Falling Softly: Compass Girls, Book 4 (4 page)

“It’s kind of weird, you know. I’ve always thought I knew where I was meant to be. But lately, things are changing, and I think that might be worse. Finding out that how you thought things were supposed to be isn’t going to last forever, and that your life is your family’s, not your own.”

“I know
exactly
what you mean, Sterling.” He gazed at her with such intensity that she had to clear her throat and deliberately turn away. “And when that anchor gets yanked up and you start to drift, it’s easy to get dizzy. To lose your way.”

“Is that how you ended up stranded on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere?” She recalled the black, red and white bedroll she’d spotted in the bed of the truck. It looked like he’d used it. A lot. Not just for picturesque camping trips to manicured grounds, either.

“I suppose it was the start of that path.” He shrugged, kicking a rock into the distance.

The grief radiating off him reminded her too much of what she’d been feeling when she left Compass Ranch earlier—the pain she’d been trying to obliterate, if even for a few hours.

So she steered the conversation to less dangerous ground. Like the cooling weather.

Viho rewarded her change of subjects with the hint of a smile and the loosening of his tense shoulders. As they chitchatted, she tinkered with his engine. It quickly became clear that his assessment was accurate. The thing was toast.

Surrendering, she turned toward Viho at the same instant he leaned in for a closer look. They plastered together. Instinctively, her hands flew to his chest to brace herself. And she smeared grease all over his soft, charcoal cotton shirt.

“Son of a bitch.” She tried to wipe a smudge off and only splattered it more. “I’m so sorry.”

“No problem.” His easygoing nature counterbalanced her impending freak-out, which would only enhance the social awkwardness that had always plagued her. But when he reached down, grabbed the hem of the tee and whipped it over his head, he struck her dumb.

Muscles rippled as he moved, hardness covered with smooth, tan skin she wished she had a right to touch. “Uh…”

“It was an accident. No harm.” He wadded up the fabric and tossed it into the back of the truck.

Except there might be some damage to her heart if it didn’t start beating again where it’d nearly exploded in her ribcage. It was time for her to admit it. She had never drooled over a man, not even a movie star or that guy she’d exchanged some heated emails with through an online matchmaking site, the way she lusted after Viho. Instant and vicious, attraction seethed between them.

“Sterling,” he murmured.

“Yeah?”

“I think we’d better wrap up here so you can take me into town now.”

“What if I don’t really want to do that anymore?” She couldn’t stop herself from being honest when he’d been so open with her earlier.

“Then I’ll wait for the next person to come by.” He shrugged, but she didn’t miss the flash of disappointment in his warm stare.

Did he think so little of himself that he didn’t understand her implication?

“Viho, this is not the time to be dense.” Brave, sure, she could be. But making the first move in this situation… Well, that was a little outrageous, even for her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He encroached on her personal space then, and she loved it.

“I think I’d rather stay here with you and listen to what nature is telling
me
right now.” She wiped her hand on her skirt, then reached up to his cheek.

“You can’t mean that.” His eyes went wide. “Are you for real? Maybe I didn’t drink enough water today. I’ve been stuck out here for a while.”

Sterling smiled. She knew she was doing the right thing. He’d needed to find her as much as she’d needed to discover him today. For whatever reason, they were here in the same place at the same time. Wasting that opportunity—divine or pure dumb luck—would not be wise.

Sterling might not have believed in fate before, but she could be converted.

“Does this seem like I mean it?” She launched herself at Viho then, sure he wouldn’t allow her to fall. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she went onto her tiptoes.

He didn’t leave her straining for long. His broad hands cupped the back of her thighs and lifted her to his level. The tips of her boots dangled off the ground as their bodies aligned. Locking them tighter, she wrapped her legs around his hips and crossed her ankles even as her hands rested on either side of his neck. A breeze cooled her ass when her skirt rode up due to her very unladylike position.

Holding her as if she was as dainty as her cousin, Hope, he stared into her eyes until she lunged forward, plastering her lips on his before he could bring either one of them to their senses. That was when his gentlemanly exterior sheared away.

Viho growled as he kissed her, walking forward until her back knocked into the truck near where he’d stood when she’d first spied him. Her front molded to his bare chest and her greedy fingers explored his neck then his thick hair. As much of his muscular shoulders as she could reach.

If her nails scoring his heated flesh bothered him, he didn’t show it. Instead, he devoured her mouth like a drowning man who’d been offered one last gasp of fresh air. It was delicious. The taste of him, vanilla and spice. Addictive bliss whited out everything wrong with her world and highlighted each pleasurable sensation that rushed in to take its place. The world glowed as if their passion electrified everything around them.

