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  “I’m safe, if you’re safe, just in case you were wondering.” The tip of his cock was teasing my entrance, giving me just enough of a taste that I was dying for more. At my words, he shifted his weight just enough that the swollen head tapped against my equally eager clit. Declaring to him that I was ready and willing to see where this thing between us was going without anything between us was without a doubt the most daring and risky thing I had ever done.

  His rough fingers tightened again around my neck and I had to concentrate really hard on keeping my breathing slow and steady as his cock jerked excitedly against my ass. I was so irritated I couldn’t move my other arm the way I wanted to. I really wanted to get my hands on that throbbing, thick flesh. It was even warmer than the water swirling around us.

  “I’m definitely not safe when I’m with you, Leo, but I’m safe when it comes to sex and I would never put you at any undue risk. You know that, right?” His hold on my neck loosened and his hand skimmed back down over my chest and disappeared under the water. I sucked in my stomach as his fingers played over the soft skin, then dipped lower as he shifted behind me. His stiff cock behind me moved until it pressed and rubbed between the valley back there. Then it was lower, sliding between my legs that I willingly spread open to give him access. His tip pressed in far enough that my body had to yield to his invasion. We both made a noise, mine strangled, his hungry.

  “I wouldn’t be here if I thought you had any intention of hurting me, Cy. I’m here because you promised to make everything feel better.” That was a tall order but so far he seemed up to the task.

  He grunted and then he was easing his cock inside my eager folds, while his fingers dipped into my warmth from the front so that they could torment my already sensitive and responsive clit.

  His breath rasped in and out against my ear and the tip of his nose brushed against my cheek as he spread me wide open and took up all the space inside of me. My body welcomed him with grasping inner walls and a rush of liquid pleasure. I throbbed around him and moved on him with every drag and pull of hard flesh across tender nerves and slick surfaces. The further Cy pressed into my welcoming body, the more he wound me up with dirty words in my ear and clever fingers between my legs, the more he redefined what sex should be. This was better. He was better and I was better because I didn’t have any choice in the matter. He made me feel everything. He forced me to tell him how good it felt and demanded that I take what I wanted from him while he took what he needed from me.

  It started out slow and steady. He moved in and out of my soaked center with a rhythm that barely stirred the water around us. It sent desire threading along each limb, twined it up my spine, and looped it around every sense that he was flooding. Lazy pleasure filled my blood as he rode me gently and with restraint, careful of my injured arm and still throbbing head. It was good, really good, and I told him so, but it wasn’t enough, and if I was going to be brave enough to let him in, then I wanted all of him.

  “Cy.” His name wrenched out of me, desperate and frantic.

  “Leo.” Mine left his lips sounding like a prayer and a plea.

  I got my good arm up around his neck and let my fingers drag across the sensitive skin there. It made his big body bow into mine and his sure rhythm falter as he stroked in and out of me.

  “I need you to fuck me.”

  I felt his exhale against the side of my cheek. “That’s what I’m doing.” The words bit out between clenched teeth.

  I shook my head and tossed my head back so that it rested on his shoulder. “No, Cy, I want you to fuck me and I want us both to finish.” We had made it this far, it was time to go all in and to leave each other with sweaty, sexy, sinful memories that would be impossible to forget.

  “Mouthy.” His fingers trapped my clit and gave the riotous bundle of nerves a fierce tug. His teeth sank sharply into my earlobe and then he moved me slightly away from him with his heavy arm holding me under my breasts as he bent me over just a little bit. His taunting fingers left the place where we were joined and ended up tunneled in the thick mass of my hair as he listened to what I was asking him for and delivered . . . and then some.

  His hips picked up speed and smacked into the water and the swell of my backside. The sound was carnal and raw, so was the way he made me whimper as he pounded into me while I floated, weightless and untethered to anything other than his driving cock. Nothing was holding me to earth or reality other than his fierce erection. His cock was the center of my universe and the way it powered into my body, claiming, marking, and owning every single cell that it touched was the only thing that mattered. I had never felt so wanted, so desired, as important to another person’s completion as I did in this moment. It was overwhelming and exhilarating. There was so much power in being the one in charge of a man like Cy’s satisfaction.

  His fingers pulled on my wet and wildly curling hair, hard enough to have a noise of protest working its way out of my mouth. His teeth nipped at my ear with more force than I was expecting and I was stunned that I like his rough, maybe even more than his sweet.

  “Haven’t been inside a woman without something between me and her in a long, long time. Never been inside one that burns as hot and feels as good as you. You’re a fucking dream with that mouth and those tits, but the icing on the cake is the way you squeeze my cock like you never want to let it go. It feels like you want to fucking keep me and keep fucking me, Leo.”

  His words vibrated across my skin. I did want to keep him, and there was no way I could go back to whatever existed before fucking him. That was simply a life not worth living, at least according to the way my body was winding up getting ready to let go again.

