Hell to Pay (3 page)

Her face fell, bright red slashes coloring her cheeks. With that, their tentative truce snapped. Rolling onto her side, she scooted for the far edge of the bed. Rafer kicked off his jeans and briefs and reached for her at the same time. He caught her around her waist and pulled her back to the center of the king-sized bed.

She lashed out at him, kicking wildly as he climbed aboard with her. “I knew you were up to something.”

With her still on her side, he caught her leg behind the knee and moved up close where she couldn’t strike him. Straddling her lower leg, he used his thigh to keep her upper leg bent. “What? Trying to seduce you? Hell, yeah. I’ll admit to that.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I… don’t know.” He hated the look of distrust in her eyes and the barely banked anger. He wasn’t using her. He was as caught up in this craziness as she was.

He shook his head slowly. “I really don’t.”

She tried to shift away again as he stroked her leg. Her thigh muscles were quivering as his fingers moved ever-closer to her exposed pussy. With his thigh blocking her leg, she couldn’t escape his touch. Couldn’t roll away.

Reaching down, she grabbed his wrist. Her fingernails bit, but when he touched her, she didn’t try to push him away. “
Ah!”

He gently ran his finger along her slit. She was wet and plump. Hungry. Her pussy clamped down on his finger as he slid it inside her.

“
Damn you
,” she groaned as her hips rocked.

Easily, he hooked his arm under her thigh, lifting her leg up and opening her wider. He pumped his finger into her, adding another once she adjusted to the penetration. When he moved up closer, her head jerked off the pillow and her lips parted in muted shock.

Hard pleasure gripped him. She’d never taken a man this way, he could tell. She’d never taken a man the way he’d had her outside either.

And he liked that.

He liked being her first. He liked showing her the sensual delights they could share if they just stopped butting heads.

He lined his cock up, rubbing the tip against her wetness. He was full and hard again already, his balls drawn up tight. “You want me.”

“I shouldn’t.”

He pushed in a good inch, watching her opening expand to take him. She moaned and turned her face into the pillow.

“You’ve been taunting me for weeks.”

“Well, you’ve been doing everything you could to intimidate me,” she said, her voice higher, unsteady.

He paused. “What do you mean?”

“You watch me.”

A shiver ran over his skin, and he leaned down close so his lips brushed her ear. “Because you want me to. Wear the pink bikini for me again tomorrow, and I’ll watch you hard.”

She closed her eyes, but groaned when his cock burrowed in further.

He traced the delicate shell of her ear with his nose. “You know which one I’m talking about… the one without the padding that shows off your pouty nipples.”

Her breath hitched. “You… I can’t… They only get that way when…”

She bit her lip.

He hooked her leg over his forearm and reached higher to cup her breast. “When I’m watching you?”

Her nipple poked into his palm, betraying her.

“You want me,” he repeated.

She bit her lip.

“You want me.” He pressed deeper, almost all the way in, and felt her pussy grip him tightly.

Yet she still wouldn’t give in.

Rafer waited with his heart pounding in his chest and his pulse throbbing in his temples. She’d been toying with him for weeks, teasing him with a glimpse here and a seductive move there. Subconscious or not, she’d been trying to lure him in.

But damn it, he wanted her conscious of her actions now. Conscious of her feelings. He needed her to admit them to herself. More so, he needed her to admit them to him.

Yet as hard as she was breathing, she kept her face buried in the pillow.

His chest felt heavy.

“Okay.” Gritting his teeth, he slowly began to pull out. The glide was wet and snug. If anything, her pussy held him tighter, trying to keep him where he was. He’d almost pulled free when she moaned.

“Noooo.”

He stopped. “You want it? You want me? A Long?”

“Yes.”

His heart jumped at her desperate confession. He thrust back into her, finally completing the connection, and she cried out in pleasure. Her hands fisted into the pillow, the sheets, or whatever she could find as Rafer held himself deep.

When she settled, he braced himself on one arm and began to rock his hips back and forth. He found a slow, deep rhythm he could keep up for a long, long time. He wanted her to feel him, to not get caught up in the raging firestorm that had burned them both the first time. He wanted her to know just who was fucking her, who was making her feel good.