Sterling sighed, melting into Viho when his tongue caressed hers, just the way she liked. A shockwave of delight burst from her core, spreading outward in a flash of tingles to all of her extremities. The buzzing amplified when Viho turned up the heat, his hands sliding to her ass and squeezing.

He held her tight to him while he ravaged her mouth. His hips pressed forward, imprinting the long bulge of his hard-on into the softness of her mound.

A delighted whimper escaped her parted lips.

Immediately, he froze.

“No, no,” she urged in a husky whisper. “That was a good sound. Don’t stop now.”

“This is insane.” He grunted softly when he rocked against her again as if he couldn’t help himself. “We shouldn’t.”

“I don’t care.” Sterling nuzzled his neck, letting her teeth rake the sensitive spot below his jaw.

“Not now, you don’t. But will you later?” Viho rested his forehead on hers. “I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

“I’ll only be sorry if we don’t live in the moment. We’re here, together, right now and I don’t want to waste a bit of whatever the hell this attraction is.” Begging wasn’t her style, but she was about to do it anyway. “Unless you have a girlfriend or something?”

“No.” He breathed hard, as if trying to regain control.

And she was having none of that.

“Funny,” she murmured as she nibbled his lip, intent on seduction.

“Hmm?” He didn’t seem that interested in her musings as he detoured from his arguments to kiss her in return.

“Today doesn’t seem so chilly anymore.”

His answering laugh rumbled through his chest.

Sterling swore she could feel the echo straight through to her heart. Inspired, she toed off one boot and then the other, hoping the sound of the leather hitting the ground would trigger an avalanche of clothes joining them.

“You’re sure?” he doubled-checked.

“Less talking, Viho. More kissing. Lots more.” She purred as she rippled against his torso, making him pant using the body wave she and her Compass cousins had practiced while learning to dirty dance in their living room.

“Right. You know that old saying, never look a gift horse in the mouth—”

“Are you calling me a horse?” She quirked a brow at him.

“Don’t hate me later, okay? And, hey, I love horses.” His crooked grin curled one corner of his sinful lips.

“Well, in that case…”

Viho laughed softly. He cupped her face in his palms, then kissed her with more tenderness and less hunger this time. “I don’t know where the hell you came from, girl, but I’m glad our paths crossed today.”

“Me too,” Sterling walked her fingers down his rock-solid pecs. “Now make it an afternoon I’ll never forget, okay?”

“I’ll try my best.” He groaned when she spread her legs wider around him, inviting him closer, until neither of them could deny the thick ridge of his cock pressing at the damp lace of her panties. He kissed her neck, making her sigh and press into his hold even as he leaned his shoulders into her harder.

Pinned between his smoldering body and the cool steel of the vehicle, she shuddered.

He took the hint, reaching between them to yank open the fly of his jeans.

With a groan, he released his erection, drawing it through the opening of the well-worn denim. Sterling didn’t hesitate—she arched her back, seeking the blunt tip of his cock even though she couldn’t possibly align them on her own, especially not through the fabric of her underwear.

Damn it, why couldn’t she be a superhero with the ability to disintegrate clothes?

Viho guided his cock to her, nudging aside her panties, eliminating the final barrier between them.

“Hang on.” He paused.

“No. Don’t stop.” Okay, so it wasn’t like she’d been waiting very long. But still, she was impatient to have him inside her, filling her with something other than the poisonous dread that had taken hold of her soul earlier. “I told you—”

“What day is it?” Viho gave her shoulders a small shake, enough to snap her back to reality. “Focus, Sterling. It’s important.”

“Thursday, I think.” She racked her brain for a moment trying to remember something so mundane when he made her feel…extraordinary. “Why?”

“No, the date.” He gritted his teeth. The muscle in his jaw flexed as he held himself separate from her.

“September 27th��no. It’s the 28th.”

“Shit, that’s what I thought. Look...” He eased off her a bit, or would have if she hadn’t wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged him back against her where his weight and heat felt so damn right. “I’m Vasalgeled. But my prescription expires at the end of the month. Damn thing’s good for five years and it’s going to run out any day. Just my shitty luck.”

“To me it looks like today might have been perfect timing after all.” Her lips curved into a wicked smile. “If we’d run into each other next week, then we’d have been screwed. I don’t have any other protection with me. But I’m not about to sacrifice having you. Besides, isn’t that like a sell-by date on a carton of milk?”

