Sugar Creek (25 page)

“A jerk with a big trophy,” Mike pointed out. Then he looked back to Rachel and gave her a small grin. “And you know I’m not
always
a jerk. In fact, I’m nicer to you than most people.”

“Then I feel bad for most people,” she informed him—but she still looked flirtatious. The now absent sun had pinkened her cheeks and he thought her unusually pretty with her hair mussed from a breezy fall day outdoors. “Now I see why you need Edna’s floppy hat,” he teased, pointing at her face.

“I have very sensitive skin,” she replied. Which he already knew. From touching her. A different kind of sensitive than she was talking about, but he couldn’t help remembering the way she reacted to just the simplest little touch or kiss.

“Hey,” Jeff announced to the small crowd, “we’re going to the Whippy Dip if anybody else wants to come. It’s their last weekend of the season.” The ice cream stand on the edge of town had been a summer hangout in their youth.

“And they have way more than just ice cream now,” Sue Ann said to Rachel, assuming—correctly—that she wouldn’t know. “They make good burgers and sandwiches, and Sophie loves their chicken fingers.”

Tessa shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

“I say we
all
go,” Logan suggested. “We champions can celebrate our victory with our adoring fans.” He motioned to the girls for the last part with his usual grin.

“All right, Whippy Dip it is,” Adam said.

And that’s when a loud clap of thunder sounded, the skies opened, and it began to pour.

“Son of a bitch,” Mike muttered as he and the guys rushed to grab up the mitts and bats they’d each brought.

Getting drenched in a matter of seconds, the group began to scatter, all headed to their cars. Mike heard Sue Ann yell, “See you all there!” Then he saw Rachel running behind Amy and Tessa toward the parking lot.

And that’s when he realized—he couldn’t let her go with them.

Because he wanted her with
him
.

Even if it was just for a ride to the Whippy Dip. It had been too long since he’d seen her.

Chasing after her, he soon closed a fist around her wrist, holding her back from following her friends. “Come with me,” he murmured, then pulled her toward his pickup, both of them still running to escape the rain.

He opened the driver’s side door and helped her hurry in, then threw his bat and glove in the extended cab behind the seat.

Shutting them in a few seconds later—the rain buffeting the truck on all sides—made him feel suddenly secluded with her. And it gave him the fierce urge not to wait a second longer to do what he wanted to do.

His heart still beating fast from the run, he turned, lifted his hand to her wet face, and kissed her with all the passion he’d apparently been holding in all week. It roared through him suddenly now, like some kind of avalanche, needing to get out. He pressed his tongue between her lips, heard her pretty sigh, and went instantly hard.

When the kiss finally ended, their faces remained close, and all was still but for the rain still washing down the windows around them—until she whispered, breathlessly, maybe even a little nervously, “We should, um, probably catch up with the others.” A glimpse of the sweet, vulnerable Rachel when he’d least expected it.

“Uh, yeah,” he murmured, nodding, brought back to the moment at hand—then he started the truck and turned on the wipers. The rain continued falling in a deluge outside.

And inside…damn, he was just beginning to realize her top was entirely soaked and that he could see the lace of her bra, as well as the shadows of pretty, dark pink nipples jutting through. And his chest tightened in a way he was quickly coming to recognize. It was the she-makes-me-crazy way.

By the time they reached the edge of the parking lot, he was throbbing behind his zipper. And he wanted to kiss her some more. Hell, he wanted to do a lot more than kiss her. So when he pulled out onto the road, he turned the wrong way.

“Uh, what about the ice cream?” she asked, looking surprised.

Letting his gaze rake down over her, he drew it back up to her deep blue eyes and said, “I’m in the mood for something else.”

M
ike’s words trickled down Rachel’s spine. She was in the mood for something besides ice cream, too. Darn it, she was
always
in the mood whenever she even thought about Mike, and watching him all afternoon had only made it worse. And his kiss just now had turned her completely inside out.

