Seducing Liselle (15 page)

“You okay over there?” John asked quietly.

She nodded, staring out the window. She
couldn’t see much. Clouds had moved in while they were in the emergency room.
As soon as it got dark it began to rain, a heavy, drenching summer soaking. All
she could see were occasional flashes of wet trees when the headlights hit them
and the road ahead that seemed to stretch into the mist forever.

“
Liselle
?”
John put a hand on her arm.

She stared down at it. His hands were
strong. Warm. An inexplicable rage bubbled up inside her and she shrugged him
off. “I’m fine,” she said curtly.

He slowed down, took the turn onto the
dirt road leading to his cabin.

“You don’t sound fine,” he said, voice low
and patient.

For some reason his quiet acceptance of
her foul mood just made her angrier.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,”
she bit out.

He sighed and parked the truck under the
trees. The windshield wipers squeaked. She wanted to rip them off the truck and
fling them into the darkness.

“
Liselle
, you
have to know I would do anything to keep you safe,” he said, turning toward
her.

She stared at his jaw. He needed to shave.
Blonde stubble decorated the strong lines of his face. She let her eyes move
down his chest to his groin. His jeans were tight. The seatbelt looked
uncomfortable with the way he’d twisted to face her.

“I never asked you to protect me,” she
said angrily. She looked away, not wanting to see the compassion on his face.
What was wrong with her? John wasn’t the man who’d hurt her. He didn’t deserve
this from her. She picked at her shirt, hating the way the wet fabric clung to
her skin.

“You don’t have to ask me.” John turned
off the wipers, letting the rain run down the windshield.

The
world is sobbing for me
,
Liselle
thought,
sighing.

“I’m sorry,” she said after the silence
had gone on too long. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“You’re tired.” John turned off the
engine. “Look, come outside with me.”

She frowned at him. “It’s pouring out
there.”

“I know.” He unclipped his belt and opened
the door. The rain sounded like a waterfall.

“You’re going to get soaked,” she said,
reaching for his arm. “Your bandage is going to get wet.”

He shrugged her off. “It’ll be fine until
we get home. It’s a shallow cut. A little rain won’t hurt it.” He closed the
door.

Liselle
watched him walk around the truck, the rain wetting the red of his
shirt and turning it dark maroon. It clung to his chest and highlighted each
muscle as if he’d planned it that way. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. When
he opened the passenger door, she didn’t move.

“Come on.” He held out his hand.

She grimaced, but gave him her fingers. “I
don’t want to.”

He hauled her out. “You’re already here.”
He shut the door behind her and tucked her head into his neck. “You won’t melt.
It’s, like, eighty-five degrees out here, even with the rain. Just relax.”

She clenched her teeth, not wanting to
admit he was right. The rain did feel good. It cooled her off, but didn’t make
her feel any less angry.

“I’m really pissed off right now.” She
butted her head into his chest.

“I know,” he sighed. “Is there anything I
can do?”

“Stop talking,” she said before she even
knew that’s what she wanted. She wanted him to be quiet. And she wanted him more
naked. “Take your shirt off.” She leaned back and pulled at the buttons.

John let his hands fall to his sides,
letting her rip at the fabric without comment. When she got it open, she ran
her hands over his chest. His nipples were hard little points and she played
with them, enjoying the way the water ran over his muscles. Arousal moved
through her, hot and tight, replacing the anger, until her hands reached the
white bandage taped to his side.
Goddamn
my father to hell
, she thought.
I
hope he rots down there.

John touched her cheek, hands gentle.

She jerked away. “Don’t move,” she said,
poking him in the abdomen. He licked his lips and nodded. The rain ran down his
face. He looked like a god, strong and powerful.

And
all mine
, she thought, unbuttoning her jeans. She
shoved them down along with her panties, kicking them into the mud on the side
of the road. She took off her shirt and threw it somewhere behind her, wanting
to feel the rain on her flesh. She unclipped her bra and tossed it, too,
standing naked under the drenching storm.

Yeah.
This is what it feels like inside my head. Now the outside matches.
She tilted her face up. The water stung her cuts. It was the first
time she’d felt clean in years.

“
Liselle
?”
John put a hand on her arm.

She whipped her head down and pushed him
back against the truck. “Please don’t talk.”

He looked at her, green eyes dark, hair
plastered to his forehead. “If that’s what you want.”

She nodded. “That’s what I want.” She let
her eyes trail down his body, not surprised by the bulge pressing against the
front of his jeans. She stepped forward and unbuttoned him, slowly lowering the
zipper. His dick surged up and out, pressing into the wet fabric of his thin
boxers.

“I want this,” she said, cupping him in
her hands and running a thumb over the tip. He sucked in a sharp gasp, but
didn’t speak. He nodded instead.

Liselle
smiled approvingly. She wanted to have all the control this time.
She needed to be able to touch him and know that he wouldn’t hurt her. More
importantly, she wanted to know if he’d let her to do whatever she wanted.
She’d spent her entire life watching everything she did, everything she said,
in an effort to keep her dad from flipping out until it became a habit. And
when Matt began treating her like crap, too, her defensive mechanisms became
second nature. It got to the point where she didn’t even think about what she
was doing anymore: she always tried to make the people around her keep calm,
keep happy, at the expense of her own choices. Now she wanted to break out of
the old behaviors and discover who she truly was.

“Are you okay with this?” she asked,
running a finger over his now wet bandage. “This doesn’t hurt, does it?” She
didn’t want him in pain, just quiescent.

He
nodded,
hands
restless.