“I’m not sure.” He shook his head as he tossed her a wry grin coupled with a pitiful stare.

“One of my cousins has been trying to start a family. They told her that her fiancés would have to be off their prescription for three months before she could realistically expect to get pregnant.”

“Are you sure?” He broke eye contact and looked up at the sky as if begging someone to save him, or maybe to give him strength. “I’m not the kind of guy to take risks like that. Why don’t we go into town, have something to eat, get to know each other—”

“If
you’re
not sure…” She tried to hide her disappointment. Honorable and respectable. Great, she’d found a guy who checked all her boxes. Except today that wasn’t what she was interested in having ticked.

“No. I want you. Make no mistake.” His gaze returned to hers like a rubber band snapping into shape after being stretched. This time it was solid, unwavering. “It’s just that I don’t do things like this. Impulsive. Reckless.”

“Me either.” Sterling held her hands up. He took them and threaded their fingers together before placing them on either side of her head, capturing her completely. With his body supporting her, he stared down at her. She squeezed his fingers. “Any other day, I wouldn’t even consider this. But today is different. This is what I want.
You
are exactly what I need right now.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been what someone needed before.” Bitterness tainted his baritone. “Don’t expect me to turn away from a temptation as sweet as you, Sterling.”

“I promise. That’s the last thing I’m hoping for right now.” She sighed when he relaxed into her, eliminating any distance between them.

The shift allowed her to sink onto him, his cock perfectly positioned to penetrate her moist folds.

Viho stared into her eyes. Both of them held their breath.

Until she whispered, “Do it.”

And he complied.

Chapter Three

Viho freed one hand from Sterling’s grasp momentarily to shove his jeans down his hips a bit and support the base of his shaft as the blunt head probed her opening. An involuntary gasp left her parted lips when his thickness breached her, stretching her around his welcome invasion.

A sharp, sudden intensity assaulted her.

He reacted immediately, stopping mid-motion. His cock pulsed as he controlled himself long enough to check in with her. “Too much?”

“Just need a second.” She winked at him. “You’re a big guy.”

“Not all it’s cracked up to be.” He grimaced. “I’m not the kind of douchebag who enjoys hurting women.”

Traveling lower with a string of kisses that started at her mouth and ended at her collarbones, he seemed like he might take his time about things. Opt for the scenic route. Ease his passage. Most days she’d appreciate his consideration. Not today.

“Not necessary.”

“I want to taste you.” Unapologetic, he stared into her eyes as he admitted it.

“How about you make a meal out of me to get me ready for round two?” She winced at how badly her body craved him inside her. “I need you. Now. It’s fine. I’m good.”

Sterling reached for his cock, attempting to insert him deeper within her aching body. Hovering on the cusp of something that promised to be glorious was killing her. Instead of letting her lead him around by the dick, he took charge.

“I can only hold back so much.” He grunted as he slipped another inch inside her.

“Good.” She would have teased him more, but it was impossible to concentrate as he lit up every nerve ending along her channel like the lights on a runway guiding a jumbo jet home. “Gah!”

It was about as coherent as she could manage when he impaled her on his cock.

Classy, nope. Sassy, definitely not. Honest…absolutely.

And he seemed to soak up her appreciation.

Viho cursed, then let go of her hands, allowing gravity to fully embed his thick shaft. Nature gifted them both with the resulting pleasure. She strangled his cock with the rings of muscle in her pussy, hugging him as he began to slide in and out of her the barest bit.

By bending his knees then wrapping one arm around her waist between her and the truck, he was able to fuck her with short, powerful jabs that ground their pelvises together, ensuring her clit rubbed against his body with every movement. Her hard nipples too.

When he returned his mouth to hers for intermittent kisses as they both gulped for air, she knew it wouldn’t take long for her to come around him. She bit her lip as she concentrated, not on reaching orgasm but on holding it off so she could enjoy their primal meeting for as long as possible.

Viho ran his free hand up her ribs until he could wedge it between them and cup her breast. He thumbed the tip as he continued to plunge into her moist depths. Though her clothes muted the sensation, it was enough. Overloaded with rapture, Sterling’s concentration broke. And as quickly as that, she shattered around Viho without warning.

Instead of triggering his orgasm, her pleasure only seemed to inspire him to rut hard against her, thrilling in the tug of her spasming flesh. “That’s right. Come on my cock. Show me how much you like getting fucked by a stranger on the side of the road.”

Oh, God. He was a dirty talker too? Sterling whipped her head from side to side as another burst of bliss prolonged, or maybe renewed, her climax. Through it all, he continued to ride her, making sure she didn’t come down from the high he’d inspired.