But she still couldn’t help feeling a little indignant over the whole “See ya” thing. And despite herself, even if she’d told herself all she wanted from him was sex…well, they’d shared enough now that she didn’t want him to think she would just be at his beck and call. She hadn’t come to the park today expecting to get drawn back into his sexy web. So she heard herself begin to argue with him. “Well, what about the others?”

“They’ll figure out we’re not coming,” he said, eyes on the road. It continued pouring outside.

“Well…what if
I’m
in the mood for ice cream?”

“I’ll change your mind real fast,” he promised.

Hmm. “How?” She crossed her arms, the move shoving her breasts upward.

And even while driving through the torrent, he glanced over at her—and her whole body tingled as his gaze rose from her boobs to her face. His eyes were half shut, and when he spoke, his voice came out raspy. “I still haven’t shown you what I can do with my tongue. And I’ve got far better uses for it than ice cream, honey.”

Oh. My. Her inner thighs fluttered, and she bit her lip as he peered back through the windshield to concentrate on driving.

Still, fluttering thighs didn’t obliterate the “See ya” incident. “That’s…intriguing, but you can’t just have your way with me any time you please, you know.”

Next to her, he only let out an exasperated breath. “Since when? You didn’t seem to mind the last two times I had my way with you.”

Rachel let out an annoyed breath at his shocking-even-if-typical bluntness. But at the same time, her cheeks warmed—because he made sense. Since when did she play hard to get? Oh hell. Maybe, when all was said and done, the “See ya” thing had just plain hurt her feelings. And maybe she just wanted to feel a little bit…valued by him. Whether she liked it or not. “Well, I took your advice and quit overworrying our…situation,” she lied. “But just because this is a totally casual fling, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy being…wined and dined a little. Or something. You know?”

In response, Mike simply shook his head, looking completely bewildered. “Hell, you confound me, woman.”

“
Confound?
” Rachel blinked. “Color me surprised—I didn’t see a guy like you using the word
confound
.”

He kept his eyes on the road, trying to navigate through the heavy rain, as he grumbled, “Well, it’s probably a first. And you’re damn worthy of it. Because one minute you tell me you can’t have sex with me because you hate
Destiny—or something idiotic like that—and the next you decide it’s a-okay. Then you say you don’t want romance, and now you’re telling me you do. Just tell me what the hell it is you want, Farris, and I’ll give it to you.”

Hmm. What a request. And there were so many ways she could answer—so many different things she desired. She wanted Edna and the orchard. She wanted more of what she’d gotten from Mike after the picnic—that surprising sweetness. She wanted to keep being the tough chick who had it all under control and didn’t get attached to men or cats or grandmas or anything else that felt impractical in her life. But right now, her breasts ached, and the juncture of her thighs pulsed madly, and the heat flowing through her body seemed a lot more powerful than any of those vague, useless thoughts. So she drew in her breath, pressed her palm to the wet khaki covering his thigh, then slid her touch upward until it covered his erection. And he
was
definitely—delightfully—erect.

Mike let out a low groan that only fueled her longing. “Giving you
that
, honey,” he murmured as he drove on, “will be my pure pleasure.”

“Just…remember what I said,” she told him, her voice coming out breathy as she turned toward him in the truck, getting caught up in her own want, pressing her breasts to his muscular biceps.

“About, uh, wining and dining?” She liked that his words came out strained, too, because she was lightly massaging the column between his legs now. “Not a lot of that going on in Destiny, Farris, but if it’s what you want, it’s what you’ll get.”

That’s more like it.
Not that she was really thinking about wining and dining anymore—she was thinking about the rock-hard length of flesh beneath her hand. She squeezed him more fervently through the shorts, and he muttered, “Jesus, woman, you’re gonna cause an accident.”

She bit her lip. “Should I stop?”

“Hell no.”

