Three Nights before Christmas (13 page)

It made him want to get up hers.

He made plenty of noise as he approached. When she noticed him, she didn’t pause in her work. Her gaze flared with anger before flicking down his body, her filthy hands slowing as she noticed him in his white T-shirt and jeans. She vibrated with unspent energy, the same frustrated air that had poured off her earlier when she’d asked if he wanted to take her home.

She wouldn’t ask again. He knew that. What sane person would?

It was his turn to do the asking, and he let his hands do it for him. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her away from the locomotive’s boiler. She didn’t fight, but she didn’t move easily for him either. He tugged her against him, her breasts flattening against his chest and her crotch pressed against his thigh.

Her voice rough, she said, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“You,” he answered. “If you’ll let me.”

She glared at his chest before slowly, deliberately wiping her greasy hands down his clean, white T-shirt. Mucking him up. Staking her territory.

He grinned. “I want to get dirty with you, too.”

“You said no earlier. Why should I let you change your mind now?”

“Because for some reason you want me. And for some reason I want you. Earlier, I let the wrong part of myself do the talking, and I’ve been kicking my own ass ever since.”

“Can I have that job?”

“Kicking my ass?”

She nodded, a muscle ticking in her jaw. “You have no idea how badly I want to. It’s been a special dream of mine for years.”

“I don’t doubt that.” He let her go and took a step back. “Knock yourself out. Or me, if you can.”

She hesitated. “What?”

Spreading his arms wide, giving her a big target, he said, “Go on. Let’s get it out of our systems.”

She shook her head. “No way. I’m not going back for assaulting—”

“There’s no officer here. No criminal. Just Austin and Lacey and a fuck load of hormones and history that need to be gotten rid of. So come on. No holds barred, either of us.”

She stared at him for a long moment and he waited, every muscle tense with anticipation. Then she planted her hands against his pecs and shoved.

He hardly moved. “Come on, Lace. You’re stronger than that. I’m a big boy. I can take it.”

She shoved again. And again, so hard he had to take a step back to stay on his feet. But when she cocked her arm back to take a swing, he was ready. He grabbed her fist and spun her around so fast she barely had time to gasp before he’d bent her over the workbench. His hand traveled down her chest, dragging the neckline of her tank top over one breast to expose a thick beige bra.

Never in history had beige lingerie been sexier.

Breath panted from her chest. Her head tipped forward, bracing against her forearms on the workbench in submission.

“You want this?” He thought she did, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

“I—” She breathed so hard she seemed incapable of speaking.

“Unless I hear a
hell yeah
, we stop right here.”

She reached back, grabbed his hand and slid it between her thighs, sighing, “Hell yeah.”

The magic words. He flicked open the snap of her jeans and slipped his hand inside her panties. She was wet and slick and almost bare.

He dropped his head against the back of her shoulder. “Oh, fuck.”

Her hips rocked, grinding her ass against his throbbing dick and nudging his fingertips deeper into her folds, making her groan. “More.”

He rubbed, his fingers bracketing her clit, allowing him to massage her with his knuckles. Her body jerked, her moan rending the air. He was so hard he was in danger of finishing before her. He needed some distance, so he worked his free hand down the back of her pants and slid his finger inside her from behind.

She gasped. “Oh, God.”

“You said you wanted to ride me,” he whispered against her slick neck. He worked her harder, reveling in the tightening of her muscles, the incredible way her pussy tugged at his finger, drawing him farther in.

“Almost…
there
.” She grabbed the hand playing with her clit and forced his rhythm to change, her body immediately responding by contracting around him. Before he could react, she threw her head back, opened her mouth, and came with a throaty cry that nearly took him over the edge.

*

Lacey collapsed against
the workbench, all the energy draining from her muscles with every ebbing wave of her orgasm.

Oh, my God. Austin Wilder just made me scream like a banshee.

The thought should’ve been humiliating. Every aspect of the act should’ve made her feel sick with shame. He’d spun her around, bent her over, and essentially turned a frisk into a finger fuck.

But she’d loved every dirty second of it.

And she wanted more.

Pressing her palms against the rough wood, she forced herself upright and faced him. “Got a condom?”

“Several.”

“Good.” She slipped his belt free of its buckle, the backs of her fingers brushing over an insanely big erection. “I need this…
so bad.
”

His hands swept up and down her arms, pulling her against his chest. He pushed her hair away from her cheeks, tucking it behind her ears in a gesture that was almost tender. She tried not to read anything into it. Just postcoital hormones making him feel emotions he wouldn’t otherwise feel for her. Except he hadn’t come yet.

That was about to change.

He leaned down and captured her mouth. She opened for him, her tongue greeting his in an open-mouthed caress that made the spontaneous kiss from earlier look placid by comparison. This kiss was slow and languid, deep and intimate. This was the kiss of lovers who’d had a first taste and wanted everything on offer.

With his belt undone, Lacey carefully slipped each button of his jeans out of its hole. Her hand delved inside to discover hot, smooth skin already slick from wanting her. She drew him out, her breath growing raggedy as the sight of his erection made her body pulse all over again.