And realize he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.

He lifted her leg higher, drawing her knee towards her chest. His fingers toyed with her nipples, giving them both the treatment they needed to keep them puckered and pink. Nosing aside a soft curl of hair, he whispered in her ear. “You make me want, too, little trespasser.”

Her fingers curled into the pillow.

“I love the way you look, so I watch you. I crave for you to talk to me, so I antagonize you until I can hear that sweet voice.” He nipped at her earlobe, and she shivered. “But now I know how you feel.”

He buried his cock deep. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to stop touching you.”

She made a strained sound, but then turned her head and met him mouth-to-mouth. The kiss rocked Rafer all the way to his toes. He felt the last of her resistance drain out of her body, and satisfaction coursed through him.

Still, he kept his thrusts measured, going only as deep as she liked…deeper in increments as she adjusted to the position…harder as she started to clutch at him. Breathing heavily, he whispered into her ear. He told her sensual things,
dirty
things…

When she came, her entire body clenched. Her eyes closed tightly, and her nipples beaded hard. Her legs closed as her pussy clamped around him.

He shut his eyes, holding on as she shook. When the storm passed, it took over him. Turning her onto her knees, he propped her hips up. Hard and deep, he pumped into her, taking her doggy style. The position let him go deeper than he’d been all day. He wanted to go as deep as her soul.

“Ah,
Rafer!
” Moaning, her body flexed, pushing back towards him. “You
are
the devil.”

He stroked his hands over her tight buttocks and up the straight line of her spine. When he wrapped himself around her, he finished it hard and fast. The orgasm knocked them both senseless and, together, they tumbled onto the mattress.

The utter completion drained Rafer of any remaining anger, resentment or suspicion he had. Only one thought was in his mind as sleep took him under its gentle wing.
If this was hell, he was going to be first in line to pay the ferryman.

Much, much later, when Rafer woke up, Cassidy was still in his arms. His body spooned hers from behind, and his arm was wrapped around her possessively. Her hand covered his on her stomach, and her head lay on his pillow.

She was awake, he could tell. But if she’d tried to leave, she hadn’t tried very hard.

It made him relax for the first time all day. He’d been wound up, waiting for her to come visit, and then stressed she’d leave before he was ready. He sank into the mattress, soaking up the feel of her body against his. And she let him. They lay that way for a long while, comfortable in each other’s presence for the first time. The constant tension had eased and become something different. Needs had been slaked. Desires had been fulfilled. They’d return soon, stronger than ever, but for the moment the lull was peaceful.

“Why does your family hate mine so much?”

The question was quiet in the sunlit room. Quiet in the manner of an atomic bomb.

It obliterated the easy, sated feeling that had consumed Rafer, yet there was no accusation in Cassidy’s voice. There wasn’t even a hint of malice. If anything, there was sadness. The hopelessness made his stomach drop.

He didn’t want to talk about this. Not now. Not like this. “You’ll have to ask them.”

“I want to hear it from you.”

“Cassidy.”

“Please?”

The soft entreaty caught him square in the chest.

When she asked him like that, how could he deny her? She’d trusted him with her body. Now she was trusting him to be honest with her. He let out a long breath. “How far back do you want me to go?”

“The beginning. What started all this hate?”

How could he explain a hundred years of war? The only way was to keep it simple. “Your great grandfather—several times over—stole your piece of land from my great grandfather.”

“I’ve heard that story. The way it’s told in my family, he won it in a game of poker.”

“Yeah? Well in mine, he cheated.”

She rolled over to face him, and the expression on her face was clouded. She pulled the sheet up over her nakedness. “Do you have proof?”

“It was over a hundred years ago.”

“And yet the land is still mine. If there was proof, don’t you think the Wilsons would have had to give it up a long time ago?”

His eyes narrowed. She was cunning for a Wilson.

“It’s such a tiny piece of land,” she argued. “Why the big drama?”

He coughed. It was a little more than that. “Because it’s right smack dab in the middle of ours.”

“So why did
your
great grandfather—several times over—put it up for grabs in the first place? If it was so important, why bet it?”

Cunning was right.

