Summer Fling: Compass Girls, Book 3 (13 page)

He turned down the dirt road that led to his ranch, not bothering to reply to Jade.
 

In typical fashion, her temper flared hot and fast. “Goddammit, Liam Harrison. You turn this fucking truck around and drive me to Compass Ranch or so help me, I’ll kick your ass.”

Liam had learned a long time ago that the quickest way to get under Jade’s skin was to ignore her when she was in the midst of a temper tantrum. For some reason, her anger pleased him. It matched his own right now, put them on equal ground. His blood was boiling.
 

Liam was furious.
 

At her. Bruce. Life. Fate. All of it.

Once he reached the house, he turned off the truck.
 

Jade turned to face him. “I’m not getting out.”

He grinned. “Of course you are.”

She glared at him, daggers flying. “If you’re trying to piss me off, you’re doing a great job.”

Liam climbed out, walking around the hood until he was at her door. Jade sat with her arms crossed, staring toward the house with a look on her face that promised she would make him pay if he touched her.

Liam loved a good dare. He opened the door and reached for her seat belt. She tried to shove his arm away, but he unbuckled her, then grasped her waist, tugging her out of the vehicle easily.
 

Jade exploded with fury, kicking and punching him in her attempts to break free. She put up a good fight, but Liam didn’t release her until she was on her feet, standing next to the passenger door. Then he pushed her against it, caging her in.

She pushed, shoved, tried dodging under his arms, but Liam managed to keep her trapped. Finally, she stilled, her breathing labored, her face flushed.

“What do you want?” she asked, offering as much of a surrender as he’d likely get from her tonight.

Too fucking much. Liam should have taken her home. Spent the night trying to get his raging emotions under control.
 

It was too late for common sense now. Instead, he let all the irrational fears that had consumed him for the past couple of hours surface. “I told you to get away from that car. You could have been killed.”

Jade frowned. “I couldn’t leave Bruce there.”

“I know that, Jade. Believe me, I fucking get it. It still doesn’t help.”

“What do you want me to say? I’m sorry? Because I’m not.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want an apology.” His gaze drifted lower. Her breathing was rapid, causing her chest to rise and fall, drawing his attention to her breasts. Before he could consider his actions, he lifted his hand, cupped her plump flesh and squeezed. Hard.

Jade’s head fell back and a soft moan escaped.

Liam’s weak grip on his emotions slipped. He took a step away from her, grasping her hand and pulling her toward his house. Jade struggled briefly, obviously surprised by his quick moves.

“Liam, wait.”

“No.”

Jade dug in her heels as they reached the front porch, but Liam wouldn’t be denied. Not now. Not ever.

Turning, he hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her into the house. He glanced up the stairs that would take them to his bedroom, then decided that was too far away. He stepped into the living room instead, not stopping until they reached the couch where he set her down.

Jade bounced back up instantly, but Liam pushed her onto the cushions, keeping her in place with a strong hand on her shoulder.
 

“Holy fuck. Do you have some sort of death wish or what?” Jade’s fury returned in spades.

He knelt in front of her, moving his hands to her legs. Parting them, he kept a firm grip on her upper thighs.

“I almost lost you tonight.” They were the only words he could think to say, the same painful thought that had permeated his consciousness until nothing else remained.

“Wrong. You never had me.”

She didn’t understand. Couldn’t grasp the terror he’d felt when he’d seen her standing beside that burning car. Somehow he’d have to make her comprehend.

“Fearless,” he said.

“What?”

“Your safe word. It’s Fearless. If you get scared or the pain is too much and you want me to stop, say that word and I will. But, please, Jade, don’t use it lightly.” He studied her face, watching as she processed it all. “Say it. Let me hear you say it.”

“Fearless,” she whispered.

That softly spoken word was all he needed. It set Liam free. Rising, he pulled her up, claiming her spot on the couch. Before she could react to his fast movements, he tugged her facedown over his lap.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jade tried to push away, but Liam pressed her head lower, so close to the floor her hair touched the hardwood.

He lifted his hand and brought it down roughly against her ass. While the jeans muted the blow, the shock of his spanking caused Jade to still. She didn’t say the safe word or fight him, so he took it as permission to continue. He slapped her half a dozen times more, building the intensity as he struck the same spot over and over.

Jade remained motionless through only the first couple smacks, then she began to struggle. At first, Liam thought she was trying to escape his blows.

“Jade?”

She shook her head, remaining silent, and soon it became obvious she was moving toward his hand, trying to add even more fuel to the fire. She latched on to his lower leg for support, her grip tight as a vise.

She wanted more. So did he.

He lifted her, directed her to her feet, despite Jade’s protestations.
 

“Take off your pants,” he commanded.

Jade’s flushed face, her hungry eyes, her tight nipples told him all he needed to know, as she reached for the button on her jeans.

Liam rose, shoving her hands away. She was going too slowly. His cock was thick and hard, throbbing in the confinement of his own tight denim. He didn’t dare free it or he’d never finish what he’d started.
 

For much of his younger years, he’d resisted the part of him that craved rough sex. Celia had been a virgin when they’d first made love. She preferred to be cuddled, caressed, kissed. Liam had given her that because he adored her. If being her husband meant locking away certain desires, he’d do it, and willingly. After her death, he slowly began to let the darker pleasures he yearned for emerge.

However, Compton Pass was a small town. People talked. So he’d only indulged in BDSM games while on the road on business trips. Until now. There was no power on earth that could stop him from showing Jade the real Liam.

