Fastlander fallen, p.14
Fastlander Fallen, page 14
“Understand what?” she asked softly, rolling her hips against his exploring touch.
“Tell me you understand you are safe with me.”
“I trust you,” she said. “I understand.” And she truly did. She’d been paying attention. He got protective of her. Defensive of her. He didn’t like the way Owen talked about her, but even in the heat of battle, he’d pulled off to come inside and make sure she was safe. There was great value in a man like that.
She reached down and pulled at the hem of her baggy sweatshirt, and he helped her remove it completely.
“Now you,” she murmured.
“What do you need?”
“I need to feel your skin.”
He gave her a crooked smile as he pulled his hand from her panties and tugged his shirt off. She clumsily helped, and threw the thin fabric onto the floor with a soft laugh. His hair was all mussed, and she ran her fingertips through it. She reveled in the fact that he rolled his eyes closed and made a purring sound.
Corey lifted her hips and unfastened her jean shorts, then shoved them down her thighs. Now all that remained was her thin bra and panties.
He dug his fingertips into the grip at her hips as he dragged his hungry gaze down her body. The smile that took his lips was positively wicked.
“Jeans,” she whispered in the dim light of the single lamp in her bedroom.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Mmmm, are you going to let me be the boss in here?” she asked as he pushed his jeans down his hips. Now he had nothing on, and she ran her leg up his.
He grabbed her leg and slid his hand down to her knee, and then back up. “Soft.”
“I shaved.”
“Oh?” he asked, his dark eyebrows arching up. “You had plans for me?”
“It’s not my fault. You are a sexy vampire-lion who opens the door for me and calls me pretty and feeds me. This is on you.”
His chuckle was deep and sexy. He pressed his lips to her neck and rolled his body toward her.
Corey arched back as he hooked a finger under her panties and pulled them off her legs in one smooth motion. Her bra was a little harder. She had made the mistake of slithering into one of those sports bras that he had to pull over her head. She probably looked like a landed tuna fish trying to escape it, and his chuckle drew a giggle from her lips. Fun boy.
His lips went to hers, then to her neck, then down her chest, and he sucked on her breast as she drawled out his name in a moan. She gripped his hair in the back and closed her eyes to the rafters on the ceiling, got lost completely in the feel of his body against hers, of his lips, of his tongue as he lapped at her sensitive nipple. He massaged that breast as he moved to the other. “You want to be the boss tonight?” he rumbled in a voice that wasn’t entirely human.
“Maybe,” she teased.
He bit her stomach gently, just the slight pressure of teeth, and then he rolled them over on the bed and pulled the covers over her back as she straddled him. “Go on then. Do what you want.”
Her palms on his chest, she slowly curled up her fingers, dragging her nails against his skin, and his eyes glowed brighter. She settled right over his stone-hard dick and rocked her hips forward, watching his face, and God, the roll-back of his eyes and the moan that escaped him was a thing of beauty.
She had this control. He was trusting her too. He was letting her lead, when he was the powerful one. The hybrid. The power. Oh, she knew he could be dangerous to others. She’d seen him fight, but with her? He exposed his neck, like he did with Gunner.
Corey lifted her chin higher into the air as she rolled against him again, positioned the head of his cock right at her entrance. “Tell me you want it,” she whispered, teasing her entrance with him.
“I don’t want it, I need it,” he rumbled in a gravelly voice, and now his hands were on her hips, guiding her. He adjusted her angle and slid into her, deep.
A groan escaped her as he eased back and pushed back in. Oh, he could hit her just right.
He pulled her down on him even deeper and thrust shallowly, staying buried in her. The pulsing move heightened how good it felt, and the tension built fast in her middle.
“Oh, you’re going to be easy for me, aren’t you?” he asked, watching her face.
She clawed her fingers harder against his stony chest, and he tilted his chin back as his eyes lightened.
“Ace, Ace, Ace,” she panted out as he pulsed into her deep, deep, faster.