She glanced up, the desire in his gaze holding her captive as she slowly lowered herself to her knees. That look…that scorching, all-wanting look… She’d never seen anything like it.

She wanted all of it, but she’d learned her lesson. She would only take the parts that wouldn’t end up damaging her.

He sucked in an unsteady breath when she took him into her mouth, his fingers tightening at her temples. God, the taste of him. The earthy cocktail of sweat and pheromones that did more for her than any illicit thrill. She stroked him with the flat of her tongue, teased him with its tip. She took him as deeply as she could until his body shook and panted from the effort to hold on to a shred of control, just as hers had done moments before.

She’d wanted this for so long. Needed it for longer. Yet this was nothing like her desperation-fueled dreams. This was real and messy and loud and harder than anything she could’ve dreamed.

Without warning, he tugged her to her feet, his mouth attacking hers and his body driving her back against the wall. His hands worked between them, and through her fog of need-it-now, she realized he was stroking a condom onto himself. Before she could offer, he’d swept his hands behind her thighs, lifting her up and spreading her wide in one smooth movement.

“Ready?” he growled against her ear.

She nodded, unable to get words past her tightening throat, and he thrust hard, seating himself deep within her. She was trapped between him and the wall, held suspended by his strong hands as he ground against her, burying himself over and over and hitting her just right every single time. She couldn’t move much, other than mini thrusts in time with his. When his sped up, so did hers. Her cries of need echoed his until he’d worked her so hard she unraveled around him, coming again with a startled shout against his neck.

As the pleasure died away and reality returned with each passing breath, she expected the guilt and recriminations to start—not from him but from her own rational mind.

Nothing but silence greeted her. Her brain and body found peace and harmony.

For a few heady moments, he’d helped detonate her frustrations and returned her to the women she’d once been.

Satisfied, yet always eager for more.

‡

B
y the time
Austin drove Lacey home, she was practically liquid with relaxation. Like twisting a steam valve, she’d felt years of built-up tension hiss out of her body tonight. Following that with hours of hard, satisfying labor on the locomotive made for her ideal night.

“What are you grinning about, sexy?” Austin teased with a matching grin of his own.

“I was just thinking that tonight would be my perfect date.”

“Really? You’re not a wine and dancing kinda girl?”

“Nope. Sex and trains, and I’m all yours.”

He flashed a dimpled smile at her. “Good to know. I can’t say I’ve ever had a date that ended with me scrubbing mechanical grease off my dick, but I’m always open to new experiences.”

She laughed, the feeling so foreign and freeing she had to lean back in her seat to catch her breath.

“So, what did we learn tonight?” he asked.

“That you’re not so bad when you don’t have handcuffs on you.”

“I’ve been told I’m pretty good with the cuffs, too.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s something I want to try. No uniform, either. That’s too close to reality to be a sexy fantasy for me.”

“Got it. No bad cop.”

“What did you learn?” she asked, since he’d started it.

He was quiet for a while, focusing on the dark, snowy road down the mountain toward her house. Just when she’d given up on hearing an answer from him, he said, “Sometimes it’s better to trust your instincts than your head.”

“I’m not sure it was your instinct that told you to work me like that.”

“It certainly wasn’t my head.”

No, it wouldn’t have been. Becoming intimate with her was just as bad an idea for him as vice versa. She fell silent. When he flipped on his indicator and slowed to turn into the long drive to her farm, Lacey stopped him. “Just drop me off here.”

“What?”

“Pull over by the mailbox and I’ll jump out.”

He shook his head. “No way. It’s dark and there are lots of trees for bad guys to hide behind. I’m driving you to your house.”

“I’m jumping out here whether you stop or not, so I’d appreciate it if you at least slowed down.”

He stared at her in disbelief. “Seriously?”

“Yep. Believe me, I’d rather face anyone lurking in the woods than to have Sawyer see you dropping me off when it’s probably pretty obvious I just had sex.”

“But I’ve been dropping you off for over a week. He knows you’re working on my train.”

She let her silence answer that question.

Sighing, he pulled to the side of the road, parked and cut the engine.

“What are you—”

“Getting out and walking you to the edge of the parking lot. Then I’ll watch to make sure you get inside okay. Don’t worry, I’ll stay hidden.”

“Austin, that’s really sweet but totally unnecessary.”

“You might think so, but I don’t. Fortunately, they’re my legs, and I get to decide what to do with them. I’m walking with you.” He jumped out of the truck, and she didn’t wait for him to come round the side before she got out, too. Their boots made the only sound as they trudged down the dark, wooded lane. Austin stayed close enough that his arm brushed hers with every step. Even though the contact wasn’t skin-on-skin, it filled her with such warmth that her hat, scarf, and gloves almost weren’t necessary. Her fingers twitched to intertwine with his. Her head itched to lean against his shoulder.

Ridiculous. You’re craving affection, and you got some earlier. Don’t be greedy.

But the kind of affection she wanted now was different than before. A different kind of closeness. A different kind of intimacy.

When they were close to the edge of the woods and could see the lights from her house, he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “You’ve told your brother about the train.”

“Yes.”

He nodded in understanding. “You just haven’t told him you’re working with me on it.”