Discover Me (9 page)

Hitchhiker

Dust coated her tongue and every sweep made it stick like paper to the
roof of her mouth. Kat tried to wash the taste down with the last bit of water
she had, but it only made the dusty taste spread down her throat. It had the
added effect of intensifying the growing frustration welling up inside of her.

She tossed the bottle to the ground, turning at the sound of a car’s
tires crunching on the road.
 
Her
heart gave a lurch at the possibility of having a ride for at least a short
distance, and she began to wave her hand in hopes of getting the attention of
the person in the black sports car. The rising up died when the car sped by,
tossing up dust that clouded around her.

Blinking back tears that threatened to choke her, Kat turned to glance
back down the road.
 
Her stomach
gave a mournful plea and her feet throbbed, all unkind reminders of the
futility of this trip.
 
She tried to
push away the regret she felt, but it hung like the dust cloud around her head.
  

She toed the empty bottle and considered her next move. A glance at
the position of the sun told her that she only had a couple of hours before
dark, making staying out on this two-lane road unsafe. Her only option was to
walk until she hit the next town, which meant twenty more miles on her feet.
Just the prospect had her blinking away tears again, but she drew herself
up.
 
She started this and now she
needed to finish it.

“Alright, Kat, start walking.” The sigh she released was much too
pitiful for her tastes, but at least she was able to turn and start walking
again.

It took a few seconds to realize the car that had passed her moments
before was stopped some feet ahead of her.
 
Her musing must have rendered her deaf if she missed the rumble of that
motor idling.
 
Excitement had her
racing forward, but caution caught up with her when she reached the silver
bumper.
 
Anyone could be in that car
and the prospect of food and rest weren’t enough reason to get into the car
with a stranger.

Were they?

Just glancing at her haggard expression in the tinted windows made her
wonder.
 
Her dark hair was limp and
shadows, ones that had always lingered there, were much deeper beneath her dark
eyes.
 
She looked bruised and worn
out, and had to glance away in order to compose herself. Maybe her decision
wasn’t as hard as she thought, her chest tightening just a little.

The whir of the power window as it lowered brought her mind back.
 
She slung her backpack higher on her
shoulder then leaned into, a smile on her dust coated face. A man, much too
handsome for her tired mind to comprehend, sat in the driver’s seat.
 
Her eyes did a rapid inventory of his
body as she attempted to come up with something. Say something, she thought as
her eyes wandered.

He wasn’t classically beautiful with the slight bend in his otherwise
straight nose, or his too angular chin and too full lips, but Kat found he
captivated her anyway.
 
It had to be
the air around him, mystery and something that excited her.
 
He ran a bronzed hand through his dark
hair before resting it back on the steering wheel.
 
Those lips tilted up in a sexy smile
that made her breath catch.
 
He knew
she stared, but had the good grace not to comment on it.

“Where ya headed?” He asked.
 
That voice like gravel, rasped across her bare skin

“I’m…” She cleared her voice of the sudden huskiness. Swallowing
around the knot in her throat, Kat tried again. “I’m headed wherever the road
will take me. Currently, I’m just trying for Monroeville.”

She couldn’t see his eyes, but felt them on her skin.
 
Her tank top felt too small just then,
her breasts seeming to swell and spill forth. She had the uncomfortable urge to
straighten her top lest she revealed too much, but she just managed to stay
still.

He made a soft sound under his breath, “Monroeville? It’s a half an
hour away. I think I can give you a lift there.”

Stark relief went through her when he nodded and reached over to open
the door for her. She uttered something that may have been thanks, but it got
lost in the shuffle of her getting in the car.
 
Her backpack slid to the ground as she
buckled herself in and settled back against the leather seats.

The first few miles flew by, the landscape out her window a blur. Quiet
permeated the car, not uncomfortable just uncertain.
 
Most of that feeling had to come from
her because that’s how she felt next to him. From the corner of her eye she
watched the play of his muscles under his shirt as he shifted gears. His long
fingers seemed to stroke the shifter in the most provocative manner. Kat
couldn’t get the thought of his fingers brushing her skin off her mind.
 

His voice startled her out of her thoughts. “So, what’s your name?”

“
Kataphine
.” There was no masking the
grimace saying her name always caused.
 
“Most people with any sense call me Kat.”

He made that same sound from earlier.
 
It was a cross between a groan and a
murmur that did stranger things to her.
 
“
Kataphine
.
 
I like that name.”

“Thanks.” She let her eyes scan his profile, enjoying the ease that
seemed to pass between them.
 
“And
what do people call you?”

A sexy smile played over his lips. “Ian. People typically call me
Ian.”

Kat nearly said something stupid about him looking like an Ian.
 
It was a strong, commanding, and
masculine name and seemed to fit him well.
 
Everything in her responded to what she saw in him.
 
She needed to reel her thoughts back in
before she did something totally out of character.
 

“Where you from, Kitty Kat?”
 
Her head snapped around at that nickname.
 
It seemed intimate when spoken in those
smoky tones.

“I’m from
Asheline
; tiny town two hours
south. Not much to see there.”

“Small towns tend to hide the most interesting things.” His hand
gripped the steering wheel, the action making his muscles ripple as she
watched.