  He was panting a little into my ear and I could feel his broad and heavily muscled chest tighten where I was resting against it. One of his knees nudged mine underwater, forcing me to adjust my stance and lean forward a little more so that my chest was touching the bubbling surface of the pool. He was holding me in place as he pummeled into me, clearly chasing down all the amazing things he had already made me feel. My pleasure was languid and moving sleepily through my body, his was frenetic and feverous, practically bursting off of his skin and out of that pistoning cock as sensation overtook the control he was struggling to hold onto.

  “Put your fingers between your legs. Touch yourself like you want me to touch you. I can’t let go or you’ll end up face first in the water.” The touch of humor lacing his harsh command almost did as much for me as the seductive order. “I’m going to fill this sweet spot up until it overflows, and I want you to feel every drop of it inside of you.” Dirty words, but they made me feel all kinds of shiny and new. I wasn’t untouched or untried, but I was most definitely unexperienced and green when it came to the kind of sex that made a woman want things she knew she couldn’t have. I was a novice when it came to being possessed and obsessed by a man who was enough to make a woman want to give up everything she thought she knew for something that might be better.

  I weaved my hand through the water and trusted him to hold me and to take me to the edge, dropping me off while he fell after me. When my fingers lightly skimmed over my clit and brushed against the stiff shaft moving in and out of the hungry and hot opening, that was all it took for my eyes to slam closed and my breath to wheeze out of me. It was too much to take so I tripped into bliss and dragged Cy right into the delightful sensation with me. His cock jerked against the back of my fingers. His chest rose and fell as he swore softly in my ear, and his thighs tightened and locked against the back of mine as the point where we were joined was suddenly a hundred times hotter than the water that surrounded us. He burned and I caught the fire. It raged through me in waves of pleasure.

  He filled me up all right but it was with wonder and awe that I could feel this way, that I could make someone else feel this way. It made my heart forget to hurt for what it had been through and what was waiting for it when I had to go back to my real life, which had no place in it for this man.


  I let my head flop back on his shoulder as he pulled me to his chest. His lips hit my temple as he lifted the hand splayed across my ribs to settle over my racing heart. “Destroyed, Sunshine. This is what it feels like to be destroyed.”

  I hummed a little but didn’t say anything. If this was destroyed then I never wanted to be put back together again.

  After a few moments so we could get our breathing and blood back into vital organs, he pulled out of me leaving a void that I knew could only be filled by him and his special brand of making memories. I let my body float in the water until I was lying all the way on my back with my eyes locked on the darkening Wyoming sky. It was so vast and infinite. It made the major thing that had just occurred between me and the man who might not be a cowboy but was sure as shit the best lover I’d ever had, seem small and insignificant.

  “We need to get it together and go back. I need to let Lane get some sleep so we can alternate keeping an eye on camp throughout the night.” His hands grabbed my hips under the water and pulled me down so that I was standing in front of him. My wrist still hurt but the pain was no longer bright and angry under my bruised skin.

  “Okay.”

  We stared at each other for a moment, waiting, watching. Between one blink and the next his rugged expression turned from heart-stoppingly attractive to something that no mere mortal could guard their heart against. No wonder the man didn’t smile very often, because when he did, the world stopped spinning. I jolted under the blinding brilliance of the slash of pearly white teeth across that rough and tough façade. He was beautiful and his smile was extraordinary. It made him look like a man who didn’t carry the weight of the world and endless responsibilities on his wide shoulders.

  I reached up a hand to cup his cheek and shivered when his scruff abraded my palm. “You’re smiling, Cy.”

  “I’m happy, Leo.”

  Jesus. I blinked hard to hold back amazement and the threat of tears. Talk about the risk being worth the reward. Everything I might lose in the near future was worth suffering through if it meant I got to have this moment with this man smiling at me.

  Don’t Borrow Trouble

  “I hate you and I think you’re a slut.”

  I almost choked on the way-too-strong coffee Cy had made to keep him awake while he stayed up for the first watch over the camp. I offered to keep him company, but I got a narrow eyed look and was told that he needed to focus. I’d never been anyone’s distraction before, so I took it as a compliment and made my way over to the campfire where Evan was sitting watching the two of us with a pinched expression on her face. I poured myself a cup of coffee knowing I wouldn’t sleep because I would be worrying about the man keeping an eye on the rest of us, so I figured the caffeine and Cy were my only saviors at this moment. I barely got the first sip in when the teen’s words made me choke on the hot liquid.

  Lane had turned in for the night since he had to be up before dawn to switch shifts with Cy. Em was playing a game of cards with Evan’s mom and brother while her dad did his best to look down her shirt when he didn’t think anyone else was looking. The other two men had also turned in early but both offered to help keep an eye on camp if Cy didn’t want to stay up all night. There was something about the eager way they both seemed to anticipate running into whomever was responsible for our change in plans . . . that set Cy’s jaw in a hard line and made me stare at them questioningly. They had ulterior motives for being out here and were hardly bothering to hide them anymore.

  Everyone else was occupied or distracted, which was why Evan thought she was safe in launching her verbal attack. “That’s a pretty ugly thing to say to someone you don’t know very well.” I kept my tone light and low so that we didn’t draw attention to ourselves. It was about time someone set her straight.