Rachel hadn’t had a chance to ponder where they were going, but it still surprised her when they pulled up a sloping gravel drive to a large white farmhouse with a black barn and several outbuildings in back. The house possessed simple lines—a full covered porch stretching across the front, one gable in the center with a small diamond-shaped window in the eave, the other gridded windows situated symmetrically. But the thing that surprised her was that it seemed like far too big of a house for only him.

“Your place?” she asked, to make sure. But it came out whispery because she was still stroking him and the small of her back ached deliciously.

“Mmm,” he confirmed, low, deep, killing the engine.

Okay, who cared how big his house was—she just wanted to get him naked.

“Ready?” he asked. The rain had slacked off a little, but still fell hard.

“Very.”

So Mike threw open his door and together they ran for the porch. Both were freshly soaked by the time he stabbed a key at the front door, then shoved it open.

Dusk and gray skies made the interior dark, but at the moment, Rachel didn’t care about seeing it anyway—she’d just become very single-minded. And clearly, Mike felt the same since he didn’t bother with lights—he simply tossed his keys on a table with a loud jangle, turned to her in the entryway, lifted his hands back to her face, and gave her a long, heated kiss.

They were both breathless, panting, as Mike reached down to the hem of her drenched top and peeled it over her head—she held her arms up to help him remove it. His eyes dropped to her breasts, so hers did, too—to find that the rain had turned her pink lacy bra completely
transparent. Instinctively, she reached behind her back to the hook, letting the wet bra loosen, then fall from her shoulders and off.

“Jesus God,” he whispered. Her breasts had never felt more sensitive in her life, more in need of attention.

But the rest of her was in need, too, so she was already moving on, curling her fingers into his tee and vigorously stripping it off him, as well. Then they both kicked off their shoes and worked at each other’s zippers, pushing, tugging, wiggling—until finally they stood completely naked together in the shadowy light.

“Damn,” Mike said, sounding…a little weakened, she thought. Yet he regained his strength to add, “You’re beautiful.”

Rachel bit her lip, whispering, “You, too.” Because he was. All muscle and sinew, his body was…flawless. And yes, she’d seen him naked before, in the concession stand, but this was different. Because the terrifying truth was, now it mattered. Because now…she cared. Edna was right. Amy was right. She cared, damn it. And she could lie about it, but that didn’t change it.

And so it somehow moved her more deeply to study the dark stubble on his jaw, the smattering of hair on his broad chest, his muscled stomach. It somehow moved her more to feast her gaze on his majestically hard erection—because it was for her, just for her; she’d made him that way. She’d made him that way before, of course, but this was the first time she’d really
known
it—that this was more than just chemistry, more than just two bodies lusting.

She bit her lip, met his gaze, and felt far too needy at the moment. Like some other girl. Some…softer girl than she’d ever been.

And then they were on each other, kissing again, touching. She looped her arms around his neck—his fell about her waist. That amazingly hard part of him pressed against her where she was the softest. She moaned against
his mouth and sank still deeper into him, absorbing his warmth, and the dampness of their skin coming together.

Mike’s kisses dropped to her neck, then her chest. Soon, she found herself arching toward him, silently begging him to kiss her breasts. The only time he ever had was in the concession stand, and again, that seemed so long ago now—like another lifetime. Of course, as she’d recognized before in brief honest moments, even then things with him hadn’t been…normal. Normal for her. Even then she’d cared about his opinion of her, and she’d felt unable to hold back, unable to say no.

When finally his tongue raked across one sensitive nipple, she gasped her pleasure as it rippled all through her. She instinctually rubbed the juncture of her thighs against his hardness. She watched as he took the turgid peak into his mouth, then suckled firmly.

“Oh…” she moaned—the sensation shot through her body like a rocket, landing directly between her thighs. And as she moved against him more, more, she felt her own wetness—much slicker than any moisture left from the rain.

Mike’s hands slid to her ass as he ground against her, guiding their bodies into a more sensual rhythm. “Oh God,” she murmured, because it felt so good,
too
good. Better than she’d known it could. So good that…oh Lord, she was going to come this way. Just from this. She bit her lip, let out a ragged breath, closed her eyes. She was getting lost in it, overwhelmed by it—she couldn’t stop it.

