Shaken, Not Stirred

  Tenn chuckles and his hands squeeze my breasts again before pinching my nipples gently. "You're the one with a beautiful body. I could just stare at you for hours and be completely satisfied."

  My spine turns in to absolute mush, and I start to sag against him. His words... so reverent... so filled with hunger for me. It's almost disorienting to my senses.

  "You okay?" Tenn asks quietly, his eyes pinned to the way his fingers are working at my nipples.

  I nod at him with a smile and press my hips down to rub against his erection. "Perfect."

  "Yes, you are," he murmurs, lifting his hips up to meet my movements.

  "So... about this idea," I press him since things are heating back up.

  "Yes," Tenn says quickly. "Zoey and I would love to stay here with you."

  I shake my head and give him an admonishing look. "That's not what I was talking about, although I'm glad to hear you'll stay here. I plan on sexing you to death, just as FYI. But quietly and discreetly so Zoey is none the wiser."

  Swiftly rolling to bring me underneath him, Tenn hovers over me and flexes his hips to grind his cock against me. "What idea are you talking about? And I'll take you up on the sexing to death promise and one up you by promising you lots of orgasms in return. Discreetly, of course."

  Yes, that sounded nice indeed. "I'm talking about your idea about fucking bare."

  "That was an idea?" he asks teasingly. "I was just making conversation."

  Just so he knows how serious I am and not in the mood to tease, I reach my hand down and circle it around his erection. I maneuver it between my wet folds and place the tip right at my center. "Do you want to fuck me bare, Tenn? Yes or no? If it's a yes, just give a push. If it's a no, get your ass up and get a condom on."

  He doesn't answer me. He just thrusts into me deeply... one stroke... straight to the hilt. My back bows upward in pleasure and my hands grip onto his biceps hard.

  "Answer your question, Goldie?" he taunts.

  "Yes," I manage to gasp, still feeling my body adjust to his length and girth.

  "Are you on the Pill?" he asks before he makes another move. "And please say yes, because I seriously don't think I can leave you right now to get a condom."

  "Yeah baby," I say softly, moving my hands up behind his neck. I pull on him so he lowers his face toward me. "I'm on the Pill, so you can go ahead and start fucking me now."

  Tenn's mouth comes down onto mine, and he kisses me slowly. He kisses me deeply, all tongue and soft lips, his goatee scratching at my face. I raise my legs, bend my knees, and tilt my hips to take him in deeper.

  He moves in and out of me slowly... hips rolling at a deliberately slow pace... kissing me the entire time. He kisses me so thoroughly that I'm not sure where his tongue ends and mine starts. Between the movement of his cock tunneling in and out of me and his mouth possessing mine, I start to get overwhelmed with sensations.

  I take stock of the way our breaths come out in long, harsh pants, listening intently to the grumbling inside his chest that every stroke produces. I feel my pulse pounding frantically within my veins. All while he moves with measured, slow strokes that seem to cause every nerve within me to burst in pleasure.

  I realize all of a sudden... Tenn is making love to me.

  A brief moment of panic inundates me, robbing me of my breath, but I refuse to succumb to it. I push it away and forbid it from coming back.

  I'm changing, damn it, and I like these feelings far more than I'm afraid of them.

  I listen.

  I feel.

  I reciprocate.

  Tenn pushes in and out of me for what seems like hours and builds me up to a slow orgasm. When I start to come, I wrap my arms around his neck tight and cry out his name.

  Then Tenn follows me over the edge with one hard push deep inside, and he starts pulsing jets of his pleasure into me. His face buries into my neck, his fingers grip my hair, he collapses on top of me and groans, "Casey... fuck... I'll never get enough of you."

  And I realize that this is okay with me.

  I'm completely fine with a man proclaiming some type of dependence upon me.

  I'm absolutely and utterly at peace with the fact that I don't want to run and hide from these emotions.

  So very fucking weird, but there you have it. This amazing man fucking broke my boundaries... and now I have to figure out what to do with all the pieces.