As he tugged her jeans and panties down, Jade toed off her sandals. Within seconds, he’d returned them to their previous positions, Liam sitting on the couch, Jade sprawled out over his lap. Her ass was flushed a light pink from his earlier spanking. It wasn’t enough. He longed to paint it red, to set the sensitive skin on fire.
 

“Please.” Jade squirmed on his lap, so he placed a sharp slap to her upper thigh.

Then Liam stroked between her legs, along the opening to her sex. Jade gasped when he pressed on her clit. She was drenched, her arousal coating his fingers. All of his suspicions were confirmed in an instant. Not only did Jade enjoy his rough touch, it turned her on.

“Liam,” she said, his name escaping on a breathless sigh.

Hearing her voice caused something to twist inside. His head reeled from it. The night had tumbled down like one long string of dominos, each tile that fell taking a hundred more out until Liam wasn’t sure what was left. All he knew was he had to find some way to make Jade Compton understand she was going to be a hell of a lot more than a summer fling.

She was going to be his wife, his partner on the ranch and the mother of his children.

But for now…his hesitance confused her.

Jade twisted, looking over her shoulder at him. “I trust you.”

He grinned, thrilled by her words. He stroked her ass gently. The words “I love you” floated across his brain, but he didn’t speak them aloud. She wasn’t ready for that.

He had two months to wrap his Compass girl up in ropes so tight she wouldn’t be able to escape. He’d bind her to him not only with friendship, but with craving, need, and, God willing, love.

“Close your eyes, Jade.”

She blinked twice before her eyelids lowered, then she turned around until she faced the floor once more.

Liam lifted his hand and lowered it on her ass and upper thighs. He didn’t hold back, didn’t bother to shield his strength. He knew her better than anyone—knew her limits as well as her longing to go wild, to take things just to the edge, and then, maybe, even a bit further. He would be the only man to give her this, to keep her safe while setting her free. It was the only way he’d ever hold her and claim her heart.

Jade wouldn’t—no, she couldn’t—live her life in the conventional way. She’d feel stifled, trapped in a world where she followed the rules associated with being a woman, a wife, a mother. Hell, he didn’t want her to fit those molds.

He loved her courage, her bravery, her recklessness, her foul mouth and her loud, brash laughter. Liam continued to spank her as so many realizations assaulted him.

Love. Forever. Marriage.
 

Jade. Jade. Jade.

She squeezed his leg roughly as she groaned—the sound a perfect blend of agony and indulgence.

“God, Liam.” Her voice was thick with unshed tears and demand. “Please make me feel this. Make me feel
something
. I’m so tired of being numb.”

He missed a stroke, then recognized the truth behind her admission. Jade had admitted to being restless, but now he knew it was more than that. She’d always seemed like the square peg in the round hole. That should have been evident to him from the start.

Hadn’t he met her in a cemetery, kneeling at her dead brother’s grave? How many years had Jade smothered her own flame out of some misplaced feelings of guilt over being the sibling who lived?

Her ass and legs were bright red, yet she still pushed toward him, silently begging for more. Jade wanted to come alive. So did he.

He’d carried around more than his own fair share of blame following Celia’s accident. He should have driven her to the city, should have insisted on going with her rather than caving to her admonition about the danger of him seeing her in her wedding dress.

Enough. The past was dead and buried.
 

It was time he and Jade started living in the present. Made some strides toward the future.

His hand stilled, covering her ass. Jade’s breathing was loud, labored, dotted with the occasional hitch that told him she was on the verge of crying.
 

Or coming.
 

Or both.

He lifted her, pushing her to her back on the couch. Jade spread her legs and lifted her arms in invitation.

“I need you,” she whispered.

Liam kicked off his shoes and shed his jeans in record time. He didn’t bother to remove his shirt or hers. Next time they’d manage to make it to the bed, to get naked.

This time…

He knelt between her spread thighs, holding himself over her as he pressed his cock to her opening. She was soaked, the juices of her arousal allowing the head of his dick to slide in easily.

Neither of them looked away, their gazes connected as he slowly drove deeper into her tight, hot pussy. Once he was fully seated, he paused, studying her face.

Jade smiled, the expression completely her. Mischievous, naughty, daring. “You could at least offer to wear a condom.”

“You’ve been on birth control since you were seventeen.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure how I feel about sleeping with someone who knows all my secrets.”

He kissed her. Couldn’t resist. Jade stiffened for the briefest of moments, but it was enough for Liam to know she wasn’t finished fighting this.
 

Them.

Regardless of his intentions, his battle to win her heart was only just beginning. He pulled away and looked at her.

Jade wrapped her legs more tightly around his waist, lifting her hips in an attempt to take control of the situation. She didn’t want the romance. She wanted the fucking.
 

Too bad for her. She was getting both.
 

“Don’t stop now,” she demanded.

He cupped the sides of her head in his palms, letting her know without words that he held the upper hand. Bending forward, he kissed her again. Softly.

Jade stilled for a split second before opening her lips, urging him to deepen the kiss. He didn’t take the bait. Instead, he kept his touches gentle.

It threw her off-guard.

“Liam,” she whispered after several minutes. “Fuck me.”

Rather than respond, he twisted his fingers in her hair, tugging at the long blonde tresses until her back arched.
 

“Yes,” she hissed.

“I’m changing the rules again.” He punctuated his words with a rougher pull.