Passion in Bloom (Hometown Heartstrings #2)

Chapter 9

Heather

I didn’t want to talk to him. Not about David. Not about my past.

Talking, about anything, was suddenly overrated.

With his lips soft yet demanding against mine, I couldn’t think about talking. I was deprived of thinking at all. I could only feel. The hot urgency of his kisses. The sweet suction of his lips. And the insistent stroke of his tongue. I’d never been kissed like this before, where the line between intimacy and carnal need was blurred. I’d never kissed a man like this before, as though my heart would race too fast and explode if I was prevented from exploring and tasting him again and again.

His fingers held my head in a slightly possessive grip, but instead of feeling commanded or controlled, I felt treasured and snared—right where I wanted to be.

He groaned, making out with me and giving me little grunts when I ground against the huge erection tenting his gray sweatpants.

His gray sweatpants. As if that should even be legal, hanging so low on his hips when he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

I knew the second he opened the door that I’d have a hard time remembering what the hell I’d come here to say. And now look at me. Weak and crumbling to demand all his kisses. I’d said my piece, but I’d ended up caving anyway.

Now that I had fallen though, giving in to the desire that couldn’t be tamed between us, I didn’t want it to end. Feeling free and in the moment, I grew bolder in wanting to keep this going.

Kissing wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I wanted to taste him.

I pulled back, letting the heady rush of this to get to me. The smoldering heat in his gaze was my undoing, and the desperate tug of pulling me close for another kiss made me feel so strong and powerful.

This was me making him unhinged and so desperate. This was us, colliding and crashing together in such a way that we shouldn’t. We’d both said that we wanted no attachments with anyone, yet the draw between us didn’t obey.

Charged by this need, I slipped out of his hands a little bit to kiss along his neck. As I did, my pulse raced. My mind swirled with nonsensical nothing, only feeling and reaching lower. Dragging my hands over his abs, I eventually found the elastic of his sweats. One push down had the soft material falling, and much to my pleasure, his dick right was there, springing out. Pointing toward me. Aiming at my hand as I took hold of his hard, long shaft and stroked it a few times.

“I don’t want to talk,” I reminded him.

His gaze turned darker as I lowered to my knees.

“I’ve got something else in mind.” Still holding his dick with my fingers wrapped around him, I lifted my face until I could touch the tip of my tongue to the glistening bead of pre-cum. His head was wide and soft, just the perfect girth to wrap my lips around. So salty. So tasty. I lapped up the moisture of his arousal, spreading my mouth more open to suck him in further.

“Fuck. Gorgeous, you—” He lost his train of thought, grunting hard as I sucked deeper, hallowing my cheeks to get all the vacuum I could manage with his dick stuffed in my mouth.

If I had the room to smile, I would have. Because this right here, was what I’d needed.

Power. Control. The freedom to just do what I wanted. I wasn’t ready to go for more between us. I clung to the belief that we shouldn’t be doing this at all. But damn, did I want to rock his world and blow his mind. I wanted to blow him, and I set about doing just that. Holding his ass cheeks in my hands, I used that leverage to pull him into my mouth and down my throat.

His hands returned to my head, but in a loose, gentle caress. He didn’t grip my hair to force me to go faster. He didn’t hold my skull and slam into me.

Only a light touch. A careful stroke as he brushed my long hair back.

Looking up at him, I caught sight of the rapt desire burning in his eyes. Liquid heat shone in those light green orbs. Then as I watched, bobbing on his hardness, the tendons and muscles in his neck and jaw tightened. His facial features hardened, almost stiffening as he gave in to the pleasure and came.

Hot ropes of cum shot into my mouth and down my throat, and while I was expecting it, hoping for it, I jerked a bit in surprise. I swallowed him down, not stopping as I breathed hard through my nose as he came. Those trunks of muscles shook. His legs trembled even as I pulled off him. Once I released his ass, he staggered back a step and breathed hard.

“Damn, gorgeous.”

“That’s a lot better than talking, isn’t it?” I teased.

He scowled, shaking his head and sitting with his dick still standing up. I’d licked him clean, but as I glanced at the wet rod, I wanted to do it all over again.

I didn’t have to think. Or worry. He’d given me a hell of a gift in letting go with him. Even if I didn’t come, the break from having my mind run a mile a minute was a blessing.

“No.” He wheezed out a long breath, eyeing me carefully. “As...fun as that was, I want you to feel comfortable to talk to me.”

I huffed out a laugh as I stood. “But it’s all right if I’m comfortable enough to suck your dick?”

He growled, standing and pulling his sweats back up to cover his still semi-solid erection. “I meant what I said. Take whatever you want from me.”

You can’t mean that. You can’t mean that and not expect anything in return.

“But I am going to wait—patiently—until you’re going to stop running from your past and open up to me.”

I lifted my chin higher, already feeling the glow of making him come fade. “What if I never want to?”

He sighed, looking me dead in the eye. “Then I guess I’ll be waiting for nothing forever.” He shrugged. “I’ll...” He shook his head. “I’ll be right back.”

As he turned toward the bathroom, I watched him go.

