A Wild Ride (Thompson & Sons Book 4) (18 page)

Nic flashed a smile at him. “God, so much fun.” She stepped forward, trailing her fingers over the dusty blue paint. Her bright smile faded.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly. He leaned across the hood, wondering why her fire had extinguished so fast.

She glanced up, smile back in place.

Absolutely fake.

“
Nic
…” he warned.

An enormous sigh escaped her, but she lifted her gaze to his. “Buy me a drink, and I’ll tell you my troubles, sailor.”

He worried the entire way to the nearest watering hole. The tiny village was no more than a gas station with an attached café, the sole survivor of a handful of decrepit buildings that had risen around the intersection of two seldom-traveled secondary highways.

They walked with linked fingers into the shop. A small bell overhead rang briefly then cut out with a static-filled
bleep
. Troy guided her to a bench seat before grabbing them two Cokes from the bored-out-of-her-skull teenaged girl manning the counter.

Nic poured her drink into a glass then focused all her attention on picking at the label on the empty plastic bottle.

“Once more with feeling,” Troy ordered, speaking quietly but firmly. “You were having a ball talking about that car then suddenly you went cold. What the hell happened?”

She lifted her eyes to meet his. “All this while I’ve been going on about wanting to move forward. Leave behind my impulsive ways, and dive into being a real adult. That car?” She shook her head. “About as childish as I could get.”

“Bullshit.” His response was instant.

“Right. I can see it now. Top rolled down, wind whipping through my hair as I cruise down the highway, baby seat strapped in the back—” She made a rude noise.

“Why not?” Troy demanded. “It’s a car, not a fucking pogo stick.”

“Because responsible adults don’t spend their time and energy on stupid toys that aren’t necessary. I don’t need that car.”

“But you want that car,” Troy pointed out. “The idea makes you happy. There’s nothing wrong with that. You should do more things that make you happy.”

“No, I should do more things that help me reach my goals,” Nic corrected.

“And your goal is to be miserable?”

“Stop being an ass,” she snapped. “Yes, I like the car, but it’s never going to happen because buying it isn’t being responsible.”

He’d had enough. “For fuck’s sake. There’s no reason you can’t have the ’Stang. I’ll trade in my damn truck for a fucking minivan if that’s what we need down the road.”

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The old-fashioned cuckoo clock on the wall and the tinny sound of music from behind the cook-station doors seemed loud in the silence that rolled in.

He couldn’t quite believe what had just come out of his mouth.

Neither could Nic from the way her jaw hung partially open.

They stared at each other for a moment before she got herself together faster than him. “
Really
.”

It wasn’t what she said, but how, and the chin jut that accompanied it. Challenging him.

“You don’t have to be boring to be responsible,” he repeated. “You don’t have to change who you are to move on to the next stage of life.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, don’t even try to hand me that line. Considering that ever since we officially started going out, the one thing we did well, sex—”

She jerked to a stop, cheeks flushed as the waitress girl wandered past, wiping down the table to their right.

As they waited in silence for her to move out of earshot, something miraculous occurred. For the second time that month, Troy had an epiphany.

The first time, he’d realized they were right together. Now he realized it with even more certainty.

They
were right together. Not two other people who acted differently. Who spent their days doing different things. He’d been wrong to try to impress anyone but her with anything but his real self. And wrong for holding off on the physical side of things.

Enough. Time to get real. “The only bullshit is the fact I haven’t been inside you for too damn long. Not fucking around with you
sucks
.”

He might have said it a tad too loud, but she pressed her lips together to hide her smile even as she glanced to see if he’d been overheard. “Jeez. You want to put it out in a meme? Hashtag that sentiment for everyone to see?” she murmured.

“
Hashtag fuck you raw?
It has trending potential.”

She snorted. “God, you’re terrible.” Nic looked him over, her gaze lingering on his hands and torso as a full-out smile took possession of her lips. “So. You plan on doing this fucking today, tomorrow or next week?”