He sat up suddenly and pulled her hard onto him, rolling his hips smoothly. He hugged her tight, keeping all her shattering pieces together as her body exploded. “I’ve got you,” he rumbled against her throat.
She closed her eyes and held him tightly as her throbbing release consumed her.
Mindless, she chanted, “I’m sorry. That was too fast, I’m sorry.”
His hand tightened around her throat just slightly. “That was perfect. You aren’t done yet.” He rolled over on top of her and covered them with the comforter. Here in the little cocoon he’d made, he started moving inside of her again, dragging out every fading pulse of pleasure. And when her body had stilled on her insides, he began thrusting into her hard again. This time, he had control of their pace, and he dragged it out, teased her, played with her sex. Oh, he knew exactly what he was doing to her.
He used pressure with his hands on her body right where she needed it. He gripped her waist, the back of her knee as he dragged her leg up and angled in deeper. He slipped his hand to the back of her neck, then brushed her cheek as he thrust into her. He was exploring her body, and clearly enjoying himself, which was so damn sexy to her.
He liked her, but he was also so in tune with her body.
He was learning what she liked, and paying attention, and everything he tried tethered her more closely to him. In this moment, in the dim light of her room, she felt understood. She felt coveted. She felt important and valued.
There was no insecurity with him. How could there be? He was in it, caring for her body, interested in learning her needs.
When his thrusting became harder, and faster, the tension wrenched up again, and she couldn’t help the cries that escaped her throat with how good he felt inside of her.
“You ready for it,” he growled, holding her so tight, his full body weight making her feel completely safe.
“Please,” she gasped out mindlessly. “Please, please, please.”
He rammed into her hard, over and over, and her body shattered again as he drove so deep into her, paused, and pulsed warmth into her. She yelled out and gripped the pillow above her head desperately as another wave of pleasure took her.
He stayed buried in her center as he bucked into her, emptying himself.
Panting breath, she dared to open her eyes and found him looking at her with nearly-white eyes, glowing from the inside out, so bright it was hard to look away. He was gripping her hair at the back of her head, moving slowly inside of her now, dragging out her orgasm.
He leaned down and kissed her. “No more friends, Corey,” he growled. “You’re mine now.”
She leaned up and kissed him, then smiled and hugged him up so tight. He rolled over and eased her on top of him again, and just hugged her in the silence of the room.
She buried her face against the side of his neck, and whispered, “You’re mine too.”
Chapter Twelve
This past five days had been everything.
It was the end of the day, nearly five o’clock, and almost time for Corey to go home.
She checked her phone between appointments, and saw that Ace had messaged. At the store. Want anything for the house?
Twister orange soda. Send.
A picture came through a few seconds later of a twelve-pack of cans of Twister sitting in a grocery cart. I’ve got you.
That was her favorite phrase from him. You are the perfect man. Send.
Far from it. Did you get them yet?
Huh? Get what? The bell over the door dinged, and a flower-delivery man came in with a huge bouquet, but they weren’t traditional flowers.
The flowers were made of...bacon. Motherfreaking bacon!
“Oh my gosh,” she said, cracking up as she accepted them.
“Corey Gable, I’m guessing?” the delivery man asked.
“That’s me,” she mused, studying the bacon bouquet.
“Have a good day,” he said, and gave a little wave before he left.
There was a card, so she plucked it off the little plastic holder and opened it up.
Dear human,
I think you’re pretty swell.
Thanks for always letting me play with your boobs.
Yours,
Ace
She squealed and tapped her feet really fast onto the carpet beneath her desk. How freaking cute was this?
“Is that from your boyfriend?” her coworker, Daisy the One-Upper, asked.
“Yep!”
“Well, my boyfriend got me two-dozen roses last week. They were delivered to my house, so no one here got to see them.”
“That’s an amazing story, Daisy,” she muttered, speed-typing a text to Ace. AGAIN I SAY, PERFECT MAN. BACON!! Send.