She rolled her eyes, the words tripping off her tongue faster than her
mind was working. “The only thing my small town is hiding is all the single and
available men.”

The deep rumble of his laughter filled the car and that spot deep in
her belly clenched in longing at the sound. The level of acute attraction she
felt for a man she knew nothing about surprised her, but for once she hang on
to the feeling instead of pushing it away.
 
There was something about him that she wanted to linger in, something
that made her pussy come alive.

He let the silence settle anew for just a moment before he flipped on
the radio, the heavy strains of alternative rock floating. That was a clear a
sign as any that the conversation was over, but she was okay with allowing her
mind to wander. Fatigue must have been closer than she thought because she fell
asleep in moments.

The dream, so erotic in its touch, took her completely.
 
He was there, his face so close, his
chocolate-colored eyes gazing into hers as his lips took control. His
calloused, worker’s hands slid up her thighs and rested on her hips before
reaching for the waistband of her shorts. Kat could do nothing, but lift her
butt, her body and his lips demanding compliance.
 
Her eyes fluttered shut as air brushed
her skin, her mind willing him to touch her where she ached. His fingers
caressed the curve of her stomach before slipping down to cup her through the
damp fabric of her panties.
 
She
moaned into his mouth and opened her legs wider. His fingers shaped and traced
the lips of her cunt, teasing more wetness from her as they circled her
clit.
 

She needed more and breathed her plea against his lips. “More.
Please.”

He nipped her lower lip. “Kitty Kat.”

She moaned again and moved her hips against his hand. Instead of
touching her more like she wanted, his touch disappeared.
 
She cried out and reached out to bring
him back.

“Wake up, Kitty Kat.” He whispered in her ear.

A hand shaking her shoulder pulled her from the dream. She sat
straight up and looked around in a daze. A flush, whether from arousal or
embarrassment she wasn’t sure, warmed her face as she reached true awareness. They’d
stopped, darkness having fallen in the little time she’d been asleep. The car
was parked in front of a greasy spoon that was mostly empty even though it was
dinnertime.

Kat turned to face Ian, words of thanks on the tip of her tongue. The
words died when she met his eyes. They were the very color she’d dreamt about
and there was a gleam in them that made her body giving a violent lurch at the
possibilities she saw.
 
Her mind
lost the ability to distinguish dream from reality blurred as she recalled his
hand between her thighs.

Sucking in a steadying breath, Kat offered her thanks. “Thanks for the
ride, Ian.”

“Wait.” His hand on her arm sent a jolt through her system that landed
right where she wanted him to touch her.

It was an eternity before she could raise her eyes to his.
 
The intensity of his gaze snagged her. “Yes?”
she breathed out.

He pulled her into the car and kissed her gently on the lips. Kat leaned
into that kiss savoring the feel and taste of this man, wanting harder but
taking the gentleness. Long before she was ready, the kiss ended. Their eyes
held for a long moment as the pace of her heart slowed.

           
It
was there in his eyes, everything she wanted but couldn’t ask for. “I’ll see ya
around, Kitty Kat.”

All she heard was want and this once couldn’t help answering with a
little of her own. “I’ll be in town for a few days.”

A single dark eyebrow rose. “I thought you didn’t like small towns.”

Kat felt something unravel inside of her. A need to deep for the words
she said. “This one has a little more appeal than others.”

She slipped out the car and let the promise of more hang between them.

***

Three days in this tiny town and not a single sighting of Ian.

If Kat hadn’t felt his lips on hers, she would’ve thought that moment
before she slipped into the diner was a figment of her imagination.
 
Maybe it really was and she was just in
denial.

She’d have liked to say it was the healing blisters on her feet that
had her stay one more day, but the constant heaviness of her breasts and the
incessant ache between her thighs told her the real reason for lingering. The
fact that she’d masturbated more in the three days since she’d arrived in town
than all her adult life said something as well.
 
Dreams of him spurred her libido to
ridiculous heights, but it wasn’t enough.

The desire to know what he’d be like kept her hanging on. Would he nip
her skin with his teeth? Tease her with his tongue and hands? Growl like an
animal as he surged deep into her wet pussy? Just the thought made her groan.
No matter how many times she told herself he was a stranger and she didn’t do
one night stands, something about that gleam in his eyes made her want to
forget herself. If only she knew where he was so she could start forgetting.

No other man made her want this badly.
 
It was that desire that had her heading
out the fourth day ready to ask around town about him.
 

It was a small town and someone had to know an Ian. Her smarter
self-conscious called her stupid for chasing after a man whose last name she
didn’t even know. Her smarter self seemed a bit too smug when her searching
yielded nothing, but stares.

She packed her stuff and checked out with the mental promise to leave
that day for bigger things.
No need to linger,
Kataphine
.
Her words did nothing for the disappointment that pricked her. Just once she
wanted a real connection, but she’d just have to find it somewhere else.
 

The bell over the door tinkled as Kat stepped into the diner.
Lunchtime had every booth and table packed. A thin waitress in a black dress
and white apron rushed up to her. The dark-haired woman’s smile barely reached
her eyes.