He picked up his glass and drained the rest of it in one shot, waiting impatiently until she finished the remainder of her drink. Before she could say another word he herded her out of the booth, out of the café, and toward his bike.

“In a hurry?” she asked as he forced her helmet into her hands.

“Damn straight. Unless you want me to fuck you right here in the parking lot.”

He wasn’t joking, and she knew it. A heavy pulse race to life at the base of her throat.

Hmmmm
. “Tempted, baby?”

“We’ve never done that. How do you have sex on a bike?” she murmured, the words tight with desire.

Troy swore softly, taking over doing up her chinstrap since her hands hung uselessly at her sides. “Hard. Fast. Now get on behind me before I change my mind and give you a demonstration you won’t forget in a hurry.”

He had the urge to put her over the leather seat and follow through with his threat, especially since it wasn’t fear he’d seen in her eyes.

Curiosity. Anticipation—that’s what was on her mind, which proved all over again what he’d told himself before going off on some misguided celibacy path.

Nicole Adams was fucking perfect for him.

She liked her sex wild and nearly out of control, and her lover bossy as hell. Him to a T, especially after days of being tormented to a feverish pitch by his good intentions and bad timing.

Hell, jerking off in the mornings had barely blunted the edge.

She curled up behind him, wrapping her arms around his body and sealing her torso to his an instant before he floored it, laying rubber behind in the parking lot as he accelerated out the exit and back onto the highway.

Nicole tugged at his T-shirt, easing her hand under the edge as soon as she could to drag her nails over his abdomen.

His cock hardened further, a curse escaping his lips as the impossibility of adjusting to a less painful position registered. But he didn’t want her to stop either, the warmth of her palm driving him wild, the sheer cheekiness of her actions as she reached up and dragged the nail over his nipple…

Screw making it back to town. Troy pulled off the side of the road onto a narrow gravel trail on completely unknown land. It led toward a barn, the old structure set far off from the highway and nowhere near any other outbuildings. Abandoned, but still somewhat out of eyeshot from the main highway.

He came to a stop on the north side of the building, glancing quickly in all directions, pleased to see what appeared to be endless farmers’ fields.

Nicole dismounted, pulling off her helmet, lips twisting. “You lost?”

“I know exactly where I am,” he insisted grabbing the helmet from her and tossing it to the ground by the front tire. “Five minutes from making you scream.”

She pressed her hands to his chest as he dragged her into his arms, sliding upward until she could hook her fingers together behind his neck. “Oh, really?”

He waited just long enough to let her finish speaking before kissing her as if he were starving. Lips connecting as he reached down and caught hold of her hips, lifting her in the air. She wrapped her legs around him, and he stepped toward the barn, pressing her against it. He kept one arm between her upper back and the rough wood, the other hand slipping between them to undo his jeans and zipper.

Hands on automatic, he focused on her lips, her taste welling through him. It had been too damn long since they’d been together, and he simply couldn’t wait.

He nipped at the soft spot where her shoulder met her neck, and Nicole gasped in pleasure, body arching toward him.

“I’m going to fuck you right here,” he warned.

“Yes.”

The word came out with another gasp as he nipped her earlobe. Troy was going to lose his ever-loving mind. Next time he’d have the ability to do more than act like some crazed animal.

But he was no asshole.

“You ready for me?” He jerked aside the gusset of her underwear, trailing his fingers through her warmth. “Jeez, woman. You’re wet. You like the idea of being fucked against the side of a barn, don’t you?”

“
Yes
.”

Nicole caught his mouth with hers, biting his lower lip hard enough he tasted blood. He didn’t fucking care—everything was a blur as he shoved his hand into his pocket and grabbed a condom, dragging it over his aching cock a split second before he lined up with her sex.

Somehow Troy regained his control for long enough to pause and look her in the eye. She wanted this. He
needed
it like an addict needed his next hit.

She stared back, eyes gone hazy with lust. He drove home in one stroke.

Her eyes widened, lips opening on a moan. “
Troy.
”

“God, you feel so good around me.”

