A Wild Ride (Thompson & Sons Book 4) (15 page)

He tightened his grip then applied pressure until her legs opened, his head perfectly level with her sex.

“
Oh God.”

He ignored the little comment, even as it sent his blood racing. She was turned on by the idea.

“Beautiful. You’re so beautiful down here,” he murmured, leaning forward to press a trail of kisses along her inner thigh. Her legs jerked in his grasp as he closed in on where he wanted to be. Words spoken against her skin. “You’ll just have to put up with me being bossy.”

As a follow-up to a family dinner, being ravished at the mill made for a dandy dessert. All thoughts of facing the music regarding their relationship were swept aside as Troy took control of the situation.

Which it sounded as if he planned on doing on a regular basis, and every sexual nerve in her body screamed
yes
at high-volume.

Troy knew exactly what she needed, and where she needed, and as she lay on the solid surface of the oversized table, the muscular man moved from kissing her a million places to kissing her one specific place, settling between her legs as his lips and tongue made far too gentle contact with her sex.

A teasing touch. And another. Circling her clitoris before stroking between her folds. Over and over as if she were some kind of exotic ice cream and he was enjoying her on a hot summer day.

Finally his tongue fluttered rapidly, hard enough to build the tension before he eased away.

She moaned with frustration. “I swear, Troy, if you tease me, I will scalp you.”

As far as she was concerned, moments like this called for fast and furious, but when he got in a mood, what he’d give her instead was slow and torturous, every move on his part calculated to make her pleasure ebb and rise over and over until she damn near exploded.

Now it was her own fault he eased off pleasuring her, lifting his head so that his dark-brown eyes threw heat her direction as he answered her. “You like what I’m doing?”

“I’d like it more if you’d make me
come
.”

“Not ready to do that. But I can do this…” The words slid into a mumble as he lowered his head again, and a million electric shocks raced through her body.

For all his faults, Troy Thompson definitely had the moves.

Nicole gave up fighting. He’d said he was going to be bossy, and every indication showed it was true. And she was fine with it, especially when she knew the reward would be a soul-satisfying orgasm.

She pulled her legs farther apart, and he slipped his hands under her butt, raising her hips as his tongue returned to teasing flicks against her clit. Pleasure rose steadily like the thermometer on a summer day until she broke through the top of the glass, slow undulating waves relaxing her limbs and making her sigh with contentment. She collapsed onto the table and let the aftershocks take her as he slowed his touch, dragging every bit of pleasure from her body he could.

Troy pressed a kiss to the inside of her leg, his deep voice a murmur in her ears. “You taste so fucking good. I can’t get enough of you.”

He climbed onto the table and covered her with his body, powerful thighs touching hers, his sculpted torso a heated brand against her bare belly where her shirt had been dragged up. He nuzzled her neck, a sexy grumble rolling past her ear. Nicole dragged her fingers over his ribs, stroking the strong muscles, rocking against the firm shaft rubbing against her through his jeans.

“This would be far more pleasant if you were naked,” Nicole suggested.

“Stop rushing.” He twisted them to an upright position with her straddling his lap. Her bare legs rested on the tabletop, naked sex pressed to the thick length beneath the front of his jeans.

Intimately together, and yet not. And Troy didn’t seem to be in any rush to open his pants.

She slid her hands down his sides, headed for the front of his jeans. “Release the kraken,” she pronounced dramatically.

Troy chuckled, catching hold of her wrists and pulling her hands behind her back.

“Let the wild beast lie sleeping for a while.” He held her steady as he kissed her again, deep and needy. Possessive kisses that stole her breath and made her tingle all over.

Nicole gave up on her agenda and let him call the shots. She ignored the faint burden of guilt caused by receiving a very excellent orgasm from a still-to-climax partner. Troy was a big boy—he knew she was willing and ready for anything.

He’d take what he wanted when he needed it, and what he seemed to want was for her to be absolutely boneless against him. Clinging to his shoulders as his mouth tore all rational thought from her brain.

When he finally let them come up for air, she had a death grip on him. Her fingers were clenched into firm muscles as she met his gaze. Both of their chests heaving. Both of them staring as if the other might spontaneously burst into flames.

“Wow.”

It was the most articulate she could be at that moment. In fact, she was pretty impressed she got that much out.

His lips curled upward. “Yeah. Me too.”

She didn’t understand it when he placed her on her feet, gently pulling her jeans into position, hands dancing over her as he helped straighten her clothing.

The music was still playing, and he pulled her back into his arms for another dance. He was hard against her, but he smiled and sang along with the words, twirling her from one song to the next, as if he was perfectly delighted with the results of the evening.

It wasn’t what she’d expected, but it was pretty damn amazing.

Nicole looked up at the man she’d known most of her life and wondered if she really knew Troy Thompson as well as she’d thought.

Nicole stepped out of the bathroom after her morning shower and jerked to a stop. The scent of banana-and-chocolate muffins wafted on the air, causing her mouth to water and her heart to momentarily skip a beat.

She was the only one home, and she hadn’t put anything in the oven.

Grabbing clothes from the chair beside her bed, she stuck her head into the hall, listening hard as she jerked a sweatshirt over her head. The coffeemaker was running, and there were feminine voices in her living room—low whispers that were all too familiar.

Good lord, she’d been invaded. Nicole couldn’t wait to hear them explain this one.

A minute later she was dressed, rounding the corner into the living room to catch Cyndi and Jodie in full-out war-strategy planning mode. Or at least that’s what it looked like as they snapped short sentences at each other, barely audible, their lack of usual volume made up for by excessive hand and arm swinging.

“Morning,” she offered. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Morning, sweetie.” Cyndi jumped to her feet and held out her hands. “You look lovely this morning.”