He brushed his finger over her flushed cheek. “You’ve got me there.”

“This feud is ridiculous,” she insisted.

“To some,” he agreed.

“Not to you.”

His touch stilled.

“How has it lasted for so long?” she pressed. “Why?”

She didn’t know. She honestly didn’t know what had happened. The last of it, at least. Her innocence made him ache. “Because the land was just the start of it. From there, things got… worse. Some actions you just can’t take back.”

Her brown gaze met his steadily. “You could let it go if you wanted to.”

“No, I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

He slowly pulled his touch away from her soft skin. “I tried once, but your family wouldn’t let me.”

“Are you talking about my grandparents?”

Just the mention of the older Wilsons caused a slow burn in Rafer’s gut. Yet Cassidy frowned. She was oblivious to the ugliness that existed between him and her grandfather. It brought out an unexpected protectiveness in him. He wanted to keep her that way, untouched and unhurt. “Let’s not talk about this.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “How could you possibly fight with them? They’re elderly.
Old
. They couldn’t hurt anyone if they tried.”

His jaw clenched. They’d hurt him, and the strike had cut deep. Deeper than he’d let them see… Or had they? Hardin Wilson was just about the biggest, meanest son-of-a-bitch he knew. It wouldn’t be above the man to throw his own granddaughter at him just for spite.

Would it?

Rafer shook off the thought. “Just know I didn’t start it,” he said tightly.

“Maybe not you, but what about your brother?” Her lips flattened. “He’s been trying to bully me ever since I got here.”

“What?”

She looked uneasy. “He’s constantly trying to a rise out of me. Like last week at the grocery store…”

Rafer propped himself up onto his elbow. “What did he do?”

She hesitated. “It’s not important.”

“Tell me.”

“He just said some things in front of Mrs. Cordray and Mrs. Carter. You know how those two are.”

He knew. They were two of the biggest gossips in town.

Cassidy shrugged. “I tried not to let him get to me, but he wouldn’t stop. I finally left and went back later.”

The news didn’t sit well with Rafer. Not well at all. “Leave him to me.”

Her brown gaze lifted. “You’d side with me over your brother?”

He looked at her lying next to him, so soft and beautiful it hurt. Could he pick a Wilson over a Long in a fight? “He won’t bother you anymore.”

She settled onto the pillow beside him, and they watched each other warily. When they weren’t touching, their truce was tentative. Shaky at best.

“This scares me,” she admitted quietly.

“I’d never hurt you. I promise that.”

“No, but there’s an anger in you. I can feel it. I… I don’t know if I can trust you.”

He watched her for a good, long time. “I don’t know if I can trust you, either.”

“Then what are we doing here?”

He wasn’t sure, but he knew one thing. He was going to follow this path until its conclusion, good or bad. The way that things usually ended up between the Wilsons and the Longs, though, had him reaching for her again.

“Tempting fate, little trespasser.” He swept a hand up her side. “We’re tempting fate.”

* * * * *

Night was falling when Cassidy slipped from the bed. Rafer was sleeping soundly, flat on his back with the sheet dipping low. He was all tanned muscle and sinew. Temptation and the forbidden, all wrapped up in one. As tired as she was, her body hummed as she looked at him.

Even in sleep, he was dangerous to her. Dangerous and fascinating.

She still couldn’t believe she was here, in his bedroom. The den of the lion. Make no mistake about it – as wild as they’d gone on each other, she’d never forgotten who he was. Or maybe that was precisely why things had gotten so out of control. So intense. So devastating.

They’d both been waiting for the other to turn, yet they’d been powerless to fight their mutual attraction.

She hadn’t wanted to fight. She still didn’t. He’d given her pleasure she’d never imagined…touched her in ways she never should have allowed… And she wouldn’t have changed a moment of it.

Yet that didn’t mean she trusted him.

Something had happened between him and her grandparents—something that had been bad enough to make them move from their home of forty years. Imagining what it might have been had her distressed. She didn’t want to betray her family. Yet he made her feel… She didn’t know
what
he made her feel. She couldn’t describe it, not in words, but it was powerful. Powerful enough to make her want to bury her head in the sand when it came to this whole rift.