He put four laughing-emoji faces and then, I thought you might like those.
I got you a present too. Send.
Woman. I’ve already explained what presents mean to Hollands. Careful there.
She smiled and glanced over at the paper bag that held the bagel she’d bought on her lunch break. Oh, she knew exactly what presents meant.
They’d settled into a routine of sorts over the last few days. At night they met at Hallie and Gunner’s, hung out for a bit, and then when it was time for the potential Crew to go to bed, Gunner told Ace to, “Fuck off,” and he spent the night at her cabin so they could all avoid the fights that came along with the tension between Ace, Owen, and Gunner. Honestly, she could do this every day with him.
He had already told Gunner no on the Crew, but she’d noticed he still was spending time in Gunner’s territory. She wasn’t broaching the subject about it because he seemed confused in his feelings, and probably needed time to sort things out.
I’m about to leave. Send. I’ll see you at Gunner’s. I’ll bring the bacon flowers!
Paying out now, see you soon. Like you.
She couldn’t help her smile if she tried! He had been dancing around the L-word with saying he liked her. She’d been saying it too, both of them being stubborn on who would say it first. Gah, she had the biggest crush on him. Sure, he completely owned her body in the bedroom, but it was so much more than that. He thought of her. They spent their mornings getting ready together, and checked on each other through the day, and she counted down the moments until she got to hug him the second they saw each other again.
This was what love was supposed to be like. She’d never felt anything like this. She could live the rest of her life just like this.
She finished making appointments for the day, closed down her computer, and said goodbye to her coworkers because she wouldn’t see them for a few days after this. The day after tomorrow was the courthouse wedding for Hallie and Gunner, and she had taken a few days off around it to help Hallie out.
She was low on gas, so she stopped at the gas station and mulled over the thought that if Ace and the seller ever settled their negotiations on the Moosey’s BBQ location, she could be getting gas at his place soon. It was on the way back to her cabin.
When she got back into her car, she checked her phone, and had somehow missed three calls from an unfamiliar number. She frowned. She didn’t usually answer unknown numbers, but there was a text from the same number that said two words that electrified the fine hairs on her body.
Need Ace.
She moved to call the number back, but another call came in and she answered it.
“Corey! I need Ace here now.”
The voice was familiar. “Owen?”
“Yes, it’s fucking Owen. Tell him to use his bat powers. I don’t have his number. I need help!”
“Where are you?”
A roar through the phone nearly deafened her left ear, and static followed. “Owen? Owen!”
“It’s Gunner and Hallie. Corey, just get here. I can’t stop him.”
“Oh my God, I’ll call Ace!”
The call dropped. “You better not be fucking with me, Owen,” she murmured as she frantically connected a call to Ace.
“Hey pretty girl, how—”
“Ace, Owen needs help. Something about Gunner and Hallie. Owen said he needs your bat powers.”
The phone clicked.
“Hello?”
No answer, and the call was disconnected. Shhhit. She turned on her car and threw it into drive, hit the gas, and spun out of the parking lot throwing gravel behind her. She hit the main and was horrified to see the birds lifting from the trees en masse up on the mountain they lived on.
“Oh no,” she murmured. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong!
She didn’t let off the accelerator until she saw Ace’s truck on the side of the road. He hadn’t even bothered to put it into park. It had come to a stop against a tree in the ditch. He wasn’t inside, and the sky was darkening.
Hallie, Hallie, Hallie. Something was wrong!
She skidded onto the turn for Winding Creek Way and sped up the gravel road as fast as her car would go. The sky was nearly night-dark over the trailer, and churning above the mountain.
The clearing was chaos. It was filled with purple smoke, and there were two bears at absolute war, trying to kill each other near the tree line. Owen was on the porch, gesturing her to him.
She threw the car into park, and didn’t even bother to turn it off or close the door before she was sprinting for the door.
“Straight inside, don’t come out here!” Ace roared, but she couldn’t see him. The smoke thickened around her, and she couldn’t see. “Keep going!”
