Tempted (3 page)

“You got something to hide?”

They stare each other down until Gage
chuckles and shakes his head.

“You know what? Since we’re such good
friends…”

The way he said “friends” indicates they’re
anything
but
friends.

“...I’ll do you a favor,” he continues. “I’ll
let you look in my trailer, without a warrant, just to ease your
mind.”

“Appreciate it,” the sheriff replies
dryly.

Gage motions to one of the guys who then
springs into action and moves toward the trailer. I hold my breath.
Dear God, I’m about to go to prison for murder.
I watch as
the guy climbs into the trailer and some others attach a ramp to
it. Seconds later, the Mustang comes rolling down, looking like it
just came off the lot.
What the fuck?
How did they fix it
so quickly?
The detective walks to the trailer and peers
inside. He turns back to Gage with a not-so-pleased look. I can
tell he knows he’s been duped.
Damn, these guys are
good.

“Well…thank you for your cooperation, Mr.
Hunter. Have a nice day.”

“You, too, Sheriff Renley.”

He takes one last look around then climbs
into his patrol car and drives away. I let out the breath I’ve been
holding.
That was close.
I turn away from the window and see
my jacket and phone sitting on the chair in the corner. I hit the
big, red punching bag as I pass by, grab my phone, and climb back
onto the bed. His room is neat but pretty basic – the bed, a chest
of drawers, a nightstand. There’s also a flat screen TV mounted on
the wall. Lying on my stomach, I check my messages. Just a few
calls and texts from Chrissy. I better call her back.

“Ray! Where the hell are you?” She answers in
a panicked voice.

“I’m fine. I’m at the clubhouse.”

“Oh, shit! Did you stay there last
night?”

“Yes…”

“Oh, my God! Did you –”

I quickly cut her off. “No! Nothing happened.
We just slept.”

“In the same bed?”

“Yeah…”

“Girl, you have nerves of steel. I woulda
tapped that.”

“Yeah, well…no one’s tapping anything.”

“Yet,” she says with a giggle.

“Whatever. I need a favor.”

“Sure. Anything.”

“I need some clothes. And clean underwear.
And shoes…oh, and my phone charger.”

“No problem.”

“I’ll ask Ron if he can pick you up. I think
I saw stars in your eyes last night when he whispered in your ear,”
I tease.

“Oh, Lord, Ray…he’s gorgeous! I’ve had a
crush on him since forever.”

“Did you give him your number?”

“Of course.”

“Great. I’ll have him call you and you can
work out pick-up. You remember where the spare key is?”

“Yup.”

“Lonnie won’t be home for hours, so you don’t
have to worry about her.”

“Great! I’ll see you later.”

“’Kay.” I stop her before she hangs up.
“Chrissy? How is he?”

“Not good. Locked himself in his room and
won’t come out.”

“You think he’d talk to me?”

“Just give it some time. He’s hurt and angry.
He needs some time to cool off.”

“You sure?”

“I’m positive.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you in a bit.”

I hang up and bury my face in the bed. I’m a
horrible, horrible person. If I had listened to Gage, I would have
broken up with him a long time ago. Even if I wasn’t going to be
with Gage, I knew I wasn’t that into Chris. Instead, I made him
fall in love me.

“Jesus Christ, woman! Where are your
clothes?”

I look up just as Gage slams the door.
“Clothes?”

“Clothes!”

He motions toward me and I look down. The
shirt rode up and my ass is out. My lace boy shorts don’t exactly
cover much. “You’re scared of a little skin?” I smirk at him.

“You’re the one who should be scared. Do you
realize where you are?”

I tug on his hand until he falls onto the
bed. He pulls me to him before he even stops bouncing. “Whatever.
You’re not gonna do anything.”

“I’m not, huh? Just wait. I’m gonna fuck that
smart mouth right out of you.”

“You think that’s the answer to everything,
don’t you? If you don’t like something, you’re going to fuck it out
of me?”

“Absolutely. Or just shut you up. You won’t
exactly be able to use that smart mouth with my dick in your
throat.”

“Oh, God!
I
may have a smart mouth but
you
have a dirty one. Clean it up with Orbit.”