Nic held back her amusement. “My very favourite pair of holey yoga pants and matching sweatshirt. I’m ready for my portfolio shoot.”

Her sisters glanced at each other, then back at Nicole, like twin owls caught in a bright light.

Beep beep.

Jodie shot into motion, rushing past her to the kitchen. “And the muffins are ready. You want coffee? Of course you do.”

“Of course. What else could I want on a Saturday morning than to drink coffee and hang out with my sisters?”

“And eat banana muffins,” Cyndi reminded her. “Your favourite.”

“Let’s not forget the muffins.” Nicole was merciless. She knew what was coming. Didn’t mean she’d make it any easier on them.

Jodie lowered a tray to the coffee table then handed Nicole a cup of coffee. “Single, single.”

“Speaking of
single
…” Cyndi said brightly.

Nicole and Jodie groaned.

Cyndi wrinkled her nose. “Too cheesy?”

“
Way
too cheesy,” Jodie informed her, settling on the couch and primly nibbling a muffin. “Let the girl drink.”

Nicole made herself comfy in her favourite armchair, legs tucked up, muffin balanced on the wide armrest. She took a deep drink, letting the caffeine soak into her system as Cyndi and Jodie discussed everything from swimming lessons for their kids to what was growing in their gardens to the latest gossip. It was a moment of calm in the midst of the storm, and it was exactly where Nicole wanted to be, even though she knew the coming discussion was going to be annoying to the nth degree.

“You finally awake?” Cyndi teased as Nicole relaxed back into her chair.

Nicole smiled into her coffee cup. “Of course.”

Instant reaction. Jodie leaned forward, placing her plate on the table. “We want to talk to you.”

Snickering inside. “Of course.”

Every time she repeated the words, she changed her tone of voice. This time she went for “bright and expectant”, to differentiate it from the previous times when she’d used “casual indifference” and “long-suffering patience”.

And with that, the J and C show took off at high speed.

“We noticed last night—”

“It seemed as if—”

“Well, he as much as
said
it—”

“We just wondered if you’d considered—”

“Because we
were
surprised—”

“Totally surprised—”

“Not that he’s a
bad
person.”

“Not at all—”

“But we were
surprised
—”

“
Totally
surprised.”

They fell silent. Staring at Nicole.

Blink.

Blink.

Nicole held herself as motionless as possible, but she still felt her lips twitch. “Was there a question in all that? Or a statement? Maybe you should try again, only one at a time, please.”

“It seems you’ve been having trouble lately with…men,” Cyndi said boldly.

“Not that Jordan was your fault,” Jodie rushed to assure her. “Still, maybe you should try dating Chase before he gets snapped up.”

“Yes, oh hell, yes.” Cyndi’s eyes widened and she shook a finger at Nicole. “He
is
new in town. Date him first before you give up.”

“I
haven’t
given up,” Nicole insisted. “And he seemed very nice, but I’m happy to be seeing Troy right now.”

Jodie’s nose wrinkled. “Yes, we saw that and he’s nice…”

“Very nice,” Cyndi agreed. “He’s not… Not…”

“Not very grounded,” Jodie offered.

Not so many hours ago Nicole had said almost the same thing to Troy, but hearing her sisters say it made her uncomfortable. “He’s got a steady job,” she pointed out. “Has had for years.”

“Yes…” Cyndi made a face. “At the family garage.”

Nicole raised a brow. “Don’t tell me his job is undignified, or some such bullshit. Our family makes a living serving farmers and ranchers. And both of you worked there until you had kids.”

“Oh, it’s not that at all.” Jodie looked horrified. “He seems to float through life, Nicole. Nothing hits him.”

“Is he working there because he loves it, or because it’s simpler than
finding
a job he loves?” Cyndi demanded.

“We want you to be happy,” Jodie said again. “And that means long term. In our opinion, Troy Thompson isn’t the kind of man who’ll be there for you, long term.”

It was nothing she hadn’t said herself, yet it didn’t sit right to hear it from others.

“Maybe he’s changed. Changing,” Nicole offered.

“You sure you want to test drive the beta version?” Cyndi leaned forward and placed a hand on her knee. “Hon, he’s not a forever man.”

Her other sister was nodding in agreement. “Troy is…a sweet boy.”

Nicole considered how he’d ravished her at the house party, and how much fun they’d had at the mill the night before. “
Sweet
. Yep. First word I think of when I consider the man.”

Jodie acted far too prim for how much of a party animal she’d been back in the day. “Oh, he’s pretty enough.”

Cyndi smirked. “
Pretty?
The boy is damn hot, and you know it, Jo. I bet he knows how to—”

“Okay, no more,” Nicole interrupted before they dove into territory she had no interest in sharing. “You’ve done your sisterly duty and warned me off the big bad. This conversation is over.”

“He’s going to break your heart. Never taking care of anyone but himself—”

“—and he’s not done the best job at that
either
.”

“
Enough
.” Nic took a deep breath. “I’m going out with him. I love you both, but you need to back off and let me make the decisions about my life.”

“Well, that’s not fair,” Jodie said, shocked to the core. “If we can’t run our little sister’s life, who can we boss around?”

Nicole grabbed another muffin off the plate. “That’s what you have husbands for. Go make
their
lives miserable.”

The three of them smiled at each other. No hard feelings because it had all been said and done out of love, and Nicole knew that.

Although, with the questions she’d already had about her and Troy’s relationship, the conversation had given her a couple more things to think about.

One thing she knew—she refused to let extra doubts slip in without solid reason. She’d caught herself defending him to the terrible twosome. Now she had to make sure she let him defend himself when push came to shove.