The air thinned just in time for her to see the stairs.
Owen’s blue eyes looked panicked. “She’s hurt bad.”
“Hallie?”
“Yeah.”
“Why is Captain fighting Gunner?” she yelled as she bolted past.
Owen followed her inside. “Captain isn’t here yet. That’s Lucia Novak trying to keep him off Hallie.”
“Keep him off…” She caught sight of Hallie on the floor of the bedroom. “Oh my God.”
She was a mangled mess, laying on her back, panting for breath, empty eyes staring at the ceiling. “What the fuck happened?” she screamed as she slid to her knees beside her cousin.
“I don’t know!” Owen roared, panicked. “I’m fucking bleeding out.”
She pulled her shirt off herself and pressed it to Hallie’s ribs. That seemed to be where she was bleeding from the most. She turned and looked at Owen, and yep, he was painted crimson. “I tried to stop it,” he uttered shakily.
“What do I do?” she yelled.
“You keep her alive and give the bear a chance to take her!” A roar rattled the house, and Owen disappeared from the doorway. The slamming of the front door shook the trailer.
“Hey, Hallie,” she said gently, angling her cousin’s face toward her. “Hey baby, where’s the first aid?”
Her breath came in quick pants. “Kit-kit-kit…”
“Kitchen?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, baby, we gotta give the bear time.” Like she knew what the fuck she was talking about! “I need you to hold this here. Pressure. I’ll be back in fifteen seconds. Want to count with me?”
Hallie nodded. “I’m scared.”
“I’m here. Fifteen. Fourteen. Hold it tight!” She jumped up and bolted for the kitchen.
Her heart shattered when she heard Hallie’s frail, “Thirteen, twe-twe-twelve.”
She was going to kill Gunner!
She opened the cupboards in a rush. Where did they keep the damn first aid?! She had been a Girl Scout up until sophomore year in college. She needed that clotting powder to get the bleeding slowed!
“Ten!” she called. “Hallie, count with me!”
Frantically, she yanked more cupboards open, then knelt and looked under the sink. There. It didn’t look like a normal first-aid kit. It was a huge plastic container that took up most of the underneath of the sink, but she could see the outline of gauze through the clear plastic. Yep.
She pulled it out and bolted for the bedroom, slid it right beside Hallie, and prayed whoever stocked this had packed BleedStop. Yep, there it was. Hell yeah.
“Good girl,” she said to Hallie, ripping into the BleedStop package. She yanked the shirt off her injuries. God, they were so bad. Fuck Gunner. He loved her? Really? Then why had he done this!
Something hit the side of the house hard, and she had to fall forward on locked arms to avoid falling on Hallie. She spilled some of the BleedStop. “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” she chanted, but it was mostly for herself.
She packed the wounds with it. There seemed to be one bad claw mark, and several puncture wounds. Clearly a bear attack.
“I think I need help,” Owen said from behind her.
She was working with speed over Hallie, packing as many of the punctures as she could. She threw another packet of BleedStop at Owen. “Pack it!” she yelled.
He sank down against the wall and poured the packet onto his open stomach. “Beaston will be here soon, Beaston will be here soon,” he chanted. “He won’t let him kill her.”
She didn’t understand his words, and didn’t care. Her focus was on Hallie, whose pupils were getting bigger and bigger. It had to be shock.
“Is she going to make it?” Owen asked.
“Owen, shut the fuck up! Of course she is.” She cupped Hallie’s cheeks. “Look at me. We’re just getting started, do you hear me?” To her horror, her hands were leaving crimson handprints on her cousin’s face.
Hallie nodded. “You’re going to be my maid of honor.”
“Damn right. We got our dresses. You’re going to look so beautiful.” She would shoot her groom dead before he made it to the courthouse, but Hallie didn’t need that stress right now. “Look, the bleeding has already slowed.”
Tears rimmed Hallie’s eyes as she nodded jerkily. “It’s bad.”