“You love my dirty mouth. We both know how
wet it gets you.”

“Really? How wet?”

“Dripping wet…soak-your-panties wet.”

I draw a ragged breath as I feel that exact
thing happening. Goddamn it but he’s right.

“Maybe you should teach a class. Panty
Wetting 101.”

“The only panties I’m interested in getting
wet are yours.” He says, licking his lips.

I swallow hard as I stare into his eyes.
“Yeah? Why don’t you see if it’s working?”

“Raven…”

I ignore the warning in his voice and
straddle his hips, sitting directly on his growing erection.

“What are you doing?”

I adjust my position and discover the
wonderful thing known as friction. I don’t know if it’s the
roughness of his jeans or the hardness beneath it but whatever it
is, it’s awesome. I rock my hips and he grabs them, steadying
me.

“Don’t,” he commands.

I cover his hands with mine and slide forward
then back. He closes his eyes, the internal struggle evident on his
face. He wants me to stop, but he also wants me to keep going. I
want to keep going. I roll my hips, grinding my pussy against his
crotch. He groans and his fingers dig into my hips. I place my
hands on his chest, grabbing at his shirt as the sweetest
sensations flow through my body.

“Gage...”

He opens his eyes and I lean forward, sucking
his bottom lip into my mouth. He takes over, deepening the kiss and
pressing down on my hips. With the angle and him controlling my
movements, I feel like I’m about to come any second. I moan, moving
faster and faster as I feel my orgasm approaching.

“Fuck, babe.”

He rolls over, putting me beneath him, then
tries to pull away. I wrap my legs around him and keep him in place
as I grind on him. He is
not
denying me this. “Gage,
please…I’m almost there.”

“Fuck.”

He adjusts his hips and presses down on me
harder. When he begins to move with me, it intensifies
everything
. I grab his shoulders and clench my muscles, too
far gone now to stop. “Gage!” My legs tremble and my whole body
shakes beneath him. I thought my fingers were good but holy hell, I
may never use them again. I smile up at him as I try to catch my
breath.

“Wow.”

He lays his forehead on mine and mumbles,
“You’re the one who should be called Reaper…’cause you’re killing
me slowly but surely.”

Damn. Where did that come from?
I
raise my lips to his and kiss him softly. “That was sweet.”

“Sweet?” He scoffs and drops down next to me,
supporting his head on his palm. “It’s sweet that you’re killing
me?”

“No, of course not. It’s sweet of you to
admit that I affect you, too.”

“That’s what you call it? ‘Affect’?”

He takes my hand, presses it to his crotch,
and I curl my fingers around what feels like a steel pole.
Does
he always get this hard? Or is it just with me?
I’d like to
think that, but I highly doubt it.

“You feel that?” He asks. “You turn my dick
into a fuckin’ brick wall. All I want to do is fuck you until you
come, screaming my name, then change positions and start all over.
So, yeah, you ‘affect’ me.”

I swallow hard, sliding my fingers up and
down his dick. We stare into each other’s eyes until something
snaps inside him and he grabs my hand.

“I know it’s your favorite color and all, but
I don’t need the blue balls. You have any idea how much that shit
hurts?”

“Well, I can’t experience it but I know it
involves pain and fluid congestion in the testicles, so it can’t be
pleasant.”

“The fuck, Raven?” His eyes widen in shock.
“How the fuck do you know
exactly
what it is?”

“I told you, I read a lot.”

“And why the fuck are you reading about
balls?”

I raise a shoulder in a shrug and drop my
gaze. It’s not like I had a mother to teach me anything. Daddy
would never talk about that stuff with me and Lonnie barely talked
to me at all. How else was I going to learn? “I didn’t really have
anyone to talk to, ask questions. I turned to books instead.”

I hear him take a deep breath before he pulls
me into his arms, cradling my head on his chest. I throw my arm and
leg over him and settle in against him.

“It’s okay, doll. You have me now.”

I haven’t felt as at peace in a long time as
I do in this very moment. I have him. I have him, and that means
I’m no longer alone.
I have him
. He holds me in his arms and
we lie there for a long time, not saying anything, just being
together. That is until my growling stomach interrupts our quiet
companionship.