She licked her lips and ran a finger down
his cock. It twitched. She looked at his body, wet skin glistening in the dimly
reflected light from the truck’s headlights. She leaned in and licked his
chest. He tasted like rain, like grief. Like adrenaline. Her heart gave a hard
thump. She leaned in again and kissed along his scar, tasting the pain he’d
suffered. She fought back a sob, and shoved his jeans down. He grabbed her
arms, but she shook him off and tugged at his boxers. He toed off his sneakers
as she pulled his underwear off. He tried to hold her again and she backed up.

“No, don’t. I want to—” She broke off,
showing him how she wanted him to stand: against the truck, legs slightly
spread. His erection bobbed as he moved, thick and hot. He was beautiful, even
with the bandage on his side. The lack of perfection made him real.

She wanted to rub herself all over him.
She wanted to let him hold her and forget about her entire life. She wanted so
much more than she had any right to ask him to give. Angry with herself, now,
she surged forward and kissed him on the lips, sighing as he let her in. His
arms made an abortive motion to draw her close,
then
dropped to the truck, pressing hard against the metal.

She kissed him again, a thank you of
sorts, and ran her hands up his flanks. He trembled. She put her arms around
him and slotted close. The hot throb of his dick rubbed against her hip.

“I want you, just like this. Okay?” she
asked.

John nodded and put his hands in her hair,
tentative. Gentle. She grabbed his wrists and put his wide palms on her ass. He
groaned, kneading her skin. She swallowed the sound with her mouth, slinging a
leg around his hip. Her ankle protested, but she ignored it. It wasn’t
important. John was. He was so hot and strong and perfect, and the rain was
cool—the contrast made her shiver. She tried to get her thighs around his hips,
but she had no leverage. He was too big.

“John, please,
help
me,” she begged, rutting against him.

His arms flexed and the next thing she
knew she was on the hood of the truck, leaning back as he shoved his cock
inside her with one swift thrust.

“God,” she gasped. He was so big he only
got halfway in. She worked herself down on him, needing more. “John, come on.
Fuck me.” Something harsh and angry was rising up in her again, and she needed
him to soothe her.

He growled, wordless, and grabbed her
hips, thrusting hard.

Liselle
cried out, amazed at how perfectly he fit, how much better she
felt.

“Yeah, that’s it. Come on.” She urged him
on, wrapping her legs around him. Arousal rose in her, hot and wild, and she
gave into it, writhing. John grunted and tucked his head into her neck. She
grabbed his head, holding him tight, and then his cock jerked inside her with
his climax and she crashed over the edge, too. She
moaned,
grinding down on him as the pleasure crested in waves, shooting through her
until she cried out. She rode him until every last bit of her orgasm faded,
then slumped into his arms. She was crying.

“Is that what you wanted?” he asked her
quietly. The rain ran over both of them, getting in her eyes, her mouth. She
licked her lips.
The water tasted a little bit like John, and
a little bit sweet.

She shrugged and wiped her face. It didn’t
do much good. “I’m sorry.”

“
Shh
. Don’t
be
.” He ran his hands up and down her back, gentling her. He
kissed the sensitive spot under her ear. “It’s not like it was a hardship for
me, you know.” He sounded like he was smiling.

She snorted.
“Still.
I was angry. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“Hey.” He tilted her head up.

He looked happy.
How was that possible?
she
wondered. She’d
been such a bitch.

“It’s okay. I’m fine. I liked it. I like
knowing that you trust me enough to let go like that.”

She burrowed into him. “I don’t know if
that’s what I wanted, but it felt like what I needed.”

He nodded. “I understand.”

She lifted her head. “How could you?”

He sighed and ran his hands up and down
her arms. She was shivering—the rain felt cold now that the temperature had
finally dropped.

“Come on, let’s get back in the truck and
go home.” It was raining harder now. The drops felt like ice on her bare skin.
He helped her down and urged her into the passenger’s seat. Reaching down
behind the seat, he pulled out an old blanket and tucked it around her.

“Your truck is going to get soaked,” she said,
buckling in as he gathered their clothes off the ground.

“I don’t give a shit about the seats.” He
pulled on his muddy boxers and tossed the rest of their soggy clothes into a
heap at her feet.

She bit her lip and watched as he gingerly
buckled the seatbelt around his hips. Neither of them spoke during the short
ride to the cabin. It wasn’t until he’d put their clothes into his dryer and
toweled off that John answered her question.

“I know what it’s like when you feel as if
you have no control over your life. I know what that does to you,” he said,
settling her into his warm bed. He tugged the comforter up over her shoulders.

Liselle
snuggled into his warmth, laying her head on his good shoulder. The
fresh bandage on his side tickled her arm. “I hate that feeling,” she murmured.

He kissed her head.
“Me
too.”
He shifted, slipping a leg between hers. “That’s what it felt like
when my commanding officer ordered me to abandon my team. I just couldn’t do
it.”

“What did you do?” she asked.

He grimaced. “You know. I went back
anyway, of course. Crashed
bad
.” He ran a finger down
his scar then shrugged. “It was worth it. Sometimes you have to do things that
don’t make any sense to other people.”

“Be true to
yourself
,”
Liselle
murmured, only half teasing.

“Yeah, stupid as that sounds,” he agreed.

She thought about her father and her
brother and how hard it had been to escape them. “I tried to hide, but they
always found me. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

John shifted underneath her, hands on her
hips, turning her so that she sprawled over him. She gasped as his cock stirred
against her pussy, lengthening as she settled herself over his hips. John
traced a finger over her lips.