Hidden Barriers (46 page)

Holy shit.

My eyes take in his adult body until I see his hardened cock in front of me. He’s certainly grown into the man I’ve only fantasized about when I have sex with random guys these days. My breathing escalates as I anxiously wait for what I
think
he’s going to do to me.

Jake’s hands reach down and pull off my wet sneakers before his fingers slide up my bare legs. Goosebumps form over my body. The elbows that once held me up have given way, and I shut my eyes as lie on my back, allowing my body to feel his hypnotizing hands. My stomach flutters with a sensation I have only ever felt with him.

“Open your eyes, Luce. I want you to watch me claim your body again. It’s been way too long,” Jake hisses into my ear. My eyes fire open to see his smoldering eyes on mine. He slips one hand under my heavy shirt while his other hand pulls me up into him as his body crouches over me. My shirt is ripped over my head as my damp, messy blonde hair slaps against the bare skin of my shoulders.

Sitting there in nothing more than my pink lace bra and shorts, I feel completely exposed and yet covered at the same time. My body wants him. I’ve craved this for too long with him. Now that he’s here in front of me naked and willing, I’m not saying no.

“Jake, I need to feel you inside me again,” I devilishly whisper as my fingers reach out to barely touch his taut body. His eyes are no longer smoldering; they are blazing with heated desire. My fingers begin to work their magic and zigzag over his pecks, and then trail their way over his nipples and lower to bump their way over each defined ab line on his stomach. One of my hands lies flat on his chest as the other suddenly wraps its way around his length to start stroking him slowly. I know what I can give him, what he likes. My hand may be small compared to his hard cock, but it has always had the power to bring him to his knees.

Up. Down. Squeeze tighter. Run thumb over the head in circles. Repeat.

I raise my eyes to his, pleading for him to fuck me like we always used to. I need him to eliminate the past seven years I spent away from him. Right here, right now. I don’t even care at this moment that he hasn’t asked about Stone’s attack in the woods or the scar on my neck.

Forcefully, Jake curls his strong fingers over my wrist, pulling my hand away from his erect cock. As he stares into my eyes, I can tell he senses my yearning to have him. Jake pulls me by the wrist until I’m standing in front of him. “You’re not ready to have my cock inside you yet, Lucy. I have other plans for you right now,” he growls into my ear as his hands wrap around to unclasp my bra, letting it fall to the hardwood floor. My arms dangle lifelessly at my side, unsure of where to touch him next.

My mouth salivates at the thought of falling to my knees and taking all of him into my mouth, but another part of my body is throbbing more than ever, and I need Jake there more than anything. Any thoughts of taking Jake into my mouth are thrown out the window when he undoes my shorts, ultimately dropping them unto the floor along with his body as he kneels before me.

He eagerly pushes apart my legs before looking up into my eyes. His tongue inches out to lick his lips before he brings his mouth to my heated, drenched folds. The second his tongue spreads between my legs and finds my slick clit, I’m immediately transported into another world. I no longer need to fantasize about Jake being the one between my legs and making me come. He’s here right now.

My hands fervently tangle in his damp hair, pulling him deeper into my core. The moans from Jake’s throat vibrate against me, and I’m already feeling the pressure between my legs building to a level it never has before. Jake pulls away as my knees tremble, and my naked body glistens with heated dampness.

“Come for me, Luce. I want to taste your juices all over my tongue.”

His words alone set my body spiraling out of control until his mouth is back on me. His tongue dances around my clit just as his fingers slide inside my entrance. My body welcomes his strong fingers. I feel my walls throbbing around his fingers as he picks up pace both inside and out, and I can’t hold on any longer. My hands push against the back of his head, pulling him flush against me, and my orgasm courses through my body. I scream his name with erotic pleasure as my head rolls back, and my eyes clamp shut, but I still only see Jake between my legs. His mouth and tongue proving they still work the same as before. My body shakes and grows weaker through Jake’s torturous assault of his fingers inside me.

I remember now why I can never envision anyone besides Jake while I fuck another guy. He’s always been the only one who could make me come like this. Nobody else.

As my breathing begins to settle, my eyes flutter open, and I chuckle at the fact I just experienced the best orgasm I’ve had in seven years. Then, all of a sudden, the feeling of ecstasy is missing from my core, and I roll my head back down to see why Jake stopped.

Pushing my tangled hair back off my face, my eyes rove back to where Jake knelt before me moments ago. It’s suddenly empty, and the room is no longer Jake’s. I’m fully dressed again, and I quickly glance around the room to figure out where I am until I realize I’m back in my old house. The house I no longer live in with my roommates all because Stone tried to kill Sam and me nearly a month ago.

Movement by the doorway catches my attention, and I immediately assume it’s Jake. When I look up, I see his haunting face staring back at me. It’s not Jake. It’s Stone, and his face seethes with anger as blood drips from the side of his head.

My initial thought is
what the hell happened to Jake?

My body stills for a second until he starts rushing toward me, but my feet can’t move. It’s as though I’m stuck in quicksand, and there’s no escape. His hands dart to reach around my neck just as I begin to scream for my life. My eyes slam shut, and I can’t stand to watch what he’s about to do to me.

As I anticipate Stone’s death grip around my neck, I hear another girl screaming far off in the distance.

That doesn’t sound like Sam. Who could possibly be screaming?