“Hungry?” He asks, and I can hear the smile
in his voice.

“Starving. What’s for breakfast?”

“I wish it was your pussy.”

“And Mr. Dirty Mouth is back.”

“He never left, baby doll. I’m gonna take a
shower then get you something to eat.”

“Okay.”

He adjusts himself as he walks to his chest
of drawers. As I watch him choose boxers, the scene between him and
the sheriff replays in my mind. I have so many questions about last
night and this morning. Why were those men chasing us? Who were
they? Are there others? Will they come after us, too? Where did the
bodies go?

“Gage?”

“Hmm?”

“Who were those men from last night?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”

“What happened to the...the bodies?”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about
that.”

“But –”

“Raven,” he cuts me off. “I can’t tell you,
so stop asking. Besides, the less you know, the better.”

“Gage, I’m scared.”

He sits on the edge of the bed and palms the
back of my neck, pulling my face close to his. A firm but gentle
squeeze ensures I’m looking in his eyes.

“I got you. I won’t let anything happen to
you, Raven. I promise.”

“But –”

“You trust me, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then trust that I’ll protect you, no matter
what.”

I bite into my bottom lip and nod. I
do
trust him, and after seeing him in action last night, I
trust him with my life.

“Good,” he says, rising and grabbing his
boxers off the bed.
That reminds me.

“I asked Chrissy to bring me some clothes.
Think you could get Ron to pick her up?”

“Sure, babe.”

He taps something out on his phone then
tosses it on the bed. I stare at it as he heads to the bathroom.
I’ve never seen a guy do that…ever. He not only left one, but
two
phones sitting around. He either has nothing to hide or
trusts me enough to know I won’t go through them. Either way, he
just earned major points. I grab my own phone and check Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram. Chris has updated his status to “single”
and removed his profile picture of the two of us.
Well
,
then
. It stings, but at least he hasn’t posted anything
nasty about me. Despite Chrissy’s advice, I try calling him. His
phone goes straight to voicemail. I take a deep breath and wait for
the
beep
.

“Chris...I know I’m the last person you want
to talk to, but...I just need you to know that I never wanted to
hurt you. I should have been honest with you. There are a lot of
things I should have done, and I’m sorry. It won’t change anything,
but I am. I’m sorry.”

I hang up and just lie there, staring into
space. I didn’t ask for forgiveness because frankly, I don’t
deserve it. If he responds by calling me a lying, cheating cunt, I
wouldn’t blame him. I deserve to be called every name in the book
in addition to any new ones he can come up with. He doesn’t reply
though, and it makes me feel that much worse.

Chrissy’s voice precedes a knock on the door.
I check the time on my phone and realize I’ve been lying here for
almost an hour. Gage is still in the shower. Damn. He must be
running a marathon in there.

“Come in.”

Ron opens the door, greeting me as he ushers
Chrissy in. “Hey, Raven.”

“Hey, Ron. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

They make googly eyes at each other and then
he leaves, walking backwards so they’re still looking at each
other. Once he’s gone, Chrissy closes the door and drops my
backpack on the bed before climbing in next to me, handing me a
paper bag from McDonald’s.

“Got you breakfast,” she says in a sing-song
voice.

“Thanks,” I reply as I lean over and
absentmindedly kiss her cheek.

“Thank your man. It was his idea.”

“He’s not my man.” Technically...or not yet?
I don’t even know what we are to each other.

“Whatever.”

Realizing my mood, she furrows her brows and
tucks my hair behind my ear.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just don’t like myself right now.”

“He’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I called him,” I say quietly.

“Ray, I told you not to.” She scolds me.

“He didn’t pick up. I got his voicemail.”

“Yeah...he turns it off when he’s upset.”

“It’s all my fault. If I’d listened to Gage,
all this could have been avoided.”

“All the ifs in the world won’t change
anything now. I’ll take care of Chris.”

She sits Indian-style and bounces on the bed,
giving me a bright smile. I know that smile. She’s about to try and
change the subject to cheer me up. Gotta love her.