“That was amazing, Sterling,” he crooned. “I bet you can do it again for me. Can’t you, baby girl?”

Whispered encouragements had her straining against him, yearning for more, intent on being the woman of his dreams if only for this one encounter.

Instead of slaking her thirst for him, that first release only took the edge off her wild desire, making her more aware of the rapture he granted her as he continued to build her higher once more with careful, measured strokes.

After a few minutes, she whimpered, wishing their position—not to mention their mostly dressed state—didn’t limit his thrusts. As if he could read her frustration, he responded, walking with her, still joined, to the cab of the truck. He kicked off his jeans and boots in the process, miraculously managing not to dump both their asses in the dust, leaving himself completely nude.

When he yanked open the door, she realized what he intended. With one last eyeful of his glorious frame, she turned as he lifted her and nudged her shoulder. The motion dislodged his cock, and they both groaned.

Sterling shouldn’t have worried about the emptiness since he quickly situated her so she knelt on the edge of the truck’s floor and bent over the seat. Her skirt bunched around her waist with her ass in the air. After running his hand over her backside and humming his approval, Viho climbed onto the running board of the truck and reintroduced his hard-on, which felt even plumper after its brief absence.

Sterling tangled her hands in the passenger seatbelts, loving the way they wrapped around her wrists to keep her secure in the wake of Viho’s escalating fucking. From this angle he drove deeper, harder than he had before. She loved every second. Especially when he fisted her hair and drew her head back, arching her neck.

With the other, he grabbed the oh-shit handle and used the leverage to increase the pace and travel of his lunges. His hips slapped her ass as he picked up speed. Her breasts rubbed against the faux leather seat as he jackhammered into her from behind.

Then his hand released her hair and wandered down her back and over her hip. He wormed his fingers between her belly and the seat so they could toy with her clit. Drawing circles around the tiny nub, he pushed her over the edge. Again.

Sterling screamed his name as she shattered around him, humping his hand so that she ground her clit on his skilled fingers and wrung every bit of ecstasy his fat shaft delivered. He shuttled in and out of her as if unaffected by her desire.

Never had she been with a man who had as much control as Viho.

Maybe because he was significantly older than the guys she’d been with.

Maybe just because he was special.

Either way, she planned to give as good as she got.

As soon as she could breathe again. She shuddered as she collapsed onto the seat with a keening moan that ended on a whimper.

“Don’t worry, I’m not finished with you yet,” he growled in her ear as he lifted her from the truck and cradled her in his arms. He nuzzled her forehead with his chin, then marched to the tailgate of the truck, leaping inside the bed it as if it were merely a curb to hop.

He set her on her feet briefly as he fluffed out the rolled blanket she’d spied earlier. The traditional patterns, along with the distinct red, black and white coloring of the cloth, made her sure he’d brought it with him from the reservation. It had character and an unevenness that spoke of being hand-woven natural fibers versus something synthetic or factory bought. As a craftsman herself, she could appreciate the effort it must have taken to make.

In less than a minute, he unfurled the sleeping bag and laid it out, making as comfy a spot to lie as she required. Hell, she’d gladly have gotten on all fours in the dirt by the road if it would have made him hurry.

More than anything, she wanted to keep feeling. The overwhelming rush of sensations made it easy to forget everything logical. Painful.

Sterling didn’t wait. She squirmed from Viho’s hold despite his attempts to cling to her wriggling body. Good, she liked that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. “Just long enough to get totally naked, I promise.”

She smiled as she shimmied out of her skirt, then unbuttoned her black lace shirt. The tank top below disappeared over her head in no time, leaving her modeling a matching pink satin bra and panty set.

Clearly a naked kind of guy, Viho didn’t display any hint of embarrassment when he approached her, fully, gloriously nude. She didn’t blame him. Sterling could have looked at him all day and never gotten bored. In fact, she took a mental snapshot, hoping to sketch it later.

Stalking closer, Viho scanned her from head to toe. He paused only long enough to draw his knuckles along the gray feathers dangling from her earrings to the tops of her breasts before reaching behind her to unfasten her bra.

Once he’d slipped her free of the contraption and dropped it to the ground, he looked at her long and hard. Her nipples pebbled as he admired her bare breasts and her naked spirit.

“So damn young. Pretty,” he rasped quietly, as if to himself, before claiming her lips once again. And she got distracted before she could get rid of her panties.