  Tenn rolls to the side while wrapping his arms around me. Rolling with him, I keep one leg wrapped tightly around his hip so that he doesn't slip free of me. I like the feel of him inside of me bare. I want to prolong that feeling.

  Palming the back of my head, Tenn pushes my face into his neck where I can feel the pounding of his heartbeat through his jugular right at my cheekbone. With every beat, it starts to slow and become more relaxed.

  "Let's cuddle just a moment," he says sleepily. "And if we happen to fall back asleep, that would be cool too."

  "Cuddle?" I ask with mock confusion. "I've heard of that concept but not sure I really understand what it means."

  I can feel the rumble of laughter in his chest, and Tenn embraces me affectionately. "Oh, Goldie... I have so much to teach you."

  Smiling, I burrow in deeper to him... press a kiss to his neck... wrap my leg tighter around his hip. This isn't so bad. This isn't nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be.

  Am I at risk now to get hurt?

  No, not really.

  Because as much as I enjoy Tenn and his affections, as much as I have come to crave him physically, I'm not ever going to let my heart get tied up in this. I'm going to keep it removed... locked deep in an area that I keep reserved only for my family and close friends. Tenn may have busted my boundaries but there's no way I'm ever going to let him bust the walls I've put up around my heart. It's just too precious to me to trust it to him or any other man.

  "You're not relaxing, Casey," Tenn mumbles. "I can feel your body stiffening, and I'm sorry... but cuddling requires absolute relaxation."

  I force my muscles to unclench... I melt in a little closer to him.

  "That's better," he praises me, and then starts stroking my lower back with his hand. And wow... this cuddling sure feels good. "What do you want to do today?" he asks.

  I give a little shrug. "I have to go in to work at noon, and then I'm off at six."

  "Then how about this?" Tenn says in a soothing voice. "As soon as I regain feeling in my legs, because damn, woman... that was the fucking bomb coming inside you like that, we go take a shower together. And in that shower, I'm feeling so generous that I'm going to eat you out until you come on my face. Then you may or may not choose to suck my dick, but I'll leave that up to you, because I'm not one that necessarily believes in quid pro quo. Then we'll go out to breakfast, my treat, and yes... that would be considered a date so suck it up and get over it. Then you go to work and when you get off, I'll take you to dinner, and yes... that also would be a date. If you're good, and you don't complain, we'll come back here and I swear I'll give you at least four orgasms before we go to bed. Five if you're a really good girl and beg for it. Sound good?"

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. I will not let my heart get tied up with this man. I will not let my heart get tied up with this man. I will not let my--

  Crap. I'm doomed.

  Chapter 14

  Tenn

  I fucking love the feel of Casey on my bike behind me. Her body pressed in tight, her arms securely around my waist, and sometimes, she lays her cheek on my back... yeah, that's the shit.

  We're heading to The Last Call for Andrea's "surprise" birthday party that ended up not being a surprise at all because she stopped by for a visit to Gabby and Hunter's house and saw her cake on the table. And because it's not a surprise anymore, I don't feel guilty in the slightest that Casey and I are going to be a little late since I had the overwhelming urge to play around with her while we took a shower together.

  It's not my fault really. I would have left her alone exce
pt while I was rooting around underneath her sink for some shaving cream since I'd run out, I found her handy-dandy waterproof vibrator, and there was absolutely no way I was going to pass up the wet opportunity to use it on her. So instead of shaving, I crawled into the shower behind her and put it to good use on Casey. And what do you know? She wasn't upset in the slightest that we were going to be running late.

  Even though it's nearing seven PM, it's still plenty light out with the high summer sun. It's really warm... unbearably hot actually because of the humidity, so the wind blowing over us is welcome on the ride. I'm finding I really like this area of North Carolina and the small community of Nags Head in particular. While the differences between coastal North Carolina and the Teton Mountain range where I'm from are like night and day, there are a lot of similarities between small town life, no matter where you're located.

  On the left up ahead, I see a large, white sign with big, block, red letters that says "Commercial Property - For Sale". I've been down this road several times since The Last Call sits on it, but I hadn't noticed that sign before. It draws my attention now and as we pass by, I see a huge, abandoned garage with four bays.

