this how normal people behaved? All smiles and warm fuzzies? Nothing hovering at the edges, waiting to pull you into darkness and despair? Question was, how long would it last? She’d cling to it as long as she could. I will never surrender of my own free will. Some days that phrase was the only thing that kept her putting one foot in front of the other.
Parker returned with the clamshell in one hand and an unmarked brown bottle in the other. He held it up. “Mike’s root beer.”
Cassie scooted up the bed, making room for Parker and pulling a sheet up to her waist. The bed was a wreck, sheets twisted and bunched, pillows scattered. Parker handed her the bottle and settled beside her and proceeded to open the box.
She took a long sip of the root beer. It was good. Really good. She detected notes of vanilla, anise, and… was that cinnamon? “Wow. I had no idea Mike did more than beer. Has mom tasted this?”
“I don’t know. He’s pretty selective about who he shares them with.”
“They need to be selling this at the food truck.”
Silence settled between them. Her mother’s food truck stood as a shining beacon of Prairie’s recent tragedy, and determination to rebuild. She munched on a fry that Parker handed over. She snuck a sideways glance, surprised to see him lost in thought. And then it hit her. Not once in the time that she’d been back had she asked. She never asked anyone questions anymore, because she didn’t want to answer the inevitable return questions about herself. But he’d been first on the scene. And his uncle had died.
She stroked his thigh. “How are you doing since the tornado? I don’t think I ever said how sorry I was that you lost Warren.”
A pained expression crossed his face. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t suck.” He raked a hand through his hair and sighed heavily, two creases appearing above his nose. “I think about him every day.” He flashed her a tight smile. “But we’re finally getting a clinic, and I want to be a part of that. It will be nice to have local back-up when I go on a call.”
Cassie gave his leg a squeeze trying to put into gesture what words couldn’t accomplish. Their community had lost people to farm accidents when they’d been kids, including Parker’s dad, Monty. And she’d discovered since joining the fire brigade that most of the calls they received weren’t for fires, but for first aid. A clinic would make a big difference in a place like Prairie.
“What happened to medical school?” That was all Parker had talked about when they’d been in high school.
His mouth pressed into a line, and he shrugged. “Too expensive. Too many years. Mom needed me. Especially after Cody bailed and joined the rodeo circuit. I’m a good paramedic, and fighting wildfires in the summer keeps my firefighting skills up. And now Gunnar needs help managing Hansen Stables since Axe moved to Norman. I always thought being a paramedic would be a stop-gap. But I have a good life here.”
And he did. People in town looked at him like he was freaking Superman. Admiration for him swelled through her. Parker was solid. Always taking care of everyone. Always doing what it took to ensure those he loved landed on their feet. But what about him? What about his hopes and dreams? He’d made the best of a shitty situation, but it wasn’t what he’d dreamed of when they were young. And she could hear the wistful note in his voice. “But not great.”
He shrugged, then his mouth curved into a rakish grin. “That was before you came back.”
“So I’m the greatness your life has been missing?” She popped another fry in her mouth. “Ha.”
“Why not?”
“Oh come on. You’re telling me you let go of all your hopes and dreams and you’re ready to settle down five miles from where you grew up?”
He gave her a funny look. “Sometimes life decides our path for us. I couldn’t abandon mom after Cody joined the rodeo circuit.”
“You mean wouldn’t.”
He shrugged. “Fine, wouldn’t. Mom’s had enough tragedy in her life. I’m not going to contribute to more.” His mouth set firmly.
“But what about being a doctor?”
His eyes flashed. “What about it? I’m still making a difference. Prairie doesn’t have a doctor. But they have me, and the rest of the guys in the fire department, and we take that role seriously.”
“As cat rescuers?” she teased.
He snorted. “I’ve delivered babies, saved Jamey Sinclaire’s sight, and rescued cats.”
Something in her chest softened as she took in the stubborn set of his jaw. “Prairie’s own Superman.”
“Maybe. The point is. I’ve made a good life here, with people I love.” He skewered her with a look that went straight to her heart, making her breath stop. “And you wouldn’t have come home if you didn’t love them too.”
She nodded slowly. He had her there.
He hooked her pinky finger with his forefinger. “Why did you come home, Cass?”
Her heart began to thump loudly. Leave it to Parker to ask the question she’d been hoping to avoid. She hesitated, nearly giving into the urge to give him more than her standard answer. In the end, cowardice won out. “Dad called right after the tornado. Said mom needed help and she was too proud to ask. He’d never call unless he was really worried. There was a vacancy in the Guard unit locally, and I was able to transfer from Washington to Kansas.” She flashed him a grin. “The rest, as they say, is history.”
His face softened. “Maybe you were meant to come home.”
She snagged another fry. “So we could pick up where we left off?”
He shot her a smile that made her insides topsy-turvy, and looped a stray lock of her hair around his finger, winding then unwinding it. “I think you’d agree we’ve got the sex thing nailed.”
Warning bells went off in Cassie’s head. Parker would be crazy to fall for her. She couldn’t let him.
“I think we’re better off sticking to friends with benefits.” She winked at him. “That seemed to work pretty well before.”
“Wait. We had sex the night before you left for basic. How is that friends with benefits?”
Parker clearly wasn’t buying this. Cassie snagged another fry. “Let’s see. We were pretty much best friends. And then we had sex.”
“Once,” he growled.
“Not anymore. We’re up to, what? Five, six times if you count fooling around?”
Parker’s face grew serious. “I don’t do casual.”
“That’s all I do.”
His eyes bored into her, searching for an answer she couldn’t give. “You never were that way, Cass.”
He was right. But the trust and love had been beat right out of her. And she wasn’t sure she’d ever find her way back to the way she used to be. She shrugged and averted her eyes, unable to bear his scrutiny. “Yeah. Well, people change. Life happens.” People die.
“Hey,” Parker hooked a finger under her chin, forcing her gaze back to his. “I know you. You don’t need to put up walls with me.”
His eyes were soft. And drowning in his gaze was like a punch to the gut. Parker Hansen was a gentle man. Sexy as sin and able to push all her buttons. Strong and stable. Kindhearted, gentle.
The kind of man who was perfect for someone else.
Some nice, sweet thing. Not a fucked up, hot mess like her, with so much shrapnel on the inside that she wasn’t sure her heart could ever knit together again. For a gut wrenching second she was wracked with agony. “You know who I used to be,” she said thickly, a ball of emotion sticking behind her tongue. “Don’t confuse the two.”
“You’re still in there.”
She shut her eyes, regret filling her. “I’m not sure I am, Park. I don’t think you want to waste your time on me.”
Parker’s jaw set, determination sparking in his eyes. “Try me.”