  “Everyone knows why you went into the woods with Cy. You’ve known him for like a day. That’s disgusting and totally slutty. I would be so embarrassed if I were you.” Her expression was defiant but there was hurt in her eyes that didn’t come from being rejected by a man completely inappropriate for her.

  I took another sip of the coffee that I was holding carefully in my good hand. Without Cy’s particular style of distraction my wrist was back to throbbing and aching with every beat of my heart. The hot water from the spring and a few Advil had knocked the pain down to where it was bearable.

  “The thing is, I don’t think you’re upset at what’s happening between me and Cy, because you’re smart and observant so you know there is no way he would ever put himself or his business at risk by messing around with a very young guest. Even if she is very pretty.” She looked away at the compliment, and for the umpteenth time I wanted to knock some sense into her parents.

  “I think you’re tired of being overlooked and ignored by the man in your life who should be paying attention to you. I also think you’re bothered by the way he treats your mom. I completely understand why you’re crushing on Cy, he’s gorgeous and is almost a cowboy, but I think your feelings toward him and toward me are more about what’s going on at home than it is about us.” I lifted my eyebrows at her as she continued to glare at me, her hands curled into tight fists where they rested on top of her thighs. “You want your mom to tell you to knock it off and your dad to swoop in and defend your honor. You want them to join forces and actually parent you and your brother because that should be their primary job, and they aren’t doing it. You want their attention because you spend most of your time separated from them, and when you are all together, it’s obvious things aren’t working out so great for any of you.”

  Her bottom lip quivered and she turned away so that her hair covered her face. I lowered myself next to her where she was sitting on Boss’s discarded saddle as she whispered out, “You don’t know anything.”

  I laughed a little as my fingers tightened on my tin mug. “You would be surprised how much I know about having a parent who’s oblivious to how bad they can hurt you, even if you don’t see them every day.” I bumped her shoulder lightly with my own and gave her a tiny grin. “My mom didn’t want me, still doesn’t. She handed me off to my grandparents and they raised me.” I shook my head. “When I was growing up I was so oblivious to how good I had it with them because all I could focus on was why she didn’t want me. It made me miss out on so much. I was terrified of failure and of coming up short so it made me overly careful and cautious. I was no fun. I’m still not most of the time.”

  Evan cocked her head to the side and considered me thoughtfully for a long minute. “Why are you telling me this? Do you want me to feel sorry for you?”

  I shook my head again and reached out to pat the back of her hand. I was silently thrilled when she didn’t pull away from the touch. “I’m telling you because you have a mom who can and will fight for you if she has a reason to. She spends so much time fighting for a love that isn’t there she’s missing the love that still surrounds her. I did the same thing and I regret it so much now. My granddad passed away before I could tell him how much I appreciated him and everything he did for me. He wasn’t here to see me get back on the horse, literally and figuratively.”

  She wouldn’t know what that meant but the way my voice twisted and the way it made moisture cloud my vision communicated how important the gesture was. “If your parents won’t focus on you, you focus on them. Remind them of the love they still have even if the love they had for each other is no longer there. Your mom needs someone on her side and you father needs a wakeup call. Be better than they are.”

  “That’s a lot of responsibility.” She sounded sad and lost so I put an arm around her and gave her a little squeeze.

  “All you can do is try, and if it doesn’t do anything for them it will do something for you and for your brother. Be someone you both can rely on. If you do that you’re already miles and miles ahead of where I was when I was your age.”

  She nodded and I let her go as I climbed to my feet. I nudged her foot with the toe of my boot until she looked up
at me. “Not very long ago I would never have taken a shot at anything with a guy like Cy, because you’re right, I hardly know him and everyone around us knows what’s going on. That would have been such a waste.” I lifted an eyebrow at her and told her, “The sisterhood needs strong, considerate members, so maybe pull back on the name calling. Women need to hold other women up and not drag them down.”

  I stared at her until she tilted her chin down in a little nod of acknowledgement. “I’m jealous. I know he’s too old for me but he’s really hot. I would die if he looked at me the way he looks at you.” Her teeth flashed in a saucy grin. I really did like her and felt slightly kindred with her. I hoped she had it in her to help her family find their way to happy. I wish someone with clearer perspective from the outside had knocked some sense into me when I was busy being a miserable mess. “Maybe I’ll switch my attention to Lane. He’s closer to my age and he actually seems like he knows how to have fun. Cy seems pretty boring.”

  He was the opposite of boring but I could see how his stern and no-nonsense demeanor could come across that way.

  I told Evan she should stick to boys her own age in her own state, and I stole Emrys away from the card game so she could keep me company while I finished my coffee and tried to quiet my jangling nerves. She apologized some more for making me come on this trip to which I laughingly replied that coming on this trip was the best thing that had ever happened to me. And since she was my best friend she wanted a play by play of exactly how the oldest Warner brother had gone about blowing my mind. I didn’t mind giving her vague details, but with Cy floating around somewhere beyond the thin walls of the tent I didn’t want to get into the nitty gritty. Those were my moments and memories and I was covetous of them.