  I immediately slow my bike, feeling Casey's body press in closer to me with the loss of momentum. A quick check of my rearview mirror and I make a controlled U-turn.

  When I pull into the parking lot of the garage, I can immediately see the metal building is fairly new. To the right of the garage bays sits a windowed office. I pull my bike up close to the office portion, turn it off, and place the kickstand. Reaching a hand back over my shoulder, Casey automatically grabs it. I help her swing a leg over to dismount, and then I do the same.

  "Why did you stop here?" she asks as I start walking up to the office. I put my face to the glass, cup my hands around my eyes, and peer in.

  "Just thought I'd check it out," I say distractedly. The interior is furnished with a built in u-shaped reception desk, shelving, and seating for about five people.

  Casey walks up beside me and looks in, but I'm already turning away to walk around the building. I estimate it's about eight-thousand square feet, seventy-five hundred of which is easily devoted to the garage bays. There's a back door that leads to a smaller parking lot, outside water and air hookups, as well as a gas pump.

  Trotting behind me as I circle the entire building, Casey asks, "Are you thinking of this for your bike shop?"

  Shrugging my shoulders as I round the front of the building, I say, "Maybe. I mean... depends on price."

  "But don't you want to be in Raleigh... closer to Zoey?" she asks as I stand on my tiptoes and try to look inside the small, squared windows on the first garage door. Unfortunately, it's too high for me to see.

  "Is that panic in your voice?" I ask her drily with a cocked eyebrow. Can't help it... for all the strides Casey's made, she still radiates a resounding skittishness over anything remotely resembling commitment. "Afraid I might be moving here to be near you?"

  "No," she exclaims quickly, but I'm not buying it because of the pink tinge of embarrassment on her cheeks. "I just know that the reason you're relocating to North Carolina is to be near Zoey. She's in Raleigh, ergo, I thought you'd live in Raleigh."

  "Well... I'm thinking I might move to get primary custody of Zoey," I say absently as I turn and head toward my bike. "And if I do that, doesn't really matter where I live, right?"

  Casey's hand snags ahold of one of my belt loops and pulls me to a stop. I turn to look at her, and her eyes are apologetic. "I really didn't mean anything negative about you looking to live here, Tenn. Despite what you may think about me, I am trying to be open about all of this."

  I immediately wrap my hand around the back of her neck and pull her in close to me. Her arms go around my waist, and I have to tilt my head way to the side to place a kiss on her neck since she's still wearing her helmet. "I know," I say with a breath of apology. "You're trying hard, and I appreciate it."

  And she is.

  She's let me into her home, she's let me take her out on dates, and she's even opened herself up to me personally. She's trying hard.

  But the mere fact that she has to try hard worries me, because that means this whole concept of having a relationship is still foreign and frightening to her. It's still very much a struggle to Casey.

  "Man... you scored one smokin' hot prime piece of--" Kyle says as he punches me on the shoulder.

  "Don't even fucking go there," I warn him in a low voice as we both sit at the bar and watch Casey as she plays pool with Gabby.

  Andrea's party is in full swing and the bar is packed, which is testament to just how well she's fit into this community in a short time. The entire "gang," as Casey calls them, is congregated at three tables that sit along the wall right beside one of the pool tables.

  They're tight knit. You can tell at first glance, the way they carry on easy conversation, give hugs to each other, and playful smiles. They look like a fucking episode of Friends or something, and it reminds me very much that I am an outsider even though they were all perfectly nice when Casey introduced me to them. And past that introduction, Casey made one valiant attempt to encourage me to come over and hang with them, but she hasn't tried again since I told her I was fine just sitting at the bar with Kyle. He's going to be heading back to Wyoming tomorrow, so I wanted to spend a little bit of time with him tonight.

  Which irks the shit out of me. Irks me that Casey is part of a group that I'm not comfortable with but within which she is very secure, which means she really has all of the support she needs. But mainly it pisses me off to some extent because Casey isn't trying harder to include me.

  Logically, I get that. This is all new for her, and she's forging unchartered territory. So she'll be cautious with every action she takes.