And then suddenly Mike’s palms closed tight over her bottom and he hoisted her slightly upward even as he backed her against the nearest wall. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said low in her ear, and she obeyed, locking her ankles in back—just before he thrust himself inside her.

“Oh!” she cried out, slightly shocked—by the entry
itself, and by how incredibly well he filled her. Which edged her cry into more of a moan. “Ohhh…oh, Mike.”

“Aw, honey, you’re so wet for me,” he growled in her ear.

And then she resumed the same rhythm as before, her body taking back over, her mind going numb as the sensations swept her away again, that quickly, and she whispered, “I’m gonna come.”

She caught her breath over and over as the orgasm rolled through her, sweet and surprisingly long—especially considering that her back was pressed against a hard wall. She shut her eyes and soaked up every hot pulse, riding him, feeling him inside her, aware of every spot where his body touched hers. As the scintillating waves eased, she could smell him, smell the rain on him, the dirt from the softball field, the manly scent of him, and she found herself wrapping her arms tighter around his neck, clinging to him, holding on as if for dear life. And she had no idea why, no idea except…
oh God, this must be what it’s like to start falling for a guy.

“You okay, baby?” he whispered deeply in her ear.

Mmm, he’d called her baby. But he was also asking her if she was okay—because she was clutching at him like her very existence depended on it. Yet all she could manage was, “Mmm-hmm.”

“Mmm,” he purred. “Was that good?”

She nodded against his shoulder. “
Really
good.”

“I thought so,” he said—surprisingly without a shred of arrogance—as he carried her across the room, still inside her, to lower her onto a couch, on her back. His erection never left her—and thank God, because she loved the way it made her feel so utterly connected to him.

He lay on top of her, their eyes meeting in the darkness, and with his big hands still bracketing her hips, he began to deliver deep, delicious thrusts in a slow rhythm that
made her feel thoroughly possessed by him. In a good way.

Oh Lord, she wanted to be possessed? By a man? Who
was
she? But she couldn’t think right now—she could only feel, she could only soak each deep plunge into her body, could only drink in the low, sexy groans he emitted with every one.

Soon, she was moaning from the lush sensations—they stretched all through her. And she looked up into his dark eyes the whole time, discovering it was another way to feel connected to him.

She’d never cared so much for a man’s pleasure before; she’d never felt so very…as if they were in this together, to give pleasure as well as to receive. And she knew it was silly, because surely this was just like the first two times they’d had sex—but the feeling permeated her completely anyway.

She never wanted it to end. She hoped he could see on her face how lost she was to him, to his every touch, his every slow, deep drive. She wanted him to hold her forever. She wanted their arms and legs to be tangled up together for the rest of their lives. In that moment, she wanted
everything
with him, everything in the world there was to have with a man. She begged him, “Kiss me,” because she needed that further connection, as well as all the others.

He pushed one hand back through her damp hair, then lowered his mouth to hers. She touched his face, the stubble on his cheek. She lifted to meet his slow, magnificent strokes. She felt—insanely perhaps—like she was floating on a perfect cloud with him, like she’d found true serendipity.

“Aw…aw, honey,” he growled, and his hips jerked against her—reflexively, she thought, almost beyond his control, and she liked it. “Baby. Baby, I’m gonna come in you. I’m gonna come in you.”

Rachel bit her lower lip as his thrusts grew faster, harder—she met each, empowered by knowing she’d taken him here. She wanted it to be the most intense climax of his life.

And then he was growling, calling out, as he drove into her again, again, and she loved knowing he was leaving something of himself inside her there. It was the first time she’d ever felt such an emotion and her whole body went warm as he finally relaxed against her, resting his head alongside hers. The scruff of his beard lightly abraded her shoulder.

“Jesus,” he breathed in her ear.

“What?”