The second he closed the door, I turned to leave.

I was not staying after that charged moment. I couldn’t manage after the thrill of making him come. I was aroused, so turned on that I doubted I’d stay strong against him if he so much as looked at me with those bedroom eyes.

And as I left, closing his door quietly and slipping outside, I realized how damn much I wanted more with him.

If only things could be simple like that. Casual sex. Scratching an itch. I wanted that release so bad, but I couldn’t. Not with David lurking. Not without any semblance of trust between us.

I walked, wishing that I could have the guts to just talk to Roarke, to give him the information he wanted. I knew he was trying really connect with me, to start something real, but I wasn’t available like that. Not yet. Not when I couldn’t figure out how to handle David chasing me. He wouldn’t lurk and hide nearby for good. He’d try again, and again, to make me go with him.

And it won’t ever be simple with any man. That was a fact I didn’t want to believe, but it seemed too true. Roarke had mentioned that dumb thing about keeping tabs, and after going down on him and having a taste of his big cock like I’d wanted, it was still a game of give and take. As far as I could see, there wasn’t any way I could be with him and not feel like I was obligated. To stay. To deliver an orgasm. To tell him what he wanted to know.

It’s all fucked.

I shook my head as I headed back to my cabin. On the walk, I looked out for David. For any movement of anyone trespassing. Of cars being back here when they shouldn’t be.

I saw one vehicle, and while it did give me pause, I wasn’t worried. The closer I came to my cabin, I saw Eric’s car. He was walking away from my cabin, giving up on knocking and walking back to his driver’s door.

I was too far for him to see him yet, through the trees with the darkening sky, but I didn’t want him to leave. Oddly, I wanted to see him and figure out what he wanted.

“Eric,” I called out, jogging a little.

He jumped, then spun to find me hurrying toward him.

“Hey, Heather,” he greeted.

“What’s up?” I said, slowing to a stop as I reached him.

He frowned at me, and for a fleeting, stupid moment, I worried I had some of Roarke’s cum left on the corner of my mouth.

“I’ve been sick for a few days.” He punctuated it with a slight cough. “On the mend now. I just wanted to come check on you.”

Sick? I wondered if the same ailment had gotten to Nevaeh. “Are you feeling better?”

He nodded. “I’m getting there. Ready to go back to work tomorrow at least.” He cleared his throat, but it wasn’t to get rid of any phlegm. He was awkward, struggling to make eye contact again. “I heard, uh, I heard that someone paid you a visit.”

Dammit.

“Sounds like an ex-boyfriend or something.”

I crossed my arms, hating the idea of anyone else knowing my business. “Where’d you hear that?”

“Marty.”

I bit back a growl.

“You need help dealing with him?” he asked.

I hung my head, getting really tired of having to tell people no. To insist that I had to take care of my problems on my own.

“You know, it’s not a crime. It’s not going to make you any weaker to need someone’s help.”

I lifted my head, blinking in surprise. He wasn’t usually this wordy, and he was never so direct as to put me on the spot like this.

“I know people talked shit about your mom and dad. And about you because they assumed you would be just like them. I heard it all.”

At least you were spared, separated and not damned by the association. My aunt and uncle weren’t bad people, and they’d made it clear long, long ago that they wouldn’t give my parents any handouts or offer any loopholes.

“But they are learning. Everyone learns and can change.”

Not true. David won’t change.

“And they’re all learning this new you. The adult you. The woman without the influence of your mom and dad to taint anything.”

I sighed, not wanting to hear this lecture. What he said sounded too good to be true. Sure, in theory, people could change. But I wasn’t in the position to care about all the people in Burton. I had to heal. I had to recover mentally and be stronger on my own before I could consider letting anyone’s opinions make an impact on me again.

“Look at me and how I got better these past few days. People checked on me. Dropped off my prescriptions. Made me soup.”

I nodded.

“Sometimes it does take a village—”

“Yeah. I get it.” I held up my hand. “But I’m not ready to see if this village actually is any fonder of me than they were before.”

“I understand,” he reiterated. “I can see why you were so guarded for so long, cuz. But you gotta give people a chance to show that they’ve changed, too. Being so guarded and independent like this isn’t any way to live forever. Particularly if someone’s bothering you.”

“I...know,” I admitted. And I meant it. I understood what he was saying. It was impossible not to consider his message, but I wasn’t sure if I could convince myself to change the way I viewed my situation.

Burton did seem to take care of its own.

But I had no way to know that it included me—the young girl who dreamed so hard and for so long to get the hell out of here.

“Don’t be a stranger, all right?” He gestured in the direction of the rest of the ranch. “We got good men working here. Todd. Roarke. Gavin.”

I nodded again, not wanting to comment at all about how I felt about Roarke. Not right after sucking him off the way I had, as a way to escape reality for just a moment and be able to know I could have the power to give someone like him pleasure.

“If you need anything...” he said, letting his offer weaken into silence.

“Thanks, Eric.” I patted his back, walking with him to his car. “I appreciate it.”

I really did.

But it wasn’t enough to make me lower my guard.