  But it still drives me bat-shit crazy that she just can't give into it... whatever it is that we're developing. I know she can feel it... the ease with which we come together in conversation and even in quiet times. The physical connection... I know she feels that too. I know she feels it harder and deeper than she's ever felt it before, because she as much told me that last night.

  I fucking feel it in every fiber of my body. I've never felt it before with another human being. It's a feeling that feels so fucking good, that I'm actually considering setting up a business on this island and making it my home so I can be near her. Now, how fucking insane is that?

  "Dude... you two have it bad for each other," Kyle says with a smirk on his face.

  "Oh yeah?" I ask in skepticism. "What makes you say that?"

  "Because you two may be sitting on opposite sides of this room, but you can't keep your eyes off each other. You... well, you're just staring straight at her and not bothering to look anywhere else, and Casey... well, she keeps sliding covert glances at you when she doesn't think anyone's looking.

  I snort with a jerk of my head because that's Casey... keeping our relationship in a dark and dirty closet, not wanting to admit to the world that she's making a change in her life.

  "I gotta take a leak," I mutter and launch myself off the stool, mainly in an effort to get away from Kyle's keen perception.

  The men's bathroom is empty, so I have my choice of urinals. I unzip my pants and get to business when the door opens behind me. One figure steps to my left and another to my right, just three men now pissing out our beer.

  "You're awful antisocial," the guy to my left says and when I turn to look at him, I see Hunter standing beside me. When I look to my right, Brody's standing there. At least I think it's Hunter on my left and Brody to my right, but that's only because the guy on my left had his tongue down Gabby's throat about twenty minutes ago.

  I grunt an acknowledgment, shake my dick, and zip it away. A quick flush to the urinal and I head over to the sink to wash my hands.

  "So what's the deal with you and Casey?" Brody asks as he comes to stand beside me at the other sink. I rinse, shake my hands off, and step to the side to grab some towels while Hun
ter squeezes in to wash his hands.

  "What do you mean 'what's the deal'?" I ask Brody as I ball up the wet towels tightly and throw them in the garbage.

  "He wants to know what your intentions are with our little sister," Hunter supplies helpfully.

  Oh great. I'm getting the concerned older brother speech. While I top each of them by a good two to three inches and a good thirty pounds, there are two of them and just one of me.

  Which makes it pretty stupid when I say, "Not really any of your business."

  "Well, yes... see it is," Brody says affably as he claps me on the shoulder and then gives me a push backward into the wall. I stumble briefly and right myself. He tries for another push, but I'm ready this time and I don't budge an inch.

  "Strong fella," Hunter chuckles and Brody actually grins at me.

  "Yeah... I guess I could see why Casey would be attracted to him," Brody adds on as he eyes me up and down. "He's got this whole bad-boy image going on."

  "And those eyes," Hunter says and then fans himself mockingly. "To die for."

  My eyes flick back and forth between Hunter and Brody while they continue to banter back and forth about my attributes. Finally, just to stop them prattling, I grit out, "What the fuck?"

  Brody blinks at me innocently, and Hunter says, "Oh... sorry... were we going on a little too much?"

  "You two sound like high school girls at a slumber party," I mutter.

  "He's hilarious," Hunter says as he loops an arm around my shoulder and starts walking me toward the door. "And here's a secret... we like you, dude. I'm not sure exactly what brand of mojo you're packing, but you have got our little sis to actually start acting like a normal woman."

  "You mean dating a normal guy rather than targeting rich men for sex?" I ask blandly, because I'm curious just how much they really know about their sister.

  "Hey," Brody growls as he opens the door. "Watch your fucking mouth about Casey."

  I actually cringe for a moment, not because I'm afraid of Brody or Hunter, but because of the way in which I just painted their little sister and the woman who I'm coming to fall for more each day. I can only chalk it up to all of the frustrations that Casey still presents for me.

  "Look," I say as I scrub my hand through my hair. "I'm sorry... that was uncalled for. And to answer your question, my intentions with her are completely on the up and up. I like your sister, even as maddening as she can be, and I'm really trying hard to build something with her, okay?"