The yarn of his blanket was soft against her back as he guided her onto it and followed her down. Then all thoughts fled, except the pressure of him on top of her. Perfect and delicious. Fooling around like they had, fast and rough, was great, but this—making love to him face to face, without the sexual gymnastics—allowed them both to relax into the moment.

He guided his cock to her wet slit and traced the furrow of her pussy, reacclimating her sensitive flesh to his presence.

This time they didn’t crack jokes, second-guess themselves or pause to think better. They let their bodies do the talking, making out as they got comfortable. Weight, heat and the pressure of Viho’s thigh nestling between Sterling’s legs before spreading them around the trunk of his body each should have freaked her out. None of it did. It only turned her on more.

Bold, she snaked her hand between them, weighing his heavy balls in her palm. She rolled his sac lightly, swallowing his approving groan before moving on to cup his erection. Squeezing it and measuring the impressive length with a couple gliding strokes from root to tip. Her thumb swiped a bead of precome from the slit in the head before bringing it to her lips for a taste.

It was as if sex with him was the first genuine encounter she’d ever had. Uninhibited, she let all of herself loose. And he didn’t seem to mind one bit.

His finger slipped beneath the elastic of her panties. She arched upward, into his touch.

Then the last scrap of fabric separating them disappeared as he ripped them from her and tossed them somewhere.

Viho kissed her neck as she dragged air into her lungs. He tapped her clit with the damp head of his cock, teasing her before fitting himself to her once more.

“Come with me this time?” she asked, suddenly wanting nothing more than to share the beautiful explosion with him.

“Yeah. Gotta.” He clenched his jaw as he buried himself fully within her sheath. “You’re too damn perfect not to. Making me crazy.”

“Good.” She smiled as she stroked his cheek then buried her fingers in his lush mane. “I’m not alone, then.”

“No. Definitely not.” He stared into her eyes as he worked them both toward the frenzy of release. “I’m right here with you.”

As if that promise was more alluring than anything he’d done to her body, Sterling quaked. Her pussy clenched, her muscles undulating as she tried to suck him deeper. She wrapped her legs around him, her heels drumming his tight ass in time to the perfect rhythm he set for them.

And right then she knew, she’d never have sex this good with anyone else in her lifetime.

They were a perfect match in bed. Or in a truck bed. However that went.

Completely in tune, Viho ramped up the rocking of their bodies, escalating the connection between them. Perspiration made their skin glide, reducing friction and enhancing their motion.

Perfect balance, totally in sync. Effortless, reciprocal pleasure.

They generated it together.

So Sterling felt it the instant Viho’s stride hitched. She clamped her legs around him when he seemed like he would retreat. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to come.” A bead of sweat trickled down his face.

“Good. Me too.” She yanked him to her, whispering against his lips, “Don’t leave. Come. Inside me. I want to feel you let go. Give it to me.”

Viho shouted, then went mad. He grasped her shoulders to anchor her, then pounded inside her, reaching as deep as possible with his steely cock. Sterling cried her triumph into the country air.

When he went stiff above her, she knew he’d surrendered. And she’d already begun to quake as the first blast of his semen painted a line across the inside of her pussy. He matched her spasm for spasm as he filled her with jets of come.

She came so hard around him that she’d swear it was the night sky full of stars hanging above her. Or maybe she was about to pass out. Either way, she’d never had a dream as good as this one.

When he’d finished flooding her, Viho collapsed. He smothered her with a flurry of kisses and words in a language she didn’t understand. She didn’t need to know what they meant to catch his intent, though.

They cuddled together, recovering for a while. Viho rolled them up in the red, white and black blanket like a post-coital burrito. Instead of feeling trapped, Sterling felt protected. Shielded from the negativity she’d wallowed in before Viho illuminated her world with light and life.

Plus, oh-my-God level orgasms.

As they lay in the quiet air, she snuggled into his side, pleased to see his ribs still expanding rapidly from his exertion. Smug, she melted into him. And that was when she realized her phone was ringing. First, the ridiculous
bleep
she’d assigned to one of her cousins intruded. She ignored it. Completely incapable of moving. And without the will to leave Viho’s side.

A little bit passed. Then another one of her cousins called.

Still she pretended not to hear.

And then something way more urgent shattered her peaceful calm.

Her dad’s bold, insistent ringtone.

Oh shit.

Sterling bolted upright. Well, she tried anyway. Mostly she choked herself on the edge of the blanket. Gurgling and flopping around like a fish, she finally got Viho’s attention.

“What’s wrong?” He flipped open the blanket and rolled onto his knees, immediately poised for battle. But there was nothing around them, infringing on their solitude.