Her breath fluttered out as she tightened her thighs around him. “You feel so good inside me.”

Then the minx smiled, mischief drifting in that he didn’t understand for a split-second until he felt her squeeze, body gripping him like a fist. “
Fuck
.”

Her smile widened. “Yes.”

He eased back his hips, slower than he thought possible, taking in the sensation of hot, wet paradise until he nearly escaped her body. Pausing long enough to make her anticipate what he’d do next.

Slow. Slower than she’d expected. Slower than expected considering the urgent desire commanding him to thrust.

Slow enough that when their bodies met it was as if he had forced all the air out of her. A sweet sigh of satisfaction floated past him on the warm afternoon air.

Again. A drag back, pressure forward. Vicious pleasure rippled up his spine and made his head spin.

His patience and control lasted a dozen strokes before he could take it no longer. Troy slipped a hand between them, placing his thumb over her clit to urge her along. All it took was that simple touch, and she jerked in his arms, fingernails digging into his shoulders.

“
Yessssss.
”

Hell, yeah. And it was all systems go—

Forget finesse, forget trying to torment her to further pleasure. Troy rocked faster and faster, driving his cock deep as Nic continued to moan and cry out. Stars floated in front of his eyes as he gasped for air. Urgent need unraveled, starting at the base of his spine before it propelled through his entire system.

He was the center of an explosion, the detonation escaping through his cock and leaving him wasted.

And very
very
eager to do it all over again.

His head was still spinning as he realized Nicole was dancing kisses over his face. Along his jawline, his cheeks. Whispering contented words the entire time.

Somehow he had managed to keep his arm in place, protecting her from the wood, although—
damn
it
.

“You’re gonna have bruises tomorrow,” he muttered, stroking a hand over her hip where he’d clutched her at the end, far too powerfully for her fair skin.

She kissed him, gentle, lips curled into a smile. “I don’t mind.”

He was a bastard, but there was not much he could do at this point. “I don’t want to leave you.”

A chuckle escaped her. “It’s going to get pretty tiring holding me up all night. Maybe we should go back to my place. Try this again on a mattress…”

A wave of satisfaction and relief hit nearly as hard as his climax had. “No arguments from me. Unless you’re pissed I made you wait and then lost it against the side of a damn barn.”

She stroked the rough stubble on his cheek. “I’m stubborn, not stupid. I’ll admit it. I still don’t know what we’re doing, but I like you, Troy Thompson. I like you the way you are—impulsive, and strong, and
oh my God
sexy.” She brushed her lips over his. “Come on. Take me home.”

Night and day difference.

They’d turned a page, and suddenly all the things she’d loved about spending time with Troy before they’d became a couple were back, while stretching their boundaries into new territory.

Troy would pick her up after work, and they’d head off to do typical summer things like hitting the local hangout by the river. Playing around on the rope swing that hung under the railway bridge, and splashing down into the refreshing water. Or sitting in lawn chairs with their friends and shooting the breeze until the stars made an appearance. At which point they’d head out and end up somewhere, hip deep in sex.

They hadn’t set a deadline on whatever this was they were doing, but slowly, steadily, the doubts she’d had about him were fading. Maybe he’d been footloose before, but so had she.

Spending time together wasn’t earth-shattering, but it was enjoyable, and easy, and right.

Only two uncomfortable issues remained. Kids—i.e., was Troy really interested? And her family’s ongoing disapproval.

Whenever they were around her family, it was clear the entire Adams Collective was waiting with bated breath for the relationship to fall apart so she could move on to better pastures. Their lack of faith was frustrating on so many levels.

Although Mike seemed to have calmed down somewhat. At least Troy hadn’t reported any middle-of-the-night death threats.

Still, she worked to reassure them all even as she waded through unfamiliar waters. She spent time with her sisters and their families, with or without Troy, and tried to ignore the annoying.

It was hard to ignore at times.

Nicole had joined her parents for Sunday-morning breakfast, and everything had been going great until the program froze on the same damn topic as before.