My heart rate accelerates, and my body forces itself to help whoever is screaming and fighting to survive. I gave up too soon last time. Never again.

Abruptly, my body shoots upward, and my eyes nervously scan the room. The hotel logo sits on the flyer perched on the nightstand next to me. My hands nervously shake as they grip the blankets covering me. The TV is on with the source of the screams that disturbed me moments ago and yet woke me from my dream.

I must have dozed off in the hotel room while watching
Catching Fire
. It was Katiniss’ screams in the movie that broke me from my dream. It all starts to come back to me. I know I need to get to Breckenridge. My parents are expecting me in a couple of days, but after my lengthy ten-hour drive across the very long state of Pennsylvania, I needed a break. I recall pulling off the highway somewhere around Indiana around midnight, and fortunately, the first hotel I came across had a room available.

The hot guy behind the front desk clearly wanted to get into my pants. He kept giving me this look with his come-fuck-me eyes that gleamed, while he sexily tousled his hair. The minute he took a sip from his Grumpy Cat coffee cup, I nixed the idea of even flirting back. Don’t get me wrong. I love Grumpy Cat, and on any other day of the week, I might have fucked him, but after driving all day,
sex
was the last thing I wanted to do.

I know. I must be coming down with something.

Besides, I just really wanted to sleep for once, but only after I read some more of this hilarious parody I found on my e-reader last week. I’m a
Hunger Games
junkie and have read the books and watched the movies multiple times. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve read
The Humping Games
by Jack Gallow at least ten times in the last two weeks. Each time I laugh even more than the last. I swear, this book actually made my hospital stay and dealing with my parents tolerable. Trust me when I say it was possibly one of the worst three days of my life. If it weren’t for
The Humping Games
,
I might not have found my smile as fast as I did.

As I look down to the e-reader still ablaze on the comforter next to me, I notice where I left off reading.

Oh, yeah.
I chuckle softly.
Chapter Five.

One character in particular I connected with on a freaky level. He called her Rabbitfoot. She slithers across the floor, licking spilled booze and killing men after having sex with them. Now that’s a girl after my own heart!

I turn off my e-reader and lie back against the pile of pillows. I continue to watch the movie and attempt to keep my mind from diverting to thoughts of Jake. After the dream I just woke up from, I know this will be hard to do, so I reach for my cell phone and type out a quick text to Sam, letting her know where I am and I’ll be in touch soon. Then, I send my sister, Ellen, a text as well. I know she’ll still be awake, and it will prevent me from having to deal with my overbearing parents, who most likely are already asleep anyway. Ellen, on the other hand, is probably still living it up in downtown Breckenridge at the dive bar in which she works.

After hitting
Send
, I plug my phone into the charger and turn off the light next to the bed. The TV still glows throughout the room. I try to concentrate on my favorite movie, but as I close my wary eyes, only one image appears.

Jake’s face.

Sigh.

It’s the last thing I remember seeing before sleep totally consumes me.

Sara Shirley is constantly reinventing herself. The last you knew, she was a sommelier and vineyard owner with a MC President husband, riding on the back of a Harley every night into the sunset. Well, people change. Sara grew sick of that life, divorced and moved back East. It was on her way East that she found a new identity. It was then that her freaky side showed up and Rabbitfoot was born. Well, maybe just forced to finally reveal itself. She continues to live life and have fun each day and has no trouble laughing at her own antics no matter how embarrassing.

Sara continues to write about topics that she can relate to. She has admitted that there are a lot of scenarios in her books that are based on her real life experiences. She cannot confirm or deny which scenes those are, but if you were to guess right, she may just blush and deny it being true anyway.

Although she likes to keep her writing life separate from her real life, she can admit to some truths about herself. She’s addicted to coffee, wine, music and candy. Being of Irish/Italian decent she enjoys a large plate of spaghetti and meatballs along with a pint of Guinness just about any day of the week. Don’t judge! She loves the beach on hot summer days, outdoor hot tubs during the long cold New England winters, and her favorite movies include The Hangover, Pitch Perfect and The Hunger Games series. And yes, she can recite the lines by heart. She’s watched them that many times.

In her off time she can be seen completing Tough Mudder courses in Vermont, skiing the slopes in New Hampshire, and kayaking off the coast on Tybee Island, Georgia. A travel nut; her next trip could just be in a town near you. If you see her, run as fast as you can, she’s known as a hugger. Put a glass of wine in front of her and she’ll be easily distracted long enough for you to make a run for it!

First and foremost to RP for sticking with me through another book. I promise this will be last one for a while…..maybe. That might be a lie. Ok. I’m lying, but you know how hard it was for me to put down the Kindle before when I was just reading. Now look at me…I’m a writing nut. I blame you.

Another HUGE thank you has to go to Kristina Amit, Stacia Newbill and Tracey Murphy. My Cuffs and Skates beta team who I turned to for help on every chapter. Without your ideas and notes Hidden Barriers probably would not have turned out the way it did. I returned from vacation. Stone stopped talking in my head and I thought I would never find the ending. You girls were there when I needed you every step of the way. I love you all tremendously!

Kiki
- You have such a tremendous ability to bring out the best in writers. Don’t forget to take time and breathe in between. When your day comes I’ll be there to help you with your book. You are an incredible friend and the book world is a better place because of you.